HIOHIOFOCUSFOCUS The Section Newsletter

Volume 6 Fall, 2001 Number 9 Fall Meeting at Marietta October 26-27 The Fall meeting will be held on the campus of , in Marietta, which is on the Ohio River in scenic southeastern Ohio. Registration and sessions will be held in the McDonough Center (left). Complete details about the program, directions, motels, and registration appear on pages 8-11. The invited talks feature Ann Watkins, President of the MAA, Edward Burger, MAA Pólya Lecturer, and Jerry Moreno, Ohio Section teaching award winner, of . Ses- sions begin at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, and continue until 12:30 p.m. on Saturday. An MAA Grant Writing Workshop will follow the meeting in the afternoon on Saturday (see below). The meeting will be preceded by the Ohio Project NExT workshop on Thursday and McDonough Center, Marietta College (Continued on Page 7.)

Section Teaching Award MAA Grant Writing Workshop Inside Professor Alan Stickney of the Department The MAA is sponsoring a number of work- of and Computer Science at shops around the country. The Ohio work- Fall meeting details is the tenth recipi- shop will follow the Fall meeting on Sat- ent of the prestigious Award for Distin- urday afternoon. Officers and committees guished College or University Teaching of Jeff Knisley will present the work- Mathematics. The award was presented shop. He is an Assistant Professor in the to Stickney during Department of Mathematics at East Ten- Governor’s Report the recent spring nessee State University. He has been in- meeting at Bowling volved with grants from many agencies, President’s Column Green. including the National Science Foundation The Teaching and the National Institutes of Health. How- Schedule of events Award is bestowed ever, he wrote his first grant only after par- on faculty members ticipating in a grant writing workshop simi- who are widely rec- lar to the ones he now conducts. Campus news ognized as success- The workshop is designed to meet the ful teachers, have needs of faculty who are interested in ob- Ohio Project NeXT an influence in their taining National Science Foundation or teaching of math- other external support in order to improve ematics beyond their course or curriculum offerings. The Student activities their own institutions and foster curiosity workshop will contain information on the and excitement about mathematics in their availability of funding (current priorities Bicentennial project students. Barbara Ashton, Stickney’s col- include teacher preparation, the adaptation league at Wittenberg, read the citation at of new approaches being developed nation- Science Day award the award ceremony noting how well his ally, undergraduate courses at all levels, (Continued on Page 6.) (Continued on Page 3.) Section Governor’s Report his dissertation on ordered permutation August’s MathFest in Madison, WI was a ert Diefenbach, Jerry Moreno, and Luther groups under the direction of W. Charles great success. Many Ohio Section mem- Shetler. Holland. He has been a member of the bers were in attendance. The Board of Many MAA members were among MAA and the Ohio Section since 1973. Governors met on the Wednesday before those on hand to host the International Over the years he has served on the Pro- the conference and covered its 98-page Mathematical Olympiad in Washington, gram Committee (the third year as chair), agenda within the 8-hour limit. Of inter- DC July 1-14, 2001. At http:// CONCUR (two terms, one year as chair), est to all of us are our next national meet- imo.wolfram.com you can look at the prob- and CONTEAC, and he is currently a ings: lems if you wish to try them and compare member of CONSACT. The winter MAA meeting will be in your results to the scores of the almost Sellers, who has written papers in San Diego, Sunday, January 6 500 high school participants number theory and combinatorics, did his to Wednesday, January 9, from the 83 participating coun- graduate work at Penn State under the di- 2002. As soon as Ohio's snow tries. You can also look there rection of David Bressoud. He recently starts flying we can begin to to find a brief history of the chaired CONTEAC and CONSTUM. He look forward to an IMO, pictures and biographical also handled the local arrangements at exhiliarating mathematical ex- information for the participants Cedarville for CONSACT’s summer short perience in beautiful, warm in IMO 2001, and a wealth of course last year. Unfortunately, for us, surroundings. Chairing the other information. Paul Wellin James is leaving the Section for a new po- Program Committee for this from Mathematica did a tremen- sition at Penn State. A replacement will meeting is Art Benjamin, dous job pulling all this infor- be selected in accordance with the Bylaws. whom we all remember fondly mation together for us. Gantner, as the new President, has ap- from our spring Ohio Section All Section committee pointed a number of Section members to meeting, so we know the pro- members should familiarize other posts and committees. The complete gram will be good and also entertaining. themselves with the MAA Conflict of Fi- list is on page 4. The duties of officers Invited speakers include Andrew nancial Interest Policy, which is posted on and committes may be found in the By- Granville, Manuel Berriozabel, Susan MAA Online. laws, a copy of which is on the web. Landau, David Pengelley, and one of my The MAA continues to add to its out- all-time favorites, Persi Diaconis. In addi- standing list of publications. Be sure to Special thanks to Jon Dunlap, BGSU, for tion Thomas Banchoff will be giving his check the MAA book display at our assistance with the production of this news- Retiring MAA Presidential address. Marietta meeting, since our Section will letter. Other national MAA meetings ap- profit from the purchases you make there. proved by the Board are: Burlington, VT, Leo Schneider OHIO FOCUS August 1-3, 2002 [Thursday through Sat- [email protected] The newsletter of the Ohio Section urday]; Baltimore, MD, January 15-18, of the Mathematical Association of 2003 [Wednesday through Saturday]; New Section Officers America, which first appeared in [Summer 2003: Date and place not yet set]; The President of the Ohio MAA for the 1973, is published twice yearly in Phoenix, AZ, January 7-10, 2004 [Wednes- past year, Judith Palagallo from the Uni- time to reach members before the day through Saturday]; Atlanta, GA, Janu- versity of Akron, turned over the reins of fall and spring meetings. Newslet- ary 5-8, 2005 [Wednesday through Satur- that leadership at the Annual meeting to ters are sent using labels provided day]; San Antonio, TX, January 12-15, the new President, Tom Gantner from the by the MAA. 2006 [Thursday through Sunday]; New Or- . Judy succeeds to leans, LA, January 4-7, 2007 [Thursday Past-President, and the current Past-Presi- Editor: through Sunday]. dent, Aparna Higgins of the University of Thomas Hern At our spring Section meeting in Dayton, moves on to chair the Nominat- Department of Mathematics and Bowling Green, we started a tradition of ing Committee, joining Roger Marty of Statistics honoring those in our Section who have State and Leo Schneider of John Bowling Green State University been members of the MAA for 25 or 50 Carroll. Leo continues to serve as Section Bowling Green OH 43403-0221 years. As a result, 13 members of our Sec- Governor. USA tion received certificates and invitations for Harold Putt, from Ohio Northern Uni- 