Carnegie Mellon Invitational Programming Contest (2004)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Index

Invitation

You are invited to participate in the 2004 Carnegie Mellon Invitational Programming Contest (CMIPC). Although unaffiliated with the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), the CMIPC is a forum for competition similar to the ACM Intercollegiate Programming Competition (ICPC). The competition environment and competition rules are based on those used within the ICPC. Participants in the CMIPC are encouraged to visit the ICPC's home page to learn more about the ACM ICPC and to review the rules and practice materials available there.

Eligibility

Eligible are those who attend a school within one day's drive of the contest at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA, who where eligible to participate in a 2003 ICPC regional contest or who will be eligible to participate in a 2004 ICPC regional contest, and who are registered as a member of a 2-3 person team by a coach appointed by their school. Members of the Carneige Mellon community are not eligible to compete.

This CMIPC is designed to provide a spring semester event for programming teams in the area. It is also designed to allow those who have never previously competed gain exposure to the thrill of competition. In pursuit of this goal, registration fees are kept to a minimum, two person teams are permitted, and we will not limit the number of teams that can register per school, unless additional teams cannot be physically accomodated within our facilties.

Registration

Coaches should, at their earliest opportunity, email Gregory Kesden with an estimate of the number of teams from their institution that will attend. This information will be used only for logistical planning.

Coaches should, at the earliest opportunity, and not later than seven days prior to the contest, email Gregory Kesden with the following information:

  • The coach or coaches's names, email address, and school affiliation
  • The name of each team
  • For each team, a list of members, including the student's full name, year (Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, &c), email address, and emergency contact name and phone number.

During the on-site registration on Saturday, March 27th, the registration fee should be paid for each team. This fee can be paid as $20/person, or $40 per 2-person team, or $60 per 3-person team.

We offer these options to satisfy various reinbursement policies at these options to satisfy various reinbursement policies at participating institutions.

This fee structure assumes one non-partipant, such as a coach, per institution. Additional non-participants, such as additional coaches, will be required to pay an additional $20 fee, per each.

The fee will be used to offset the direct cost of the competition to Carnegie Mellon, in particular it is designed to be slightly less than the actual cost of the food.

Driving Directions

If using an on-line map program, use the address 5000 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15213.

Please also note that parking in the garage on campus is free after 5:00PM on Friday and all day Saturday.

From the east take the Pennsylvania Turnpike West to Exit 57 (Pittsburgh/Monroeville). Follow I-376 West to Exit 5 (Squirrel Hill/Homestead). You will proceed from this exit to Murray Ave, via Forward Ave. To do this, stay straight on the ramp, then turn left onto Forward Ave. From Forward Ave, make a left onto Murray Ave. This is a "main street", neighborhood style. Proceed along Murray, until it intersects with Forbes Avenue. This is a very major intersection. Make a left onto Forbes Ave. Stay on Forbes Avenue. Make a left into the CMU parking garage. The intersection is at a light. If you should miss this left turn, you can take the next one into the driveway. Should you hit Morewood Ave, or Craig St, or if the road becomes one-way against you, you have gone too far.

From the west/north take the Pennsylvania Turnpike East to Exit 28, US-19/Perry Highway. Merge onto I-79 South (Pittsburgh). Follow I-79 South for a little more thn 5 miles and then merge onto I-279 South (Pittsburgh). Take Exit 8A (Veterans Bridge). At this exit, I-279 will become I-579 South. You will be confronted with several possibilities. Take the exit towards I-376 East (Oakland/Monroeville). This will be the Boulevard of the Allies. Take the Forbes Ave exit. Stay in the right lane along Forbes Ave for a little more than a mile, maybe 1.3 or 1.5 miles. You will be in the business district, crossing many side streets. After leaving the main part of the business district, you will cross Craig St and Morewood Ave. At the next light after Morewood, turn right into the parking garage. You can also use the driveway just before the light. If you hit Margaret Morrison St, you have gone too far.

