Spring 2005
Introduction Atlanta Aftermath Call for Student Papers Albuquerque Activities CreditsIntroduction
MathFest 2005 in Albuquerque
Plan on participating in the activities planned for the Albuquerque, New Mexico, MathFest this summer, starting with the MAA-Pi Mu Epsilon reception for undergraduates Wednesday evening, August 3, and continuing through Saturday, August 6, 2004. The activities for students will include the Student Hospitality Center, the MAA Student Paper Sessions, the presentations of the MAA Mathematical Contest in Modeling winners, the MAA Student Lecture, the MAA Student Activities Session (formerly called the MAA Student Workshop), and the Student Problem Solving Competition. In addition, students and advisors will likely be interested in the parallel Pi Mu Epsilon student papers sessions, the PME banquet, and the PME J. Sutherland Frame lecture. Information on these activities may be found inside in the section “Albuquerque Activities.”
MAA
Student Activities at the Atlanta Joint Mathematics Meetings
Warm and sunny weather welcomed those who attended the JMM at Atlanta in January. Once again, a record number of students participated in the MAA student poster session, about one hundred students and advisors attended the MAA student lecture by Robin J. Wilson, many folks attended the special session on “Mathematical Experiences for Students outside the Classroom,” and students and others enjoyed the diversions offered at the Student Hospitality Center throughout the meetings. Thanks to the Diversity Initiative, some students from underrepresented groups received assistance with travel and registration expenses. For a report on these activities, check out the “Atlanta Aftermath.”
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Atlanta Aftermath
MAA
Student Lecture at 2005 JMM
Dr. Robin J. Wilson of the Open University, U.K. delivered the MAAStudent Lecture at the 2005 Joint Mathematics Meetings. Over 300 students and mathematicians attended. Professor Wilson, son of former British Prime Minister Wilson, discussed the famous Kirkwood Schoolgirls Problem, polyhedral, trees, partitions, and map colorings, all illustrated by colorful slides. (Professor Wilson is also known for his colorful attire.) He delighted the audience with interesting stories of Cayley, Syvester, Clifford, Kempe, De Morgan, and others. After the talk, Professor Wilson remained to meet individual students and answer questions. |
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| Dr. Robin J. Wilson delivers the Student
Lecture |
Diversity
Initiative 2005
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CUSAC administers a small grant
program called the MAA Diversity Initiative, designed to help college
faculty bring students from under-represented groups to the Joint
Meetings. Institutions may apply for travel mini-grants of up to
$500, to cover some of the costs of registration, travel, and
housing. This year the program was featured in a poster session
at the meetings, for Special Programs and Strategies to Reach
Underrepresented Populations. Fourteen schools were awarded grants this year: Armstrong Atlantic State University, Atlanta Metropolitan College, Austin Peay State University, California State University Chico, East Tennessee State University, Elon University, Georgia College and State University, Kennesaw State University, Meredith College, North Carolina A&T University, Pepperdine University, Southern Polytechnic University, and the University of South Florida. Two of the institutions were NREUP sites in Summer 2004 (see http://www.maa.org/nreup/). Faculty from these institutions brought 53 undergraduate students to the meetings in Atlanta, where they attended the opening student reception, the student poster session, and the MAA Student Lecture by Robin Wilson, along with other meeting events. Eighteen of them presented posters – either in the CUSAC session or in another one -- or gave a paper. CUSAC is happy to welcome these new members of the mathematics community to the Joint Meetings, and hopes that they will return many times in the future. |
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Mathematical
Experiences for Students outside the Classroom
| On Saturday
afternoon, the MAA Committee on Undergraduate Student Activities and
Chapters hosted a session entitled Mathematical
Experiences for Students outside the Classroom. The
session, organized by Kay Somers of Moravian College and Jody Sorensen
from Grand Valley State University, included fourteen exciting talks
covering a wide range of topics. Presenters spoke about successful math club activities, student service projects, and undergraduate conferences. There were great talks about student contests, including Mathematical Jeopardy and tic-tac-toe on affine planes. The talks were well attended, and we thank all the participants for their contributions. Look for a similar session at next year’s meeting in San Antonio |
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| Jody Sorensen opening the session on
Mathematical Experiences for Students outside the Classroom |
Student
Hospitality Center
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Once again Richard and Araceli Neal organized and set up the Student Hospitality Center, a popular retreat and gathering place for students attending the Joint Mathematics Meetings. The SHC provided refreshments, puzzles and games, MAA literature, and a place to talk math or merely to socialize. The Neals regret that an emergency situation back home called them away. Nevertheless, the official grand opening went ahead as planned, and throngs of students enjoyed the mixer. |
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| Students enjoyed the treats, the
puzzles, and the company at the Student Hospitality Center |
Mario
Martelli's Report on the Undergraduate Student Poster Session
| The Undergraduate Student Poster
Session was, for students, judges and visitors, one of the highest
points of the Joint Meeting of the AMS, MAA, and AWM in Atlanta. The
Committee on Undergraduate Student Activities and Chapters (CUSAC)
sponsored the event; Dr. Mario Martelli of Claremont McKenna College
organized it; the money for the prizes was generously provided by the
Moore Education Foundation, the AMS, MAA, SIAM, CUR, and AWM; and Dr.