419-372-7450, Fax 372-6092 a complimentary banquet at our meeting. versity, was elected President-Elect with [email protected] Ohio Section members completing 25 James Sellers of Cedarville University years of MAA membership this year are: elected for a three-year term on the Pro- Deadline for next newsletter is Mark Baron, Dean Brown, Pierre gram Committee, joining Dwight Olson of February 15, 2002 Delsemme, Robert Dieffenbach, David John Carroll, who becomes chair, and Email copy preferred. No Word Herron, David Hull, David Meronk, Jerry Sherri Brugh of Mount Union College. documents please. Moreno, and Timothy Riggle. Those com- Gantner, a graduate of Purdue Univer- pleting 50 are: Samuel Goldberg, Luther sity, specializes in the study of rings of con- This information will also be posted, Shetler, Marion Wetzel, and Howard tinuous functions. More details on page 3. and updated, on the web page: Wicke. Honorees in attendance at our Putt did his graduate work at Bowl- www.maa.org/Ohio. spring meeting were: Dean Brown, Rob- ing Green State University where he wrote 2 Thomas Gantner President’s Column Section President Are you looking for funding to support reached by the link on the Ohio Section 2001-2002 your work? Do you have a colleague who home page. Thomas Gantner of the Department of is looking for such funding? If so, please At the section officer’s meeting at Mathematics at the University of Dayton register, and encourage your colleagues to MathFest in Madison this summer, it be- became President of the Ohio Section at register, for the Grant Writing Workshop came clear that the recruitment of new the recent Annual Meeting held at Bowl- that we anticipate offering on Saturday af- members into MAA is a priority, especially ing Green State University, after serving ternoon, October 27th, immediately fol- among younger faculty members. Project as President-Elect. lowing our fall meeting at Marietta Col- NEXT is playing a major role in this ef- Gantner, a native of Brookville, Indi- lege. The national MAA has received sup- fort, and the results can certainly be seen ana, began his mathematical career as an port from NSF to sponsor this workshop, in our own section, as is evident by the undergraduate at the University of Dayton, whose purpose is to create an awareness number of young faculty members who where in 1962 he earned his Bachelor's de- of federal funding opportunities for math- have accepted appointments in our vari- gree graduating magna cum laude. After ematicians, especially at the NSF Division ous committees and other positions. completing his of Undergraduate Education, as well as to I am looking forward to seeing all of Ph. D. at Purdue guide potential grant seekers in the art of you at the fall section meeting at Marietta University, he re- writing effective—and fundable—grants. College. The program is an exciting one turned to Dayton This is a wonderful opportunity for you to which includes presentations by Ann in 1966 as a fac- sharpen your grant-writing skills, and Watkins, MAA President, Edward Burger, ulty member and comes at a minimal cost which includes a Pólya Lecturer, and Jerry Moreno, Section rose in the ranks lunch and a package of informational ma- teaching award recipient, as well as the to full professor terials. Grant Writing Workshop. It also occurs at and chair of his At the summer planning meeting of the time of the year when the fall scenery department. the Executive Committee, held in July, it along the Ohio River should be at its peak. “Fuzzy was reported that James Sellers, who was Thomas Gantner mathematics” is elected to the Program Committee in April, [email protected] often a buzz word in national politics. would be leaving the section for a new However, actual fuzzy mathematics is a position at Penn State University. We also Authors Needed for Ohio serious professional topic, of which recently lost Delene Perley, our Public In- Masters of Mathematics Project Gantner is an expert, having presented pa- formation Officer, who moved to a new As part of Ohio’s bicentennial celebration pers on the topic at international meetings position at Millikin University. Both mem- in 2003, the Ohio Section plans to estab- in Brazil, New Orleans, Nova Scotia, bers have served the section in a variety of lish a web site featuring biographies of Vancouver BC and Korea. His expertise ways and they will be surely missed. mathematicians who were either natives of as a consultant has been sought on the sub- Following the above planning meet- Ohio or practiced in Ohio at some time ject by various businesses including Union ing, those present considered two items that during the past 200 years. The project is Camp, Boise Cascade and Crown- were presented by David Kullman of Mi- designed to foster public understanding, Zellerbach Corporation. Gantner has ana- ami University, and which required an education, and appreciation of mathemat- lyzed human perception of brightness of early August response. The first was a pro- ics as a human endeavor and Ohio's con- office papers using fuzzy mathematics with posal to the Science & Technology Advi- tributions to that enterprise. It will also colleagues P. Lim and R. Steinlage. sory Council of the Ohio Bicentennial serve as a resource for students, teachers, One of the emphases of the Ohio Commission for the Ohio Section of the and historians of mathematics who want MAA is the teaching of mathematics. MAA to develop on our web site a collec- to know more about American mathema- Gantner has presented a number of work- tion of biographies of prominent mathema- ticians. shops to his colleagues on the topics of ticians who were either natives of Ohio or Tom Hern and David Kullman have calculus and discrete mathematics. More practiced in Ohio during the past 200 years. agreed to coordinate this project, which has recently he has lectured on the teaching of The goals are to increase public awareness been endorsed by the Science & Technol- calculus for Advanced Placement Work- of Ohio's contributions to mathematics, ogy Council of The Ohio Bicentennial shops for High School Science Teachers. and to provide a biographical resource for Commission. We know that a number of Delene Perley, PIO students, teachers, and historians of math- you have compiled biographical notes ematics who want to know more about about various mathematicians associated (Workshop, continued from Page1.) American mathematicians. Hopefully, all with Ohio in the past 200 years. Here is and community colleges), advice on how Ohio Section departments will participate an opportunity to share your work with to write proposals, and technical informa- in this public awareness effort. The sec- other MAA members, students, teachers, tion on preparing budgets and submitting ond was a critique, along with our sugges- and the general public. Please contact Tom proposals. tions for improving and clarifying, the most ([email protected]) or Dave While anyone is welcome to attend, recent draft vision document of the Ohio ([email protected]) to let us know of the workshop will focus on the needs of Mathematics and Science Coalition. The your interest in being a part of the project. those who have written no or few success- vision document, when released, will be We will send you details about the desired ful national proposals. More details on on the OMSC web site, which can be length and format of your paper. page 8. David Kullman 3 2001-2002 Ohio Section Officers and Committees

