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Mathematics Newsletter 1998-1999

Contents:

VIGRE

The Mathematics Department and the Applied Mathematics Program at The University of Arizona provide an environment in the mathematical sciences that offers breadth and excellence in both research and innovative teaching activities. Their excellence, innovation, interdisciplinary research, and encouragement of the interaction of faculty and students at all levels has been recognized by the National Science Foundation with the award of a Vertical Integration of Graduate Research and Education (VIGRE) grant in the Fall of 1999. This generous support from the NSF will provide fellowship support for approximately 18 graduate students in both the Mathematics and Applied Mathematics PhD programs, allowing them to shorten the time needed to earn their degrees and preparing them for a broad range of career opportunities. Four new postdoctoral positions will be created by combining support from the NSF grant with support from the Mathematics Department and Applied Mathematics Program. Undergraduate research opportunities will be expanded and financial support will be available to the undergraduates who participate.

Graduate Student Colloquium

Guadalupe Lozano

The Graduate Student Colloquium was created and instituted by Barbara A. Shipman in 1993. Barbara, who graduated with a Ph.D in Mathematics in 1995, started a tradition from which all of us graduate students still benefit today.

The Graduate Colloquium gives graduate students both an opportunity to develop the skills of publicly presenting mathematics and the chance to become acquainted with the research interests of fellow graduate students.

The Spring of 1999 was a wonderful semester for the Graduate Colloquium. Topics ranged from moduli spaces and Hamiltonian mechanics to medical imaging and the mathematics education program. Both the size of our audience and the eagerness to be in the list of future speakers increased substantially.

Organizing the Graduate Colloquium has been a rewarding experience. Thanks to all for perpetuating this worthwhile tradition.

Here are the Spring 1999 Colloquium speakers:
Robert Beals, Jennifer Christian-Smith, Jeff Cunningham, Jialing Dai, Jeff Edmunds, Susan Hammond-Marshall, Minhyong Kim, Seog Young Kim, Robert Lakatos, Andre Lehovich, Martha Maiers, Angel Pineda, and Patrick Shipman.

(For a complete list of talks, see the Graduate Colloquium Webpage.)

Ph.D.s in Mathematics

1999

Jack Jackson II, "Splitting in Finite Metacyclic Groups"; advisor: Larry Grove.
Employer: Westark College, Fort Smith, AR; position: Instructor.

Scott Sakamoto, "The Cranmer Abacus: Its Use in Teaching Mathematics to Students with Visual Impairments"; advisor: Steve Willoughby.
Employer: Chapman University, Orange, CA; positon: Senior Lecturer.

1998

Matthew Kruse, "Smooth, Cusped, and Discontinuous Traveling Waves in the Fluid Resonance Equation"; advisor: Moysey Brio.
Employer: Rincon Research Corporation, Tucson, AZ; position: Research Mathematician.

Gregory Gillis, "Design Considerations in Compositie Conductors: an Exposition of Percolation Theory"; advisor: David Gay.
Employer: Southern Utah University; position: Assistant Professor.

Olga Simek, "Heat Trace Asymptotics for Domains with Singular Boundaries"; advisor: Leonid Friedlander.
Employer: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Computer Application Organization; position: Computer Scientist.

Ph.D.s in Applied Mathematics at the University of Arizona, 1998-99

May 1999

Ph.D. Graduate Term Title of Dissertation Advisor(s) Present Position
Green, Kris H. 1994-1999 Gravitational Aspects of Tachyon Domain Walls W. John Cocke (Astronomy) Professor: St. John Fischer College
King, Aaron Alan 1993-1999 Hamiltonian Limits and Subharmonic Resonance in Models of Population Fluctuations William Schaffer (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) Flinn Postdoc at The University of Arizona
Liu, Li 1994-1999 Hierarchical Structures in Fully Developed Turbulence Shen-Su She (Mathematics)  
Abbey, Craig Kendall 1991-1998 Assessment of Reconstructed Images Harrison Barrett (Radiology) Research Scientist: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

December 1998

Ph.D. Graduate Term Title of Dissertation Advisor(s) Present Position
Hyde, Craig Lee 1993-1998 "The Use of Complex Time Singularity Analysis in Dynamical Systems" Michael Tabor (Applied Mathematics)
Komarova, Natalia 1993-1998 "Essays on Nonlinear Waves: Patterns Under Water; Pulse Propagation Though Random Media" Alan Newell (Mathematics) Mathematics Institute: Warwick University Princeton in 1999-00 updated: 6/28/99

