Weekly Challenge Updates
4 / 16 / 2001
Good Afternoon!
For the upcoming Awards Day activities, we request that teams bring the following posters to compete for $300 in cash prizes:
The posters may be no larger than 22 by 30 inches (standard poster-board size) and can be hand-drawn, designed on a computer, or created by a combination of methods.
Both posters must be comprised of original artwork and text! You may not copy or borrow pictures, artwork, slogans, etc. from any outside source. At Awards Day, all of the Challenge participants will judge the poster entries and select the winners for both categories.
The poster that best displays the technical information about a project will serve as the cover for the publication of the compiled finalists' reports. This year there is a $100 award to be divided among the individual(s) who design the winning technical poster.
The best graphics poster will serve as the Challenge logo for the next year, appearing on Challenge letterhead, T-shirts, book bags, and the Web site. This year there is a $200 award to be divided among the individual(s) who design the winning graphics poster.
See http://www.challenge.nm.org/AwardsDay/schedule.shtml for the detailed schedule. Wednesday morning activities begin at 8:00am, but between 9:00 am and 10:00 am on Wednesday, each team needs to have a representative at their poster to explain their project to all of the other teams and LANL scientists who have been invited to the poster session. This is your opportunity to see what all the other teams have been working on this year.
Other news:
Teams who have successfully submitted HTML final reports have their project titles linked at: http://www.challenge.nm.org/FinalReports/
Finalist teams will be determined late afternoon on April 18 (Wednesday). Sponsoring teachers of the finalist teams will be notified by telephone/e-mail soon after. The finalist teams will also be posted at: http://www.challenge.nm.org/AwardsDay/finalists.shtml immediately after the conference call.
Tentative rooming assignments for students can be viewed at: http://www.challenge.nm.org/AwardsDay/Rooms/student.txt and for teachers/advisors/drivers at: http://www.challenge.nm.org/AwardsDay/Rooms/tad.txt If your name is not listed and you feel it should be, e-mail consult. Some rooming assignments have already been changed, so take another look!
Remember, all of the Awards Day information is at: http://www.challenge.nm.org/AwardsDay/
Best of Luck!
Consult
4 / 9 / 2001
Good Afternoon!
We have received your final reports and are soon moving on to the next step ... deciding who will be finalists! If you have submitted your project as "Category A" (competitive), make sure your team is listed at: http://www.challenge.nm.org/FinalReports/ If not, e-mail consult as soon as possible!
The judges will decide which teams are finalists during a conference call during the afternoon of April 18 (Wednesday). Sponsoring teachers of the finalist teams will be notified by telephone/e-mail soon after. The finalist teams will also be posted at: http://www.challenge.nm.org/AwardsDay/finalists.shtml immediately after the conference call.
For those of you coming to Awards Day from more than 150 miles away, we have reserved rooms for you at the Hilltop House Hotel in Los Alamos for the 24th of April. Rooming assignments for students can be viewed at: http://www.challenge.nm.org/AwardsDay/Rooms/student.txt and for teachers/advisors/drivers at: http://www.challenge.nm.org/AwardsDay/Rooms/tad.txt If your name is not listed and you feel it should be, e-mail consult.
If your team is coming from more than 150 miles away AND you are selected to be a finalist, you will have rooms reserved for you on the nights of the 23rd and the 24th, so you can be rested to present your project on the 24th.
Remeber, all of the Awards Day information is at: http://www.challenge.nm.org/AwardsDay/
See you soon!
Consult
4 / 2 / 2001
Good Morning!
This message is all about the three April 4 deadlines:
Final Reports
Registration for Awards Day
Scholarship Applications
We are pleased to have received several Final Reports. Thank you!
It is really important that you get registered for Awards Day. If you live more than 100 miles away we will arrange a hotel room for you. BUT we have to know that you are coming and we have to make arrangements with the hotel. So, please take the time to fill out the reservation form. You can get there from Awards Day on the Challenge home page or you can just click on this URL and get it done right now!
http://www.challenge.nm.org/cgi-bin/registration_awd_01.cgi
We have received one scholarship application and we hope that many more will come in by Wednesday.
