North Suburban Mathematics League

The North Suburban Math League is a group of schools in the Chicago area that compete in five math competitions throughout the school year.

Written Events

Each school may enter a maximum of five contestants at each event during league contests. Five contestants are allowed at the conference meet. The top three scores will count. Each team may designate additional students as alternates to take the test for the experience, except at the conference meet. Host schools will accomodate up to 5 alternates per team per event. If a team wants to bring more than 5 alternates for any event, they must get permission from the host school in advance. No alternates are allowed at meet 5 (the conference meet). Alternates' scores will not be counted towards the team's total, but an alternate with a perfect score will receive a ribbon, and their scores will be recorded and reported for individual records. Alternates may take the test in a room other than the contestant room at the discretion of the host school. A school may bring additional alternates if permission is granted by the host school. Requests should be made at least two days in advance of the meet.

There will be four written tests at each meet, one at each grade level. Each test will consist of five questions, worth a total of 25 points. Questions 1 and 2 will each be worth 4 points, question 3 will be worth 5 points, and questions 4 and 5 will be worth 6 points each. No partial credit will be given. All answers must meet the following specifications unless instructions on the exam state otherwise.

Answers must be clearly written in the answer blank provided. All fractions must be completely simplified in proper, improper or mixed form. (No common factors in the numerator and denominator, numerators and denominators will be integers.) Decimal approximations are not acceptable unless specifically requested on the contest. All radicals must be completely "simplified", including no perfect square factors under the radicand and no radicals in the denominator. Answers must be in generally accepted mathematical form. If an answer is ambiguous, it will be marked wrong. Each test will be exactly thirty minutes in length. Tests will be passed out face down. The person in charge will tell the contestants to turn their papers over and write their name and school on top. Students will then be instructed to check the box marked "contestant" or "alternate". The person in charge will tell the contestants to begin and will announce when five minutes remain. If no clock is visible, an announcement will also be made when fifteen minutes remain. If a student arrives late, the student is not given extra time at the end.

The only materials students may use during the contest are: pens or pencils, erasers, calculators, and extra batteries. A student may use at most three calculators. Any battery (or solar) powered calculator that does not do symbolic manipulation is allowed. Freshmen and sophomores may not use an HP48 series calculator. In some cases, symbolic manipulators may be expected. These contests will be designated as CAS topics. Likewise, some contests may be designated as no calculator contests. Contests with special calculator exceptions will be identified as such on the schedule and on the topics list. Scratch paper will be provided. A student may use a foreign language dictionary. If desired, the host school may examine the dictionary to insure that it is just a dictionary and does not contain formulas or other content that would give the student an unfair advantage. All electronic devices except for contest-approved calculators must be turned off and out of sight during contests." We will disqualify the scores of students violating this rule.

Once a test has begun, no questions will be altered and no questions will be answered. If a problem is impossible because it is underdetermined or overdetermined, the correct answer is "the problem is impossible." If a problem is ambiguous, the contestant should select what seems to be the best interpretation and solve it.

The official designation of students as contestants or alternates will be determined by the official online roster sheet submitted before the meet by the coach. A coach may not change the designation of a student on the team roster after the first five minutes of the respective event. Students will still be required to mark contestant or alternate on their tests for ease of grading, but in the event of a contradiction with the roster sheet, the roster will determine the status of the student.

Coaches should keep all tests for two weeks after the contests in case of appeal. Appeals should be submitted according to the following procedure: inform the chairperson of the appeals committee by phone of your intent to appeal the day after the meet. You should explain the general nature of your appeal at this time. Within TWO SCHOOL DAYS of the meet, you need to fax a written appeal to the appeals chairperson along with supportive information (a copy of the test, for example) The committee will render a decision as soon as possible after receiving the written appeal. In the event that the coach is not satisfied with this decision, an appeal may be made to the league board of appeals, which consists of one representative from each of the host schools at the contested meet. Their decision will be final. Appeals will not affect the outcome of a particular meet, but will affect league standings. Ribbons will be awarded to reflect the corrected scores, if necessary, but none will ever be called back.

