Ralph Salvucci On-Line Bridge Contest

 

RULES

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RULES:

  1. A team consists of one or two students. 
  2. Even if you are entering on your own, you must enter your school info to verify that you are a Massachusetts K-12 student.  If you are home-schooled, provide enough info for the contest administrators to contact your parent guardian.
  3. You MUST enter your local code in the "local contest code" slot on the registration or this local contest won't even know you exist.
  4. If you achieve an award-winning level, you only receive the highest-ranked prize.  You can be on as many teams as you want, but don't expect to claim multiple prizes.  If you have a teammate that didn't achieve as high as you, they will receive that lower prize.
  5. All info on the national contest registration site must be true (unless you are under 13 -- see below), and all rules on the national site apply (especially ones involving profanity!).
  6. There will be a date that no new teams involving existing entrants will be allowed.  This rule will be clearly announced at that time, which is approximately 3 weeks before the contest ends (See the Schedule accessed from the home page).

Special rules for students 12 and under

Because of COPPA restrictions on acquiring personal information on line, children age 12 and below are not eligible for the NATIONAL contest. Children age 12 and below can participate in the Open Category, but they will not be asked to provide any personal information on line.  Since the local contest collects no personal information, this is how the registration and prizes are to work for students 12 and under:  these students MUST correctly fill in the optional information at the end of the open registration (school and location -- location means town and state), and they must enter local contest code.  No other information will be verified, but you must tell your teacher your team name.  All prizes will be awarded through the teacher.

 In the event that a student 12 or under is on one of the top 3 teams, we will send a permission slip to the teacher for the parents or guardians to fill out before they will be allowed to the awards dinner.  Since we have no personal information, we will send a form to the teacher for the parents to fill out allowing the full name of their child to be on the certificates and/or the press releases to the school principals and town newspapers.  If the teacher of this student does not wish to be involved, the parent/guardian must contact the Contest Coordinator  (See CONTACT US on the home page)  directly and we will coordinate the proper paperwork directly.  We realize this is a hassle for everyone, but the safety of the students is of the utmost importance and we do not wish to diminish it in any way.  (This should also reinforce that we sincerely encourage younger students to enter, since we believe this contest provides a great educational experience.)

There is an additional rule for students 12 and under communicating with mentors.  If you are registered in the "Open" category and e-mail a mentor, the mentor will send you an e-mail asking for your parents to either call, write, e-mail, or send a note through your teacher to verify that they give permission for you to communicate with the mentor.  Mentors can always communicate with you through your teachers until you get permission, provided your teacher doesn't mind! (this rule added 1/7/05)

rules to win Pete Szustak's "best estimator prize"

In real life, it's not the cost of the bridge at the end of construction that gets you the job; it's the estimate.  You tell a client a price and that's that.  Leaving the idea of claims out of the picture, you won't get paid more than the estimate.  We are asking you to give an estimate of your final bridge cost within one month from the contest start AND INCLUDE YOUR TEAM NAME.  One team will win this special prize, which will not be revealed until the contest has ended.  The coordinator of this competition promises this prize to be "something pretty cool."

When the contest is over, we will compare your final price to your estimated cost.  If your final bridge cost is less than what you estimated, your estimate will be considered for the prize.  The prize goes to the lowest of these qualifying estimates.

To give you the realistic feel of a "sealed envelope bid" all estimates will be kept secret until the end of the competition.

For students under 13, your estimate along with your team name must be submitted either by a parent/guardian or teacher (if willing) unless you get parental permission (see special rules above).

GOOD LUCK TEAMS!

 

 

 

 

Rules subject to change without notice.

 

Last updated ksf 1/16/07