Dear Friends,

What follows is a monthly informational newsletter related to the department of Mathematics and Computer Science. It contains a student profile plus highlights of some of recent news and upcoming events. I hope this information helps you support our departmental mission.

Table of Contents

1. Class of 2007 Senior Spotlight
   1. Erica Stoney
2. Recent News and Upcoming Events:
   1. Students Seek Internships
   2. Kappa Mu Epsilon Announces New Members
   3. Pi Day Celebration
   4. Pi Day Celebrated Worldwide with Reimann's Pi Poster
   5. Cayley Pendergrass Gives Presentation
   6. Carmen Weddell Awarded FURSCA Summer Research Grant
   7. Mark Bollman Promoted to Associate Professor
   8. Students Compete in Lower Michigan Mathematics Competition
   9. COMAP Mathematical Modeling Team Receives Successful Participant!
   10. April is Mathematics Awareness Month
   11. Admissions Visit Day
   12. Elkin Isaac Research Symposium
   13. International Plaid Day
   14. Senior Dinner
   15. Commencement
   16. Colloquium: David Reimann
   17. Colloquium: Clifford Weil

Class of 2007 Senior Spotlight

Name: Erica Stoney
Hometown: Plymouth, Michigan

Erica Stoney in the science complex atrium.

While Erica Stoney has always been interested in a career in teaching, she was initially unsure of an academic major. That changed after taking a few math courses at Albion. "I really liked the first professors I had in the math department," says Erica. "They are all very eager to help and find joy in your success."

Erica is majoring in mathematics with a concentration in Elementary Education as a member of the Fritz Shurmur Education Institute. Currently, Erica is enjoying student teaching at Harrington Elementary in Albion and looking forward to full-time teaching. "My plans are to find a teaching job abroad at an international school."

I have really enjoyed my interaction with other math majors.

Athletics was a factor for Erica in her decision in coming to Albion. "I came to Albion because it gave me a chance to be involved with collegiate athletics. I also liked the friendly and welcoming campus, staff and students." Erica participated on Albion's cross country team for four years and ran track for three years. Her teams made her feel at home at Albion. "I have loved my involvement with cross country and track the most of my time spent here at Albion." She has also contributed to team leadership as captain of the cross country team her senior year.

Albion has also allowed Erica opportunities to enhance and share her faith. She has been a member of Campus Crusade for Christ for 4 years and holds a leadership position this year. She also lead a bible study for Athletes in Action, a bible study affiliated with Campus Crusade for Christ.

Erica has always enjoyed mathematics, even though it was challenging at times. But she was able to take the rough road in stride. "There were times when I wanted to quit. Pushing through hard times and concepts really was difficult." Like running, mathematics can be more fun with others. "I have really enjoyed my interaction with other math majors. They are a great group of people and have provided a pillar of support over the last three years." She also has high regards for her professors. "Dr. Mark Bollman in particular helped me when I really thought I wasn't cut out for the tough course load. As cheesy as it sounds, he believed I could achieve success in the math department and that convinced me that maybe I could."

Erica found the science complex a great place to meet friends and study together for courses. "I can't think of any better place or better people to have spent my time than in math professor's offices and late nights in Palenske studying for exams with other math majors!"

Recent News and Upcoming Events

• Do you know of any internship opportunities for students majoring in mathematics or computer science? Several of our mathematics and computer science students are seeking internships over the summer. These early career explorations can have a profound impact in their lives. If you are aware of any opportunities, please contact David Reimann (dreimann@albion.edu).
  
• The Albion Chapter (Michigan Alpha) of Kappa Mu Epsilon, the national mathematics honor society, is pleased to announce its new members for 2007. New members are Allyson Bush, Neil Kocan, Kristen Krum, Jaclyn Sweeney, Jeremy Troisi, and Justin Willbrandt. KME members must complete at least three semesters of college and rank in the top 35% of their class; complete three college math courses, including at least one semester of calculus; and attain an average grade of 3.0 or better in all mathematics classes. Albion's chapter of KME was founded in 1937. Mark Bollman serves as corresponding secretary and advisor to the Albion chapter.  Further information about the national organization is available at kappamuepsilon.org. Congratulations to the new KME members!
  
• Students, faculty, and staff began the Pi Day celebration by eating pie (including apple, strawberry, turtle, and blueberry) in the Math/CS lounge in conjunction with our weekly colloquium talk. While many others celebrate this marvelous mathematical constant on March 14, that date occurs during Albion's spring break. A printable pi poster, designed by Professor David Reimann in 2003, is available for downloading.
  
• David Reimann's Pi poster was dowloaded thousands of times as people around the world celebrated Pi Day. The Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN) column WebSearch by Randy Salas included a description and link to the poster. Blogs from the US, Indonesia, Mexico, and Israel linked to the poster. Students at the Wy'east Middle School in Hood River, Oregon also used the poster in their Pi Day festivities. Reimann created the poster in 2003 as part of the Albion College Pi Day celebration. Pi Day is a holiday celebrated on March 14, the 3rd month and 14th day of the year.
  
