MHC Math Club Home Page

MATH CLUB

SPRING 2004

Events

People

Resources

Links

Events: April 26 - 30, 2004

The Math Club T-Shirts are in. If you ordered one, pick it up from Laurie. The short-sleeve shirts are $10 each; the long-sleeve shirts are $13. If you didn't order one ahead of time, you might still be able to buy one. Ask Laurie what's left in the "extras" pile. Many thanks to Norah Mazel, who designed this year's Math Club T-shirt.
Congratulations to Ai Ling Chow, who solved last week's Problem of the Week.
The Department Picnic is scheduled for Thursday afternoon, May 6, at 5:00 PM on Skinner Green.

Events: April 26 - 30, 2004

Margaret Hull '04 will give a talk in the Math Club Colloquium this week on "An Infinite Spiral: The Mathematical Story of Pythagoras and the Circle of Fifths." The talk will begin at 12:15 on Wednesday in 416 Clapp. Pizza and beverages will be provided.

Events: April 17 - 21, 2004

This week in the Math Club Colloquium, Greg Quenell will give a talk on the Derangement Problem. The talk will take place in 416 Clapp at 12:15 on Wednesday, April 21. Pizza and beverages will be provided.

Events: April 12 - 16, 2004

On Monday, April 12, Mount Holyoke will host an Undergraduate Connecticut Valley Colloquium talk by Jacob Sturm of Rutgers University. Professor Sturm's title is "Picard's Big Theorem." Here is a link to his abstract. The talk will be at 7:00 in 407 Clapp. Dinner will be served at 6:00 in 416 Clapp. If you want to attend the dinner, please send a note to Margaret Robinson.
Alan Durfee will present this week's Math Club Colloquium on Wednesday at 12:15 in 416 Clapp. Professor Durfee's talk is a multi-media extravaganza on "English Change Ringing: Listening to Cosets." Pizza and beverages will be provided.
It's time to order your 2004 Math Club T-shirt. Here is a picture of the design. The prices will be about $10 per shirt for short sleeves, $13 for long sleeves. Send a note to Greg Quenell to order yours. Include quantity, size(s), and sleeve length. The color will be light blue. We hope to have the shirts ready by April 30.

Events: April 5 - April 9, 2004

This is the first full week of Mathematics Awareness Month, 2004 (formerly known as "April"). The theme this year is the mathematics of networks. See www.mathforum.org/mam/04 for details.
Wednesday April 7 is the date of the department's annual Prospective Tea. Anyone interested in majoring or minoring in mathematics is welcome to attend the tea (which is actually a luncheon, at 12:15 in 416 Clapp) to find out what it's like to be a math major. Those who are already math majors or minors should attend, as well, to tell other people what it's like to be a math major.
On Friday April 9, the department will host another luncheon in 416 Clapp (at 12:15), for all those who are planning to take 300-level courses next fall. The instructors of those courses will give short descriptions of what they plan to teach.
Submit your designs for the 2004 MHC Math Club T-shirt now!
Applications are being accepted for a one-week summer research program in geometry and minimal surface theory (and other branches of mathematics) at BYU. The program will run from May 30 to June 5, and the application deadline is April 30. Here is a link to the relevant website at BYU.