ELECTED OFFICERS OhioMAA Liaison to OhioMATYC Committee on Student Members Robert Hovis, Ohio Northern (CONSTUM) President 419-772-2347, Fax: 419-772-2330 Curtis Bennett Bowling Green 2002 Thomas Gantner, Dayton [email protected] 419-372-7451, [email protected] 937-837-1152, Fax: 937-229-2566 Judith Holdener Kenyon 2003 [email protected] OCTM Liaison Gordon Swain Ashland 2003 David Wallach, Findlay Deborah Denvir Marshall 2004 President-elect 419-424-4624, Fax: 419-424-4822 Darren Wick Ashland 2004 Harold Putt, Ohio Northern [email protected] 419-772-2347, Fax: 419-772-2985 Committee on Teacher Education and [email protected] Technology Conference Coordinator: Certification (CONTEAC) Al Stickney, Wittenberg Cathy Stoffer ¥ Ashland 2004 Past-President [email protected] 419-289-5261, [email protected] Judith Palagallo, Akron John Prather Ohio U. Eastern 2002 330-972-7402 Fax 330-374-8630 Archivist Sherwood Silliman Cleveland St. 2003 [email protected] John Zimmerman, Ohio U-Lancaster Linda Saliga Akron 2003 740-654-6711 x231, Fax: 740-687-9497 Phil Blau Shawnee State 2004 Section Governor [email protected] Leo Schneider, John Carroll 2003 OTHER COMMITTEES 216-397-4481, [email protected] COMMITTEES * denotes committee chair. ¥ denotes committee chair. The elected of- Secretary-Treasurer ficers and these committee chairs are the Nominating Committee J. William Friel, Dayton 2003 voting members of the Executive Commit- Aparna Higgins* Dayton 2004 Department of Mathematics tee. Terms expire at the end of the Spring 937-229-2103 University of Dayton meeting of the year listed. See the Bylaws. [email protected] Dayton OH 45469-2316 Roger Marty Cleveland St. 2003 937-229-3071 Program Committee: Leo Schneider John Carroll 2002 [email protected] Dwight Olson ¥ John Carroll 2002 216-397-4372, [email protected] Committee on Contests OTHER OFFICERS Sherri Brugh Mount Union 2003 Bill Higgins Wittenberg AJHSME TBA David Stenson John Carroll AHSME Newsletter Editor and Webmaster Thomas Hern, Bowling Green 2002 Committee on Curriculum (CONCUR) ByLaws Committee 419-372-7450, Fax: 419-372-6092 Mark deSaint-Rat ¥ Miami Midtwn 2004 Darrell Horwath*John Carroll [email protected] 513-727-3331, [email protected] 216-397-4685, [email protected] Wiebke Diestelkamp Dayton 2002 J. William Friel Dayton Department Liaisons Coordinator and Maria Raiti Ohio Northern 2002 On-line Registration David Hahn Malone 2003 Teaching Award Committee Thomas Price, Akron Charles Hampton Wooster 2003 Judith Palagallo* Akron 330-972-8352, [email protected] Rajappa K. Asthagiri Miami 2004 330-972-7402 Fax 330-374-8630 Jon Stadler Capital 2004 [email protected] Ohio Project NexT Co-oordinators Christopher Swanson Ashland 2004 TBA Mark Smith, Miami 2004 J. William Friel Dayton 513-529-5818, [email protected] Committee on Section Activities John Holcomb, Cleveland State 2002 (CONSACT) Local arrangments for meetings: [email protected] Vickie Van Dresar ¥ Ashland 2002 419-289-5265, Fax 419-289-5791 Fall 2001 Marietta Public Information Officer [email protected] John Michel David Meel, Bowling Green 2004 Irina Chernikova Akron 2004 740-376-4819, Fax 740-376-4808 419-372-8574, [email protected] Ann Ritchey Mt. Union 2004 [email protected] Donald Hunt Ohio Northern 2004 OhioMATYC Liaison to OhioMAA Spring 2002 Xavier Mary Ann Hovis, Lima Tech Danny Otero 419-995-8422, Fax: 419-995-8091 513-745-2012 [email protected] [email protected]

4 Miami Conference Campus News The Department of Mathematics and Sta- Bowling Green State University tistics, invites you to David Meel and Craig Zirbel were promoted to Associate Professor with tenure. attend its Twenty-Ninth Annual Confer- Sergey Shpectorov was granted tenure. ence, “Statistics in Sports,” September 28- Gordon Wade and So-Hsiang Chou will be on leave for the year: Chou at the National Theoreti- 29, 2001. cal Center for Sciences at the National Tsing-Hua University in Taiwan, Wade at U. of Michigan. Invited Speakers include Hal Stern of Curt Bennett returns from leave at Michigan State. Iowa State University, Jim Albert of Bowl- Peter Bickel, Dept. of Statistics, UC Berkeley, will visit and present Lukacs Lectures in October. ing Green State University and Scott Berry of Berry Consultants. Cedarville University Contributed paper sessions are being James Sellers has moved to Penn State U. as Director of Undergraduate Affairs in the Math Dept. planned for both Friday and Saturday. Mail requests for information to: Sta- John Carroll University tistics in Sports Conference, Department New tenure-track faculty: Brendan Foreman, Topology from Michigan State, and (Michael) of Mathematics and Statistics, Miami Uni- Todd Edwards, Math Ed. from Ohio State. Both are joint Math and Education positions. versity, Oxford, Ohio 45056; Telephone: Nancy Campbell and Dan Palmer have been promoted to Associate Professor with tenure. (513) 529-5818; Fax: (513) 529-1493; or email the director: David Groggel Marietta College ([email protected]), or check the web Earl Willard, Professor Emeritus, passed away December 26, 2000. at unixgen.muohio.edu/~MathStat/ Tom LaFramboise was granted tenure and has been promoted to Associate Professor. Pi Mu Epsilon Conference John Tynan has joined the department on a two-year visiting position; John comes from Ohio U. The Ohio Delta Chapter of Pi Mu Epsilon will hold its twenty-eighth annual Student Marshall Uiversity Conference September 28-29, 2001. Un- New faculty: Yulia Dementieva from Emory University with a PhD in discrete math- dergraduate and graduate students are in- ematics. Bonita Lawrence, dynamical systems, from U of Texas at Arlington. She was vited to contribute 15 or 30 minute papers, formerly at U of South Carolina at Beaufort. Clayton Brooks has moved from a tempo- and should send abstract or request for in- rary position. New one-year colleagues: Mr. Andy Case and Ms. Tracy Marsh. formation to Professor Milton Cox, De- Dept. of Integrated Science and Technology: Daniel Dementiev, degrees in numerical partment of Mathematics and Statistics, analysis from Emory and math. physics and statistics from St. Petersburg, Russia. Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 45056, Ari Aluthge has been promoted to the rank of Professor. Telephone: (513) 529-6648, e-mail: Deborah Denvir and Alan Horwitz have been promoted to Associate Prof. with tenure. [email protected], or see the webpage at unixgen.muohio.edu/~MathStat/ Miami University dept_info/annual_conference/ Miami welcomes two new tenure-track faculty members this academic year: Tao Jiang (Ph.D. student_conference.html 2000, Illinois) a graph theorist and Bob Noble (Ph.D. 2000, Virginia Tech) an applied statistician.

