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Mathematics Department Calendar of Events
1999-2000

Events of 1996-1997
Events of 1997-1998
Events of 1998-1999
Events of spring 2000
Upcoming events
What's New in the Math Department

August 18-21, 1999

Math Camp. Entering and returning math enthusiasts participate in a variety of social and recreational activities related to mathematics.

Friday Afternoon Math Tea

Every Friday at 3:14 math students, math faculty, and friends of the Math Department gather in Norris 109 for cookies and soft drinks; some people even drink tea. Check out the progress on the Menger sponge, and join in the discussion of the latest news from our department and the wider world of mathematics.

August 27 is the date of the first Math Tea of the semester. Congratulate the Math Camp participants as they receive their Million Dots certificates.

September 2, 1999

The Union Board drive-in movie. Co-sponsored by the Math Department. No one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself. 9pm on the quad.

September 3, 1999

Math Tea, 3:14 pm in Norris 109. The Abstract Algebra class will host the second Math Tea of the semester. We will try out the candy passing problem and see if we can determine the long-run behavior.

September 10, 1999

Math Tea, 3:14 pm in Norris 109. The 8:10am Calculus 2 class will host the third Math Tea of the semester. They will show how to apply Fermat's principle and a bit of calculus to derive Snell's Law.

September 12, 1999

Math/Physics/Chemistry/Geology Picnic. Come join faculty and staff of the Science Complex for a free picnic in Victory Park. Experience homemade root beer brewed by the Math Camp participants under the training of brewmaster Bob Messer. See the Chef Steff assisted by the Chef French (the Child Julia of the Department Chemistry) perform their culinary magic at the charcoal grill. Who knows, there may even be a quiz. Sign up in the Math office so we know how much food to prepare.

September 17, 1999

Math Tea, 3:14 pm in Norris 109.

September 24, 1999

Math Tea, 3:14 pm in Norris 109.

October 1, 1999

Homecoming Math Tea, 3:14 pm in Norris 109. We have invited alumni who will be visiting our campus to be guests of honor. You can ask them about the olden days at Albion College and get their words of wisdom about a liberal arts education, graduate schools, careers, and life. They will be interested in learning from you the latest news about the Math Department.

October 8, 1999

Math Tea, 3:14 pm in Norris 109. The Department of Mathematics will recognize Emily Arend and A. C. Card as our outstanding first-year students of 1998-99.

October 8-10, 1999

1999 Midwestern ACM Chapter Conference. The conference is open to everyone willing to register. No ACM or industry affiliation required, simply an interest in computers and technology. Students interested should contact Dave Reimann for further information.

October 15, 1999

Math Tea, 3:14 pm in Norris 109. The Data Structures and Algorithms class will host the eighth Math Tea of the semester.

October 15-16, 1999

Undergraduate Conference at Miami University. A group of mathematics students and faculty travel to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. The theme of this year's conference is Experimental Mathematics. Contact Bob Messer if you are interested in participating.

October 22, 1999

Friday Afternoon Mathematics Tea. The Mathematics Department will host this tea and provide information on the mathematics of pizza and spring mathematics courses. All Math majors, Computer Science majors, Math/Physics majors, Math/Econ majors, prospective majors, and friends of the department are invited to join us Friday at 3:14 in Norris 109. FREE PIZZA. Come early. Stay as long as you like.

October 29, 1999

Math Tea, 3:14 pm in Norris 109. The Mathematical Statistics class will host the tenth Math Tea of the semester. They will demonstrate the amazing hat check problem.

November 6, 1999

Michigan Autumn Take-Home Challenge. Teams of three students work for three hours Saturday morning on a set of ten interesting problems. Albion's teams have placed third in 1994, second in 1995, nineteenth in 1996, twelfth in 1997, and eighteenth in 1998. The members of Albion's three MATH Challenge teams are:
1. Brian Kusiak, Anna Rizzi, James Smaby
2. Mark Jeromin, Jason Kiernan, Matt Linden
3. Dave Hansen, Matt Lacki, Phil Thorson

November 1999

1999 ACM East Central Region Programming Contest. Last year two teams from Albion College traveled to the University of Waterloo to compete in East Central Regional meet of the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest. Of the eight programming challenges, Albion's first team, the Screeming Bus solved one in 207 minutes, finishing 67th among 92 teams. With a nonnegative score, Albion's second team, the Illogical Fuzz, tied for 83th place. Waterloo A team was the winning team solving six problems in 952 minutes. Carnegie-Mellon University was a close second with six problems in 992 minutes.

December 3, 1999

Math Tea, 3:14 pm in Norris 109. Members of the Albion College Putnam Team will present solutions to last year's exam in preparation for the 1999 competition. Join in this discussion of these challenging problems, and cheer our team on to great accomplishments in this national competition.

December 4, 1999

Sixtieth Annual William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition. Your final exams will be a breeze in comparison to the Putnam exam. Six students participated in the 1997 competition. Our representative James Smaby acheived a positive score in last year's competition. The 1999 Putnam team consists of

Dave Hansen
Bryan Kusiak
James Smaby

December 10, 1999

Math Tea, 3:14 pm in Norris 109. Kara Orange will demonstrate her work with the Geometer's Sketchpad.

