High School Programming Contest

[Andrew Burt]

There seemed to be some problem with the distribution of the last note,
so here's a repost (sorry if you see this twice)...

Eleventh Annual High School
Computer Programming Contest
conducted by

The Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
at
The University of Denver

and

The Hewlett-Packard Company

on
Saturday, April 22, 1995
between
9:00 A.M. and 2:00 P.M.

Please give one of these announcements to appropriate
faculty at your school!

Hewlett-Packard and The University of Denver are joining
forces for the fourth year to conduct a programming contest
for teams from High Schools from Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska
and Kansas. The contest will be held at D.U. on April 22.
We expect the collaboration between industry and the univer-
sity to result in another outstanding event.

We have challenging problems that are fun to tackle -- and
Hewlett-Packard will award graphic calculators to the
members of the first place teams in each division of com-
petition.

There is an entry fee of $45 for each team, which includes
high quality T-shirts, donuts, refreshments, and lunch for
the team members and sponsor. We expect more entries than
we can accommodate and will only accept entries until full.

The contest will be held at the University of Denver. Prob-
lems given last year and further contest information (such
as how to get here) will be sent to each school that enters
a team.

Contest rules are enclosed, as is an entry form. If either
are missing please call the number below.

THE ENTRY FORM AND FEE MUST BE RECEIVED BY APRIL 8.

For more information call Andrew Burt, Mario Lopez, or Ramki
Thurimella at (303)871-3344. Our Fax number is (303)871-3010.
Email: ab...@cs.du.edu, mlo...@cs.du.edu, ra...@cs.du.edu.
===========================================================================

PROGRAMMING CONTEST ENTRY FORM

(Please copy for each team)

An entry form must be submitted for each team and must be
sent with the $45 fee made payable to the University of
Denver.

Mail forms and fees to:

High School Programming Contest
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
University of Denver
Denver, CO 80208-0189

The number of teams permitted to enter is limited, with
entries accepted in order of arrival. Forms and fees must
be received by Saturday, April 8, 1995. Fees will be
refunded for any team withdrawing by Monday, April 10.
Thereafter, no fees can be refunded.

Name of School _________________________________

Mailing Address ________________________________

_________________________________

_________________________________

Team Members (Substitutions will be permitted at registra-
tion):

1.
_____________________________________________________________________

2.
_____________________________________________________________________

3.
_____________________________________________________________________

Team Sponsor (e.g. Faculty advisor):
___________________________________

Telephone Number of Sponsor: _________________
Fax # _________________

Open or Junior Competition? ____________
(Can be changed on the day of the contest)

Can you bring your own computer?_________ (we may be able to
supply computers to those who cannot for a limited number of
teams)

T-SHIRTS: Please indicate how many of each size t-shirt you
need for your team and sponsor. They are available in adult
sizes (M, L, and XL). (Allow for possible shrinkage!) If you
do not request specific sizes for your team, then they will
be provided with EXTRA-LARGE. You may change your t-shirt
request until April 8.

MEDIUM_________ LARGE__________ EXTRA LARGE__________

For more information call Andrew Burt, Mario Lopez, or Ramki
Thurimella at (303) 871-3344. Our Fax Number is (303) 871-
3010.
===========================================================================

RULES OF THE HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAMMING CONTEST

There will be two categories of competition:

1. Open Competition

2. Junior Competition

Junior Competition is restricted to teams with no seniors.
(Thus a team with no seniors could register for their choice
of Open or Junior, but a team with a senior can only regis-
ter in the Open Competition). The problems are the same for
both categories but team rankings will be computed
separately. Prizes are awarded to the top teams in each of
the Open and Junior categories.

Teams

A. A team consists of 1 to 3 full time students.

B. Team members must attend the school they represent.

C. Each team must be accompanied by an adult sponsor,
preferably a faculty member.

D. More than one team from a school may participate.

Programming

A. Each team is allotted two and one half hours to solve
the problems.

B. Each team will be assigned a workspace. Only one com-
puter (i.e. one keyboard) per team is allowed. No
printers are permitted but a hard disk may be used.
Books or other reference material are allowed, but
discouraged (students may waste valuable time looking
for help in books instead of thinking about the prob-
lem). Each team should bring its own computer unless
special arrangements have been made.

C. Programming may be done in any language of the team's
choice. No fancy I/O or graphics will be required.

Scoring

A. Scoring will be done on the basis of elapsed time and
correctness of results. Elapsed time will be calcu-
lated for each problem by counting from the beginning
of the competition period until the successful comple-
tion of that problem, together with a 5 minute penalty
for each incorrect submission of the problem.

Example: Competition begins at 9:00 a.m.:

_____________________________________________________
| | Successfully| Incorrect | Elapsed time|
|_Problem|__completed_at|__submissions|___(minutes)__|
| 1 | 9:37 | 2 | 47 min. |
|________|______________|_____________|______________|
|____3___|_____10:13____|_______1_____|____78_min.___|
| 2 | 11:15 | 0 | 135 min. |
|________|______________|_____________|______________|

Total elapsed time = 47 + 78 + 135 = 260 minutes.

B. Teams will be ranked in order of the number of problems
successfully completed. Ties will be broken by smal-
lest total elapsed time.

C. A "successfully completed" problem correctly solves the
problem it was intended to solve as determined by the
contest judges.

Judging

A. The contest judges are solely responsible for determin-
ing the winners. Their decisions are final.

B. When a solution is submitted to the judges, they will
test the solution using secret data and respond. A team
may resubmit solutions to problems that have been
judged incorrect.
--

Andrew Burt ab...@du.edu

"'Ere, he says he's not dead."