Charlotte Mathematics Club
Newsletter, Winter 2004-2005

Spring 2005 CMC Schedule:

January 15	March 19 (Tournament of Towns also)
February 5	April 9
February 25-26 (Charleston trip)	May 21 (picnic @ James Boyce Park, 10am--2pm)

Format, Time & Place:

Under our current format, students work in two separate groups: a junior group generally consisting of students in Pre-algebra, Algebra 1, and in some cases Geometry, and a senior group consisting of students in Geometry, Algebra 2, Pre-Calculus and Calculus. We encourage participants to choose the group that best fits their mathematical level.

Math club meetings are organized in two parts: a "problem set" time for students to work on a collection of problems, both individually and collectively, and a "team" time, usually combined with a presentation on a more advanced mathematical topic. The problem set portion of the meeting is open to all CMC members, but we recommend the team time portion for motivated students in Geometry or a higher level mathematics course.

Meetings start at 9:30 and end promptly at 11:15 (junior group) or at 12:30 pm (senior group.) Parents, please arrange to pick up your student no later than 10 minutes following the end of their portion of the meeting. Unless otherwise noted, our meetings are at Providence Day School (PDS), located at the corner of Rama Rd. and Sardis Rd.

College of Charleston Math & Science Weekend:

Note: The CMC policy with respect to all competitions is...

If your school is attending, you must participate with your school.

Each year, for the past 13 years or so, CMC has taken a group of students to Charleston to participate in the College of Charleston Math and Science Weekend. The 2005 "C of C" Weekend is February 25--26. We welcome CMC members currently enrolled in high school level (Algebra I and above) mathematics courses to participate with us in this adventure. We drive to Charleston on Friday afternoon to arrive in time to check into our accommodations (the Hampton Inn Riverview in Charleston) and make our way over to the Friday evening computer programming contest. The math and science competition begins at 9 am Saturday with the "Level" tests (there are three levels for students from Algebra through Pre-Calculus and beyond) and continues into mid-afternoon with various team and individual events. Lunch at the college cafeteria is included in the registration. The contest concludes with an awards ceremony at about three o'clock. Following the close of the contest, our group usually explores the Market area of Charleston, and then we go to a good local restaurant for dinner. The evening activity has traditionally been bowling at a local bowling alley. Sunday morning we get up and eat breakfast and then leave for home.

The club organizes lodging and transportation (by van and/or cars) for members who decide to participate, and pre-pays the registration fees for the contest. Your leaders enforce a nighttime curfew, and participants agree to abide by CMC and hotel rules for personal conduct.

Most rooms at the Hampton Inn have a king-sized bed and a sleep-sofa. (To keep costs down, we plan on assigning three students to each room.) Also, the hotel has a complimentary breakfast buffet. Each member who attends the C of C is responsible for paying for his or her own food and incidental expenses, as well as for lodging and a contribution towards gas and other costs that are paid by the club. The expenses for the student will be $80 to cover two nights lodging and a small contribution for gas/other costs. This amount will be due before departure. Also, factor in additional expenses for the cost of meals (about $25), and $10 for bowling and/or snacks.

Signing up: Space is limited and you must pre-register by January 22. Pre-registering means

• Declaring your intent to Stephen Davis, Harold Reiter, or Susan Schaeffer, and
• Paying a $20 deposit. (The remaining $60 is due on departure. Checks made out to "CMC" can be mailed to Stephen Davis, Davidson College Math Dept, Box 6931, Davidson, NC 28035-6931.)

When we know who is coming we will follow up with details on transportation and the necessary release and personal information forms.

Math Contest News:

The Charlotte Mathematics Club is participating in the 2004-2005 Mandelbrot Competition. Congratulations to Mark Whitfield, Adam Stegall, and Brendan Fletcher for leading the way in the fall Mandelbrot rounds. At the start of the new year, our national team is in the second tier and the regional team is #33, on the first tier of the leaderboard. Way to go! Rounds three and four are planned for January 28 and March (tba). Vicky Kaseorg (704-544-9597) is again organizing our participation. If you are interested in participating, or just want to know more about the Mandelbrot competition, call Mrs. Kaseorg.

Fall AMC->8 results for North Carolina are posted at the American Math Competitions NC website. Kevin Lang earned the top NC score overall, and David Lucia attained the top NC score among sixth (and below) graders! Congratulations also to our other Honor Roll members: Marshall Winchester and Brendan Fletcher. National statistics for the 2004 AMC->8 are on the AMC website. Don't forget the AMC->10 and AMC->12 contest on February 1 or February 16, 2005.

The preliminary rounds for the Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, and Comprehensive levels of the NC State Mathematics contest will be held at various sites in NC during March and April. Locations and dates can be found at the NC State High School Math Contest website.

Art of Problem Solving

The CMC sells copies of The Art of Problem Solving (Volumes 1 & 2, and solutions; by Sandor Lehoczky and Richard Rusczyk) as a fundraiser, courtesy of a generous donation from Richard Rusczyk. These books are an excellent resource for problem solving skills and practice problems. AoPS also sponsors online classes and forums. Information on current classes can be found on their website.