January 14, 2000

Math Tea, 3:14 pm in Norris 109. Welcome back from break. We will open the box and begin construction of the 3-D jigsaw puzzle of Castle Neuschwanstein with four fully illuminated rooms.

January 21, 2000

Math Tea, 3:14 pm in Norris 109. The students from the Honor's course Great Issues in Science taught this semester by Dale Kennedy and Dan Steffenson will be attending Math Tea to learn our ideas of the great issues in Mathematics and Computer Science.

February 4-7, 2000

Mathematical Contest in Modeling. Scott Dillery is coaching the teams of students in preparation for a weekend of working on an open-ended problem in applied mathematics. Last year Albion College was represented by two teams. Both were designated successful competitors.


Suzanne Porter Todd Krabach Andy Gleason

James Smaby Kim St. Andre Jeff Knight

All math enthusiasts are invited to join in eating pizza and supporting the teams at the kickoff in Norris 109 on Thursday night shortly before the official opening of the problem sets at 12:01am.

February 11, 2000

Math Tea and Colloquium, 3:14 pm in Norris 109. Ken Alberts will describe "Life after Calculus". Ken is a Math Department alumnus who has been working with the actuarial consulting firm of Gabriel, Roeder, Smith & Company since his graduation in 1987. He is married to Susan Krampe, another outstanding Math Graduate of that year. Education students might have an opportunity to ask her for the truth about high school teaching.

February 19, 2000

The Michigan Undergraduate Mathematics Conference will be held at Alma College. Joseph Gallian author of the textbook Contemporary Abstract Algebra for our Abstract Algebra course will be the keynote speaker. In addition to his talk on "Touring a Torus", the conference will include student presentations, career representatives, REU representatives, and information on graduate programs. Robert Messer will be organizing a group of students to participate in this conference. Contact him if you are interested in attending.

February 25, 2000

Math Tea, 3:14 pm in Norris 109. Karla McCavit will get you started on developing your electronic portfolio of your math and computer science experience. The Math Department will use this in making decisions about awards, scholarships, letters of recommendation, etc. It is also a context for you to reflect on your academic experience and how it relates to your personal, educational, and professional goals.

February 26, 2000

Denison Spring Programming Contest. The Contest challenges a team of four programmers to solve up to five programming problems in a period of four hours. The programmers have their choice of programming in Pascal and/or C++. The team with the most questions solved in the least amount of time wins. See Dave Reimann or the related Web page for more information about this competition. Last year's team consisting of Joe Smith, Scott Curtis, Ryan Maurer, and Andrew Frick finished 3rd out of 13 teams, solving 2 problems and the first team to correctly solve a problem. Congratulations to Joe, Scott, Ryan, and Andrew! Click here for the final contest results. Be a part of this year's action!

March 17, 2000

Friday Afternoon Mathematics Tea. The Mathematics Department will provide information about fall courses in Mathematics and Computer Science. All Math majors, Computer Science majors, Math/Physics majors, Math/Econ majors, prospective majors, and friends of the department are invited to join us Friday at 3:14 in Norris 109. Bring your friends; bring your questions; bring your schedule.

April 2000

Mathematics Awareness Month. "Math Spans All Dimensions" is the theme of Mathematics Awareness Month. The poster for Mathematics Awareness Month illustrates the analysis of point clouds in 0 dimensions; the 1-dimensional worlds of geological core samples and racing car geometry; the 2-dimensional worlds of Edwin Abbott Abbott's "Flatland" and Pixar Animation Studios; the 3 dimensions of choreography, crystal geometry, and gravitational lenses; and on to 4 dimensions and higher with cosmology, hyperspace, and Madeleine L'Engle's "A Wrinkle in Time."

April 1, 2000

Lower Michigan Mathematics Competition. Teams of three students represent small colleges in lower Michigan in solving a set of ingenious math problems. Albion College was the host of the 1996 LMMC. This year's teams consisted of


Stephanie Moore Shannon Seibert James Smaby

Dave Hansen Colleen Thomas Adella Pietrzyk

Grand Valley State University was the host for the 2000 competition.

April 14, 2000

Math Tea and Colloquium, 3:14 pm in Norris 109. John Fink will describe his research at Oxford University on the life and work of Professor George Temple. Dr. Fink is professor of mathematics and chair of the Department of Mathematics at Kalamazoo College. He provides the following abstract of his talk "The Catholic Temple: A Work in Progress".


Prof. Dom. George Temple, FRS, CBE, former Sedleian Professor of Natural Philosophy at Oxford died in 1992 at the age of 90. His life spanned nearly the entire twentieth century. He played an influential part in linking the disciplines of mathematics and physics for 50 years before retiring to the Isle of Wight as a monk of Quarr Abbey. In this talk, I will explore some of the connections between Scientist and Priest that I have found in a recently begun study of his life.

April 28, 2000

International Plaid Day. One of the highlights of Mathematics Awareness Month at Albion College is International Plaid Day. We have contacted people around the world who will join faculty, students, and staff on campus in wearing plaid to show their support of mathematics. In past years, even the Rock took on a suitable color scheme. This year, Sarah Burpee will show us how to make plaid scrunchies.

Modified April 2, 2000, by Robert Messer