june 2010
news
the stentorian I ncssm
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NCSSM students celebrate their successes at NUSHS, the host of the SIMC competition. From right, Bryce Taylor, Akash Ganapathi,
Matt Jordan, Damien Jiang, Christine Ye, and Katheleen Lan. Two Singaporean guides stand to their left. • Photo courtesy of Matt Jordan
Students win high honors in Singapore math contest
Teams use graph theory to write Starbucks-killing strategy
By Alex Lew
Four seniors and two
juniors returned victorious
from Singapore on Friday after
participating in a competitive
international mathematical
modeling contest. The six
students were split into two
teams: one team, consisting of
seniors Akash Ganapathi and
Christine Ye and junior Matt
Jordan, tied for second place,
and the other team, consisting
of seniors Damien Jiang and
Kathleen Lan and junior Bryce
Taylor, were in the top half of
all participants.
With 60 teams from over
33 schools and 17 countries,
competition is always fierce
at the biennial Singapore
International Mathematics
Challenge. For two and a
half days, small teams of
students attempt to come up
with creative solutions to real
world problems using any
math they know, from algebra
to graph theory. At the end of
the working period, teams turn
in their final papers and make
15-minute presentations to the
judges.
This year, the problem was
coffee. “We were given a graph
representing some city blocks
in Singapore, and we were told
to find the optimal location
of a Coffee Bean franchise
such that it would draw more
customers than the preexisting
Starbucks locations,” Jordan
explained. Most teams used
graph theory to find a solution,
treating each possible location
as a vertex and the streets as
edges. “We worked under
a few assumptions—mainly
that the population was evenly
distributed,” Jordan said.
“Since population will then be
proportional to the length of
the street, you want to cause as
many streets to be closer to the
nearest Coffee Bean than to the
nearest Starbucks.”
Jordan’s team’s solution,
which used what is known as
a greedy algorithm to find the
best location in a reasonable
amount of time, received the
“Distinction Award” given
to the twelve teams that tie
for second place. Only the
champions receive a higher
award.
More than math, Jordan said
the team enjoyed experiencing
a new culture and getting to
know the other competitors
from around the world.
“The event was hosted
by the National University
of Singapore, and all the
competition events were held
at their affiliated high school,
very similar to NCSSM, but
on the other side of the world,”
Jordan said. “We were led
around by other high school
students. They were incredibly
nice people who showed us
what Singapore was really like.
Singapore was immaculate. It
was a brilliant country. No dirt,
no littering, totally clean. They
had heavy fines for breaking
any of the rules, so most people
obeyed the rules.”
Students toured the island
in small groups, consisting
of other competitors from
different schools. “In addition
to being very satisfied with
how we did mathematically, I
really liked how the program
was run and how it emphasized
networking,” Jordan said.
“They forced students to meet
others from around the world,
which allowed us to form
friendships with people from
several continents.”
The teams were led by
math teacher Phillip Rash,
and the students were chosen
collectively by the math
department. The seniors
had taken the Mathematical
Modeling course at NCSSM,
and juniors were chosen based
on promising performance in
their math classes.
“Honestly, I figured there
was some sort of mistake
since I had never done math
modeling prior to this, but I ran
with the opportunity,” Jordan
said.
In addition to Jordan’s
team’s Distinction Award,
NCSSM’s other team received
a Commendation Award, given
to the top half of participants.
Author Sarah Dessen to Speak at Graduation
• Photo courtesy of sarahdessen.com
By Avani Upalappati
NCSSM is excited to hear
from popular North Carolina
author Sarah Dessen at
commencement this year. We
asked Dessen a few questions
about her own experiences as a
teenager.
In high
school, what
kinds of
activities
were you
involved in?
I have
to admit, I
wasn’t much
of a joiner. I
loved to read,
and to hang
out with my
friends. But I
didn’t partake
in a lot of
activities.
Now, though,
I sort of wish
I had, as high
school is a
great time
to try new
things and
find out what
you like. Life gets busy later
and you don’t have time!
What are some of
your favorite memories/
experiences from high
school?
I loved my writing classes.
They were a great escape for
me. I’d write stories and my
friends would pass them around
between classes to each other.
They were my first audience.
And I was writing about us, in
a lot of ways. I think I still am.
You write a lot of Young
Adult books - what appeals
to you about the genre?
I honestly sort of fell into
it. My high school experience
wasn’t great, and once I
graduated I figured I’d never
think about it again. But once
I was in college, I realized I
had all these stories to tell.
I was always the one who
remembered everything,
and when I started writing
things down, there was a real
connection to the voices I found.
High school, to me, is a time
filled with so many changes,
so many things happening.
There’s a lot of material there,
which is probably why I keep
coming back to it.
Where do you get the
inspiration for your stories?
Some of it is from my own
experience. But more often
than not, it begins because I’m
thinking about something that
didn’t happen, and wondering
what would have been different
if it did. Fiction based solely
on truth tends not to be too
interesting, at least not when
I’m writing it. I need to start
from the ground up and really
see the story. So I usually am
inspired by things I see or
remember, and then build a
novel from there.
How do you perceive
education - what does it mean
to you?
My parents are both
professors who met in grad
school. And my brother has
his PHD, as well. Education
was always a huge thing in
my family. It was the ticket
to everything: the future, your
dreams, . making anything
possible. The day I graduated
from UNC was one of the
best of my life, and I credit
the writing program there
with making me into a writer.
Without that experience, and
my amazing professors there, I
don’t know where I would be.
Before you were asked to
be our graduation speaker,
what did you know about
NCSSM?
Because I went to Chapel
Hill High School, I’ve always
known about NCSSM. I knew
people who went there and had
been to speak at the library.
The students are clearly the
best of the best, so it’s a little
intimidating to think that I’m
supposed to give them advice.
I don’t feel qualified! But I will
do my best.
Do you have something
you want to tell us - something
we graduating seniors, and
the soon to be seniors should
keep in mind?
In my speech, I really want
to talk about how life doesn’t
always go the way you plan
or want, and that’s okay. The
failures, trip-ups and mistakes
are what make unique as much
as our accomplishments. Life
is big. The best you can do is
just live it.