We want to see as many as of you as possible on Awards Day. The Awards Ceremony will somewhat different this year and will be followed by a Reception for all who attend. Please register.The hotel is holding a block of rooms for us but only through this week.
Thanks so much.
Betsy for Consult
3 / 26 / 2001
Greetings!
One more reminder: Due by Noon, Wednesday, April 4, 2001
Final Reports due at NM Technet
Scholarship Applications due at NM Technet
Online Registration for Awards Day
Here are some notes about Final Reports, Scholarships and Awards
There is a typo in the handbook which Team 003 discovered for us. The instructions for completing the Title Page has the word "Project" under the word "Teacher(s). Project should be Project Mentors.
Also, Team 003 asked for some clarification on citing Internet and other scientific sources. Gina Fisk has written a very helpful clarification. Here is the URL: http://www.challenge.nm.org/FinalReports/sources.shtml
Scholarship information is at http://www.challenge.nm.org/scholarships.shtml These are great opportunities.
The URL for information about Awards is http://www.challenge.nm.org/awards.shtml There is something for just about everyone.
And of course you'll want to be thinking ahead to the posters you'll bring to Awards Day. More about that later.
Finally, here is a question for you. Maybe some of you are lucky enough to be taking a vacation or are going on Spring Break to a tropical isle. You may get rained on, and in some places it may rain some each day. However, why is rain less likely to spoil your vacation on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, for example, than at a resort on the mainland? You can write your answers to me or do a reply to all. Let us know if you need help with any aspect of the applications or report.
Betsy for Consult
3 / 19 / 2001
Challenge Community,
Please remember to check our website with any questions you might have. The important dates are listed at
http://challenge.nm.org/dates.shtml
There are nine categories there and you have completed seven of them!!!!
Consult received an exciting letter from a dad of a student at Sandia Prep. Heather Wood did three presentations at the Expanding Your Horizon conference on March 3 at UNM. Heather spoke about the Supercomputing Challenge to almost 60 girls in grades 6-12 in three sessions. She explained about their project last year and what they were working on this year, how the Challenge worked, and the benefits of being in the Challenge. We thank you Heather and salute your time and initiative!
We need to collect information about the Challenge and would appreciate hearing from you what you think the benefits of the Challenge are. What works for you? What doesn't work for you? What we could be working on? Please drop Consult a note and let us know. Your input is vital.
Celia for Consult
3 / 12 / 2001
Good Morning!
We hope your work is progressing to your satisfaction and that you are getting the help that you need if you run into problems. Most of you have Spring Vacation on the horizon and we hope that if it is that first week in April that you will get your Final Reports and applications for Awards Day to us before your holidays.
Did anyone see any interesting news this week besides the financial difficulties the big technical companies are having? Cisco is talking about laying off 5000 employees. What does this mean for you in terms of preparing yourselves for a career in the technology industry?
Betsy for Consult
Celia and Betsy, New Mexico Technet
David, Eric, and Joe, Los Alamos Nat'l Lab/DOE
Mike Topliff, NM Tech
3 / 5 / 2001
Good Morning
We are coming up on the last month before the Final Reports are due. Please check your calendars to make sure that you can handle potential schedule conflicts. This is a very busy time of year.
Remember, too, that April 4 is the date for the Final Reports and the scholarship applications to arrive by noon at New Mexico Technet
April 4 is also the day to turn in your reservations for Awards Day. Everyone who submits a Final Report is invited to Awards Day There is a Registration Form for Awards Day on the Challenge web site. Just click on Awards Day and you'll see it. Awards Day is our celebration for the end of the Challenge Year. There are a lot of details involved in making Awards Day events run smoothly so your letting us know who is coming from your school is really important.