Appeals will be considered for the following reasons:

(a) A grading error. The coach will be required to send, by fax or mail, the test or a copy of the test to the statistician within two school days of the meet. A phone call informing the statistician that a correction is forthcoming would be appreciated. (b) Incorrect official answer. If the appeal is granted, all coaches will be notified within two weeks of the meet and all scores for all schools will be altered to reflect the corrected answer. (c) Reasonable alternate solution. If the appeal is granted, only the students who filed appeals will receive credit for a correct answer. No other scores will be changed. A coach may submit one appeal on behalf of many students, but their papers must all be submitted. Scores of students who did not file an appeal will not be changed, even if they have the same answer as the student who appealed. (d) Correct alternate form. If the appeal is granted, the score of the contestant who appealed will be changed. No other scores will be changed. A coach may submit one appeal on behalf of many students, but their papers must all be submitted. Scores of students who did not file an appeal will not be changed, even if they have the same answer as the student who appealed. A list of appeals of type b, c, and d will be sent to coaches as soon as possible after a meet. The precedents established on this list will be used to decide future appeals.

Ribbons will be awarded at each contest. Blue ribbons will be awarded to all five members of the winning school at each grade level. Red ribbons will be awarded to all five members of the second place team at each grade level. A gold ribbon will be awarded to each student with a perfect score. In case of ties, duplicate ribbons should be awarded.

Plaques will be awarded at the end of each season to the top three schools at each division at each level, as determined by total points at that level. No grade level trophies will be awarded.

Students may compete in more than one event at each meet. They may compete above their grade level but not below it. The freshman and junior competitions begin at 6:15; the sophomore and senior competitions begin at 7:00. No one may compete as a contestant in both the oral and written events at a given meet.

Oral Events

At the beginning of the contest, all oral participants will be sequestered. Students may not leave the sequester room without permission from the host school. Fifteen minutes prior to the presentation, the contestant will be instructed to report to the oral prep room and will be given a copy of the questions. There will be three questions, each on a different sheet of paper. Fifteen minutes are allowed for preparation. The student may bring any print or written materials and any calculator allowed for the senior written event into the preparation room. Laptops, PDAs, phones, and other electronic devices may not be used. Notes should be made on the question sheets as only the question sheets may be used in the presentation room. For meets 1-3, the student must work alone; for meet 4, up to two students may work together in the preparation room, but only one may present. The student may not have a calculator during the presentation. When the contestant enters the presentation room, the timer will read the instructions aloud. The timer will then ask if the contestant has any questions about the instructions and will ask if the contestant wants a verbal warning or a silent warning about how much time remains. If the contestant has a question, the timer or a judge should answer. No questions about the material may be answered. When all questions have been answered, the contestant will write her or his name and the school name on the board and will begin. Timing will begin when the student begins to answer the questions. The contestant will have ten minutes of uninterrupted time to answer the questions. After eight minutes, the timer will hold up two fingers to indicate that two minutes remain, or will announce "two minutes remain," whichever the contestant prefers. After nine minutes, the timer will hold up one finger, or announce that "one minute remains." At the end of ten minutes, the timer will allow the contestant to complete the sentence the contestant has begun and will ask the contestant to stop.

Scoring - each judge will award points according to the following criteria:

Question #1 - 10 points for correctness Question #2 - 12 points for correctness Question #3 - 13 points for correctness Presentation - 15 points Correctness includes accuracy and completeness. A student with a fundamental understanding of the material should receive a majority of the points, even if the contestant misses a detail or a special case. Presentation includes organization, clarity, use of visual aids, use of correct notation and correct vocabulary, articulation and poise. It does not include dress or appearance; under no circumstances should oralists gain or lose points for their attire. The student's score will be the average of the two judge's scores, rounded up to the nearest whole number if necessary.