State Science Day Award The 2001 State Science Day winner of the Scott Linder, Ph. D. in statistics from Ohio State, joined us last year. This year: Sean McCulloch, Ohio Section Award for Excellence was Ph. D. in computer science from University of Virginia. Tasha R. Walters a twelfth grader from Troy Christian School. Her project, en- titled “Does sleep deprivation affect shift Jianping Zhu accepted the position of Chair, Dept. of Theoretical and Applied Mathematics. workers’ math abilities,” utilized a pre-and- The department also hired Jeff Riedl as an Assistant Professor of Mathematics. post test design with redundant controls to Judith Palagallo received the Mortar Board Pioneer Award. examine the effects of sleep deprivation on Jeff Adler received the Bucthel Coll. Chairs’ Outstanding Achievement Award for Early Career. air traffic controllers’ cognitive abilities. By utilizing a basic mathematics test and University of Dayton other instruments focused on pre-work ac- New faculty members: Stephanie Edwards (Wisconsin, complex analysis), Darren Parker (Wis- tivities, sleep patterns, etc., she was able consin, algebra), Qin (Tim) Sheng (Cambridge, numerical analysis), Peter Hovey (Kentucky, to quantify some of the effects of sleep dep- statistics), Rebecca Krakowski (North Carolina State, mathematics education). rivation as well as discuss some of the out- Aparna Higgins has returned from a year sabbatical which she spent at West Point. lying data she collected. Gerry Shaughnessy will be on sabbatical this year at the U. D. Research Institute. The Award consists of $100 and a sub- Retired last spring: Tom Gantner, Jack McCloskey, Ralph Steinlage, and Carroll Schleppi. scription to Mathematics Magazine. Brother Joseph W. Stander, S.M., passed away on February 1, 2001. State Science Day was hosted by Ohio Weslyan University on April 28, 2001 and was sponsored by the Ohio Academy of Delene Perley will be teaching at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois. Her husband James Science, American Electric Power, and The (former AAUP President) is new dean of arts and sciences at Millikin. Ohio Environmental Education Fund. Walsh has hired two new people. They are Kai Brunkalla (Kent St.) and Weiping Li (Virginia). David E. Meel Tom Ling was recognized at the annual dinner for 35 years of teaching math at Walsh. 5 Call For Nominations for Section (Teaching Award, continued from Page 1) Teaching Award career fulfills these criteria. Nominations for the eleventh (2002) Ohio Over the past twenty-five years, Stickney’s students have repeatedly cited his pa- Section Award for Distinguished College tience, encouragement, and clarity of exposition as reasons for their love of mathemat- or University Teaching of Mathematics are ics, many becoming professional mathematicians themselves. Stickney himself, when now being welcomed. Anyone may nomi- asked to relate an incident he fondly recalls, told of a former student of first year calcu- nate an Ohio Section member for the lus. She had a low “C” grade at midterm. Stickney worked with her in his office three award. Department chairs and MAA Liai- times a week for the rest of the semester. His careful guidance together with her dili- sons should verify that all worthy col- gence resulted in an A by the end of the semester. She is now a successful high school leagues will be considered. mathematics teacher. As with many students, she was initially trying to learn the math- The awardee will be announced and ematics through rote memorization of facts and techniques rather than by learning the honored at the 2002 Spring Ohio Section underlying concepts and ideas of the course. By asking her for explanations in his meeting. News of the Award will be pub- office, Stickney was able to shift her focus away from “How do I do this problem?” to lished in the Section newsletter, newspa- “Why do I do this problem this way?” and she began to do much better in the course. pers, and in other sources. Official letters Stickney’s professional home since 1979 has been Wittenberg University where he will be sent to the appropriate persons at has risen in the ranks to full professor, chaired his department, and initiated and led a the awardee's institution. student chapter of the MAA. Ashton noted, “Under his gentle persuasion, his under- The awardee will also be the Section graduate students have organized outreach contests with high school students, spon- candidate in the pool from which the re- sored department colloquia, participated in the Putnam competition, and presented pa- cipients of the Deborah and Franklin pers at the Ohio Section meetings.” Tepper Haimo Award for Distinguished Stickney earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Michigan State Uni- College or University Teaching of Math- versity and his master’s degree and Ph.D. at the University of Michigan, achieving ematics will be selected. There will be up outstanding awards including Phi Beta Kappa and membership in the honorary Sigma to three such awards, each of which will Xi. be honored at the National Mathematics Over 20 publications have his authorship, most relating to the use of technology in Meetings in January 2003, and receive a the teaching of college level mathematics. His knowledge and enthusiasm for his teaching $1000 check and a certificate. The follow- and the use of computers and graphing calculators within that teaching has been shared ing are the rules and guidelines from the in over 35 talks and workshops and 10 minicourses throughout the state and country. MAA: He wrote the original box-zoom program for the Casio graphing calculator, and box- ¥ Those eligible are college or university zoom is a standard feature of graphing calculators today. teachers assigned at least halftime dur- The Stickney family including his wife Ellen and his two daughters, Laura and ing the academic year to teaching a Carolyn, were present to see Al receive his award, as were a number of enthusiastic mathematical science in a public or pri- Wittenberg students and colleagues. vate college or university (from two-year Delene Perley, PIO college teaching through teaching at the Ph.D. level), who have at least five years teaching experience in a mathematical science, and are members of the Ohio Section of the MAA. Those on approved The Family: daughters leave (sabbatical or other) during the Laura and Carolyn, wife Ellen, and Al Stickney. academic year in which they are nomi- nated qualify if they fulfilled the require- ment in the previous year. ¥ Nominees should be widely recognized as extraordinarily successful in their teaching, have teaching effectiveness that can be documented, have had influ- ence in their teaching beyond their own institution, and foster curiosity and gen- Colleagues and Students erate excitement about mathematics in from Wittenberg their students. Front row: Curtis Mears, Forms and instructions are available on the Jessica Meyer, Elizabeth Section web page or from the committee Hardesty. Back row: Brian chair: Judith Palagallo, Professor of Math- Shelburne, Alan Stickney, Barbara Ashton, Jim ematics, The University of Akron, Akron, Noyes, Stalo Monti- OH 44325-4002, [email protected], Pouagare. (330) 972-7402, (330) 374-8630 fax. Please send nominations postmarked by December 1, 2001.

