// you'll need these

#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/time.h>

// This call should be made in the skiplist constructor -- it initializes
//  the random number generator.  

  time_t tp;
  time(&tp);			 // get the system time
  int seed = tp;                 // use it as a seed for
  srand(seed);                   //   the random number generator

// method to generate a random coin flip, 0 or 1 are output with
//     50% chance each

int coin_flip()   
{
  return (rand()%2);
}