Students who have a cell phone ring in an event may be disqualified in the event, at the discretion of the event supervisor. All students are strongly encouraged to turn off all cell phones or do not take them into competitive events.
In accordance with the National Science Olympiad policy on media and images, students, coaches, team representatives, and spectators will only be allowed to take pictures of people and devices associated with their school. No imagery (still or video) of other students and/or other schools’ devices will be allowed to be taken during the tournament, in accordance of NSO policy (policy created in May 2010).
Pictures of medal winners will be taken by a photographer from the Society of Physics Students. These pictures will be posted to a special Flickr account after the tournament. All coaches will receive a link to that account after the tournament, you can then download as many photos as you need. Please do NOT send people up to the stage to take pictures during the awards ceremony, we want to keep it moving. Pictures of the medal winners for each event will be taken immediately after they are given their medals, at a photo area right next to the stage.
Sumo Bots
Sumo bots will be run as the final event of the tournament. The double-elimination tournament will begin at 2:30 in the University Center Ballroom. Teams must sign up for Sumo Bots with Earl Blodgett PRIOR TO THE TOURNAMENT so that the brackets can be assigned. Team assignments will not be publicized or available until competition day. TEAMS THAT DO NOT SIGN UP FOR SUMO BOTS BEFORE THE COMPETITION WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO COMPETE. Please contact Earl Blodgett if you have any questions.
Helicopter Duration
Helicopter Duration will be run in Centennial Science Hall, room 275 during the day, with practice flights throughout the day as allowed by the event supervisor. Room 275 is a moderately large classroom with a flat acoustic tile ceiling approximately 3.8 meters high. There is a narrow lower ceiling around the edge of the room approximately 3.0 meters high which could be used for an alternative target. There are some ventilation ducts and other minor obstacles on the primary ceiling, none on the secondary lower ceiling.
Cell Phones and Video/Still Images