Events: March 29 - April 2, 2004

Professor Leo van Hemmen will give a talk on "Avian and Mammalian Sound Localization," this afternoon, Monday, March 29, at 4:00 in 402 Clapp. The talk treats mathematically the problem of how humans and barn owls can localize the source of a sound from the minute differences in what reaches the ears. Here is a link to an abstract of a similar talk that Professor van Hemmen gave two weeks ago at MSRI.
Three of Mount Holyoke's Hudson River speakers will give previews of their talks this week in the Math Club Colloquium: Sixuan Chen will speak on "Nash Equilibria and the Achievable Points in a Payoff Polygon," Jennie Clarkson will speak on "Cyclic Difference Sets and their Complements," and Manjari Goenka will speak on "Class Numbers of Real Quadratic Fields." The fun begins at 12:15 on Wednesday in 416 Clapp. Pizza and beverages will be served.
The 2004 Math Club T-shirt design contest is still running. Send your ideas to Greg Quenell by April 5. The winning designer gets her T-shirt for free; the rest of us pay about $10 per shirt. Here is a description of last year's Math Club T-shirt.
The Hudson River Undergraduate Mathematics Conference will be held this Saturday, April 3, right here at Mount Holyoke. Some 450 mathematics students and faculty from 44 colleges and universities throughout the northeast US will be arriving early Saturday morning. The conference will include about 175 fifteen-minute talks, mostly by undergraduates, and a plenary address by Nancy Kopell of Boston University. There will also be a Career Panel, moderated by Mary Ann McLoughlin of the College of Saint Rose.
You're welcome to attend as many of the conference events as you'd like. You can pick up a name tag and conference program (and some coffee and doughnuts) at the registration tables in the Kendade Atrium between 8:30 and 9:50 on Saturday morning. Here is a list of the Mount Holyoke Students who will be giving talks. Here is the official HRUMC website (at Skidmore).
This is the last week to apply for the REU in applied statistics and biostatistics Ohio State. Follow the link from the Resources page for more information on this outstanding opportunity.
And mark your calendars for ...
On Wednesday, April 7, the department of mathematics and statistics will host our annual Prospective Tea at 12:15 in 416 Clapp. If you're interested in majoring or minoring in mathematics or statistics, this is the place to find out what it's like. If you're already majoring in mathematics or statistics, this is the place to come to tell some prospective majors and minors what it's like.
On April 12, Jacob Sturm of Rutgers will be at Mount Holyoke to speak at an Undergraduate Connecticut Valley Colloquium. Professor Sturm's title is "Picard's Big Theorem." Here is a link to his abstract. The talk (at a location to be announced) will be at 7:00 pm, and will be preceded (at 6:00) by a dinner with mathematics students and faculty from the five colleges.

Events: March 22 - 26, 2004

This week's MHC Math Club Colloquium will feature two or three short talks that your classmates have prepared for the Hudson River Undergraduate Mathematics Conference. The offerings for this week are yet to be determined; keep an eye out for the posters. The colloquium time is 12:15 on Wednesday, the place is 416 Clapp, and as always, pizza and beverages will be provided.
It's time to think about a design for the 2004 MHC Math Club T-Shirts. Send your design ideas to Greg Quenell by April 5. The Math Club organizing committee will select a design, and the designer will get her Math Club T-Shirt for free. (For everyone else, the price will be about $10 per shirt.) To get your ideas going, here is a picture of last year's Math Club T-Shirt. In 2002, the shirt read "Irrational? Complex? Indeterminant? You must be a Mount Holyoke Math Major."
On Thursday, March 25, Marcello Pagano, professor of biostatistics at the Harvard School of Public Health, will give a talk on "Health surveillance and bioterrorism: use of statistics to detect an outbreak" in McConnell B15 at Smith. The talk is at 7:00 pm, and is preceded by refreshments at 6:15. There's an abstract of Dr. Pagaon's talk on the Smith mathematics calendar.
The Hudson River Undergraduate Mathematics Conference is just two weeks away. Sixteen MHC students are scheduled to give talks at HRUMC. We hope to see many more in the audiences. Several students have volunteered to help out on the day of the conference; we can still use more. If you'd like to volunteer to staff registration tables, coordinate refreshments, put up signs, give directions, or assist in some other way on April 3, send a note to Greg Quenell. If you'd like to volunteer to chair a session, send a note to Harriet Pollatsek.
The application deadline for the RISE Scholars program at the Clark School of Engineering is coming up this week. See the Resource page for more information and a link to the RISE website.
On April 12, Jacob Sturm of Rutgers will be at Mount Holyoke to speak at an Undergraduate Connecticut Valley Colloquium. Professor Sturm's title is "Picard's Big Theorem." Here is a link to his abstract. The talk (at a location to be announced) will be at 7:00 pm, and will be preceded (at 6:00) by a dinner with mathematics students and faculty from the five colleges.

Events: March 8 - 12, 2004

There is no Math Club Colloquium this week.