Mathletes and their coaches are encouraged to attend oral presentations, as long as space permits. Spectators should be seated in the room before the presentation begins and should remain quietly seated until it is completed. It is expected that an observer will obtain permission from the oralist or the oralist's coach before observing an oral presentation.

A green oral ribbon will be given to the top oral contestant at each meet. A white oral ribbon will be given to the contestant with the second highest score. A gold ribbon will additionally be awarded to any oralist with a score of 50. Trophies will not be given to the five schools accumulating the most points at the end of the season. Plaques will be awarded to the top three schools at each division, as determined by total points at that level.

General Rules

A student who is not yet in the ninth grade may not compete as a contestant. Any student may compete as an alternate.

In the event of a situation not covered by the rules, the head coach of the host school should make a decision.

The question writer may include specific instructions regarding form of answer that override the league rules. This is particularly appropriate when the problem naturally involves calculator usage and round off.

No team may compete in a contest if their school is on strike.

The format of events at the conference meet may be different than the format outlined above. In particular, we will allow five contestants at each grade level. Also, we will not allow alternates. Only the top three scores will count. There will be no oral at the conference meet. The starting times may be changed as well.

At the conclusion of the season, trophies will be awarded to the top seven schools as determined by total points. In the event of ties, duplicate trophies will be awarded. Plaques will be awarded to the top three schools in each division. In the event of ties, duplicate awards will be presented.

An Improvement trophy will be awarded to the three schools that improve in places the most. In case of a tie, the team whose total score improved the most from the previous year will receive the award.

Twelve certificates will be included in the Conference meet packet of each grade level team (4 for orals) that finishes in the top 5 in overall league standings. These should be completed by the coach and distributed to deserving team members.

It has generally been the philosophy of the league that our top priority is to encourage the involvement of as many students as possible in a challenging mathematics experience while insuring that everyone is treated fairly. Whenever it becomes necessary to make a decision not covered in these rules, this philosophy will be used to arrive at a decision.

In the event that a school's administration calls off all after school activities on the day of a meet, the school will have the obligation to take the written events on the first full school day after school resumes. The questions will be faxed to the school and will be administered by the coach under contest rules. The league will attempt to accommodate the oralist if the coach requests. The details will be decided by the president.

See also the Policy for Inclement Weather and Other Emergencies.

If a meet is canceled due to a decision by a school's administration, schools scheduled to compete at that site have an obligation to attempt to find an alternate site. The school will contact alternative host schools as soon as possible and make every reasonable effort to compete on the night of the meet. If they demonstrate that they have tried to reschedule, in good faith, but have failed, they will be given the opportunity to administer the contest the next school day at their school, questions to be faxed to them, and administered, proctored and graded by the coach. If a school is unable to demonstrate a reasonable attempt to reschedule the night of the meet, they lose the right to make up the meet. The president will decide what is reasonable, the school having the option of appealing that decision to the board. The league will attempt to accommodate the oralist if the coach requests. The details will be decided by the president.

See also the Policy for Inclement Weather and Other Emergencies.

Precedent-Setting Appeals

The committee decided categorically that it could not deal with an appeal having to do with an oral. To change a score, either by overriding a judge or by contacting the judge is a remedy worse than the problem. It is the function of the judge to make the best decision possible. We realize that there is inequity built in to the oral event, but have decided that the experience for the students is worth any problems it causes.

Answers like (±3,±4) are ambiguous and are always wrong, regardless of what the correct answer is.

The common mathematical definition of "between" excludes the boundaries. If the boundaries are to be included, the word "inclusive" must be used.

A recursively defined function equivalent to the correct closed form function is an acceptable answer, but the initial condition must be given, even if it is stated in the problem. That is, the contestant must tell us what f(1) is as well as how to get from f(n) to f(n+1).

Proper set notation, proper interval notation, or careful use of the words "or" or "and" must be used when dealing with inequalities.

Any answer expressed with a fractional exponent must be in simple form, as if it were rewritten in radical form. For example 2^(7/5) must be written as 2*2^(2/5).