There was some neat news in the Sunday ABQ Journal about folks at UNM who have worked with on the Challenge. First, David Bader, from Electrical and Computer Engineering, has been awarded the National Science Foundation;s Faculty Early Career Award for his work in parallet computing. David has joined us at lunch at the UNM Regional for the last couple of years. He has also been available for mentoring and teaching classes for the Challenge.
At the 1999 Kickoff our speaker was Mark Henne from Pixar Animation. He is interviewed in the Journal about the potential for animation work here in NM. His interview is accompanied by an article about the 3-D Animation course at UNM. Read all about it at http://abqjournal.com/venue/.
Keep up the good work!
Consult
Betsy and Celia, New Mexico Technet
David, Eric, and Joe, LANL/DOE
Mike Topliff, Tech
2 / 26 / 2001
Good Morning!
Last Friday the Challenge Board of Directors met. As always, we discussed ideas for improving the Challenge. Here are a few.
During the Awards Day Poster Session - which is new this year - teams would indicate which projects they thought were the most interesting.
At the start of next year, ask teams to submit their abstracts before Glorieta so that Consult can begin the process of helping teams focus their work.
The Challenge is looking at merging with AiS (Adventures in Supercomputing). Some of our teams are already AiS participants. Advantages of this move would be to combine our resources so that both projects would be enhanced. For example, AiS offers regional workshops for teachers. The Challenge has regional workshops for students. We could share the pool of judges.
We would certainly appreciate your thoughts about these ideas. And many thanks to those of you who wrote back about giving the Certificates to students at their school awards day ceremonies. We will implement that this year.
Thank you!
Consult
Celia and Betsy - New Mexico Technet
David, Eric, and Joe - Los Alamos National Lab/DOE
Mike - New Mexico Tech
2 / 20 / 2001
Hello,
Get out your Plam Pilots, your Outlook calendars, your organizer, your regular palm and write down April 4th.
Wednesday, April 4, 2001 at NOON is the deadline to submit your final report and scholarship application and to register to come to Awards Day in Los Alamos.
Details about scholarships and the technical writing needed for the final report are in your handy dandy handbook. Please write consult with any questions.
You should be proud of yourself if your team has made it thus far! We really hope to celebrate at Awards Day this year.
If you have been to Awards Day before, you will notice changes in this year's format. You will get a chance to see all the projects and share your own. Details to come on that aspect.
So, get to work on the judges' recommendations, start thinking about your paper (that's only six weeks away) and be the first on your block to register for Awards Day!
Celia for Consult
Betsy and Celia, New Mexico Technet
Eric, David and Joe, LANL/DOE
Mike, NM Tech
2 / 12 / 2001
Good Day! In this morning's Albuquerque Journal there is an article about the Napster case. Today the apellate court in San Francisco will announce its decision as to whether or Napster clients will have to pay for shared software. As we all noted at the Regionals, the technology is here to stay.
"Monday's decision may finally clear the way for the legitimate online marketplace to thrive in an environment that encourages both creativity and a respect for copyright," said Hilary Rosen, President of the Recording Industry Association of America.
On CNN, Napster said over the weekend "that it had great confidence in our legal position"
Also from CNN, "in anticipation of a negative decision, thousands of music seekers were reportedly flooding the site over the weekend..."
In the scientific news, today the first description of the human genome was published. Again, CNN has a lot of related information.
And of course the astronauts from Atlantis are working with the international space station, Alpha.
So, there is lots of news this week that affects all of us.
Thanks for keeping on with the good work. We appreciate that.
Consult
Celia Einhorn and Betsy Frederick, New Mexico Technet
David Kratzer, Eric Ovaska and Joe Watts, Los Alamos National Lab
Mike Topliff, New Mexico Tech
1 / 29 / 2001
Good Morning!
The schedules for Project Evaluations are up on the web page. If you haven't already checked to make sure you know when your team is presenting, please do so as soon as possible. We are able to adjust the time slots but we need to know well in advance. Thank you!
The Awards and Scholarships are now under the Awards Day link.