Events: March 1 - 5, 2004

On Wednesday at 12:15, Tanya Leise of the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology will present a talk on "The Celestial Sphere: Geometry and Astrolabes" in 416 Clapp. Here is Professor Leise's abstract. Pizza and beverages will be provided.
The 2004 Program for Women in Mathematics at IAS, the Summer Program for Women in Mathematics at GWU, the EDGE Program for (Minority) Women, and the REU at Mt. Holyoke all have March 1 as their application deadline. See the Resource page for links to these programs' websites.

Events: February 23 - 27, 2004

On Wednesday at 12:15, Harriet Pollatsek will give a talk on "Where the railroad tracks meet: an introduction to the (finite) projective plane" in 416 Clapp. Here is a link to professor Pollatsek's abstract. Pizza and beverages will be provided.
If you're planning to present a talk at the Hudson River Undergraduate Mathematics Research Conference (which will be held here at Mt. Holyoke on April 3), you'll need to submit an abstract by this Friday, February 27. Submitting an abstract is very easy; you can find all the information you need at the HRUMC website.
The following summer programs have application deadlines this week or next Monday: The Carleton College Summer Mathematics Program for Women Undergraduates, the REU at Trinity University, the SPUR summer program at UMass, the Engineering REU at Michigan, the 2004 Program for Women in Mathematics at IAS, the Summer Program for Women in Mathematics at George Washington University, the EDGE Program for Women, and the REU at Mt. Holyoke. See the Resources page for links to these and other programs.
Richard Ellis of UMass will give a talk on "The Birthday Problem, Stirling's Formula, and Ludwig Boltzmann's Calculation That Revolutionized Our Understanding of the Universe" on Friday, February 27 at 1:30 in 1634 LGRT at UMass. Stirling's formula is a very handy and useful way to approximate factorials. You can read the full abstract of the talk on the UMass mathematics calendar website.
Boston University will host a symposium on African-American Mathematics: Successes and Challenges on Saturday, February 28. The symposium is free, but the organizers ask that you register, so that they can get an accurate count for lunch. You'll find information and registration instructions at the symposium website.
The Symposium for Undergraduates in the Mathematical Sciences takes place on Saturday, February 28 at Brown University. See the Brown SUMS website for details.

Events: February 16 - 20, 2004

Check out the Symposium for Undergraduates in the Mathematical Sciences at Brown University. The symposium, featuring talks on mathematics, biology, and computer science, will take place on Saturday, February 28. If you want to go, the organizers ask that you register by February 20.
If you're still looking for a summer research experience and you're interested in engineering, have a look at the RISE Scholars program at the University of Maryland. This all-female summer research program runs from June 1 to August 6, and features an unusually generous stipend.
On Wednesday at lunchtime, the Math Club will present the classic (1966) film "Let Us Teach Guessing", in which master teacher George Pólya leads a class of UCLA students to discover the number of components into which 3-space is divided by five planes in general position. The screening will begin at 12:15 in 416 Clapp. Pizza and beverages will be provided.
This week's "What is ..." Graduate Seminar at UMass is an introduction to the Riemann hypothesis. The speaker is Farshid Hajir. The talk will be in 1634 LGRT at 1:30 on Friday, February 20.
Applications for this summer's REU at the Santa Fe Institute are due on Friday, February 20. See www.santafe.edu/sfi/education/reus/reus04/announce.html for details.

Events: February 9 - 13, 2004

MHC alumna Donna Albino '83 will be on campus February 9 and 10 to interview candidates for jobs at the MIT Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, Massachusetts. You can learn more about Lincoln at www.ll.mit.edu. There's an information session at the CDC on Feburary 9 at 7 pm.
Mt. Holyoke's SummerMath has openings for Residential Assistants, Teaching Assistants, and an Assistant Head Resident. SummerMath is a mathematics summer program for high-school women right here at Mt. Holyoke. You can learn more about the program at the SummerMath website. Here is a link to the SummerMath job announcement.
If you're thinking of applying for the statistics REU at Iowa State (see the Resource page), remember that the application deadline is February 14. If you're applying to the Park City program, remember that the application deadline is February 15.
On Monday, February 9, Jim Callahan will present the department seminar at Smith: "When the second derivative test fails...; part 2." This talk is at 4:10 in Burton 307.
Brian Tjaden of Wellesley College will give a talk entitled "Solving the Genome Jigsaw Puzzle: The role of computer science in molecular biology" on Tuesday, February 10 at 3:30 PM in Seeley Mudd 206 at Amherst. According to Professor Tjaden's abstract, this will be an introductory-level talk on the emerging field of bioinformatics. Refreshments will be served at 3:00 in Seeley Mudd 208.
Greg Quenell will give a talk entitled "Why December 21 is the longest day of the year" on Wednesday, February 11 at 12:15 in 416 Clapp. Pizza and beverages will be provided.

