December 2002
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FOCUS December 2002 FOCUS is published by the Mathematical Association of America in January, February, March, April, May/June, August/September, FOCUS October, November, and December. Editor: Fernando Gouvêa, Colby College; December 2002 [email protected] Volume 22, Number 9 Managing Editor: Carol Baxter, MAA [email protected] 4 Catch the Buzz: Staging an Integration Bee Senior Writer: Harry Waldman, MAA hwald- By Jonathan Rubin [email protected] Please address advertising inquiries to: Carol 6 Curriculum Foundations Workshop in Engineering Baxter, MAA; [email protected] By David Bigio and Susan L. Ganter President: Ann E. Watkins, California State University, Northridge 8 Curriculum Foundations Workshop in Statistics President-Elect: Ronald L. Graham By Tom Moore, Roxy Peck, and Allan Rossman First Vice-President: Carl C. Cowen Second Vice-President: Joseph A. Gallian, Secretary: 10 Proposal Reviews at the National Science Foundation Martha J. Siegel, Associate Secretary: James J. By Kevin Charlwood Tattersall, Treasurer: John W. Kenelly Executive Director: Tina H. Straley 11 NSF Beat-Centers for Learning and Teaching By Sharon Cutler Ross Associate Executive Director and Director of Publications and Electronic Services: Donald J. Albers 12 PREP Workshops-2003 FOCUS Editorial Board: Gerald Alexan- By Victor J. Katz derson; Donna Beers; J. Kevin Colligan; Ed Dubinsky; Bill Hawkins; Dan Kalman; Peter 15 AP Calculus at the Amusement Park and on the Web Renz; Annie Selden; Jon Scott; Ravi Vakil. By Susan Kornstein Letters to the editor should be addressed to Fernando Gouvêa, Colby College, Dept. of 16 The History of Computer Science on the Web Mathematics, Waterville, ME 04901, or by email to [email protected]. By Linda Becerra and Ron Barnes Subscription and membership questions should be directed to the MAA Customer 18 Treasurer’s Report—2001 Financial Year Service Center, 800-331-1622; e-mail: maahq@ maa.org; (301) 617-7800 (outside U.S. and 20 Short Takes Canada); fax: (301) 206-9789. Copyright © 2002 by the Mathematical 22 In Memoriam: Arnold E. Ross Association of America (Incorporated). Educational institutions may reproduce articles for their own use, but not for sale, 25 Employment Opportunities provided that the following citation is used: “Reprinted with permission of FOCUS, the newsletter of the Mathematical Association of America (Incorporated).” Periodicals postage paid at Washington, DC and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to FOCUS, Mathematical Association of America, P.O. Box 90973, Washington, DC 20090-0973. FOCUS Deadlines ISSN: 0731-2040; Printed in the United States of America. February March April Editorial Copy December 14 January 17 February 4 Employment Ads December 10 January 15 February 11 Display Ads December 20 January 29 February 25 2 December 2002 FOCUS AAAS Meeting to Offer Strong Mathematics Program By Warren Page The 2003 AnnuaI Meeting of the Opening the Mind with Mathematics, The AAAS annual meetings are showcases American Association for the Advancement organized by Carson C. Chow, University of American science. AAAS encourages of Science, February 13–18, in Denver, CO, of Pittsburgh. participation by math-ematicians and will feature many outstanding expository mathematics educators. In representing talks by prominent mathematicians. Modeling the Internet and the World mathematics-related themes to the AAAS These include the following three- Wide Web, organized by Jennifer Tour Program Committee, I have found the hour symposia sponsored by Section A Chayes and Christian Borgs, Microsoft committee to be genuinely interested (Mathematics) of the AAAS. Research in offering symposia on mathematical topics of current interest. Thus, the Predictability and Randomness in Weather Other symposia that will be of interest Section A Committee seeks organizers Forecasting, organized by Cecile Penland, to the mathematical community include: and speakers who can present substantial Prashant Sardeshmukh, and Matthew Challenges in the Statistical Analysis of new material in an accessible manner to Newman, NOAA-CIRES/Climate Dia- Genome Data, Science and Mathematics a large scientific audience. I invite you to gnostics Center. Education of American Indians and Alaskan attend the Section A Committee business Natives, Face and 0bject Recognition in meeting at 7:45–10:45 p.m. on Friday, Math Inside!