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2003-2004 Calendar of Events
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What's New in the Department of Mathematics and
Computer Science 2003 Calendar
September 4th
Mathematics / Computer Science Colloquium, 4:10 pm in Norris 109.
The first speaker in the fall colloquium series will be Robert Messer of Albion,
who talk is entitled "Eine Kleine Knot Theory".
September 11th
Mathematics / Computer Science Colloquium, 4:10 pm in Norris 109.
Sidney Graham of Central Michigan University will speak on "Reasons For
Believing (Or Not Believing) The Riemann Hypothesis". In addition, Dr. Graham will be available to discuss
graduate school opportunities at CMU with Albion students.
September 18th
Mathematics / Computer Science Colloquium, 4:10 pm in Norris 109.
Vipin Chaudhary of Wayne State University will give a talk entitled "Software
Scalable System on Chip Architecture". In
addition, he will be available to discuss Wayne State's
graduate programs with interested students.
September 21st - Sunday
Math/Computer Science/Physics/Geology/ Chemistry Picnic. Come join faculty and staff of the Science departments
for a free picnic in the science complex courtyard from 4:30-6:00 P.M.. See in person the ultra-famous Chef Reimann, Chef
Anderson, and Chef Bollman as they perform their culinary magic at the charcoal grill. Who knows, there may even be a quiz.
Sign up in the Math/CS office so we know how much food to prepare.
September 25th
Mathematics / Computer Science Colloquium, 4:10 pm in Norris 109. The
speaker will be Dawn Sadir of Albion, who will give us "A Gentle Introduction
to Operators".
October 2nd
Mathematics / Computer Science Colloquium, 4:10 pm in Norris 109.
Albion's own Paul Anderson will be the featured speaker. His talk is
titled "Forecasting Stock Market Prices, Weather, and Carbon
Dioxide Output from a Gas Furnace using Time Series Analysis".
October 3-4
October 10th - Homecoming!
Welcome Back
Alumni!
Mathematics / Computer Science Colloquium, 4:10 pm in Norris 109.
2002 graduates Erin Risser and Nick Drake will be speaking on their
experiences since Albion, and senior Christine Riker will talk
about her summer REU experience at the University of Maine.
We have invited alumni who will be visiting our
campus to be our 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 and Computer Science Department.
October 16th
Mathematics / Computer Science Colloquium, 4:10 pm in Norris 109.
T.C. Sun, from Wayne State University, will speak on "Opportunities in Applied
Mathematics".
October 18-21: Fall Break!
October 23rd
Mathematics/Computer Science Colloquium, 4:10 pm in Norris 109.
Martha O'Kennon of Albion will be the speaker.
October 25th
The 6th Annual
Michigan Undergraduate Mathematics Conference will be held at Grand
Valley State University, at their downtown Grand Rapids campus. This year's keynote speaker will
be Suzanne Lenhart of the University of Tennessee, who will speak on "Applications of Optimal Control to Various Population Models".
The conference will include student presentations, career representatives, and
information on graduate programs. Albion students William
Green and Giovanni Dimatteo are expected to be among the student speakers.
In
addition, the program will include a rousing game of
Hollywood Equiangular Rhombi, with spaces filled by celebrity
mathematicians. The Mathematics and Computer Science Department will be
organizing a group of students to attend this conference. Every Albion student
(n > 0) who attended last
spring's MUMC came home with a free door prize. Contact Mark Bollman
if you are interested in attending.
October 30th
Mathematics / Computer Science Colloquium, 4:10 pm in Norris 109.
Mark Clark, a representative of Jackson National Life Insurance Company, will be our
speaker.
October 31: Mandatory Meeting for Mathematics Majors (M4)
 Friday Afternoon Tea. The Math and Computer Science Departments
will host this tea and provide information on the mathematics of pizza
as well as present information about mathematics courses offered in the spring.
All Math majors, Computer Science majors, Math/Physics majors, Math/Econ majors,
prospective majors, and friends of the department are invited to join us.
Bring a friend!
November 1st (Date now confirmed)
Michigan Autumn
Take-Home Challenge.
Teams of 3 students from colleges in at least 6 states work for 3 hours Saturday morning on a set
of 10 interesting problems. Albion's teams have placed third in 1994,
second in 1995, nineteenth in 1996, twelfth in 1997, eighteenth in 1998,
fifteenth in 1999, and fourth and twelfth in 2000. Albion tied for first in
2001 and placed second, 25th, and 39th in 2002. Contact
Mark Bollman for
further information or to join one of the Albion teams.
November 6th
Mathematics / Computer Science Colloquium, 4:10 pm in Norris 109.
Albion's Darren Mason will speak on "Mathematical Modeling of Shape Memory
Alloys".
November 7-8th
November 13th
Mathematics / Computer Science Colloquium, 4:10 pm in Norris 109.