Events: February 2 - 6, 2004

On Wednesday, February 4, the Math Club will present some information about the process of applying for Summer REU programs. There's a long list of summer programs on our Resources page, and even longer lists at www.ams.org/employment/reu.html and www.maa.org/students/reustuff/pages/REU.html. The Wednesday meeting will be in 416 Clapp at 12:15. Pizza and beverages will be provided.
Robert Devaney of Boston University will give a talk on "The Mandelbrot Set, the Farey Tree, and the Fibonacci Sequence" on Wednesday afternoon at 4:00 in 207 Seeley Mudd at Amherst. The talk will be accessible to undergraduates. There will be refreshments at 3:30.
Colin Adams of Williams College, speaking as Sir Randolph Bacon III, will give a talk called "Blown Away: What Knot to Do When Sailing" at 7:00 on Thursday evening, February 5, in McConnell 404 at Smith. Pizza will be served at 5:45. If you want to go early for the pizza, tell Greg Quenell or Margaret Robinson, so we can get a rough count of pizza-eaters.
MHC alumna Donna Albino '83 will be on campus February 9 and 10 to interview candidates for jobs at the MIT Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, Massachusetts. The positions there are open only to US citizens. You can learn more about Lincoln at www.ll.mit.edu. If you want to talk with Donna Albino about working at Lincoln, you need to submit your résumé to the CDC by February 6 (this is a change from earlier information) and then show up for an information session there on Feburary 9 at 7 pm.
Heather Raschko of Microsoft Corporation will be coming to MHC on February 11 to interview candidates for both internships and full-time positions at Microsoft. If you want an interview, you should submit your résumé to the CDC by February 2. Here are the job descriptions from Microsoft.

