Liaison Newsletter

November 2002

In this issue:


Liaison Breakfast at Baltimore meetings

The annual liaison’s breakfast will be held on Saturday morning, January 18, from 7:00-8:30, in the Constitution Rooms E and F at the Hyatt Regency in Baltimore. We hope to provide a forum for you to talk about issues important to the mathematical community. Some of the issues to consider:

  1. Time demands on faculty (e.g. teaching loads, research expectations, ratio of full-time to part-time faculty).
  2. Encouraging math majors (e.g. the need for career information and counseling, undergraduate research, recruiting more majors).

Here’s the menu for breakfast: Baltimore Benedict (Poached Eggs atop Sliced Canadian Bacon on English Muffins with Maryland Crabmeat and Hollandaise Sauce), Home Fried Potatoes, and Baked Pear Half

By the way, for returning liaisons who still have one of the liaison neck cords that were handed out several years ago, don’t forget to bring it with you to the meeting and use it to hold your badge.

Deadlines for Joint Math Meetings

November 15, 2002, is the deadline that Registration/Housing Forms must be received to opt for having badge and program mailed before the meeting. Badges and programs to be mailed on December 11.

November 15, 2002, is the deadline to reserve a hotel room through the Mathematics Meetings Service Bureau (MMSB).

December 13, 2002, is the deadline to make hotel changes and cancellations through the MMSB.

December 19, 2002, is the deadline to register in advance for meeting, tickets, and Employment Center.

December 30, 2002, is the deadline to receive 50% on cancellation of ticket sales, There are no refunds after this date.

January 10, 2003, is the deadline to receive 50% on cancellation of registration. There are no refunds after this date.

Please visit http://www.ams.org/amsmtgs/2074_intro.html for more details.

Next year’s Meetings deadlines

December 2, 2002:    JMM 2004 Minicourse proposals due
December 31, 2002:    JMM 2004 Contributed Paper Session Organizer proposals due
Also, the deadlines to get advertisement in FOCUS for MAA sessions (panels, workshops, etc.) for the Boulder Mathfest (July 31- August 2, 2003) is January 23, 2003 and for the Phoenix, Joint Mathematics Meeting (Janaury 4-7, 2004) is May 1, 2003.
Please visit http://www.maa.org/meetings/meetings.html for more details.

Mathematics for Business Decisions

Students at today’s business schools often find that the mathematics education they receive is either insufficient or difficult to apply to the situations they face in professional settings. At the 2003 Joint Mathematics Meetings in Baltimore, Maryland, (January 15–18) the Mathematical Association of America will present a hands - on workshop on an innovative, interdisciplinary course in mathematics for business students that not only solves these difficulties for students, but opens the door to new approaches in teaching mathematics. Mathematics for Business Decisions is an example of how interdisciplinary experiences for students can be shaped through the active collaboration of academic departments. See http://www.maa.org/pubs/busmath.html for details.

Membership renewals

This is the time to renew your MAA membership for 2003. You should have gotten your renewal notice in the mail by now. If for some reason you didn’t get yours, you can renew by calling the MAA service center at 800-331-1622. There are now five special interest groups (SIGMAA’s) to choose from, too.

This month in FOCUS

If you think that FOCUS, the MAA's newsletter, contains only news and announcements about math, think again.  In the most recent issue, there is
a captivating one page article by Reuben Hersh, familiar to many MAA members as co-author of The Mathematical Experience, on Heron's formula for the area of a triangle, and some related ideas.  If you haven't seen it, it is worth a look. There’s also an article on polynomial time factoring algorithms by Carl Pomerance. And while you are at it, check out the article on the 800th anniversary of a math classic: Fibonacci's epoch making book Liber Abbaci.  

PREP 2003

Be on the lookout for announcement of the 2003 Professional Enhancement (PREP) workshops. Almost twice as many workshops will be held in 2003, with a wide variety of topics that should offer something of interest to any mathematician. Preliminary information will be featured in the December issue of FOCUS, with details to follow on MAA Online. Information will also be available at the Joint Meetings in Baltimore.