ARML 2023 Information

Dear ARML Team,

Welcome to ARML 2023! This email is going out to everyone who participated in the SFBA/NorCal ARML Team last year, as well as anyone else we think might be interested in joining the team for 2023. It contains a LOT of information about the logistics, timing, and details of this year's ARML competition, as well as several action items for you.

ARML moves to Reno

ARML has announced that the competition will be held at the University of Nevada, Reno this year, on June 2nd and 3rd. As a result, this year's ARML will be a 2-day trip, departing on Friday morning (June 2) and returning Saturday evening (June 3).

Admin Changes

In a continuation of the administrative changes from last season, our team will no longer be under the mathleague.org umbrella this year. Instead, the team will be hosted by Bay Area Math Tournament Group, the organization that also operates BMT. We anticipate few operational changes as a result of this administrative shift. The main impact is that the team website has moved to http://sfbanorcalarml.org/.

Thank you to Tim and mathleague.org for supporting the team over the past 16 years, and we look forward to continuing to partner and work with mathleague in the coming years as well.

How to Sign Up

Due to ARML's deadlines this year, we're operating on a very compressed timeframe this year. If you're planning on going to ARML this year, you'll need to complete two steps by April 25. Those steps are laid out on our website at http://sfbanorcalarml.org/join/.

As a summary: First, fill out the Information Sheet – you can do this even if you're not sure you want to go to Reno; it just gets you on our email list so you can stay informed. Second, once you're sure you're going, pay the fee on ContestDojo. Unlike in past years, we'll handle permission slips via DocuSign or another electronic signature service in early May. All the details you need about ARML this year can be found at https://sfbanorcalarml.org/.

Practice Schedule

We will hold two online info sessions for those new to ARML, on April 16 and 19 at 5pm. Zoom links will be posted at https://sfbanorcalarml.org/practices/ prior to each info session.

In addition, we will hold ARML Local on April 22, 1pm-5pm, at Grant Park Community Center in Los Altos. Everyone is welcome to attend ARML Local, regardless of whether you're planning to come to Reno with the team. No fees are required for ARML Local.

We will hold two online elite team tryouts on April 30 and May 6. We will also consider ARML Local as a tryout opportunity. While attending these activities is optional, we highly encourage attending at least one tryout for anyone interested in being selected for an elite team.

Like last year, we will hold three practices on weekends in May. Each practice will include time to work in teams, as well as some fun math activities for everyone to get to know each other. The details are all available at https://sfbanorcalarml.org/practices/.

Communications

Please send all questions to arml-info@lists.berkeley.edu. Emails to this address are seen by multiple members of the coaching staff, and is the best way to ensure that you get an answer as quickly as possible.

Also, if you'd like to continue receiving emails and information about ARML 2023, make sure you fill out the Information Sheet to get added to this year's email list. All further communications after this one will go to this year's list.

This year, team emails will also be posted at http://sfbanorcalarml.org/, and you can go there to see anything that you might have missed.

T-Shirt Design Information

In a venerable ARML tradition, we'll be designing a distinctive team t-shirt. You are invited to submit design ideas, and we will put them to a vote in about two weeks. Here are the rules:

• T-shirt designs must be submitted by April 30th.

• All designs MUST be submitted in a vector-graphics format such as .svg or .ai. (Inkscape is free software that can create such files and is decently easy to use.)

• Designs consist of a front and a back (make a separate file for each).

• To keep printing costs low, you may use at most four colors of ink TOTAL between the front and the back: either 4 colors on one side and the other side blank, 3 colors on one side and 1 on the other, or 2 colors on each side. You are not required to use four colors; some past designs have just been simple white line art on each side.

• The design will most likely be printed on shirts of several different fabric colors. It is best if you design something that works against a variety of background colors.

• Do not use anything offensive or anyone else's copyrighted material.

Send your designs to arml-info@lists.berkeley.edu by April 30th. If you would like help with your design, send it in at least a week early, and we will do our best to help improve it.