Events: January 2004

The application deadline for the Mt. Holyoke Summer Research Fellowship is February 2. This is a good source for funding for a wide variety of summer academic projects. It's especially important to apply for an MHC SRF if you're a non-US citizen and you want to do a summer REU or some other summer program, because most summer REUs will not fund non-US citizens. There are application instructions at the MHC SRF website.
MHC alumna Donna Albino '83 will be on campus February 9 and 10 to interview candidates for jobs at the MIT Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, Massachusetts. The positions there are open only to US citizens. You can learn more about Lincoln at www.ll.mit.edu. If you want to talk with Donna Albino about working at Lincoln, you need to submit your résumé to the CDC by January 28 and then show up for an information session there on Feburary 9 at 7 pm.
There's an REU-like program in statistics at Iowa State University, home to one of the top-ranked applied statistics departments in the US. The program runs from June 1 to August 1, and will include working groups in bioinformatics, probability and stochastic processes, statistical sampling methodology, and applications of statistics to genetics, engineering, environmental science, and the social sciences. Iowa State is in Ames, Iowa. Applications are due on February 14. Here is a link to the program website.
The Park City Mathematics Institute this summer will feature an introductory course, "From polytopes to enumeration" and an advanced course "Groebner bases and polytopes." This program of lectures and workshops, for which any mathematically-inclined undergraduate may apply, runs from July 11 to July 31. The application deadline is February 15. There's more information and an on-line application form at the PCMI website. (Park City is in Utah. PCMI is administered by the Institute for Advanced Study and funded by the National Security Agency.)
There's an REU running this summer at the Santa Fe Institute in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The research topics are flexible within SFI's specialty, which is complex systems. Program dates are also flexible -- you get to negotiate for a ten-week residency in whatever part of the summer you want. Applications are due February 20. Here's a link to the program announcement, where you can find all the details and application forms.
First-year and sophmore math majors may want to apply for the Carleton College Summer Mathematics Program for Women, a four-week summer program aimed at women undergraduates who have completed linear algebra but less than one year of 300-level mathematics. The program dates are June 20 - July 18. Funding from the NSF and NSA covers expenses and a stipend. The application deadline is February 23; you can find application forms and full information about the program at the SMP website.
If you are a US citizen or permanent resident, and are African American, Hispanic, or Native American, you can apply to the Summer Program for Undergraduate Research at UMass. The program runs from June 6 through August 1. Partipants work on research projects with UMass faculty members and near-peer tutors. The program provides room and board, a stipend, and a travel allowance. Applications are due February 27. You'll find more information and application instructions at the SPUR website.
There's an REU in Engineering at the NSF Engineering Research Center for Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems at the University of Michigan. The name says it all. The program, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, runs from June 11 - August 8. Applications are due by February 28. You can download an application form from ERC's REU web page.
The Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton will host the 2004 Program for Women in Mathematics from May 17 - 27. The program will feature lectures and workshops, mentoring, and career counselling. This summer's research topic is nonlinear partial differential equations. All participants receive support for lodging, meals, and transportation. Here is a link to the program website. The application deadline is March 1.
The Summer Program for Women in Mathematics at George Washington University (in Washington DC) is a five-week program of intensive mathematics seminars, workshops, panel discussions, and field trips for women mathematics majors completing their junior year. The program dates are June 26 - July 31. Accepted participants receive lodging, travel support, and a stipend. One of the seminars this summer will be led by Ayse Sahin, MHC 1988. Applications are due March 1. You can find more information and application forms at the SPWM website.
If you're planning on beginning a PhD program in mathematics next year, you should check out the EDGE Program for Women, a summer program designed to help prepare women (and especially minority women) for the first year of a mathematics graduate program. The EDGE program offers core courses in algebra and analysis, along with minicourses, seminars, and lectures. It will run this summer from June 7 through July 2 at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. Applications are due March 1. You'll find application forms and more detailed information at the EDGE website.
There's information about Mt. Holyoke's own Summer REU in mathematics at this website.
There will be an REU in Applied Statistics and Biostatistics this summer at The Ohio State University in Columbus. Participants will get a stipend, a housing allowance, and travel support. The program runs from June 13 through August 5. The application deadline is April 2. You can find information on the program and the application process at the OSU REU website.
Trinity University is accepting applications for a Summer REU program. They'll have projects in Abstract Algebra, Combinatorics, Mathematical Programming, and Discrete Dynamical Systems. The program runs from June 7 to July 30, and includes a $2,500 stipend, free campus housing, and travel and food allowances. Applications are due by May 27. Here is a link to Trinity's REU website, where you can find more information and the application forms.
NCTM and Texas Instruments invite applications for the Demana-Waits Scholarship, a $10,000 award for sophomores who plan to teach secondary school mathematics. The application deadline is May 16; you can find application instructions at this NCTM website.

Events: December 8 - 12

Don't miss the Mathematics and Statistics Holiday Party on Wednesday, December 10, at 12:15 in 416 Clapp. The department will be serving lunch and various exciting desserts.
If you want to attend Actuarial Career Day 2004 in New York on January 12, remember that you have to register by December 19. See the Actuarial Career Day page at Beanactuary.com for registration information.
This week's What is ... Graduate Seminar at UMass is on modular forms, a hot topic in current mathematics. The speaker is Paul Gunnells, and the talk is at 2:45 on Friday, December 12 in 1634 LGRT. You can find an abstract at the UMass Weekly Mathematics Calendar.
Six Mt. Holyoke students participated in the 2003 William Lowell Putnam mathematics competition on Saturday, December 6. Please offer your congratulations to Cristina Cardone, Sixuan Chen, Norah Mazel, Ha Le, Carolyn Lukasik, and Desislava Petkova. Here is a PDF file of this year's Putnam problems.