The specifications for the posters are also under Awards Day. Begin now thinking about a terrific logo for 2001-2002 Challenge. And the same goes for your Technical Poster cover. This is a good opportunity for the graphics experts on your teams to trot out their skills.
Stay in touch if you need help or have questions. We like hearing from you.
Betsy for Consult
Celia Einhorn, Betsy Frederick, NM Technet
David Kratzer, Eric Ovaska, Joe Watts, LANL
Mike Topliff, New Mexico Tech, Head Judge
1 / 22 / 2001
Good Afternoon!
We enjoyed seeing all of you at the Regionals during the last two weeks. We did, of course, miss the teams and teachers from Raton and Springer whose Regional was snowed out. Thank you for coming and sharing your work and ideas.
We will get the Regional Evaluation Schedules up on the Web page soon. Please check to see when you are scheduled and then RSVP to Consult. If you have a conflict, please let us know as soon as possible. Please review the guidelines in the Challenge Handbook.
During our discussions about Napster at the Regionals we compared Napster to the Stephen King eBook fiasco. Here is a URL which talks about some of the issues: http://www.cnn.com/2000/books/news/03/30/king.pirated/
Keep on working on your projects. Let us know if we can help.
Betsy and Celia for Consult
1 / 16 / 2001
Good Morning!
Our big news today is that we regret having to cancel the Regional scheduled for NMHU because of snow. We are not planning to reschedule it but we are looking at ways to have the scientists work with the teams.
Last week we were at ENMU, NMSU, and New Mexico Tech for those Regionals. Each one had its own special flavor and all three went very well.
William Anderson a professor at ENMU used Mathematica in his Keynote to show how he studies and models orbiting stars.
At NMSU, our Keynote was Dr. Linda Riley who spoke about the simulations that Industrial Engineers create modelling real world challenges like shipping routes and schedules. From the simulation, solutions can be sorted out that will solve problems like too many ships arriving at one port to unload their cargos at the same time.
Dr. Allen Miller, an Emeritus Professor in the Engineering Department at Tech, has a web page which is full of resources as well as riddles and jokes. Have a look!
We are looking forward to meeting teams at UNM and at UNM Gallup this week, weather permitting! The Keynote speaker at UNM will be Dr. Bernard Moret from UNM's Computer Science Department. He was born in Switzerland and has an interest in rock climbing.
Our Keynote speaker in Gallup is Dr. Sandra Begay-Campbell who is a Civil Engineer at Sandia National Labs. She was raised in the Gallup area and is recent past Executive Director of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society. Here is some information and a photo of Dr. Begay.
We urge you to look at the Challenge home page and make sure you know when you are scheduled for the Regional Evaluations. Be sure to write to Consult if you have a question or a conflict or a request for a particular time slot.
Have a great week!
Betsy for consult@challenge.nm.org
David Kratzer, Eric Ovaska, and Joe Watts, LANL
Celia Einhorn, Betsy Frederick, NM Technet
1 / 8 / 2001
Happy New Year!
Consult is looking forward to seeing you at one of the six regionals this week or next week! Thanks to those of you whose teams have got the Interim Reports posted. It makes it easier for us to match scientists to your teams. We really need the Interims before you come to your Regional. Please let us know if the students are having difficulty.
Please check out the directions and schedule for your area regional at
http://www.challenge.nm.org/Regionals/
Do you know what MP3 means and how it works? It is a part of our schedule for the regionals. Check it out at
http://www.howstuffworks.com/mp3.htm
See you soon!
Betsy for Consult
12 / 18 / 2000
Friends,
This will be the last Monday Morning Message for the year 2000. Consult WILL be available online with any questions, challenges, or suggestions for the rest of the month.
Your interim report is due online on Friday, January 5, 2001. Details are in your handy-dandy handbook.
Teachers! The Challenge is partnering with NASA-AIMS to have a most exciting Summer Teacher Institute at New Mexico Tech in Socorro in the last two weeks of June. Please check it out at
http://www.challenge.nm.org/STI/
where you can register online also. We hope that you can join us. It is a first come, first serve situation and the slots are moving fast!!!!!!