Action Items

To summarize, here's what you should do right now if you're going to ARML this year:

• Sign up for ARML! Fill out the Information Sheet and pay the fee on ContestDojo by April 25th, and your spot on the team will be guaranteed.

• Tell your friends to sign up for ARML too.

• Make plans to attend practices.

• If you want to submit a t-shirt design, start working on it and submit that by April 30th.

We're looking forward to seeing you all for another fantastic year of ARML!

–Moor and the rest of the SFBA/NorCal coaching staff

ARML Power Contest with AlphaStar

Dear SFBA ARML students,

We are excited to form AlphaStar / SFBA ARML joint teams for the ARML Power Contest this year. The Power Contest is an official contest organized by ARML, with two rounds, one in the fall and one in the spring. Each round of the Power Contest consists of an ARML-style power question.

The Fall contest will be offered on Sunday October 30th and November 13th in AlphaStar's Gauss and Hilbert Master classes, respectively. These are free classes that also train students and teams for prestigious competitions organized by universities, such as HMMT, SMT, BMT, CHMMC, etc. The classes have already started but students can apply and join the classes anytime during the academic year. For more information and to apply to the course that fits you, please visit the Master class website. During your application, please mention which SFBA ARML team you participated in.

You will need to register for the Master class to join our Power Contest team, but you are not required to join all the sessions. If you are planning to join only to participate in the ARML Power Contest, please mention that in the notes when you register. If you are already participating in the Power Contest through your school or another organization, you are still welcome to apply to the Master class, but you should not join the AlphaStar / SFBA ARML joint team for the Power Contest.

Best,
Moor and the AlphaStar team

ARML Wrap-Up and Looking Ahead to 2023!

Dear team,

Congratulations on a successful year at ARML!  Hope everyone's having a great start to the summer – we're going to be using this time to plan for ARML 2023. :) 

Sorry we're a bit late, but full results from the competition are now available.  ARML has also posted a summary of results, as well as the full contest packet (problems and solutions).  All of these are also linked from ARML's website. 

Team results

In short, we won!  When combining the onsite results (which were announced at the competition) and the offsite results (which came out a couple of days later), SFBA/NorCal A1 placed first overall by a comfortable margin of 14 points over second-place Lehigh Valley, another perennial contender.  Lehigh hung in with us on most of the competition, but couldn't keep up with our spectacular score on the individual round.  The next two top teams were New York City and Texas; Texas placed second among on-site teams.

SFBA/NorCal A2 finished 13th overall, and was back on top as the best second team in the competition, narrowly beating out Washington A2, Texas A3 (yes, A3 was their second-best team), and New York City A2.

SFBA/NorCal A3 made an admirable effort at this year's ARML. We're especially proud of those of you who come to ARML for the first time this year. We also had an awesome contingent from Sacramento who showed great independence and leadership.  We hope all of you will be back next year!

Individual results

Although ARML is mainly a team competition, SFBA/NorCal students had a banner year on the individual round.  Congratulations to David Zhang and Adam Tang, who scored 9/10 and finished 4th and 7th, respectively, among all on-site competitors!  Eight more students scored 8/10 and were invited to the tiebreaker round: Eric Shen, Alan Lee, Jack Albright, Rohan Bodke, Catherine Li, Espen Slettnes, Rohan Das, and Angela Liu!

We also congratulate our team high scorers, the top-scoring student(s) on each team other than those invited to tiebreakers: Mason Fang, Raymond Feng, and Johan Ko from A1; Jason Lee and Ritwin Narra from A2; and Daniel Hu from A3!  Each of these students scored 7/10 on the individual round.  Connor Huh and Marco Troper also had the top individual scores on the UNLV alternate team.

Other highlights

Of course, ARML is about much more than the math.  We hope you all enjoyed getting to know each other, riding the "bus" down together, playing games in the dorm, and all of the other fun stuff that comes along with ARML weekend.  We certainly did!

Darren and Bill have compiled a photo album here: [redacted for the email blog]

Next year

We're planning to kick off next season in March 2023, and we hope to see all of you back… including the seniors as coaches! We're hoping to grow our teams next year, so please invite your friends!