Events: December 1 - 6

Two New York Actuarial Societies will present Actuarial Career Day 2004 in New York City on January 12, 2004. Here's a link to some information about the event. If you want to go, you need to pre-register by December 19.
Postponed
On Wednesday, December 3, Richard Jordan of Dynamics Technology, Inc. will give a talk titled "A Primer on the Mathematics of Infectious Diseases: Applications in Industry and Government." The talk will be at 12:15 in 416 Clapp. Pizza and beverages will be provided. Here is a link to Dr. Jordan's abstract.
Join the department for pizza and a viewing of some mathematics videos on Wednesday, December 3 at 12:15 in 416 Clapp. We'll watch some or all of "Not Knot" and "Outside In" from the Geometry Center, and "Homer³", the Flatland parody from the Simpsons television show.
The Fourth Annual Alice Ambrose Lazerowitz and Thomas Tymoczko Memorial Logic Lecture will be given by Marcia Groszek of Dartmouth College on Thursday, December 4, at 7:30 pm in the Dewey Common Room at Smith. The talk title is "The Unsolution of Hilbert's Tenth Problem." Here is a link to Professor Groszek's abstract. The Alice Ambrose Lazerowitz and Thomas Tymoczko Memorial Logic Lectures are jointly sponsored by the Smith Logic Program, the Smith Department of Philosophy, the Smith Department of Mathematics, and the Smith College Lecture Committee.
Saturday, December 6 is the day of the annual Putnam Mathematical Competition. If you're near Clapp that day, remember to cheer on the Math Lyons as they go head to head with students from just about every other college in the U. S. and Canada in this venerable problem-solving contest.

Events: November 17 - 21

On Wednesday, November 19, Jessica Sidman will give a talk on "Algebra, Geometry, Computers, and the Hilbert Syzygy Theorem" at 12:15 in 416 Clapp. Pizza and beverages will be provided.
Washington University in St. Louis is recruiting mathematics students for its PhD program in Political Science. It is reported to be a highly quantitative program, with specializations in political methodology and formal theory. The folks from Wash U. have provided a brochure on the program, and invite you to visit their website, polisci.wustl.edu.
On Thursday, November 20, Murray Eisenberg, Peter Norman, and Siman Wong will give a talk on "Computer Technology in Undergraduate Mathematics" at 4:00 in 219 LGRT at UMass. The talk will be followed by a demonstration of the OWL on-line calculus system. See the UMass mathematics calendar for more information.
This week's What is ... Graduate Seminar at UMass should be of interest to alumnae of Professor Durfee's financial mathematics classes. The title is "What is the Black-Scholes Options Pricing Formula?" The speaker is Walter Rosenkrantz, and the talk will begin at 2:45 on Friday in 1634 LGRT at UMass. There's an abstract on the UMass mathematics calendar.
Congratulations to Ai Ling Chow and Desislava Petkova, who (independently) solved last week's Problem of the Week.

Events: November 10 - 14

On Wednesday, November 12, Carolyn Lukasik '04 will give a talk on "An American in St. Andrews" about her semester at St. Andrews University in Scotland. She promises to illustrate the lecture with plenty of photos. The talk will be at 12:15 in 416 Clapp. Pizza and beverages will be served.
On Thursday, November 13, Carl Pomerance of Dartmouth College will give an undergraduate colloquium on "Prime numbers: what we know and what we don't" at 4:00 pm in Seelye Hall 101 at Smith.

Events: November 3 - 7

On Wednesday, November 5, Harriet Pollatsek will give a talk on "The Smallest Hamming Code: Conquering Frustration with Algebra" at 12:15 in 416 Clapp. Pizza and beverages will be served.
David Auburn's play Proof continues its run at the Curtain Theater at UMass, with performances on November 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, and a pre-show panel on November 7. Visit the UMass Theater page for show times and ticket prices. Here's a link to a review of the play by Dan Rockmore, a professor of mathematics at Dartmouth.
The Northeastern Sectional Meeting of the MAA will be held at Wellesley College on Friday and Saturday, November 21 and 22. If you're interested in giving a talk at this meeting, consult with a faculty member soon -- you'll have to submit an abstract by November 7. Student speakers get free MAA memberships, free registration for the conference, and a free lunch.
See the resources page for a link to the official website for the Wellesley meeting.
There are new links to internships and research programs on our Resources page. The Knowledge Exchange Institute has available some one- and two-semester mathematics and science programs in Russia, Germany, and Australia. Closer to home, the Mathematics Advanced Study Semester program at Penn State is recruiting undergraduates to do mathematics research in the fall semester of 2004.
This week's What is . . . Graduate Seminar at UMass is on L-functions, those handy ways to package up sequences of numbers as analytic functions. The Riemann Zeta function is the best-known example. The speaker is Farshid Hajir, and the talk is at 2:45 on Friday in 1634 LGRT, with refreshments to follow. See the UMass seminar calendar for an abstract.

