 |
ALBION COLLEGE
M A T H
E M A T I C S
|
 |
Mathematics Department Calendar of Events
1997-1998
August 20-23, 1997
Math Camp. Entering and returning math enthusiasts participate
in a variety of social and recreational activities related to mathematics.
September 7, 1997
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 direction
of brewmaster Bob Messer. See the Chef Dave Seely assisted by the Chef
French (the Child Julia of the Department Chemistry) perform their culinary
magic at the charcoal grill. Help the winners of the Math Camp Scavenger
Hunt (Sarah Burpee, Kate Sindall, Christy Byks, and Heather Lindberg) launch
their stunt kites. Who knows, there may even be a quiz. Sign up in the
Math office so we know how much food to prepare.
September 12, 1997
Friday Afternoon Mathematics Tea. The Linear
Algebra class will be the hosts for the first Math Tea of the semester,
Friday at 3:15 in Norris 109. The theme of this tea will be the question,
"Are vectors real?" We will recognize Jovan Giaimo and Sabrina
Corte as outstanding first-year mathematics students of 1996-97 and present
them with gift certificates to Cascarelli's. Invite a philosophy major.
September 19, 1997
Friday Afternoon Mathematics Tea. The Abstract
Algebra class will be the hosts for the second Math Tea of the semester,
Friday at 3:14 in Norris 109. They are planning to teach us the Math Department
song that they have composed. Invite a music major to help us sing.
September 26-27, 1997
September 26, 1997
Friday Afternoon Mathematics Tea. The 8:10
am Calc 2 class will be the hosts for the third Math Tea of the semester,
Friday at 3:13 in Norris 109. They invite you to share your thoughts concerning
the proposition of Leopold Kronecker, "God created the integers; all
else is the work of man."
October 6-10, 1997
Ramanujan Week. In conjunction with Dr. Bruce Berndt's receipt
of the Albion Distinguished Alumnus Award, we are celebrating Ramanujan Week.
Dr. Berndt has devoted his research efforts over the years to proving the
claims in the notebooks left behind by India's greatest mathematician,
Srinivasa
Ramanujan.
October 10, 1997
Friday Afternoon Mathematics Tea. The Multivariate Calculus class
will be the hosts for the fourth Math Tea of the semester, Friday at 3:10
in Norris 109. Bruce Berndt, winner of the Sleight Award as the outstanding
Math graduate of 1961, will be the honored guest. He is returning to Albion
to receive a Distinguished Alumnus Award. He has devoted his research efforts
over the years to proving the claims in the notebooks left behind by Srinivasa
Ramanujan. He has many tales to tell about the life and mathematics of
India's greatest mathematician.
October 17-19, 1997
1997 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 24, 1997
Friday Afternoon Mathematics Tea. The Mathematics Department will
be the hosts of this tea and will be discussing the mathematics of pizza,
and information about spring mathematics courses Friday at 3:14 in Norris
109. All Math majors, Computational Math majors, Computer Science majors,
Math/Physics majors, Math/Econ majors, prospective majors, and friends
of the department are invited.
Come early. Stay as long as you like.
November 7-8, 1997
1997 ACM East Central Region
Programming Contest. The Regional Contest will challenge a team
of programmers to solve between six and eight programming problems in a
period of five hours. The programmers have their choice of C, C++, or Pascal.
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. This year's
team, Busted Zippers, consists of
Joe Smith,
Greg Prater,
and Scott Curtis.
PS: The team finished 43rd out of 87 teams. Click
here
for the final contest results. Congratulations to Scott, Greg, and Joe!
November 8, 1997
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, and nineteenth in 1996 in this competition. See Robert
Messer if you feel you are ready for the MATH Challenge. Among the
37 teams in this year's MATH Challenge, three teams of students represented
Albion College:
- Sarah Burpee, Joel
Jamison, Todd Krabach
(tied for 17th)
- Anna Rizzi, James Smaby,
Jennifer Willard (12th place)
- Bob Stenger, Jennifer Wank,
Tom Whinihan (19th place)
November 14, 1997
Friday Afternoon Mathematics Tea. Join us for a discussion of
the problems on the MATH Challenge.