• Cayley Pendergrass was invited to give a presentation at the American Mathematical Society's 2007 Spring Central Section Meeting held at Miami University in Oxford, OH on March 16-17, 2007. Her talk, "Extending Herstein's Theorems for Simple Rings to Just Infinite Rings", was part of the Special Session on Noncommutative Algebraic Geometry.
  
• Carmen Weddell has been accepted into the upcoming Summer Research Fellowship Program sponsored by FURSCA. Carmen will be working with faculty adviser Mark Bollman for eight weeks this summer on a project entitled "Group-Theoretic Implications of Equal Temperament Pitch Systems". This project will combine elements of abstract algebra and music theory.
  
• Congratulations to Mark Bollman, who has been promoted to the rank of Associate Professor effective at the beginning of the 2007-08 academic year.
  
• On Saturday, March 31, Whitney Patton, Jeremy Troisi, and Carmen Weddell joined mathematics students from across the state in the 31st Lower Michigan Mathematics Competition held at Calvin College. This year's 10-problem exam was written by Jerry Hoyer of Concordia College and was taken by 31 teams from twelve Michigan colleges. Results of the competition are expected before the end of the spring semester.
  
• The results from the 2007 COMAP Mathematical Competition in Modeling, wherein 949 teams from academic institutions around the world competed in February 2007, were released. The Albion College mathematics modeling team of Shane Walton ('07) and Lesley Simanton ('08) received the ranking of Successful Participant. To put this ranking in perspective, out of the nearly 1000 teams who participated in the competition, only seventy-three other teams from the United States (working on the same problem as Albion College's team) received a higher score than Albion College.  Moreover, just two of these teams came from Michigan (Lawrence Technological University)! This year's competition was particularly challenging since Albion's team was short-handed (two students instead of three participated).  Moreover, the Alboin College team chose Problem B, written by Professor Paul Campbell of Beloit College.  This problem required teams to devise and compare procedures for boarding and deboarding planes of varying sizes from 85 to 800.  Teams selecting this problem were also required to write an executive summary not to exceed two pages in which they set out their conclusions to an audience of airline executives, gate agents, and flight crews.  Congratulations to both Shane and Lesley for their hard effort!!   Professor Darren Mason organized the participation of the Albion students in this year's MCM.  Official results of the contest can be viewed at the COMAP website.
  
• April: April is Mathematics Awareness Month. The goal of Mathematics Awareness Month, held in April each year, is to increase public understanding of and appreciation for mathematics. The 2007 theme is "Mathematics and the Brain". One of the most exciting challenges in modern science is to understand the human brain and its mechanisms. Mathematics plays a vital role in the research to understand the mechanisms and function of the human brain, from its smallest components to the brain itself:
  • Modeling and computational simulation have complemented laboratory experiments to understand how the brain functions at many levels;
  • Theoretical models and computational methods, along with experiments guided by these models, are used to unravel the circuitry of the cerebral cortex;
  • Research in the dynamics of networks is helping to understand, at a cellular and network level, how widespread synchronous patterns arise in large non-homogeneous networks, such as the brain; and
  • Imaging, which depends heavily on mathematical and computational tools, provides a non-invasive method for gathering information on brain activity, form and function.
  Further research in the underlying mathematics of dynamical systems and networks, statistical methods, and mathematical tools for enhancing imaging will continue to help advance our understanding of the closest of all frontiers.
  
• April 13: Prospective students are invited to discover the distinctive features that make Albion College a truly special and exciting place. Professors will be available at the departmental table to talk about courses, majors, undergraduate research, special opportunities, alumni success stories, and career options. Prospective students are encouraged to learn about how mathematics and computer science, in collaboration with other disciplines, will lead many of the technical advances during the 21st century. If you are interested or know a potenial student who might be interested, see the admissions Visitation Day page.
  
• April 26: The Elkin R. Isaac Student Research Symposium recognizes excellent student research, scholarship, and creative activity. The participants, all Albion College students, 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. The event will conclude with a keynote address from cognitive scientist Steven Pinker entitled "Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature".
  
• April 27: 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 6: The Mathematics and Computer Science Department will have its annual dinner for seniors who are majoring or minoring in mathematics or computer science. The dinner will be held from 5-7 pm.
  
• May 12: Come celebrate the accomplishments of the graduating class of 2007 at Commencement. Fareed Zakaria, the editor of Newsweek International, will deliver the commencement address.
  
• David Reimann ( Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Albion College) will give a talk entitled "Imaging the Human Brain" for our departmental colloquium on April 5.
  
• Clifford Weil ( Professor, Department of Mathematics, Michigan State University) will give a talk entitled "The Naked Truth About The Baire Category Theorem" for our departmental colloquium on April 12.
  
• Paul Albee ( Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, Central Michigan University) will give a talk for our departmental colloquium on May 3.
  

Please feel free to contact me or visit our website (http://www.albion.edu/mathcs/) for further details on any of these items.

Sincerely,
David A. Reimann
Associate Professor and Chair
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
517-629-0426