Events: October 27 - 31

On Wednesday, October 29, the department will host its semiannual 300-level information luncheon at 12:15 in 416 Clapp. This is your chance to hear about next spring's 300-level courses in mathematics and statistics from the very people who will be teaching them. Pizza and beverages will be served.
UMass is holding the annual Five College Graduate and Professional School Information Day on Wednesday, October 29, from 11 to 3, in the Student Union Ballroom. If you go, be sure to talk to Gail Gere from RPI. She'll tell you about a stipend and tuition-remission package for new PhD students in Inverse Problems, Bioinformatics, Machine Learning, Optimization including Financial Engineering, and Scientific Computing.
On Thursday, October 30 at 7:00 pm there will be an information session for the Mississippi Teacher Corps at the Career Development Center. Participants in the MTC program teach high school in Mississippi for two years (at full pay) and receive free tuition for a Master of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction program, among other benefits. See the Resources page for a link to the MTC website.
If you're looking for a semester or year of study abroad, check out the Knowledge Exchange Institute. They have math and science programs in Russia, Germany, and Australia, along with a wealth of other programs. Applications are due November 20 for the Spring 2004 semester. See the Resources page for a link to KEI's website.
You can see David Auburn's play Proof, winner of a 2001 Tony award and Pulitzer prize, at the Curtain Theater at UMass. The performance dates are October 30 and 31 and November 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. This Broadway hit has a strong mathematical theme. Here's a review of the play written by Dartmouth mathematician Dan Rockmore. Visit the UMass Theater page for show times and ticket prices. There will be a talk-back with the director and cast after the October 31 performance, and a pre-show panel before the November 7 performance.
The Northeastern Sectional Meeting of the MAA will be held at Wellesley College on Friday and Saturday, November 21 and 22. There will be a session for contributed student talks. The student talks are fifteen minutes long and can be research talks, expository talks, or descriptions of employment or summer research experiences. Student speakers get free MAA memberships, free registration for the conference, and a free lunch. The deadline for submitting an abstract is November 7. If you have any interest in giving a talk at Wellesley, talk to a faculty person soon. See the Resources page for a link to the official website for the Wellesley meeting.

Events: October 20 - 24

On Wednesday, October 22, George Cobb will speak on "How the U. S. Congress Gets its Seats: A Discrete Math Algorithm Goes to Washington" at 12:15 pm in 416 Clapp. Pizza and beverages will be served. Here is Professor Cobb's abstract.
On Thursday, October 23, David Hoffman, emeritus professor of mathematics at UMass, will speak at the UMass mathematics colloquium. The talk is on "The Space of Minimal Surfaces," and will begin at 4:00 pm in 1634 LGRT. You can read Professor Hoffman's abstract at the UMass math seminar calendar.
The Putnam Team is invited to a practice (with munchies) on Friday at 5:00 in 416 Clapp.

Events: October 13 - 17

Joe Buhler of Reed College will give an undergraduate-level talk on "Unexpected coin flips" in Seelye 101 at Smith on Thursday, October 16. Tea will be served at 3:30 in the Math Forum. Here is Professor Buhler's abstract for this talk.

Events: October 6 - 10

Our distinguished visitor Harry Miller will give a talk on "Independence, Chebyshev's Inequality, and a Putnam Problem" at 12:15 on Wednesday in 416 Clapp. Pizza and beverages will be served.