6 YSU-PME Undergraduate Student (Meeting, continued from Page 1.) Ohio Project NExT Conference Friday. Details at the right. The Fall meeting of Ohio Project NExT The fourth annual conference will be held Watkins and Moreno will speak Fri- (New Experiences In Teaching) will be on Saturday, 23 February 2002 at Young- day. Both Ann and Jerry are prominent held on Thursday evening and Friday stown State University. The Conference figures in the teaching of statistics and will morning, October 26-27 at Marietta Col- is scheduled to begin at 10:30 am and run have much to say on the subject. Ann will lege. The workshop will precede the Fall until approximately 3:00 pm. This gives also speak after the banquet on Friday meeting of the Ohio Section. students at schools within 2 hours of evening. A contributed paper session is Activities begin with a banquet at 7 Youngstown the opportunity to come and planned for Friday. Get your ideas ready PM on Thursday evening, followed by an return home the same day. There is no cost to share now. open discussion on interesting issues deal- to students and faculty attending the con- On Saturday, Burger will give two ing with teaching and professional devel- ference, and a breakfast and lunch are pro- talks, one with a slant on infinite series, opment for young faculty. vided by the hosts and sponsors, Giant and one with thoughts on teaching some Friday morning, following a continen- Eagle Groceries and Papa John’s Pizza. of the courses we all teach. There will be tal breakfast at 8 AM, workshop activities Students may give a presentation on a CONTEAC session to bring us up to date resume. The program typically includes any area related to mathematics that inter- on issues in teacher education in Ohio. three 15 minute presentations by NExT ests them, from interesting calculus prob- It should be a fun and rewarding fellows regarding innovative approaches lems to undergraduate research results. We couple of days. It is always enjoyable to to and experiences in teaching. These are ask only that each student have a faculty meet old friends from around the state, followed by two hour-long workshop ses- sponsor. exchange ideas and experiences, and sions led by invited guests. If you are at one of the more than 30 browse the book displays. Some of the main goals of Ohio NExT schools that are in the “Youngstown re- Bring a colleague: one of your newer include: helping young faculty meet and gion,” gather a few students and come and faculty or graduate students. Although interact with colleagues from other col- join us. I assure you that your students most of the student activities are planned leges and universities, sharing ideas and will gain from the experience, and you for the spring, undergraduates will find the experiences that promote professional might be surprised at the quality of pre- fall meeting rewarding and interesting too. growth, and encouraging newer faculty to sentations that these undergraduate stu- become involved in the Ohio section. dents produce. Student Activities Ohio project NExT is directed by John To keep the costs to a minimum, all This year’s spring meeting was a busy one Holcomb (Cleveland State) and Mark correspondence regarding the Conference for student activities. Thirty-six students Smith (Miami). Mark will be taking over is conducted by e-mail, and details con- gave talks on a variety of topics, and a to- this year from Barbara Ashton cerning the Conference will be posted at tal of 84 students registered for the meet- (Wittenberg). Many thanks to Barbara for http://www.as.ysu.edu/~math/ ing. Three lucky students received door her hard work and vision. The workshops conference_2002.html prizes of graphing calculators (one donated are coordinated by NExT fellows Angie If you would like to be added to our by Hewlett Packard and two donated by Spalsbury (Youngstown State) and Dave e-mail list, please drop us a note at Texas Instruments). CONSTUM also held Sobecki (Miami-Hamilton). [email protected] its first annual Student Leader Meeting on Ohio NExT is open to anyone that is Doug Faires Saturday morning at Bowling Green State in their first five years of teaching in , and we are grateful to Barbara and is strongly committed to undergradu- Summer Short Course D’Ambrosia for moderating the meeting. ate education. Applications for new NExT The Summer 2001 Short Course was held Other student events were the traditional fellows are now being accepted. If you at June 27-29 with Student Pizza party and the dessert social. would like more information, would like William Dunham (of Muhlenberg College, All of these events will be back at next to apply, or know someone in their first PA) presenting “A Mathematical Sampler: spring’s meeting at Xavier. five years that you think would benefit 1669 - 1900.” There were 38 participants We also anticipate having a new op- from NExT, please e-mail John in attendance (including Dr. Dunham): 25 portunity for students to exhibit their work ([email protected]) or Mark from Ohio, 4 from Pennsylvania, 3 from this spring. Students are invited to display ([email protected]) for more informa- Michigan, 2 from Wisconsin, 2 from Mary- their mathematically related scholarly and tion. As location specifics and a final land, 1 from Indiana, and 1 from Califor- artistic endeavors in what is being called a schedule become available, they will be nia. One of the Ohio participants earned 1 “poster session.” We anticipate having added to the NExT web page, which is CEU for participation in the Short Course three categories of submissions: original linked off of the Ohio section page (with some addtional work required). research, expository writing/presentation, (www.maa.org/Ohio). Phil Straffin will be doing Game and creative/artistic work with a mathemat- Dave Sobecki Theory at U. of Dayton in 2002. ics theme. If you have any comments or Vickie VanDresar concerns about such a session (or an idea Regional Dinner Meeting CONSACT for a poster that you are just dying to dis- Another regional dinner meeting, an idea cuss) please send an email to Curtis from the NE Section, is being planned for Bennett, chair of CONSTUM, at late fall or winter at Bowling Green St. U. [email protected] Check the Section web page or send email to [email protected] if interested. 7 Fall Meeting Program