If you have any feedback or suggestions for how to make ARML, practices, and the trip even better next year, please let us know. We'll post more updates to this email list next spring.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to … 

… our students for coming to the competition!

… their parents for letting us borrow their students for the weekend!

… our awesome coaches for volunteering their weekends to coach the team!

… Tim, Kendra, and the mathleague.org staff for supporting the team behind the scenes!

… AlphaStar Academy for allowing us to use their offices for practice!

… Rebecca and Owen for leading the Sacramento group!

Best,

Moor, Silas, and the SFBA coaching team

ARML Week Itinerary and Information

Dear all,

It's almost time for ARML!  This email contains some logistical information you'll need for the trip this week.

Itinerary

First and most importantly, an itinerary and schedule for the weekend is attached to this email.  Please read it carefully!  It also contains a packing list, contact information for coaches (which students should save in their phones), and some fairly basic rules that students will be expected to follow.

The itinerary will also tell you where and when to meet your travel group (van or flight).  Please read that information right away and make sure you know where to go and when to be there!

You'll notice some of the items on that schedule are TBD; this is primarily because we haven't been told yet which dorm building we'll be staying in.  We will update the itinerary, and re-send it if necessary, when we have this information.

COVID policies

Just as a reminder, please be aware of and cautious with the possibility of last-minute COVID infections, as you would with any other travel or event.  If you experience symptoms this week, you should get tested, by PCR if possible to minimize the possibility of false negatives.  If you test positive, contact the coaches immediately.  If you are unable to travel due to a positive COVID test, we will issue a full refund of fees upon submission of a copy of your test results from a facility that provides such documentation.

As an added precaution, coaches will conduct temperature checks for students traveling in the vans before departure.

We encourage you to wear masks or face coverings as much as possible during the trip, especially in crowded spaces such as the vans, planes, dorm common areas, and individual/relay rounds on Saturday.  Please bring your own masks, but coaches will have a limited supply of extras once you arrive in Las Vegas if needed.

Should a student show COVID symptoms during the trip, we will have some test kits for them to use, and will isolate them as needed if they test positive.  We will contact parents directly about travel home should this occur.

Phone numbers and emergency contacts

Please fill out this form to provide a phone number that you'll have with you on the trip to ARML, and an emergency contact: https://forms.gle/SJcHKhEQRxTJqdZq6 

Should you need to contact staff during the trip, contact information is listed in the itinerary.  Please contact your own team's coaches first, then Moor if you can't reach them, or if there is a major emergency.

Shirts

We are looking for a volunteer to pick up our t-shirts from the printing company on Tuesday or Wednesday, and bring them to the vans on Thursday morning.  They are at Century Graphics in Sunnyvale and can be picked up anytime between 8:30am and 5:00pm either day.  If you're traveling by van and able to do this, please let us know - it would be greatly appreciated.

Also, it is team tradition to wear your oldest ARML shirt on the vans or on your flight to ARML. If you have your oldest ARML shirt available, please wear it!

If you have any further questions…

…let us know and I or one of the other coaches will do our best to get back to you quickly. If you need to contact us, please use (as always) arml-info@lists.berkeley.edu to ensure that the right person gets your email.

--Silas (and the rest of the coaches)

Updates, A3 practice, logistics

Hi everyone, 

It was great to see everyone at practice last weekend. Practice materials and another practice individual round is now up at the practice website: https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~moorxu/2022ARML/. We will not have a team-wide practice this weekend, though some teams may have an online practice as directed by their coaches. 

In particular, the A3 team will have an online practice Sunday 3-4pm for the Bay Area and Sac halves of the team to meet each other. You can join at the following Zoom link:

[redacted for the email blog]

We also suggest that students join the team discord: [redacted for the email blog]

A few logistical notes from Silas: 

(1) Expect a detailed itinerary soon, once we have final scheduling information from ARML.

(2) if you're flying, the coach who's chaperoning your flight should be in touch with when to meet at the airport. 

(3) if you're going down on the van, meet at 10am at Diridon on Thursday, and expect to return around 8pm on Sunday. More details to follow in the detailed itinerary.

