Volume 2, Issue 1
October 31, 2007

Table of Contents

1. FREE AMC 8 Contest
2. OC Math Olympiad Winter Registration Begins
3. Four Avid Academy Students Achieved National Ranking in 2007 Fall Start-Up Math Contest
4. Popular Science Named Ten Most Impressive Young Scientists
5. SAT, Taken at Age 13, Can Predict Career Path of Gifted
6. Avid Students Excel at Mandlebrot
7. New Rubik's Cube World Record
8. California at the Bottom of 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress
9. Debate on Ending SAT for College Admissions

1. FREE AMC 8 Contest

Orange County Math Circle, sponsored by Art of Problem Solving Foundation and Avid Academy for Gifted Youth, will provide FREE AMC 8 contest to all eligible students in Orange County.  AMC 8 is a 25-questions middle math school competition for students in grades 6 - 8.  Calculator is allowed, but not necessary.

• Date:         Tuesday, November 13, 2007
• Time:        7:30 - 8:30 PM
• Location:  Concordia University, Irvine

To register, please download the forms from www.AvidAcademy.com.

2. Orange County Math Olympiad & Problem Solving Training Program Winter Math Olympiad
Training Class Registration Begins

3. Four Avid Academy Students Achieved National Ranking at 2007 Fall Start-Up Math
Contest

Avid Academy students participated in the 2007 Fall Start-Up Math Contest organized by National Assessments.  We would like to congatulate the following students who achieved national ranking:

• 2nd Place, David Yang, 6th Grade, South Pointe Middle School
• 12th Place, Dai Yang, 8th Grade, Rancho San Joaquin Middle School

High School Division

• 3rd Place, Johnny Li, 9th Grade, St. Margaret's Episcopal School
• 27th Place, Edward Dinh, 9th Grade, University High School

For complete results, please visit 2007 Fall Start-Up Events.

The Popular Science magazine named its 6th Annual Brilliant Ten - the most creative and important young scientists.  They have the gall to ask the big questions, even if those happen to be outside the traditional areas of inquiry.  To learn more, please click 6th Annual Brilliant Ten

As reported by Bloomberg News, Researchers at Vanderbilt University reported that the scores that gifted 13-year-olds earn on SAT may predict career paths.  The result may help shape curriculums for the brightest U.S. students.  David Lubinski, a psychology professor at Vanderbilt, suggested that steering more young teens to the SAT would help identify their strengths, tailor curriculums and boost achievements.  For the complete news report, please read: SAT Exam, Taken at Age 13, Can Predict Career Path of Gifted.

The results of the Mandlebrot Round One is now available.  The Avid Academy team is currently ranked 19th in the western region Leaderboard.  Five Avid students are on the Leaderboard:

• David Yang - 6th Grade
• Johnny Li - 9th Grade
• Edward Dinh - 9th Grade
• Sean Kanne - 8th Grade
• Dai Yang - 8th Grade

Congratulations also go to alumni George Xing and Astera Tang, who are both on the National Leaderboard while help University High School Team achieve a 25th ranking at the national level.

A New world record in Rubik's Cube was established at Spanish Open 2007.  Thibaut Jacquinot of Frace completed 3x3x3 cube in 9.86 seconds.

• Date and Time: Saturday, November 10, 2007, 10:00 am (registration at 9:00 am).
• Location: Winnett Lounge, 2nd Floor, Caltech

The 2007 National Assessment of Education (also known as The Nation's Report Card) was released last month.  Overall, 4th and 8th graders achieved a dramatic increase in math scores.  However, California students ranked at 46 out of 50 states in Math scores.

In 2001 University of California President Richard Atkinson called for an end of SAT as a requirement to UC admissions because it does not have a demonstrable relationship with the student's course of study and often leads to a preoccupation with improving test-taking skills at the expense of mastering high school subject. In 2005, the Colldge Board introduced the new SAT as a response to the criticism.  However, the debat on ending SAT continues.  The latest is from social scientist Charles Murray who proposed to abolish SAT in a recent article.  For a summary of the debat and Mr. Murray's view, please read Patricia Cohen's article on Debat on Ending SAT Gains Ground.