[SECC] Question about "assisted" vs "unassisted"

[Arebias Abanathy]

When I participate in any given contest I never use any spotting or clusters at all and have always chosen unassisted however I have also looked at some other scores that were very high and wondered if someone that uses assistance can be determined by the final scoring system? Anyone know the answer?

Another question I have is this; Usually when I am contesting I have anywhere from 1 to 3 friends that do not contest but if they know I am contesting they will usually stop in and find me, and out of the blue they will make a contact with me and ask how it has been going for me. From all I know they don't make any other contacts but I go ahead and log them since they do so thinking they are helping. If their calls do not show up in any other logs do they still allow me to keep those 1 or 2 contacts or are they actually just hurting me buy stopping by and keeping me tied up for a minute or two?

These are probably somewhat common sense questions for most but I am not really a "veteran" contester and inquiring minds ......   well you know. 

Bill - K4WDR