From the south take I-79 North to I-279 North (Pittsburgh). Follow I-279 North toward Pittsburgh through the Fort Pitt Tunnel and onto the Fort Pitt Bridge. Normally, you would take the exit for I-376 East (Monroeville). But, this will likely be closed due to construction. As a detour, stay straight through the bridge and onto the Boulevard of the Allies. You will be in downtown Pittsburgh. Take the ramp for I-376 East (Monroeville). PENNDOT has posted signs for another detour prior to the tunnel. If you follow these, you will also find yourself on I-376 East heading towards Monroeville. The PENNDOT detour is a bit less congested -- but also more complex. Regardless of how you find yourself onto I-376 East towards Monroeville, take Exit 2a (Forbes Ave/Oakland). Stay in the right lane along Forbes Ave for a little more than a mile, maybe 1.3 or 1.5 miles. You will be in the business district, crossing many side streets. After leaving the main part of the business district, you will cross Craig St and Morewood Ave. At the next light after Morewood, turn right into the parking garage. You can also use the driveway just before the light. If you hit Margaret Morrison St, you have gone too far.

Campus Map and Intra-Campus Walking Directions

The competition, itself, will be in Wean Hall. All of the contest-related events, will be in either Wean Hall or Newell Simon Hall. This is fortunate, because these two buildings are connected via a bridge on the 4th floor. The banquet will be in the Schatz Faculty Dining Room on the second floor of the University Center, which is located next door to the parking garage.

To find Wean Hall from the Parking Garage, exit in the direction of the campus (Not the Forbes Ave exit). If you find yourself in front of the stadium, walk underneath the bleachers, with the garage on your right and the stadium on your left. If you see Forbes Ave, you are at the wrong exit, turn around and walk to your right.

Regardless of how you get there, you will see a driveway another building in front of you and slightly to your left. That is the University Center. Walk through or around this building to the other side. You will see a lawn separating you from a building of a similar architecture, this is Purnell Hall. To the left of Purnell Hall is Doherty Hall. You might notice a short piece of fence, painted by students, in front of Doherty Hall. Walk along through or along Doherty hall to the next building. This is Wean Hall. You will notice that it is concrete and quite ugly We apologize for this.

Enter Wean Hall under the overhang near the oragnge modern art. You are in the Wean Hall lobby on the 5th floor. Registration will occur in this area. The contest and practice session will occur in the 54xx corridor to the right.

During the actual contest, we'll try to play movies for the coaches and the reserves. This will be in WeH 7500, a large auditorium. To get to WeH 7500 from the 5th floor lobby, take an elevator up to the 7th floor. The auditorium is directly in front of the elevators, with doors on the left and right.

There is a conference room on the same floor, WeH 7220, that has been reserved for "hang out space". It might be particularly nice for those uninterested in the movies.

Hotels/Motels

Many teams will likely come-and-go the same day, but if you do need a hotel, we'd like to suggest two hotels as priary choices for this event. But, there are plenty of other hotels in the area which might also be good or better choices for you. We list those below, as well.

Please verify all cahrges, taxes, fees, amenities, &c with the hotels. This information is correct to the best of our knowledge, but is not guaranteed or warranted.

  • Wyndham Garden Hotel
    3554 Forbes Ave.
    Pittsburgh, PA 15213
    (412) 683-2040 or 877-999-3223
    Discount rate: Ask for "Carnegie Mellon Individual Payer Rate"
    2 x Queen beds or 1 x King beds is typically about $105/night
    Parking: $16/night

    This is a full service high-rise hotel, offering a gym, shuttle service, in-room high-speed ethernet service, and an in-hotel restaurant. It is a frequent choice for University guests such as visiting faculty, &c. Smoking and non-smoking rooms are available.

    Although the hotel does provide a shuttle service, it is unclear that it operates at a scale sufficient to handle the volume that might arise from this event.

  • Best Western
    3401 Boulevard of the Allies
    Pittsburgh, PA 15213
    (412) 681-6300 or 800-245-4444
    Discount rate: Ask for "Carnegie Mellon Rate"
    1 x king, 1 x queen, or 2x double bed, $76.50/night
    Parking: Free

    This high-rise hotel/motel is used by many university guests, especially visiting students, and families visiting for major events. There is a Panera Bread cafe on the lower level. Phones have data ports. They do offer a shuttle service, but as with the others, there isn't necessarily a guarantee that it will be timely on contest day.

Other good choices in the area include these:

  • Holiday Inn Select
    100 Lytton Ave
    Pittsburgh, PA 15213
    (412) 682-6200 or 800-864-8287
    Discount rate: Ask for "Carnegie Mellon Rate"
    1 x king or 2 x queen, $128.95/night
    Parking: $15/day

    Much like the Wyndam, this is also a first-rate high-rise hotel that is often used by the University for faculty visitors and other guests. It used to be our most-frequent choice for guests, but some feel that the service at the Wyndam is a bit better, causing it to be slightly prefered recently.