… An Industrial View, Man, Monkey, and Machine, The Physics of February 14th, 2003 in the Molly Brown organized by Brenda Dietrich, IBM: Extra Dimension, and Security for Life: The Room of the Marriott. I also invite you to Research and Fadil Santosa, University Science Behind Security Technologies. send me and to encourage your colleagues of Minnesota. to send me symposia proposals for future The above symposia are only a few of AAAS annual meetings. Game Theoretic Aspects of Internet the 150 or so AAAS program offerings Computation, organized by Joan in the physical, life, social and biological Warren Page ([email protected]) is Secretary Feigenbaum, Yale University. sciences. For further details about the of Section A of the AAAS. 2003 AAAS program, see the November Mathematical Models for Traffic Flow: 1st, 2002, issue of Science. Phantom Jams and Real Data, organized by Paul Nelson, Texas A & M University. Reviews Wanted! How do you search for the right www.mathdl.org/lcp.html. There you will using the form that can be found on pages textbook for your course? Do you find a listing of most textbooks available 23-24 of this issue of FOCUS. The form just look at the books that publishers’ for any given course. Each textbook has a is also available online; see http://www. representatives bring around? Do you link to the publisher’s home page, where maa.org/news/reviews_wanted.html. Tell wander around to each publisher’s booth you will find a description (written by the everyone the strengths and weaknesses of at the Joint Meetings? Do you type in publisher’s PR department) and where the book, the responses of your students, “abstract algebra texts” at amazon.com? you can order an examination copy. and whether you plan to use the book Do you wish there were an easy way to again. We will then post the review online find out whether particular texts would Unfortunately, although there is also a so that others can access it. Even if your be appropriate for your students? The link to “user reviews,” reviews are not yet textbook is not listed in the Catalog, you MAA wants to help you. available for most books posted. So to can still write a review. In that case, we make this Catalog useful to all of us, we can add the book to the Catalog and try We now have online a Catalog of need your help in writing reviews. If you to get a link to the publisher. With your February March April Commercial Materials as part of MathDL, have taught from any of the books listed help, this Catalog of Commercial Materials Editorial Copy December 14 January 17 February 4 the Mathematics Digital Library. You can in the Catalog in the past few years – or are will become a valuable resource for all of Employment Ads December 10 January 15 February 11 access the Catalog through a link from teaching from one of them this semester us and will help us immensely in choosing Display Ads December 20 January 29 February 25 MAA Online or go to it directly at http:// – please consider writing a brief review a book that meets our students’ needs. 3 FOCUS December 2002 Catch the Buzz: Staging an Integration Bee By Jonathan Rubin To generate excitement about mathematics at the University a ProfCam (see below). We made sure to test out the equipment of Pittsburgh, we decided to stage an Integration Bee. On March ahead of time! 22, 2001, the First Annual University of Pittsburgh Integration Bee took place. Over 100 students, faculty, and family members We recruited as many graduate students and staff members gathered to cheer on 30 Pitt undergraduate participants in as we could get our hands on to help out in the staging of the a suspenseful and competitive display of integration talent event. In the bee’s second year, we began recruitment efforts and skill under pressure. On March 21, 2002, the Second earlier and put students to work. We had students pick up Pitt Integration Bee met with similar success, despite snowy refreshments and door prizes, which we awarded in drawings Pittsburgh streets and competition from a surprise Pitt NCAA to audience members, each of whom was handed a prize ticket men’s basketball tournament appearance that night. upon arrival. Additionally, students helped in a variety of promotional roles. The Integration Bee has raised the profile of mathematics on campus and has given a range of Pitt undergraduates, from In terms of promotion, we felt it would be crucial to the success freshman calculus students to senior mathematics majors, a of our integration bee to get the word out to as many people much-appreciated opportunity to showcase, and be cheered as possible, as many times as possible. We used electronic for, some of their mathematical abilities. An integration bee mailing lists to inform all Pitt math majors, faculty members is a fun, exciting event that could be staged by groups on any and adjunct instructors, staff members, and graduate students campus; as one example, the University of South Carolina Math about the event. We strongly encouraged everyone having any Honor Club held a successful integration bee based on our contact with undergrads, particularly instructors in their math model, last spring. In this article, I describe the logistics of the classes, to spread the message that the Integration Bee was Pitt Integration Bee, as one example of the form a successful coming, to emphasize that it would be fun and exciting, and to integration bee can take.