November 21, 1997
Friday Afternoon Mathematics Tea. Can it be that 0=1, or that
all triangles are equilateral? Bring your favorite bogus proof to the Math
Tea, and we will try to find the flaw. Who knows, maybe all horses actually
are the same color. Here is a proof that the weight of an elephant equals
the weight of a mouse. Let E be the weight of an elephant, let m
be the weight of a mouse, and let A be the average weight. Then
| E + m | = | 2A
|
| (E + m)(E – m)
| = | 2A(E – m)
|
| E2 – m2
| = | 2AE – 2Am
|
| E2 – 2AE
| = | m2 – 2Am
|
| E2 – 2AE + A2
| =
| m2 – 2Am + A2
|
| (E – A)2
| = | (m – A)2
|
| E – A
| = | m – A
|
| E | = | m
|
December 5, 1997
December 6, 1997
Fifty-eighth Annual William
Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition. Your final exams will be
a breeze in comparison to the Putnam exam. Last year all members of the
Albion College team achieved the distinction of obtaining positive scores.
This year's team consists of Art Bragg, Katie Brimmer, Kerry Douglass,
James Smaby,
Jennifer Wank,
and Tom Whinihan.
January 29, 1998
Mathematics Colloquium. David
Field, Senior Research Scientist at the General
Motors Research and Development Center, will talk about Manufacturing,
Robotics, and Computational Geometry. He will present slides and videotapes
to illustrate his work in robotics. His research interests include numerical
analysis, approximation theory, finite-element analysis, and the mathematics
of computer-aided design. He will speak with the students in the Mathematical
Modeling class (visitors are welcome, 2:10 to 3:30 in Palenske 311) and
present the colloquium at 7:30 pm in Norris 103.
February 6-9, 1998
Mathematical Modeling Competition.
Scott
Dillery is coaching the teams of students in preparation for a weekend
of working on an open-ended problem in applied mathematics. The three teams
teams of students representing Albion College are:
- Sarah Burpee, Andy Hubbard, James
Smaby
- Todd Krabach,
Suzanne Porter, Andy Gleason
- Melanie Gamble, Kate Sindall
February 15, 1998
February 25, 1998
Mathematics Colloquium.
Dan Christiansen
of the Department of Economics
will speak on "The Mathematics of Finance, or Can a Mathematician Win the Nobel Prize?"
The work of
Robert Merton and
Myron Scholes for
which they received the Nobel Prize in Economics has opened the new field of
financial engineering. This colloquium will begin at 7:08pm in Norris 109.
Of course, prize-winning refreshments will be provided.
February 28, 1998
Denison
Spring Programming Contest.
The Contest challenges a team of four programmers to solve five or six
programming problems in a period of four hours. The programmers have
their choice of programming in C++ or Pascal. 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.
This year, the
Busted Zippers consisting of
Joe Smith,
Greg Prater,
Phil Shaltis,
and Ryan Maurer matched wits with other programmers from the
Midwest.
PS: The team finished 8th out of 14 teams, solving 1 problem.
Click here
for the final contest results.
Congratulations to Ryan, Greg, Phil, and Joe!
March 7-15, 1998
Spring Break.
March 25, 1998
Meeting for Majors and Friends of the Department. The Mathematics
Department invites all majors in Mathematics, Computer Science, Math/Physics,
Math/Economics, prospective majors, and friends of the department for
information about fall
mathematics and computer science courses
and
Join us Wednesday at 3:14pm in Norris 109.
| 
 |
April 4, 1998
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. Last year Emily Duke, Brad Emmons, and
Joe Smith
represented Albion College and placed sixteenth.
The University of Michigan at Flint
was the host for the 1998 competition.
James Smaby, Sarah Burpee,
and Tom Whinihan are the members of this year's team. They placed eleventh
out of the twenty-one teams who participated in this year's competition.
April 23, 1998
Mathematics Colloquium.
The first candidate for the faculty position due to John Wenzel's
continuation as Director of Academic Computing will speak on
"Dimensional Analysis" at 7:10pm in Norris 109.
There will also be an opportunity for students to meet with the candidate
after the talk. Student comments have provided us with valuable insights
about candidates in past searches, and we hope you will be able to
participate in the process this year. Even if you cannot attend the
entire colloquium, please catch as much of it as your schedule permits.
Of course, the Math Department will live up to our tradition of providing
swell refreshments.
April 26 to May 2, 1998
Mathematics Awareness
Week. The 1998 theme is Mathematics and Imaging. Mathematics provides
the concepts, tools, and algorithms that make possible the efficient and
effective display of images. Pattern recognition in medical diagnosis,
automatic identity verification systems, computed tomography, compression
of image data transmitted by satellite or data networks, and believable
rendering and illumination of characters in animated motion pictures are
only some of the modern technologies that depend upon the mathematics of
imaging for their success.
May 1, 1998
International Plaid Day. One of the highlights of Mathematics
Awareness Week 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. Even the Rock has
taken on a suitable color scheme.
Link to the Albion College home page.
Link to the Mathematics Department.
Modified March 1, 1998, by David Reimann
Modified November 11, 1999, by Robert Messer