We are looking forward to seeing you all at the regionals in January. Happy Holidaze to you and yours!
Celia for Consult
12 / 11 / 2000
Challenge 2000 - 2001 Community!
Several notes here:
The Siemens Foundation honored high school students from around the country for their performance on Advanced Placement® exams. Twenty-four students, Tom among them, were honored with a Siemens Award for Advanced Placement for earning exceptional scores on science and mathematics AP® exams. Way to go, Tom!
Toshiba and the National Science Teachers Associations are challenging students to envision the technology of the future. Enter the ExploraVision Awards, one of the largest K-12 science and technology competitions in the world. Winning students receive money toward their college funds!
Click here for details: http://ad.2clk.net/eclk;1785540;1729382256917404508;5142121;951;;34467
Celia for Consult
12 / 4 / 2000
Good Morning!
This is a big month for some of the major religions of the world. Arabic communities are celebrating Ramadan until the end of the month and Jews and Christians are preparing for their celebrations, Hanukkah and Christmas.
Plans are moving forward for the Regionals in January. At most of the regionals we will be able to do some online work. Remember to write to me to let me know how many teachers and students will be joining us from your school. This is a good opportunity to get the teams to check their personal schedules against regional workshop and evaluation dates for possible music, sport, or family commitments.
Til next week,
Betsy for Consult
11 / 28 / 2000
Greetings!
Hope your Thanksgiving Holiday was peaceful and restorative.
We ordered a copy of Programming and Problem Solving With C++ by Nell Dale, Chip Weems, Mark Headington for each school. They have been delivered. The delay was caused by the publisher finishing a new edition of the text. We will deliver these at the Regionals unless you wish to pick it up ahead of time. If you do want to get your copy sooner, please send me a note and I'll make an arrangement for you to pick it up at Technet.
Thanks to those of you who have sent an RSVP for the Regionals. The program will include new features and we think you will find it useful.
And finally, we expect that you are starting to think about the Interim Report. At the Kickoff we gave each of you and the students a handbook in a black notebook. Pages 17-19 have detailed information on what the format and content of the Interim report should be. As always, please let us know if you need help. If you prefer, there is a link to the Handbook on the Challenge Home Page.
Hope things are going well.
Betsy for Consult
11 / 20 / 2000
Good Morning!
Did any of you see in the news or on TV the story about the student from New Mexico Tech? His name is Trent Toulouse and he is a 98-99 Challenge winner from Sandia Prep. His mission was to design software that could handle seven million votes from 602 Bernalillo County precincts in an election for president, legislature, county commission, plus a county bond election.
He did it all with no errors. See the story on KOB's site:
http://www.kobtv.com/archive/2000/november/13/votecomputer.htm
After Consult had left to go up to Glorieta, we received a very encouraging letter addressed to Challenge Participants from Heather Wilson. The URL is
http://challenge.nm.org/Archive/00-01/wilson_letter.jpg
It is good to know that our Congresswoman is supporting your work.
Teachers: We have tentative dates and location for the Summer Teacher Institute. We are planning for the last two weeks of June at New Mexico Tech. June 17-29. As soon as these are definite, we'll let you know. We want to start recruiting right away for the STI.
Remember the December 8 date to RSVP for the Regional Workshop.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Betsy (for Consult)
11 / 13 / 2000
Good Morning!
I hope the sun is shining where you are. It is a beautiful day here in Albuquerque.
Mike Carpenter who manages the ReRuns program for New Mexico Technet sent me a message about the Challenge and ReRuns. He says that if you are applying for ReRun computers, you can move to near the top of his list if you will write CHALLENGE in the field marked Technology Plan. The URL is http://reruns.nm.org . Mike notes that all of the computers we used at the Kickoff have been allocated. The systems he has available are the same but without CD and OS. Schools must purchase both. For $150 per system he can offer an upgrade to the CD and Win98SE. However some schools may already have Windows licenses and won't need that upgrade. You can write to Mike at carp@nm.net if you have specific questions. This is a really excellent opportunity for Challenge schools.