Helaman and Claire Ferguson will present their illustrated lecture "Mathematics in Stone and Bronze" at 4:00 on Thursday in 305 Kendade. Helaman Ferguson is a well-known mathematician and sculptor. You can see a picture of his scuplture of the figure-eight knot complement in the department office, and you can see the scuplture itself in the MHC library. Here is a copy of the abstract for this lecture.
If you want to be on the MHC Putnam team this year, please send a note to Greg Quenell by Friday. For more information about the Putnam contest, visit the Putnam Website.
There's still time to apply for the NSA Director's Summer Program (applications due October 15) and the Groton School Teacher-Intern Program (applications due January 1). See the Resources page for more information about these opportunities.
Congratulations to Ha Le for her solution to last week's Problem of the Week.

Events: September 29 - October 3

On Wednesday, October 1, Maria Osorio will give a talk titled "Modifying a Bacterial Conjugation Model" about her research last summer. The talk will be in 416 Clapp at 12:15. Pizza and beverages will be provided.

This week's "What is ..." Graduate Seminar at UMass is on Root Systems. The seminar meets at 2:45 on Friday, October 3 on 1634 LGRT. There's an abstract at the UMass Mathematics Department weekly calendar page.

We'll have a Putnam Practice Party on Friday at 5:00 in 416 Clapp. Munchies will be provided, and we'll discuss some of the problems -- the ones we can solve -- from past Putnam contests.

Friday, October 10 is the last day to register for the Putnam Competition. If you'd like to be on this year's MHC Putnam team, send a note to Greg Quenell. If you're not sure, then sign up anyway. The rules of the competition allow you to drop out later, but they don't permit anyone to register after the deadline. For more information about the Putnam Competition, have a look at math.scu.edu/putnam/.

The Groton School is accepting applications for its 2004-2005 Teacher-Intern Program. The application deadline is January 1, 2004. Here is a link to the position announcement from Groton.

The Helaman and Claire Ferguson illustrated lecture has been rescheduled for October 9 at 4:00 pm in 305 Kendade. The Fergusons will explain the creation of Helaman Ferguson's famous mathematical sculptures. Helaman Ferguson's sculpture of the figure-eight knot complement is permanently installed in the MHC library. Here is a copy of the abstract for this lecture.

Events: September 22 - 26

On Wednesday, September 24, Greg Quenell will give a talk on the Braess Paradox, a simple but surprising result from the theory of traffic flow. The talk will be in 416 Clapp at 12:15. Pizza and beverages will be provided.
September 24 is the deadline to register for Actuarial exams number 1, 2, and 4 for the fall 2003 sitting. Visit the Casualty Actuary Society website for details.
Sybil Obiri will be visiting the recruitment director at Aon Consulting in Hartford on the afternoon of Thursday, September 25. If you'd like to meet with Aon's recruitment people, send a note to Sybil (saobiri) or Greg Quenell (quenell) to reserve a place on this trip. Also, have a look at Aon's website, aon.com.
The "What is ..." graduate seminar at UMass this week is on Newton Polygons. The talk is at 2:45 in 1634 LGRT. The speaker is Farshid Hajir. There's an abstract on the weekly calendar page of the UMass Mathematics Department website.

Events: September 15 - 19

On Wednesday, September 17, Charlene Noll '04 will give a talk on the Dartmouth dual degree engineering program in 416 Clapp at 12:15. Pizza and beverages will be served. At this meeting we will also start setting up interest groups to prepare for actuarial exams, the GRE, and the Putnam contest.

The Ferguson lecture has been postponed due to the weather.
On Thursday, September 18, Helaman and Claire Ferguson present their illustrated lecture "Mathematics in Stone and Bronze" at 4:00 in Kendade 305. Helaman Ferguson's sculpture of the figure-eight knot complement is permanently installed in the MHC library. Here is a copy of the abstract for this lecture.
If you're planning to take an actuarial exam in the fall of 2003, you need to register by September 18 (for exams 3, 6, and 9) or by September 24 (for exams 1, 2, and 4). You can find registration information at www.casact.org/admissions/syllabus/2003/regrules.htm and other information about the actuarial exams at www.beanactuary.com or from the links on our Resources page.

Events: September 1 - 5

The NSA is accepting applications for a 12-week program next summer. Check out the Resources page for details.