As always, let us know if you have any questions!

Best,

Moor

Practice this weekend, permission slips, Po-Shen Loh talks

Hi everyone, 

Our final Bay Area practice of the season will be on Sunday, May 22, 10am-5pm at AlphaStar Academy in Santa Clara. Note that we're going back to the 5pm end time for this practice. Lunch will also be provided. As always, details can be found at https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~moorxu/2022ARML/.

At this weekend's practice, in addition to the usual content, we're also going to participate in FARML, which is written by one of the ARML authors as an annual practice scrimmage - we'll be competing against other teams from across the country. As such, we'd appreciate if everyone could make an extra effort to come on time.

Many of you still need to turn in permission slips. If you have not yet submitted a notarized permission slip (either by mail or by handing one to me), please bring it to this weekend's practice. You can find a notary at most banks, UPS stores, and so on - and many of these places are open today! It's important that we take care of this paperwork ASAP.

For those of you in Sacramento, I will be at Saturday's practice at UC Davis and can take permission slips from anyone who needs to submit one at that time.

If anyone is looking for some more math this weekend, our friend Prof Po Shen Loh from CMU (aka the founder of Expii and USA international math olympiad coach) is visiting the Bay Area and giving some public talks this weekend. Information is included below.

Please let us know if you have any questions, and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone this weekend!

Best,

Moor

=======================================================

Hi there,

I'm on tour (https://poshenloh.com/tour), giving free public math talks in 30 cities over 5 weeks. My SF weekend is coming up, and I'm trying to figure out how to reach more people to let students and families know that there is a fun and enlightening math event that they could attend. Might you be willing to share this with your communities and mailing list?

The talk is for families of students in grades 4-11, and it will be a math talk like none other. I am a professional mathematician who also uses math to invent solutions to significant real-world problems. I'll talk about some of those inventions, placing everything in the context of how students can build up similar mathematical invention skills of their own. There will be math, there will be storytelling, and there will be tips for more effective learning. I've already gone around many cities in this month's tour, and the feedback has been overwhelmingly and enthusiastically positive. Registration is free, and the SF events are all listed at: https://poshenloh.com/tour. They start this Fri May 20, and run in various Bay Area locations on Sat May 21 and Sun May 22.

Best,
Po

Extra shirt orders; practice materials and homework

Hi everyone,

Orders for extra shirts are now open and will close at midnight tomorrow night, approximately 24 hours from now! To order, visit https://mathleague.org/armlshirts.php. Note: if you are a student or coach traveling with the team to Vegas, we already have a shirt for you based on the size that you submitted on your information sheet, and you do not need to order an extra one unless you want a second shirt, perhaps of a different color.

Practice materials from today's practice, and homework for this week, are all up at the practice website now. Also check out the practice website for the upcoming schedule. https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~moorxu/2022ARML/.

As a reminder, permission slips are due on May 23, and I can take your permission slips at the practice next Sunday (May 22, 10am-5pm, at AlphaStar Academy). For those of you in Sacramento, I am intending to come to your practice at UC Davis on Saturday May 21, and I can pick up permission slips from you then. :)

Best,

Moor

Practice on Sunday 5/15 and Sunday 5/22

Hi everyone, 

We have finalized our Bay Area practice schedule for the remainder of the season. Our next practice will be Sunday May 15, 10am-4pm at AlphaStar Academy, followed by Sunday May 22, 10am-5pm, also at AlphaStar Academy. Thank you to AlphaStar Academy for partnering with us and hosting practices at their office!

Lunch is provided at each practice. Masks are strongly recommended indoors, and lunch will be served outside. Please note the earlier than usual end time for practice this week. For more information about practices, see the practice website: https://ocf.berkeley.edu/~moorxu/2022ARML/. 

As a reminder, everyone needs to submit a notarized permission slip by May 23. You may submit permission slips by mail or by handing them to me at practice. For those of you in Sacramento, I may be able to come to a Sac practice over the next two weekends. If I'm able to do so, I would also be able to pick up your permission slips then - I'll update you soon. For more information, see https://mathleague.org/armljoin.php. 