Remember: December 8 is the date to RSVP for the Regional Workshops.
And if you are interested in helping plan the Awards Day events, send a message to celia@nm.net .
We are working on Mentors. Do not hesitate to remind us if we seem to be not getting to you soon enough!
Keep on keeping on!
Betsy (for Consult)
11 / 6 / 2000
Greetings!
We enjoyed meeting you and are looking forward to a great Challenge Year. Several of you have written to us asking questions so we know you know where to find Consult.
Thank you to those of you have your Abstracts submitted. You have met an important milestone. Those of you still working on Abstracts may want to check out the AiS (Adventures in Supercomputing) URL: http://www.krellinst.org/AiS/textbook/textbook.html . You can get there from the Students link on the home page. We are working hard to find mentors for those of you still working on the Abstracts and who do not have mentors. We hope to have everyone ready to go soon.
Remember that December 8 is the date to RSVP (let us know) whether or not you are coming to Regional Workshops in January. We'll need the name of the school, the number of the Team, and the names of the students and teachers planning to attend. Please send the information to betsy@nm.net . Thanks for getting this milestone on your calendar!
Teachers: Please let Consult know if you are interested in the Summer Teacher Institute (STI) and haven't given us your name. Several of you gave your names to Celia expressing interest in the STI. We don't have a date or a site yet, but we do have funding so it will happen! If you would like to help with planning, please send a message to Consult. We appreciated your input about teacher workshops and the Challenge Year in general that you shared at the Fireside Chats.
Talk to you next week.
Betsy for Consult
10 / 26 / 2000
Greetings!
Just a quick reminder that Saturday night we set our clocks back one hour. A few years ago one of our students forgot to do this and thought he had missed the bus and had his parents drive him up to Glorieta! As you can guess, he arrived well before his team.
Keep checking the weather reports. Right now it looks as if it will be cool after the sun goes down and showers on Monday.
Thanks to all of you who checked your registration data. Appreciate your letting us know about discrepancies.
Looking forward to seeing all of you.
Betsy for Consult
10 / 23 / 2000
Good Morning!
Next Monday we will be at Glorieta. Will it be raining? Keep an eye on the weather news.
To make sure that your registration is confirmed, please go to the Challenge web page http://www.challenge.nm.org and follow the links for student and teacher registration. Please write to consult@challenge.nm.org if you see a problem with your confirmation. You can phone us (Betsy - 505.220.5050 or Celia - 280.1113) BUT it is usually faster to write to Consult because there are six of us looking at that mail.
Some of you have asked about an emergency number at Glorieta. This number, 505.757.6161, is answered 24 hours/day.
The rooms have phones. However, long distance is blocked. If you need to make a call you can use a phone card at the public phones. Teachers can guarantee calls with a credit card when they register.
Glorieta is undergoing some major renovation. When you arrive at Glorieta, teachers will go to the registration area for room keys and meal tickets for themselves and their students. The temporary hotel registration area is too small to accomodate more than one person per school. Students will go across the parking lot and up the stairs to receive their conference registration packets. Signs will point the way. There is an elevator to the second floor near the hotel registration.
We are very proud of our winning team from last year, three students from Sandia Prep in Albuquerque, who made a presentation last Tuesday to the Technology Showcase at the Albuquerque Convention Center. The name of their project is "Pattern Analysis of Results from Flow Cytometry Data". You will have a chance to visit with them and other finalists from Challenge 2000.
Remember that teams will need to bring copies of their abstracts to Glorieta. To see examples of previous teams' abstracts, please go to the Challenge web page and look in archives. In fact, you can follow a team from its abstract, to its interim report and to its final report. It is important to bring at least a draft of your abstract. You may decide to fine tune it after you visit with the scientists, but they can't be of much help if you haven't chosen on an area of science and a topic within that area.