Service Opportunities:

The annual MathCounts Chapter Competition at UNCC will be held on February 5, 2005. The state competition will be held at NCSSM in Durham, NC, on March 19, 2005. These contests are sponsored by the Professional Engineers of NC, and they are always delighted to have student volunteers to help them out on contest days. If you are in at least the 9th grade and are interested in helping out with an upcoming contest, please let Mrs. Schaeffer know as soon as possible.

The past few years CMC members have helped out at Discovery Place's Pi Day celebration (March 14, or a weekend nearby). If you are interested in volunteering, please contact one of our leaders (see the contact list below).

Summer Math Experiences:

What do you have planned for the summer months? There are a number of math and science summer programs for high school students. Many CMC members have attended these programs in past years, and the feedback they have given is very positive, with respect to both the learning experience and the opportunities to meet students with like interests. The deadline for applying for most of these is fast approaching, so don't hesitate to check them out! For an index to summer programs, see the "Summer Opportunities for Pre-College Students" section of Harold Reiter's web page (http://www.math.uncc.edu/~hbreiter/).

Calendar of Related Events:

    Jan 15    CMC meeting
    Feb  1    AMC->10 & AMC->12 Contest A
    Feb  5    MathCounts South Piedmont Chapter Competition at UNCC
    Feb  5    CMC meeting
    Feb 16    AMC->10 & AMC->12 Contest B
    Feb 25-26 College of Charleston Math & Science Weekend
    Mar  7    UNCC Math Contest (State Regional: Alg. 2 & Comprehensive)
    Mar 17    Catawba College Math Contest (State Regional: Alg. 1, Geom.; email)
    Mar 19    MathCounts State competition (NCSSM)
    Mar 19    CMC meeting
    Mar 19    Wylie Mathematics Tournament at Furman
    Mar 27    Wake Forest Math Contest (State Regional: Alg. 1, Geom., Alg. 2; email)
    Apr  7    Wingate Math Contest (State Regional: Alg. 1, Geom., Alg. 2, & Comprehensive; email)
    Apr  9    CMC meeting
    Apr 28    NC State Contest Comprehensive Finals (NCSSM)

    May  5    NC State Contest Alg. 1, Geom., Alg. 2 Regional Finals (UNC-A, UNC-G)
    May 21    CMC picnic (James Boyce Park, 10am--2pm)

Our area now has three math club locations for students in grades 4 through 6: the Mecklenburg Math Club meets monthly at two locations: MMC-South at Providence Day School, and MMC-North at Trinity Episcopal School, 750 East 9th Street, in Charlotte. The Cabarrus Math Club meets at Northwest Cabarrus Middle School, 5140 Northwest Cabarrus Drive, Concord, NC 28027 (704-788-4135). Each club meets on a Saturday morning, 9:30 to noon. Spring 2005 meeting dates are listed on their websites. Contacts are MMC-South: Cara Jokell (704-814-9276), cjokell@post.com; MMC-North: Chris Weiss (704-358-8101), chweiss@mindspring.com; and Cabarrus MC: Chuck Nusinov (704-596-9549 or 704-788-4135), tnusinov@bellsouth.net, or Laura Trojan (704-786-6195, ext 234), ltrojan@cabarrus.k12.nc.us. If you have younger siblings, tell them about the MMC. (Web sites for these clubs can be found off of Harold Reiter's home page.)

Interested in computers and learning Java? Are you willing to stay after Math Club for an hour to do so? If you fit the above, we have a class for you. Laptop computer is highly recommended. To join or for information, send an email to Ram at rkavs@hotmail.com.

Ponder this...

For any integer N, let f(N) be the sum of the cubes of the (decimal) digits of N. Find all solutions to N = f(N). Let K be a three digit number, and consider the sequence K, f(K), f(f(K)), etc. What can happen in these sequences? For a deeper problem, try this in base 9.

Thanks!

Thank you to parents who have helped at our meetings by contributing refreshments or providing other support. We continue to need refreshment donations; if you can help, sign up at a meeting or contact Susan Schaeffer.

The Charlotte Math Club is also grateful to those that have donated time, space, and funds. PDS has been a gracious host for many years, and we have benefited in the past from the generous contributions of Pepsi Cola (the Halton Foundation), Okuma Machinery, Clariant Corporation, EducAide, Richard Rusczyk, coauthor of The Art of Problem Solving, and other, anonymous, benefactors. Thanks also to supportive parents and other friends of the club

Contacts:

The CMC Coordinating Committee (CMC³?)...

Stephen Davis:	704-894-2343 (w) 704-894-2005 (fax) 704-892-1394 (h)	email: stdavis@davidson.edu
Harold Reiter:	704-687-4561 (w) 704-687-6415 (fax) 704-364-5699 (h)	email: hbreiter@email.uncc.edu
Susan Schaeffer:	704-552-2869 (h)	email: oaktreemath@earthlink.net
Arvo Kaseorg:	704-544-9597 (h)	email: arvo@carolina.rr.com
CMC homepage:	http://www.davidson.edu/math/cmc

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