Suzanne Lenhart from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, brought
the $3700 dollars donated by the six organizations. Over 120 teams of
students from across the USA and Canada displayed the results of their
research, and 150 professional mathematicians evaluated them, following
the precise guidelines established by the organizer. The complete list of all posters recognized with a prize can be found in the student section of the MAA website. The Southern California-Nevada Section of the MAA is well represented in this group with six posters done by undergraduates of four different institutions: California State University San Bernardino, Claremont McKenna College, Harvey Mudd College (3 posters), and Pomona College. Other REU programs received particular recognition. Among them I would like to mention the programs at Trinity University, at Central Michigan University, and at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. High in the judges' evaluation was one poster done at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, under the guidance of Dr. Suzanne Lenhart, and two posters done at Williams College with Dr. F. Morgan and Dr. A. Pacelli. I was very pleased to notice that two students from Montclair State University were among the presenters and each one received a prize. The advisors of the two posters were Drs. D. Thomas and L. Billings. |
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However, the best recognition for every undergraduate was to be selected by a professional advisor, and to be accepted by the organizer. To receive one of the prizes is a recognition coveted by many, and some presenters may have been disappointed by the outcome of the evaluation. These students, and everybody else, should keep in mind that all posters receiving a prize were concentrated in an interval of only seven points and in four cases the secondary evaluation had to be used as a tiebreaker. Let me also share with you this information. The discrepancies I noticed this year among the judge’s evaluations were definitely more pronounced than the ones I had observed in the past. Close to one third of the posters received either a high evaluation from two judges and a low evaluation from the third, or the other way around. The most dramatic example was a poster that received 27 points (out of 30) from one judge and only 14 from another. Therefore, I want to stress again, and all advisors should do the same, that the most important prize is to have been part of this incredible event, in which so may talented undergraduates had the opportunity to display their work and to talk about their results with professional mathematicians. I was particularly pleased by the presence of five or more posters from the following REU locations: Arizona State University, California State University San Bernardino, Central Michigan University, Trinity University, and Texas A&M University. Topics in Applied Mathematics, Graph Theory, Knot Theory, Group Theory, Linear Algebra, and Combinatorics were among the subjects more frequently selected by the teams. Some of the results presented have already been published in professional journals or are in the process of being submitted for publications. I want to express my sincere appreciation to all judges who donated their time to this worthy cause. Some of them have already done it several times. I refrain to mention names since I am afraid I will miss more than one. You know how much I value your help. I am so happy when your name appears on the screen of my computer with a "yes" answer to my request for help. I want to express my appreciation to Jim Tattersall, Associate Secretary of the MAA, to Robin Hagan Aguiar and Donna Salter from the AMS, to Michael Pearson and Katarina Briedova from the MAA, to all members of CUSAC, to my Administrative Assistant Patty Castro, to my daughter Lisa, my wife Ann, and my student Allison Westfahl for their invaluable help. Dr. Diana Thomas from Montclair State University coordinated the accommodation of the students. Thank you, Diana. The great success of the Undergraduate Student Poster Session would not have been possible without the collaboration of so many people. Finally, I want to extend a special thank to all advisors who worked hard with the students. They are making a difference in the life of these young kids, and their time and energy could not have been put to a better use. The future of mathematics is in great hands. I hope to see all of you in San Antonio in January 2006! |
