Mathlete takes first place

Mark Lindberg accidentally started at the end of the Student Math League competition test because he set it down wrong. Unknowingly, he was looking at the end of the test first.

The classical guitar performance major knew the questions were supposed to start easy and get progressively harder; so, when he looked at his upside down test he started to worry.

"I kind of freaked myself out because of how hard the problems were," said Lindberg. "I turned the test around, and I started feeling a lot better."

He went on to win first place in the fall round of the competition.

Every fall and spring semester, students compete in the Student Math League which is sponsored by the American Mathematical Association of Two Year Colleges (AMATYC). On Oct. 29, 76 ACC students took the 20 question test at an ACC campus of their choice.

The top eight students won cash prizes ranging from $100 to $250. The money mostly came from individual donations which are matched 2 to 1 by the ACC Foundation. Students that didn't compete in the fall can still compete in the spring round which will take place in mid February.

ACC professor of mathematics and ACC Sponsor of the Student Math League, Tony Vance, explained the skill set needed to do well on the test.

"The contest doesn't really reward procedural understanding of mathematics or memorization, although of course you have to know some facts and procedures. It more rewards creative thinking or the student's ability to problem solve on the fly," said Vance.

Lindberg's opinions on math contests were similar to those of Vance.

"Competitions don't require high levels of math," said Lindberg. "They just challenge you to do the math you are doing better. I enjoy doing these because it stretches my abilities and makes me understand the math better."

Lindberg scored 27.5 out of 40 on the test. Vance said he was really impressed by the score.

This semester, for the first time ever, Vance set aside one hour to try his hand at the test. He was unable to beat Lindberg's score.

"It's not really very surprising," said Vance. "I have no illusions that I am smarter or brighter than our students. I have more experience, and I feel like I can teach them a lot of math of course. In terms of these puzzle kinds of problems, we have some incredibly bright people here."

After each round the top five scores are sent to the AMATYC national office. These scores make up the ACC math team. At the end of the spring round the scores will be tabulated and the winners will be announced at the AMATYC conference the following fall.

ACC has placed first in its region which consists of Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, and New Mexico in 2003, 2004, and 2007 to 2009. ACC is regularly in the top 20 nationally, said Vance.

Next fall, the conference will take place in Austin.

"I am really hoping that I will be able to accept an award for our students having done exceptionally well," said Vance.

The winners of each round are usually honored at an ACC board of trustees meeting. This semester the board decided their schedule was too full to honor the winners and pushed the recognition to the Feb. 7 meeting. Vance explained why this could be a problem.

"My concern is that a lot of the students may have moved on and not be at ACC anymore, and so they may not be able to attend the award presentation," said Vance. "It's only five minutes, but Doctor Kinslow says the agenda is very full, and he's the president."

Lindberg learned what kind of problems the test favored by printing off copies of old tests from the AMATYC website. While studying these tests, he would occasionally get stumped and seek help from his mother who is a math teacher.

"Together we were able to figure out something that would work," said Lindberg.

After winning, his thoughts went back to who had helped him.

"The first thing that I did when I learned that I had won was tell my mom that I had won, and she was equally happy," said Lindberg.

Lindberg already has his eyes set on the next Student Math League.

"I intend to do the competition again in the spring, and I hope that I can do well there too," said Lindberg.