It's tradition that every team has their own t-shirt color. (The coaches represent all of the teams and get tie-dye shirts.) Every team needs to pick a color this week. I've started discussions on each team's Discord channel. Students are encouraged to join the team Discord and participate in the decision! (A3, since a lot of your team is split between the Bay Area and Sac/Davis, you'll have to make this decision online by Sunday.) Discord invite: [redacted for email blog]

As always, shoot us an email at arml-info@lists.berkeley.edu if you have any questions. Looking forward to seeing everyone at practice!

Best,

Moor

Materials from May 7 practice; recommended homework

Hi everyone, 

It was great to see everyone at our practice this past Saturday. We hadn't had an in-person practice since May 2019, and after practice, the coaches all agreed that the in-person experience is so much better than Zoom. :) 

I've posted materials from this practice on the practice website. You can access the materials using username=sfba and password=arml. 

I've posted a recommended homework assignment on the practice website as well - an ARML individual round. While this isn't required and we're not going to collect it from you, we generally do not do individual rounds during our team practice time, and I encourage everyone to do this individual round this week. I'll post one a week until ARML. 

We apologize for our ongoing difficulties confirming a space (and therefore a date) for our practice this weekend. I plan to update the practice website by Wednesday with a plan for this weekend.

For those of you who were not at our practice this week, we announced this year's teams, and a copy is listed below.

A few final reminders:

• Students can join the team discord: [redacted on the email blog]

• Check out the practice website: https://ocf.berkeley.edu/~moorxu/2022ARML/ 

• If you have not yet completed a permission slip for the trip, please do so (information at https://mathleague.org/armljoin.php)

• Team emails are archived at https://sfbaarml.blogspot.com/.

Best,

Moor

======================

Team Rosters:

[redacted on the email blog]

Reminder: ARML practice on Saturday

Hi everyone, 

Our first in-person SFBA ARML practice of the season will be on Saturday, May 7, 10am-5pm, at AlphaStar Academy. Details are available at https://ocf.berkeley.edu/~moorxu/2022ARML/. Please note that we have also updated the practice schedule to more accurately reflect uncertainty about the remaining practice dates (Saturday vs Sunday).

At this first practice, we will introduce the coaches, announce this year's teams, introduce each of the ARML rounds, and practice in teams. We will also have a math talk from Simon, a walkthrough of some problems from our practice, and some social time for everyone to get to know each other. Feel free to bring some games or a frisbee to practice! Lunch will be provided in the middle of practice. If you have any dietary restrictions (other than being vegetarian), please let us know, and we'll see what we can do.

ARML is a team event, and it's important that everyone come to practice if possible in order to work in teams. If you have a schedule conflict with part of practice, it's ok to attend whatever portion that you're available. If you're unable to attend, please fill out our practice absence form and provide a (good) reason. If you are not joining the team on the trip to UNLV this year, you're still welcome to come to practice - just make sure to check in with a coach when you arrive so we can tell you which team to practice with. If you're in the Sacramento/Davis area, you're not required or expected to come to SFBA's practices; instead, please attend the practice at UC Davis.

We encourage everyone to carpool to practice with others from your city or area. If you need help arranging carpools, I've posted a carpool matching spreadsheet on the practice website. In particular, if anyone is coming from the Palo Alto / Mountain View area, one of our coaches could use a ride. :) 

We're actively working to pin down locations for the remaining practices. Due to uncertainty in location, we've updated the practice schedule to reflect that we may opt to hold practice on either Saturday or Sunday the next two weekends; we intend to select one of each. If you have leads on practice venues (we just need 3 classrooms of 15 seats each) in your local area, such as a school, church, or community center, please let us know.

As a reminder, every student on our team needs to submit a notarized permission form. Please see https://mathleague.org/armljoin.php for more information about this requirement. Permission forms can be submitted either via mail or to me (Moor) at practice.

As always, please email the coaching staff at arml-info@lists.berkeley.edu if you have any questions. Looking forward to seeing everyone at practice on Saturday!

Best,

Moor