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MAA Math Alert - December 2011

News and Views

2012 MAA Awards Recipients Announced
The Mathematical Association of America announces the winners of the Haimo Teaching Awards, Gung and Hu Distinguished Service Award, Chauvenet Prize, Beckenbach Book Prize, Euler Book Prize, and Certificates for Meritorious Service. The recipients will be honored at the Joint Prize Session at the 2012 Joint Mathematics Meetings in Boston. Announcement.

2011 AMC 8 Statistics
The AMC 8, the MAA's math contest for middle school students, grades 8 and below, took place on Tuesday, November 15. The complete 2011 AMC 8 global and state statistics with item difficulties and percentiles are now available online.

James Yorke Comes at Chaos from Many Angles
Katharine Merow reviews James Yorke's MAA Distinguished Lecture "Aspects of Chaos," presented on November 17. Article. Lecture podcast. Interview (mp3).

A Car Crash Solved
Marc Frantz illustrates the use of Eve's theorem to determine how fast a car was going from a snapshot of skid marks at an accident scene, published in the December Mathematics Magazine. Article.

New Blog: MAA Books
Martin Erickson introduces his new MAA book Beautiful Mathematics and presents a challenge.

 

Announcements

New Issue of MAA FOCUS
The December 2011/January 2012 issue of MAA FOCUS is now available online.

Application Deadlines for the MAA Grant Programs
Deadlines for the MAA grant programs are approaching. Please check Dolciani Mathematics Enrichment Grants, Women in Math, and Underrepresented Minorities in Math (applications due February 12, 2012), as well as National Research Experience for Undergraduates Program (applications due February 24, 2012) for application details.

JMM 2013 Deadlines Approaching
It's not too late to propose a session for the Joint Mathematics Meetings in San Diego, but be aware that the deadlines are coming up very soon. Submissions for Contributed Paper Sessions are due December 30, 2011. Submissions for Minicourses are due December 27, 2011. Submissions for Panels, Workshops, and Poster Sessions are due April 10, 2012. All MAA members are encouraged to consider submitting proposals for sessions. Guidelines and instructions may be found here.

Project NExT Openings
The MAA is seeking nominations and applications for two Associate Directors and an additional member of the Project NExT Leadership Team. Announcement.

NASA Flight Jacket Giveaway
Do not miss out on this year's NASA Flight Jacket Giveaway, sponsored by the NASA Federal Credit Union. Be sure to stop by the MAA Membership Booth at JMM and learn how you could take home this awesome jacket! Check out last year's jacket and winner.

Job Interviews at JMM and MathFest
"The MAA strongly discourages the use of personal hotel sleeping rooms as the site for professional interviews of prospective employees. This practice is intimidating for some job-seekers, particularly those who find the situation uncomfortable and possibly unsafe."

Featured Articles

On Books: Buy More!
Fernando Gouvêa argues for buying more math books in the December 2011/January 2012 issue of MAA FOCUS. Article.

Devlin's Angle: Christmas Trees from the Land of Santa Claus
Keith Devlin takes readers "for a wild ride into the world of infinite trees" in his December column. Blog.

Launchings: Faculty Trends from CBMS
David Bressoud discusses the distribution of faculty by status in mathematics departments in his December column. Blog.

Teaching with Tech: Can Math and Discussion Boards Compute?
Maria Andersen describes her foray into online discussion boards in her December 2011/January 2012 column in MAA FOCUS. Blog.

The Mathematical Tourist: Geometreks in Boston
Ivars Peterson presents some mathematical highlights of a visit to Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts. Blog.


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Publishing Date: 
December, 2011