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Call for Student Papers
Call
for Student Papers to be presented at MathFest 2005 in Albuquerque
| Students who wish to present a
paper at MathFest 2005 in Albuquerque, New Mexico must be nominated by
a faculty advisor familiar with the work to be presented. To propose a
paper for presentation, the student must complete a form and obtain the
signature of a faculty sponsor. The deadline for submitted abstracts is
June 28, 2005. Nomination forms for the MAA Student Paper Sessions are located on MAA Online at www.maa.org/students/undergrad/, or can be obtained from Edward C. Keppelmann at the University of Nevada Reno (775-784-6773) keppelma@unr.edu. The MAA Committee for Undergraduate Student Activities has limited funds to support travel to Math Fest by student presenters. Student presenters who are also members of MAA student chapters are eligible for up to $600 and non-chapter members are eligible for up to $300 with a maximum of at most one student being supported from any given institution. Travel funds are limited this year so early application is encouraged. The deadline for receipt of travel grant applications for confirmed presenters with completed abstracts is June 21,2005 although to assure the availability of funds students should apply as early as possible. In addition to the MAA student paper sessions at Math Fest there are also sessions sponsored by Pi Mu Epsilon. Pi Mu Epsilon student speakers must be nominated by their chapter advisors. Application forms for PME student speakers can be found on the PME web site at www.pme-math.org or can be obtained from PME Secretary, Treasurer, Dr. Leo Schneider <leo@jcu.edu>. Students making presentations at the Annual Meeting of PME are eligible for partial transportation reimbursement. The deadline for receipt of abstracts is Tuesday, June 28, 2005. |
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Albuquerque Activities
MAA/Pi
Mu Epsilon Reception
Wednesday, August 3, 5:30-6:30 pm Invite your undergraduate students to attend this reception sponsored by the MAA and Pi Mu Epsilon.
Student Hospitality Center
Hosted
by Richard and Araceli Neal, the American Society f
Thursday,
August 4,
Friday,
August 5,
The Student Hospitality Center
(SHC) provides a place f
MAA Student Paper Sessions
Thursday, August 4,
Pi Mu Epsilon Paper Sessions
Thursday, August 4,
Friday,
August 5,
J.
Douglas Faires,
Math Horizons Special Session
Thursday,
August 4,
Meet
the edit
Friday,
August 5,
All
undergraduate students and their supp
Pi
Mu Epsilon-J. Sutherland Frame Lecture:
Proofs
That Really Count: The Art of Combinatorial Proof
Friday,
August 5,
Undergraduate Student Activities
Session: Walking on Long Paths
Saturday,
August 6, John Harris of
MAA
Student Lecture: Lights, Camera, Freeze!
Annalisa Crannell,
Saturday, August 14,
Direct
Student Problem-Solving Competition
Richard Neal,
American Society f
MAA
Mathematical Contest in Modeling (MCM) Winners
Saturday,
August 6,
About 450 teams, each
consisting of three
undergraduates, took part in the 2005 MCM in February. The contest
consists of
two real(istic) scenarios (one discrete, one continuous) that call f
Credits
MAA Student
Lecture—Jean Bee
Chan, photo—Edit
How to Reach the MAA
The
P.O. Box
Washington
800-331-1622
FAX: (301) 206-9789
F
1529
Washington
800-741-9415
FAX: (202) 265-2384
How
to Contact the Chapter Newsletter Editor
Suggestions,
concerns, and/or contributions of articles for the CUSAC newsletter may
be sent to:
John
Holte
Department of Mathematics and Computer
Science
Gustavus Adolphus College
800 W. College Avenue
St. Peter, MN 56082
(507) 933 - 7465
holte@gustavus.edu