And finally, we are working on getting the word out about the Challenge to Chambers of Commerce around the state. David Kratzer, who is part of Consult from Los Alamos, travelled to Clayton last week to make a presentation, and Bill Blackler, a member of our Executive Board talked with the Cimarron Chamber on Wednesday. Pam Gray, Team Sponsor from Lovington, will present the Challenge to the Lovington Chamber. We appreciate these efforts to help raise funds for local Challenge teams as well as to increase Challenge participation.
We are looking forward to seeing you and to a great Kickoff.
Betsy Frederick for Consult
10 / 16 / 2000
Challenge Community!
Two weeks from today we all will be enjoying the beautiful autumn weather at Glorieta!!!
A complete schedule can be found at http://www.challenge.nm.org/Glorieta/schedule.shtml
Highlights:
Session One: Sunday, October 29, 2000 - Monday, October 30, 2000: Schools roughly more than 100 miles from Glorieta.
- 12:00 - 2:00 Registration on Sunday
- 2:45 Dismissal on Monday
Session Two: Monday, October 30, 2000 - Tuesday, October 31, 2000: Schools roughly less than 100 miles from Glorieta.
- 9:00 - 11:00 Registration on Monday
- 12:00 - 1:00 Lunch, Dismissal on Tuesday
The rules at Glorieta are posted at http://www.challenge.nm.org/Glorieta/grules.shtml
Abstract hints are available at http://www.challenge.nm.org/Glorieta/abhints.shtml
Please let us know now if you are in need of a mentor to help your team(s) focus and get those abstracts in great shape.
Consult had a table at the MAES (Mexican American Engineers and Scientists) conference last week and contacted many college students and professionals who would like to serve as online mentors and collaborate with the Challenge.
Consult, with the winning 99-00 team from Sandia Prep, are presenting tomorrow at the Technology Showcase.
The Challenge Executive Board may be presenting at a Chamber of Commerce near you. If your team would like to join a member of the board to present, please contact us.
Looking forward to seeing you all.
Celia for Consult
(David, Eric, Joe, Mike, Betsy)
10 / 9 / 2000
Friends,
Thanks for getting in those TEAFs! Perhaps that stands for Terrific Energetic Awesome Friends!!!!
Your next deadline is:
Friday, October 20, 2000.
It is for the Registration fee ($20.00) for each person attending Glorieta; it is due at:
Technet
5921 Jefferson NE
Albuquerque, New Mexico
87109.
We will shortly be confirming your enrollment via individual email. Sunday, October 29, 2000 - Monday, October 30, 2000 are for schools roughly more than 100 miles from Glorieta and Monday, October 30, 2000 - Tuesday, October 31, 2000 are for schools roughly less than 100 miles from Glorieta.
If you and your team would like a school visit in November from a Challenge Representative, please let us know now so we can schedule it into our schedules. We could address any issues, answer questions and ensure that you can connect to New Mexico Technet and Los Alamos National Laboratory. If it can be arranged, the Challenge representative would like to meet with the Principal or Headmaster.
20 more working days until kickoff! Please let us know if you need a mentor now to help you formulate your abstract to get a workable problem.
Celia for consult
10 / 2 / 2000
Happy October,
Well, there are 27 more working days for you to get your team's abstract done, meet all the Challenge deadlines and find a mentor. There will be some time at Glorieta to work on your abstracts, but the more prepared you come, the better we can help you.
All deadlines are under Important Dates on our webpage
http://challenge.nm.org
It would be a great experience for your team to find their own mentor in your community perhaps, or online, but if you need help finding one, do not hesitate to ask us for help.
Some teams have registered as individuals but have not completed their registration by registering as a team. You should have a team registration password if you have done this correctly! We will be contacting you, if you haven't <% + )
Celia for Consult
9 / 25 / 2000
Happy Monday!