Friday October 26 Saturday, October 27

Noon-4:30 Registration 8-10:30 AM Registration, Noon-6:30 Book Exhibits 8:00-8:50 Coffee 12:15-1:15 Committee Meetings MAA Department Liaisons meeting 1:30-1:45 Greetings, Announcements 8:50-9:00 Announcements 1:45-2:45 Invited Address: 9:00-10:00 Pólya Lecture “Fallacies in Elementary Statistics” “How to Always Win at Limbo” Ann Watkins Edward B. Burger California State University, Northridge President of the MAA 10:00-10:30 Break 2:45-3:15 Break 10:30-11:30 CONTEAC Session 3:15-4:15 Invited Address: “Education Update” “Citizens Stats 101 - Toward a Quantitatively 11:30-12:30 Pólya Lecture Literate Citizenry” “Personal thoughts on what to teach and how not Jerry Moreno, John Carroll University to teach it.” 2001 Section Teaching Award Recipient Edward Burger 4:15-5:50 Contributed Papers 12:30 Closing Ceremony 4:15-5:50 Executive Committee Meeting 6:00-6:30 Social Time 1:30- 4:30 MAA Grant Writing Workshop 6:30-7:45 Banquet Jeff Knisley 7:45-8:30 After-Dinner Speaker East Tennessee State University “The MAA and Scholarship in the Teaching of Mathematics” Ann Watkins Check the web page for updates, and online registration and paper submission (www.maa.org/Ohio). “How to Always Win at Limbo” “Personal Thoughts on What to Teach Call for Contributed Papers or and How Not to Teach It.” Fifteen-minute presentations on any topic “You can sum some of the series some of Edward B. Burger of general interest in mathematics or re- the time, and some of the series none of Here I will share some recent experiments lated areas are encouraged. Reports on the time... but can you sum some of the in Pre-calculus, Calculus, and Math for projects, research announcements or any- series ALL of the time?” Liberal Arts courses. Wild departures from thing you believe would be of interest to Edward B. Burger conventional wisdom will be confessed those in attendance are welcome. Have you ever gone out with someone for and demonstrations of both the high-tech Contributors should send a title and a a while and asked yourself: “How close and no-tech varieties will be given. brief abstract by October 19, 2001. On-line are we?” This presentation will answer that “Fallacies in Elementary Statistics” submission preferred (see meeting web question by answering: What does it mean Ann Watkins page). Or, mail to the chair of the Program for two things to be close to one another? We will have some fun demolishing sev- Committee: Dwight Olson, Dept. of Math We'll take a strange look at infinite series, eral enticing examples that commonly are & Comp Sci, John Carroll University, dare to mention a calculus student's fan- used in elementary statistics textbooks to Cleveland OH 44118, 216-397-4372, tasy, and momentarily consider illustrate the mean, median, and mode. [email protected]. The contributed paper trancendental meditation. In fact, we’ll Some mathematics backed up by a little program will be posted on the web page even attempt to build some very exotic se- data show that these concepts are not as prior to the meeting. ries that can be used if you ever have to intuitive as they appear. MAA Grant Writing Workshop flee the country in a hurry: we’ll either “The MAA and Scholarship in the Jeff Knisley succeed or fail... you’ll have to come to Teaching of Mathematics” These workshops are designed to take a the talk to find out. Will you be at the edge Ann Watkins lot of the guesswork out of writing a grant. of your seats? Perhaps; but if not, then The first president of the MAA believed We cover exactly how the NSF handles you'll probably fall asleep and either way, that the mathematicians of his day did not each part of a grant proposal from the time after the talk, you’ll feel refreshed. No understand the most basic results of re- it is received until it is hopefully funded. matter what, you’ll learn a sneaky way to search on teaching and learning. For ex- We will also spend some time talking about always win at Limbo. ample, he said that the belief was still wide- how one transforms a good idea into a grant Program spread that instruction in mathematics proposal requesting support for that idea. For information about the program, con- trains the mind. He lamented that the Materials and lunch are included in the tact the chair of the Program Committee: teaching of algebra remained a pure for- $25 registration fee. Please sign up when Dwight Olson, Dept. of Math & Comp Sci, malism, learned by rote and unappreciated. registering for the meeting. John Carroll U., Cleveland, OH 44118, Surely, we must have come a long way 216-397-4372, email: [email protected] since then! 8 “Citizens Stats 101 - Toward a Edward B. Burger Banquet Quantitatively Literate Citizenry” MAA Pólya Lecturer The Friday evening banquet will be in the Jerry Moreno Edward Burger is a professor of mathemat- Great Room of Andrews Hall. It will be Various national organizations are chal- ics at Williams College. His research in- preceeded by a social hour with a cash bar. lenging us educators as well as the public terests are in diophantine analysis and the It is a buffet with entrees of Roast Beef, to examine what of mathematics and what geometry of numbers. He is the author of Lemon Pepper Chicken, and Vegetarian of numeracy define a “quantitatively liter- over 25 research articles and two books— Lasagna. Also spinach salad, baby redskin ate” individual. We are being asked to for- The Heart of potatoes, green beans almondine, rolls, tea mulate the definition so to make quantita- Mathematics: An and coffee, and cheesecake with cherry tive thinking a part of the entire liberal arts invitation to effec- topping. curriculum grades K-16. And in that for- tive thinking (win- Cost is $18, payable with preregistra- mulation, we must consider the needs that ner of a 2001 Rob- tion. Reservation deadline is Friday, Oc- will enable a citizen to achieve the fully ert W. Hamilton tober 19. There may be a few banquet tick- liberating literacy of John Dewey’s “popu- Book Award, and ets available on site, but this cannot be lar enlightenment” or as suggested by H. reviewed in the guaranteed. G. Wells that “statistical thinking will one June-July, 2001 Book Exhibits day be as necessary for efficient citizen- Monthly), and Ex- Textbook publishers will be displaying ship as the ability to read and write.” Sta- ploring the Num- their wares at the meeting. There will be tistics does indeed play an integral part in ber Jungle: A jour- ample opportunity to browse. Please en- the enlightenment. This talk will suggest ney into diophantine analysis (published courage book reps to contact John Michel what every citizen should understand about by the AMS). and take advantage of a captive audience. data analysis, statistics, and probability. Burger is known for his entertaining, There will also be MAA books on dis- “Education Update” energetic, and enlightening presentations. play, with the opportunity to purchase CONTEAC He has lectured at numerous conferences books at a discount. Not only does that Members of the Committee on Teacher and universities around the world. His over save you money, it also earns money for Education and Certification will present in- 175 lectures include several AMS-MAA the