SubscribePOW

Subscribe to the SLU POW electronic delivery service! Simply send a blank email to Maegan Bos with the word "SubscribePOW" in the subject line. You will be among the first to receive the new POW each Friday in PDF format. You may remove your name from the mailing list at any point by sending a similar email with a subject line reading "UnsubscribePOW". The list will be used only to send messages related to the Problem of the Week.

Official Rules

1. The POW is open to all currently enrolled SLU students.
2. New problems will be posted each Friday. (But no problem appears on the last Friday of the semester or when classes are not in session.)
3. Solutions are due by high noon the following Friday; send them to Maegan via email, mailbox, or in person. (But the problem appearing before break is due two weeks later.)
4. Copies of the current problem are available at the display case across from the department office, via electronic email delivery (see above) or at this web site.
5. Solutions will be judged by math faculty and awarded a score from 0 to 5 for completeness, accuracy, and elegance of presentation. Partial credit is awarded where merited.
6. Weekly winners are selected at random from among all correct entries and awarded a nifty USB stick at Math Club. (Selection criteria may vary depending on the number of entries and scores earned. Repeat winners receive gift certificates to Brewer Bookstore.)
7. First year students can earn points towards the FYP Cup. Also score bonus points in your courses! (Participating professors only.)
8. Deserving solutions will be posted at the end of each week.
9. In the event that no sufficiently complete solutions are received, a problem may be retired, or it may be declared “open” with the prize going to the first correct solution submitted.
10. At the end of the semester a grand winner will be awarded a $50 Brewer Bookstore gift certificate. This person will be chosen at random based on total cumulative score. (So the more points you score, the higher your probability to win.)

Questions about individual problems or POW policies should be addressed to Maegan Bos.

Weekly Winners

Each of our weekly winners will receive a nifty 1 gigabyte USB stick, to be awarded at a math club meeting. In addition, at the end of the semester a $50 Brewer Bookstore gift certificate will be awarded to an individual selected at random, weighted by cumulative score over the semester.  A file with the cumulative scores of the leaders may downloaded from the bottom of this page.

FALL SEMESTER 2009
1. (Sept 4) Michael Scott
2. (Sept 11) John LaShomb

Past Problems

For reference or enjoyment, the statements of problems from previous weeks are available. (Please do not submit solutions to these problems.) You may also check out the problems from the Spring 2009 and Fall 2008 semesters. Problems given prior to the Fall 2008 semester are located in the POW Archive.

FALL SEMESTER 2009, BY WEEK
One • Two • Three • Four • Five • Six
Seven • Nine • Ten • Eleven • Twelve