 |
 |
 |
|
Olympiad Offers Math and More
by Fabio Milber Purdue Mathematics Professor Fabio Milner participated as a coordinator at last summerıs International Math Olympiad. The 38th International Mathematical Olympiad was held in Mar del Plata, Argentina, July 18-30, 1997. A total of 460 high school students competed on teams representing a record 82 countries. The experience was truly international and multicultural--over fifty different languages were spoken by the various delegations. To be immersed in such an event was socially and culturally enriching. One could observe the teams from Greece and Turkey sharing a dinner table and conversing about the music of Cyprus, or see the delegations from China and Taiwan spending time together in friendly conversation. Perhaps the largest unified group, from a social standpoint, was composed of individuals from Spanish-speaking countries. Almost every night people from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Spain, and Uruguay gathered in the hotel lobby for conversation, singing, and dancing. Others from Brazil, France, Hungary, or Portugal often joined them. Each country may take a maximum of six students to participate in the Olympiad. The competition itself consists of six problems worth seven points each, for a maximum of 42 points per participant. Three problems were given on Thursday morning, July 24, and the other three on Friday morning, July 25. Immediately after the students finished each half of the testing, copies of all their work were made; one copy was given to their team leaders and one to the coordination groups that scored them. As a first step, any country wishing to contribute problems for the competition submits problems with detailed solutions (up to a maximum of four per country) to the organizing country, in English, approximately two months before the Olympiad. A committee with representatives from several countries then selects a smaller sample (this year it consisted of 24 problems) to be presented at the site of competition to the assembly of all team leaders plus the President of the Olympiad, who this year was Dr. Luis Cafarelli. After long discussions moderated by the President, the six problems for the competition are selected a few days before the testing is to take place. Then the team leaders who wish their students to take the exams in a language other than English translate the six problems to their native language. The translations are then posted for one day to allow all other team leaders to check them. This takes place in a hotel where all team leaders and coordinators are sequestered until after the testing is finished. The location and name of the hotel is unknown to all other participants, who are housed at another location. Prior to the administration of the tests, all coordinators (who are effectively the judges or scorers) meet and are distributed into six groups, one to judge each of the six problems. During two very long days, each group discusses as many ways of solving their assigned problem as they can find, and a scoring strategy is chosen. After the group receives copies from all participantsı solutions of their assigned problem, they are carefully read and a tentative score is given to each. This task is one of the more challenging in the whole process, since the solutions are written in a wide variety of languages, from Albanian to Estonian, from Farsi to Vietnamese. Then, for three days, following a carefully designed schedule, team leaders meet with each group of coordinators for up to 30 minutes to discuss the score that will be given for the particular problem to each of the students on their respective teams. More often than not, coordinators and team leaders agree immediately. In a few cases, negotiations take place in which each side explains its reasons to the other side, and then they part to have some time to reconsider the "fair" score. Once all the scores have been agreed on, they are published by team, even though medals are awarded only for individual performance. In Mar del Plata, there were four "perfect gold" medals, awarded for the highest possible score of 42 points. One student each from Iran, Romania, the United States, and Vietnam reached such a high distinction. Two Hungarians followed with 41 points and one each from Bulgaria, Hungary, Japan, and the United States with 40 points. At that point the tension subsided, and everyone was happy the "work" was all done and the time for celebration had started. Dancing, singing, and camaraderie then replaced negotiation, discussion, and argumentation. On Wednesday, July 30, 1997, almost everyone departed, just over one week after having arrived in Mar del Plata. Many will meet again next year at the 39th International Mathematical Olympiad in Taiwan.
|
|
||
 |
|
 |