August 1998

Ph.D. Graduate Term Title of Dissertation Advisor(s) Present Position
Anderson, Kevin 1992-1998 "Probabilistic and Statistical Analysis of Growth and Division in Bacillus subtilis" Joseph Watkins:(Mathematics) Postdoctoral Member, Institute for Mathematics and its Applications, Minnesota
Garcia-Alvarado Martin Gildardo 1991-1998 "Competitive Dynamics in Size-Structured Populations with Reproductive Delays" Jim Cushing:(Mathematics) Universidad de Sonora
Haller, Karl 1992-1998 "Ground State Properties of the Neutral Two-Dimensional Falicov-Kimball Model" Thomas Kennedy:(Mathematics) Mathematics Department, University of Virginia: updated: 5/5/99
Rado, Anita 1993-1998 "Mathematical Models of Ionic Diffusion in Olfactory Glomeruli" Timothy Secomb (Physiology)
Leslie Tolbert (Neurobiology)		 Flinn Foundation Postdoc: University of Arizona

Math Movies 1998-99

John L. Leonard

movie clipart

It may not be Oscars Night, but nonetheless we offer a retrospective glance at the year's Math Movies--another of the Department's attempts to show students that mathematics exists outside of the classroom.

Our Fall series began with Breaking the Code, a dramatization of the life and death of Alan Turing. This was the original BBC version, generously provided by Patrick Grim of SUNY at Stony Brook, which differed slightly from the PBS version we had previously shown. N is a Number, the excellent MAA documentary on Paul Erdös, followed, and then a rerun of the Nova program, The Proof, recounting Andrew Wiles' cracking of Fermat's Last Theorem. Two films on topology, Not Knot and Outside In completed the semester.

Spring began with the excellent expository film Chaos, Fractals, and Dynamics, by Robert Devaney of Boston University. Then, for a change, we showed our first real reel films (such a pleasure to the eye after videos) in a long time: Donald in Mathmagic Land, Flatland [based on the book, Flatland, by Edwin Abbott], and Infinite Acres. The season closed with one of the six segments of the PBS series Life by the Numbers, entitled Patterns of Nature, shown in conjunction with Mathematics Awareness Week.

With the exception of Donald, all these films and videos are available here on campus, either in the library's media collection or in private collections of the faculty of the Mathematics Department.

Putnam Competition

John L. Leonard

pencil clipart

On Saturday, December 5, 1998, seven undergraduates ushered in the festive season by spending six hours puzzling over the 12 problems posed on the MAA's 59th William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition. Our thanks to Todd Thompson, Steve Steinke, Max Shkarayev, Patrick Shipman, Mark Lyon, Carolyn Lanser and David Coughlin for upholding the honor of the U of A. Thanks also to Robert Beals and John Leonard for invigilating the exam.

Three of our contestants, Steven Steinke, Max Shkarayev, and Todd Thompson, placed in the top 50% of the entrants--no mean feat, considering that these 2,581 entrants are outstanding undergraduate mathematics students from across the country and Canada.

Two of the contest puzzles are appended, for the sharpening of your witte.

Problem A3

Let f be a real function on the real line with continuous third derivative. Prove that there exists a point a such that

f(a). f '(a) . f ''(a) . f '''(a) < 0

Problem B5

Let N be the positive integer with 1998 decimal digits, all of them 1; that is:

N = 1111...1 [1998 digits] .

Find the thousandth digit after the decimal point of N1/2.

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Undergraduate Committee Report, Fall 1998

David Gay

The following is a summary of activities for the Undergraduate Committee of the Department of Mathematics for the fall semester of 1998. Minutes for past UGC meetings can be found at the UGC website (http://math.arizona.edu/~ugc/).

LOWER DIVISION COURSES

Course renumbering for 100 level courses . A memo listing the proposed changes was distributed early November to all mathematics faculty, all University advisors, the Undergraduate Council, and Michael Gottfredson (University Vice President for Undergraduate Education). There being no objections, changes were submitted December 15 to the Curriculum Office. The Department will disseminate information about the changes to all state high schools, universities, and community colleges.

AP calculus/differential equations sequence . For the last couple of years, the Department has been experimenting with a calculus/differential equations sequence for students entering with Advanced Placement calculus experience. The following descriptions for permanent courses were submitted to the Curriculum Office.

MATH 250A Calculus and Differential Equations I (3) I Integral calculus with applications, techniques of integration, solving first order differential equations using separation of variables, introduction to autonomous first order differential equations. The sequence 250A-250B substitutes for the pair of courses 129-254 or the pair 129-355; however, 250A alone does not substitute for 129. P, a score of 4 or 5 on the Calculus AB advanced Placement Exam or by permission of the instructor. Credit allowed for only one of the following courses: MATH 250A or MATH 129.