    It is in a quieter with fewer shops and restaurants than the Wyndam and is off a side street of Forbes. Regardless, this is still an excellent hotel near campus.

    It offers a pool, health club, in-room high-speed Internet access (DSL), shuttle service, &c. One advantage is that it is very near one Pittsburgh attractrion -- the Cathedral of Learning on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh.

  • Shadyside Inn
    Several Properties in the area
    Pittsburgh, PA
    800-767-8483
    Discount rate: Carnegie Mellon does have the following discount rates. In the past, they have sometimes become confused about this. If there are any problmes, please call me. Parking: Free
    • Studio, $89/night
    • 1BR, $107/night
    • 2BR, $125/night
    • Ambassador (2BR w/balcony), $160/night

    These suites are located in several different properties in the area and are frequented by University guests. They have consistently received absolutely excellent feedback from members of our community. Unfortuantely, there are fewer rooms than at the high-rise hotels, and they are distributed among several locations. Many rooms have high-speed internet access.

  • Hampton Inn
    3315 Hamlet Street
    Pittsburgh, PA 15213
    (412) 681-1000 or 800-245-4444
    Discount rate: Ask for "Carnegie Mellon Rate"
    1 x king or 2 x single bed, $89.00/night
    Parking: Free

    This hotel/motel is used by many university guests, especially visiting students, and families visiting for major events. They offer a free continental breakfast and shuttle service. As with the others, there is no guarantee that the shuttle service will be timely on competition day.

  • Marriott Residence Inn
    3896 Bigelow Boulevard
    Pittsburgh, PA 15213
    (412) 621-2200 or 800-321-2211
    1 x queen + 1 x single pullout (all suites, with kitchen), $139.00/night
    Parking: $7/night

    This is located in a slightly different part of town than many of the others, but isn't really too far away. They offer a free complimentary breakfast, data ports, and high-speed internet access. They have an indoor pool and a shuttle service. As with the other shuttles -- there are no guarantees of timeliness.

  • Marriott Courtyard
    5306 Liberty Ave
    Pittsburgh, PA 15213
    (412) 683-3113 or 800-321-2211
    Discount rate:
    They tell me that there is a "negotiated rate" for Carnegie Mellon. But, unfortunately, they can't seem to explain to me what it is or how it works. The regular rate is listed below. But, heck, ask for the "Carnegie Mellon Negotiated Rate" and see what happens
    1xking or 2xdouble, typically $119/night
    Parking: $13/night

    This is a brand-new high-rise hotel located in a slightly different part of town from the others -- but it isn't far away. It has a Starbucks and a Cafe on the first floor as well as high-speed internet access.

Tentative Schedule

Saturday, March 27th
9:00-9:30 Light Breakfast (Optional) Wean Hall, Room 5403
10:00-11:00 Practice Contest (Optional) Wean Hall, 5th floor lobby and 54xx corridor
12:00-17:00 Contest (Contestants only) Wean Hall, 5419A, 5419B, 5419C, 5419D
12:00-17:00 R&R (Coaches and others) Movies in WeH 7500 auditorium, other seating in WeH 7220 conference room
13:00-15:00 Lunch and beverages Delivered to Weh 5419ABCD, WeH 7220, WeH 7500
17:30-18:30 Dinner and Results Location TBA (enrollment dependent)
18:30-20:30 Review of Problems and Solutions (Optional) Location TBA: Same as dinner
Please Note
This schedule is currently tentative. Some of the room assignments may change.

Please stay tuned.

Wireless Connectivity

Carnegie Mellon's campus, including 4 million square feet of interior floor space and approximately 1-2 acres of outdoor space, have wireless Internet access provided by more than 650 access points located throughout campus.

Our network is an "open network" and after a brief registration process anyone with a compatible system can access the Internet while on campus. Our system uses 802.11b 11Mbps access points.

During registration, if you bring your laptop and card, we can complete the registration process for you and help you configure your system for our network.

Site Director

If you have any questions, you are invited to contact the site director, Gregory Kesden. He can be reached via email at gkesden@cs.cmu.edu or by phone at 412-268-1590.

In the event of a timely concern, please don't hesitate to call him at home or on his cell. His home phone number, 412-687-6198, rolls to his cell phone automatically.

If all else fails, you can try his secretary, Angie Brookins, at 412-268-5483, or Catherine Fichtner in the Undergraduate Program Office at 412-268-3040.

In the event of a real emergency on campus, please call the University security/police/ems service at 412-268-2323, or the municpal emergency services line at 911.