Section. formation to bring Ohio Section members Invited Addresses at winter and summer Registration up to date on several mathematics educa- national meetings; keynote addresses at na- Online registration is preferred; see the tion topics. The “Education Update” will tional NCTM Conferences; and many meeting web page at www.maa.org/Ohio. include information on the OMSC Vision MAA sectional meetings. He has also Deadline for online registration is Octo- Statement, the OBR Mathematics and Sci- made numerous appearances on radio and ber 19. ence Initiative, the OBR and ODE Aca- television including various NPR affiliates On-site registration is always avail- demic Content Standards, the Institutional and NBC-TV. He also created and starred able, but last minute banquet tickets can- Report Cards for institutions with teacher in a pilot for a mathematics television se- not be guaranteed. Early registration helps education programs, the Met Report, the ries produced by Mass Interaction in Bos- those making arrangements, and is always “Guidelines for Programs and Department ton. appreciated. in Undergraduate Mathematical Sciences” Burger was awarded the 2000 North- You may also register by sending the and changes in Ohio’s Proficiency Tests. eastern Section of the MAA Award for Dis- following information: name, affiliation, Brief summaries will be given along with tinguished Teaching and 2001 MAA address, phone, email address (if any), type web addresses for accessing documents. Deborah and Franklin Tepper Haimo Na- of position, and banquet and workshop in- Cathy Stoffer, Chair tional Award for Distinguished College or formation. Send with check for applicable CONTEAC University Teaching of Mathematics. He fees [registration fee ($20 full time, $10 Ann Watkins was the 2001 Genevieve W. Gore Distin- retired or part time, no fee for students), Ann Watkins is Professor of Mathematics, guished Resident at Westminster College banquet ($18), workshop ($25)] to John California State University, Northridge. In and the 2001 Cecil and Ida Green Honors Michel (see below). January 2001, she became president of the Professor at Texas Christian University. Local Contact at Marietta MAA, having served previously as second He was also an Ulam Visiting Professor at For any questions about local arrange- vice-president, governor of the Southern the University of Colorado at Boulder. ments, contact John Michel, Dept. of Math- California Section, chair of the Coordinat- Burger is a member of the AMS Commit- ematics, Marietta College, Marietta, OH ing Council on Education, and co-editor tee on Committees; was the chair of the 45750; email: [email protected]; (740) of the College Mathematics Journal. Her Program Committee for the MAA Mathfest 376-4819, Fax (740) 376-4808. field is statistics education. In 1999, she 2001; and is an associate editor of the Department Chairs Luncheon was elected a Fellow of the American Sta- American Mathematical Monthly. There will be a Friday luncheon for de- tistical Association. She is a former chair His web page is www.williams.edu/ partment chairs or division heads from the of the Advanced Placement Statistics De- Mathematics/eburger Section to discuss matters of mutual inter- velopment Committee and the co-author est. Contact John Michel or Mark Smith or co-editor of thirteen books including Ac- standing Professor and won the 1997 Cal ([email protected], 513-529-5818) if tivity-Based Statistics, Statistics in Action, State Northridge Award for the Advance- you do not receive information. and Exploring Data. She was selected as ment of Teaching Effectiveness. Her web the 1994-1995 Cal State Northridge Out- page is at www.csun.edu/~vcmth02u/ 9 Section Meeting Sites Marietta, Ohio Marietta College is located in Marietta in southeastern Ohio, an Where to Stay historic Ohio River town. It is easy to get there. Access from the Central Marietta: north and south is via I-77. From the west, take U.S. 50 to Belpre, ¥ Historic Lafayette Hotel OH and Ohio 7 North to Marietta. 101 Front Street, (740) 373-5522 Approximate driving times: (At confluence of Ohio and Muskingum Rivers. Six blocks Cincinnati 3 hours and 45 minutes US 32 E to US 50 E from campus. From I-77, Exit 1, take Route 7 South (Pike to OH 7 N Street) which turns to Greene Street. Stay on Greene until it Cleveland 2 hours and 45 minutes I-77 S dead ends into Front Street at the hotel.) Columbus 2 hours I-70 E to I-77 S $76 plus tax (Mention math meeting at Marietta College) Dayton 3 hours I-70 E to I-77 S Full services, restaurant, bar, gift shop. Huntington WV 2 hours and 30 minutes I-64 E to I-77 N Toledo 4 hours and 30 minutes I-75 S to OH 15 to I-77 Exit 1, Ohio 7 (Pike St.): US 23 S to I-70 E to ¥ Comfort Inn I-77 S 700 Pike Street, (740) 374-8190 $59 plus tax (Mention math meeting at Marietta College for Directions to Marietta College special rate guaranteed until October 19; still may be avail- NORTH: able thereafter). Take I-77 South To Exit 1 at the Ohio River. From Exit 1, keep Free continental breakfast, full services, Damon’s Restaurant right off the exit ramp onto Rt-7 South (Pike Street, which later in building, indoor pool. turns to Greene Street). Continue through five traffic lights. At ¥ Econo Lodge the sixth light ( Kentucky Fried Chicken on right) turn right from 702 Pike Street, (740) 374-8481 Greene Steet onto Fourth Street. Continue up Fourth Street one $48 plus tax (Mention math meeting at Marietta College) block and turn right at the blinking light onto Butler Street. Park- Free continental breakfast. Next door to Damon’s restaurant. ing for the MAA meeting will be in the lot to your right immedi- ¥ Hampton Inn ately after you turn onto Butler. Registration and sessions will 508 Pike Street (740) 373-5353 be held in the McDonough Center. (See campus map, page 11.) $72 plus tax (Mention math meeting at Marietta College) Newly opened. Free continental breakfast. Indoor pool. Next WEST: door to Bob Evans Restaurant. Take U.S. 50 East to Belpre, OH to Rt-7. Follow Rt-7 north into ¥ Holiday Inn Marietta. A block after you cross the Washington Street bridge 701 Pike Street, (740) 374-9660 or 1-800-HOLIDAY into Marietta, Rt-7 turns right onto Third Street which you fol- $62 plus tax (Give code letters “MDM” for special rate guar- low south until you reach Butler Street. Turn left off Third onto anteed only until October 5; still may be available thereafter). Butler Street and proceed one block to Fourth Street. Parking for Full services, restaurant, bar. the MAA meeting will be in the lot on the corner of Butler and ¥ Knights Inn Fourth. Registration and sessions will be held in the McDonough 506 Pike Street, (740) 373-7373 Center. (See campus map, page 11.) $49.50 plus tax (Mention math meeting at Marietta College) Next door to Bob Evans Restaurant. Airport ¥ Super-8 Motel Wood County Airport, serving the Marietta/Parkersburg, WV 46 Acme Street, Washington Center, (740) 374-8888 area, is located south of Marietta only four miles from campus. $40 plus tax (Mention math meeting at Marietta College) Frequent commuter flights via U.S. Airways Express connect to Free breakfast bar. Next door to Shoneys Restaurant. the Pittsburgh airport. (Continued on next page.)