Howard Whitston of Albion is the scheduled speaker.
November 20th
Mathematics / Computer Science Colloquium, 4:10 pm in Norris 109. Albion's
own Mark Bollman will give a talk entitled "Know Your Utility! An
Introduction to Auction Theory".
November 26 - 30:
Thanksgiving Break
December 4th
Mathematics / Computer Science Colloquium, 4:10 pm in Norris 109. Albion's
Dave Reimann will emerge from his sabbatical to speak. The title of his
talk is "A Brief Introduction to PostScript--PS, I Love You".
December 6th
Sixty-Fourth Annual William
Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition. Your final exams will be
a breeze in comparison to the Putnam exam. All Albion participants
in last year's competition achieved positive scores, and Dave Friday placed
875th
in this national competition with a score of 14. Contact
Mark Bollman for
more information.
2004 Calendar
January 15th
Mathematics / Computer Science Colloquium, 4:10 pm in Norris 109.
Organizational meeting.
January 22nd
Mathematics / Computer Science Colloquium, 4:10 pm in Norris 109.
January 29th
Mathematics / Computer Science Colloquium, 4:10 pm in Norris 109.
February 5th
Mathematics / Computer Science Colloquium, 4:10 pm in Norris 109.
February 5-9
Mathematical Contest in Modeling.
All math enthusiasts are invited to join in eating pizza and
supporting the teams at the kickoff in the computer lab in the Kellogg Center on Thursday night
- - shortly before the official opening of the problem sets at 12:01am. Talk
to Darren Mason for further
information about this competition.
February 12th
Mathematics / Computer Science Colloquium, 4:10 pm in Norris 109.
February 19th
Mathematics / Computer Science Colloquium, 4:10 pm in Norris 109.
February 26th
Mathematics / Computer Science Colloquium, 4:10 pm in Norris 109.
March 4th
Mathematics / Computer Science Colloquium, 4:10 pm in Norris 109.
March 5-14: Spring Break
March (date TBA)
Pizza and Pamphlets
The Mathematics and Computer Science Departments will provide information
about
fall
courses in Mathematics and Computer Science. All Math majors/minors,
Computer Science majors/minors, Math/Physics majors, Math/Econ majors,
prospective majors, and friends of the department are invited to join us. Bring your friends; bring your questions; bring
your schedule.
March 18th
Mathematics / Computer Science Colloquium, 4:10 pm in Norris 109.
March 25th
Mathematics / Computer Science Colloquium, 4:10 pm in Norris 109.
April is Mathematics Awareness Month\
The 2004 theme is "The Mathematics of Networks (It's A Small World)".
 2003's theme was "Mathematics and Art". From the
Mathematics Awareness Month
web site:
The connection between mathematics and art goes back thousands of
years. The ancient Greeks and Romans used mathematics in sculptures and
to aesthetically design buildings. In the 15th century Leonardo da Vinci
wrote "Let no one read me who is not a mathematician." In the 16th century
Durer employed mathematics to introduce perspective in drawings. In the
18th and 19th centuries mathematics was extensively used in the design
of Gothic cathedrals, Rose windows, mosaics and tilings. In the 20th
century geometric forms were fundamental to the cubists and many abstract
expressionists. In recent decades several award winning sculptors have
used topology as the basis for their pieces. The close connection between
mathematics and art is most readily seen in the works of the Dutch artist
M. C. Escher. Among the mathematical ideas represented in his work are:
infinity, Möbius bands, tessellations, deformations, reflections,
Platonic solids, spirals, symmetry, and the hyperbolic plane.
April 1st
Mathematics / Computer Science Colloquium, 4:10 pm in Norris 109.
No fooling.
April (date TBA)
The 28th Lower Michigan Mathematics Competition will be held at Kalamazoo
College. 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. Hope College is the defending LMMC
champion. Albion's two teams last year braved the snow and ice to finish second and third. Contact Mark Bollman if you are
interested in attending this year!
Denison
Spring Programming Contest. No date has been set in 2004 for this
contest, which 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 Howard Whitston or the
related Web page for more information about this competition.
April 8th
Mathematics / Computer Science Colloquium, 4:10 pm in Norris 109.
April 15th
Mathematics / Computer Science Colloquium, 4:10 pm in Norris 109.
April 22nd
Elkin R. Isaac Student Research Symposium.
The purpose of the Elkin Isaac Research Symposium is to honor excellent
student research, scholarship, and creative activity. The participants
are nominated by their faculty sponsors after having participated
in independent research that results in the significant synthesis of
new knowledge. The research must have been performed under the direct
supervision of an Albion College faculty member, or in a College-approved
off-campus program.
April 29th
Mathematics / Computer Science Colloquium, 4:10 pm in Norris 109.
April 30th
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.
May 2nd
Senior Dinner, 5-7 PM.
Dinner for faculty and graduating students.
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