I had frost on my windshield this morning! So plan to bring warm clothes to Glorieta as we are going there a week later than usual.
In the September 22 issue of Computer Scene, there is a great cartoon where a man is yelling into the phone, something to the effect of "No, you can not use the IBM supercomputer to play chess!" It made me think about the Challenge's AUP (Acceptable Use Policies).
We have a new feature on our website, a search function. I just went in and typed AUP and came up with ten plus hits about it. I would appreciate it if you would review this year's AUP and share it with students' households also.
The search function does not search all our links, but it does the job when you are looking for something on the Challenge site!
Of course, pi and mode are capable of helping you play chess, but that is not the intended use of the Challenge computers, unless your team has a chess project planned! Please do not hesitate to contact us if you need any help planning a project.
Celia for Consult (Betsy, David, Eric, Joe and Mike, too! Ken King, our networking expert is currently on consult, also!)
9 / 18 / 2000
Happy Monday,
Successful teams tell us that having a mentor is the key to success in the Challenge. Now is the time to find a mentor, whether you are a beginning or advanced team. If you need some help, please contact consult @
consult@challenge.nm.org
More about mentors at
http://www.challenge.nm.org/Mentors/
We also recommend that you come to Glorieta with an abstract ready to get advice from content area, programming and project management experts.
Timeline:
11 more days to register online! http://www.technet.nm.org/chal99/chal99_main.html
20 more days to get that Team Entry Authorization Form in by snail mail. The address is:
Betsy and Celia
NM TEchnet, 5921 Jeferson NE
Albuquerque, NM
87109
About a month to get the $20 fee in for each person attending Glorieta.
And just over a month to meet at Glorieta!
Sincerely yours,
Consult
Alphabetically by first name:
Betsy Frederick, NM Technet
Celia Einhorn, NM Technet
David Kratzer, LANL
Eric Ovaska, LANL
Joe Watts, LANL
Mike Topliff, NM Tech
P.S. Check out this site!
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.09/kamen.html
Dean Kamen, multimillionaire inventrepreneur, is going global with a robochair that climbs stairs, a miracle motor that fights disease, and his wildest notion of all - that scientists will be the 21st century's superstars.
9 / 11 / 2000
Some of the early bird teams who have already registered will receive a copy of Microsoft Office 2000 at the kickoff! Please let us know if you are having any difficulties with registration. Just write to consult@challenge.nm.org. We hope that you commit that address to memory and utilize it. There will be a quiz! Registration deadlines are:
Online registration, the Team Entry Authorization Form signature sheets, instructional tracks and more can be found at
http://www.challenge.nm.org
Did you check out information on the keynote speaker, Karen G. Haines, a Post Doctoral Fellow from the Albuquerque High Performance Computing Center?
Her topic is "Using Computational Science and Scientific Visualization to Model the Fly's Early Visual Processing System.
Do you know the rules set up by the Glorieta Conference Center?
Does your team need some hints on how to write your abstract?
Looking forward to working with you this year!
Sincerely,
Consult
9 / 5 / 2000
Dear Challenge Teachers:
We hope that you have all received the Challenge 00-01 Invitation and Registration Package. The entire package is on our web site: http://www.challenge.nm.org. We are looking forward to a good year and hope that you will be joining us.
Microsoft has given us 50 copies of Office 2000 and one copy will goto each of the first 50 schools to complete their registration. The online electronic registration is ready to go. Except for the Team Entry Authorization Form, all other parts of registration can be done on line.
We have a new e-mail address: consult@challenge.nm.org. As in past years, please write to us anytime. It is usually easier to reach us by e-mail than by telephone.
Please look at the web page. We update it regularly and the latest news is always there. There are many new resources, too.
Again, we look forward to working with you and hope your school year is off to a good start.
Sincerely,
Celia Einhorn and Betsy Frederick, New Mexico Technet, 505.345.6555*
David Kratzer and Eric Ovaska, Los Alamos National Lab/DOE, 505.667.2864
*VM. We check it at least once a day.