10 Marietta College Located in Marietta, Ohio, the first perma- 1860, Marietta became the 16th college to England charm. It is a riverboat town situ- nent settlement in the Northwest Territory, be awarded a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, ated at the confluence of the Ohio and Marietta College has an educational tradi- the world's oldest and most respected hon- Muskingum Rivers. Regular stops are still tion that is two centuries old. It traces its orary society. made by such passenger steamboats as the beginnings to the Muskingum Academy, Marietta is a private, nonsectarian, co- Delta Queen and the Mississippi Queen. founded by pioneer settlers in 1797. It is educational, residential liberal arts college. With its museums, river cruises, and an- one of America’s “Revolutionary Col- It offers Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Sci- nual sternwheeler festival, Marietta is a leges,” those thirty seven institutions with ence, Bachelor of Science in Petroleum En- popular tourist destination. their beginnings in the 18th Century. In gineering, and Bachelor of Fine Arts de- The Department of Mathematics at 1835, the State of Ohio granted the col- grees. It also offers the Master of Arts in Marietta College has four full-time faculty lege a charter to offer college level degrees. Liberal Learning and Master of Arts in members, each of whom has the Ph.D. and Initially, it was charged with educating Education degrees. It has attained national is committed to quality teaching of under- youth in “all the various branches of use- recognition for many of its programs, in- graduates. Faculty members work hard at ful knowledge,” which in those days meant cluding studies in leadership education. developing close ties with students through what we now call the liberal arts and sci- Enrollment last year at the college was extensive office hours, personalized advis- ences. The college today continues to 1,100, including students from 45 states ing, and small classes. Over the past ten blend a strong liberal arts curriculum with and 12 countries. The student-to-faculty years, the department has been heavily in- selected career oriented programs. In ratio is 12:1. The college includes more volved in the calculus reform movement. than 40 buildings spread over 129 acres First year calculus courses feature a weekly I-77 Exit 185 located two blocks from downtown two-hour computer laboratory using (First W VA exit, 3/4 mile past Ohio R.): Marietta. Construction is due to begin this Mathematica and the use of technology ¥ Days Inn summer on a new recreation center and a permeates the mathematics curriculum. Route 1, Box 29, Williamstown, WV, completely renovated and enlarged science The major culminates with a “capstone” (304) 375-3730 center. course that integrates mathematical knowl- $48 plus tax (Mention math meeting at The community of Marietta, Ohio was edge in a research project. The Ohio Epsi- Marietta College for special rate guar- settled in 1788 by Revolutionary War vet- lon chapter of Kappa Mu Epsilon, under- anteed until October 12; still may be erans from New England led by General graduate mathematics honorary, was char- available thereafter). Rufus Putnam. The city (population tered at Marietta in 1960. Marietta fac- Free continental breakfast. Next door to 16,000) has retained a particular pioneer ulty members are active in the Ohio Sec- Dutch Pantry Restaurant. spirit of independence and outward New tion of the MAA. 11 Calendar Ohio Section Other

October 26-27, 2001, Marietta College, Marietta OH. NCTM Regional Meeting, Sept. 20-22, 2001, Columbus, OH Ohio Project NExT, October 25-26. AMS Central Section Meeting, September 21-23, 2001 Columbus, OH April 5-6, 2002, , Cincinnati OH. Annual Miami Conference, “Statistics in Sports”, September 28-29, 2001. October 25-26, 2002, Trumbull Campus, Miami U., Oxford OH. With Pi Mu Epsilon Student Conference. Warren OH. With OhioMATYC. OhioMATYC, October 6, 2001, Terra CC, Fremont, OH See state map with meeting sites on page 10. Indiana Section, October 20, 2001, Purdue U., West Lafayette IN National MAA-AMS The International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathemat- Annual Joint Meetings, January 6-9, 2002, San Diego CA. ics, November 1-4, 2001, Baltimore, MD

Mathfest, August 1-3, 2002, Burlington, VT, AMATYC, November 15-18, 2001, Toronto, Ontario, .

Annual Joint Meetings, January 15-18, 2003, Baltimore MD. Sixth Annual YSU Pi Mu Epsilon Student Mathematics Conference, Youngstown State University, Youngstown, OH, February 23, 2002. Annual Joint Meetings, January 7-10, 2004, Phoenix AZ. Indiana Section, March 22-23, 2002, Anderson U., Anderson, IN Annual Joint Meetings, January 5-8, 2005, Atlanta, GA. Rose-Hulman Undergraduate Mathematics Conference, March 29-30, Annual Joint Meetings, January 12-15, 2006, San Antonio TX. 2002, Terre Haute, IN.

Annual Joint Meetings, January 4-7, 2007, New Orleans, LA. NCTM Annual Meeting, April 25-28, 2002, Los Angeles

Complimentary copies of this newsletter are being distributed to people who would be interested in Ohio Section activities. By joining the MAA, you will get your own copy of the newsletter. If you are not an MAA member, look at the web page: www.maa.org/ mbsvcs/individual.html. MAA Departmental Liaisons also have membership information.

Department of Mathematics and Statistics Bowling Green State University Non-Profit Org. Bowling Green OH 43403-0221 U.S. POSTAGE PAID Bowling Green, OH 43402 If undeliverable, do not return. Give to someone in mathematics. Permit No. 1

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