MATH 250B Calculus and Differential Equations II (3) II First order differential equations and modeling, approximations and series, second order differential equations, linear and nonlinear autonomous systems. The sequence 250A-250B substitutes for the pair of courses 129-254 or the pair 129-355; however, 250B alone does not substitute for 254 or 355. P, MATH 250A. Credit allowed for only one of the following courses: MATH 250B or MATH 254 or MATH 355.

Changes related to the statistics courses Math 160 and Math 263 . The Statistics Committee made several recommendations regarding Math 160 and 263. The UGC approved the following.

Presently, entry into Math 160 or 263 is not contingent on Math Readiness Tests results. The policy beginning the fall of 1999 will be:

For entry to Math 160 and 263, a student's score on the Math Readiness Test should be at the same level as that now used for entry into Math 119 and 123.

New course descriptions for Math 160 and 263:

MATH 160 Basic Statistics (3)Organizing data: displaying distributions, measures of center, measures of spread, scatter plots, correlation, regression and their interpretation. Design of experiments: simple random samples and their sampling distribution, models from probability, normal distributions, and normal approximations. Statistical inference: confidence intervals and hypothesis testing, t procedures and chi- square tests. Not intended for those who plan further studies in statistics. Credit allowed for only one of 160 and 263. P, 121 or an acceptable score on the Math Readiness Test.

MATH 263 Introduction to Statistics and Biostatistics (3) Organizing data: distributions, measures of center and spread, scatter plots, nonlinear models and transformations, correlation, regression. Design of experiments: models from probability, discrete and continuous random variables, normal distributions, sampling distributions, the central limit theorem. Statistical inference: confidence intervals and test of significance, t procedures, inference for count data, two-way tables and chi-square procedures, inference for regression, analysis of variance. Credit allowed for only one of 160 and 263. P, 121 or an acceptable score on the Math Readiness Test.

An optional one-unit course for students enrolled in Math 160 or 263 will be offered this spring on an experimental basis:

MATH 199 (section 2) Basic Statistics Computation (1) Computing using statistical software --- activities chosen to match material in Math 160 and 263. C, Math 160 or 263.

(This course would allow students to do statistics-based projects once a week using statistical software.)

Scores on the AP Statistics exams: A score of 4 or 5 will give a student credit for Math 263. A score of 3 will give credit for 160. (The Statistics Committee will continue to review and monitor this policy.)

Business courses experiment . The UGC established a sub-committee to monitor and evaluate the results of the business courses experiment being undertaken throughout the year.

Winter session courses. The UGC recommended that the Department not offer courses during winter session because it is not possible to cover adequately the course content of its semester courses.

UPPER DIVISION COURSES; THE MATH MAJOR

New numbers and course descriptions for Math 422A, 422B, and 424. A memo proposing changes was distributed to the faculty on December 8. Hearing no objections, the changes were submitted to the Curriculum Office on December 15.

A request to remove Math 215 as prerequisite to 355 was rejected .

Summer courses. The UGC recommended that this summer the Department offer the same lower division courses as last summer plus the following: Math 243, 323, 413, and 424. These four courses would be offered as 10 week courses.

Outstanding Senior Award. The UGC nominated Weldon Gilcrease for the College of Science's Outstanding Senior Award for winter commencement.

Undergraduate Committee Report - Spring 99

David Gay

The following is a summary of the major activities of the Mathematics Department's Undergraduate Committee (UGC) during the spring semester of 1999. All UGC minutes and other supporting documents are available in the Math Center. Most are also accessible to you on the UGC website (http://math.arizona.edu/~ugc/).

Those that aren't yet on the website will be later this summer.

LOWER DIVISION COURSES

Review of Fall-back Course (MATH 120s). In its meeting of February 16, Kate McGivney reported on the first offering of the calculus fall-back course (Math 120s) in the fall of 1998. See the minutes of 2/16/99 for her report. In its meeting of April 27, the Committee voted to offer the program in the fall of 1999 in basically the form it was offered during the fall of 1998. More substantial changes in the program could be considered next year with more experience and data.

Review of Pilot of Super-Supervisor Program. In the spring of 1998, the UGC presented to the faculty its plan for a Super-Supervisor program. (See the minutes of 1/27/98 and 2/17/98 for discussions of the plan.) This was first piloted in the fall of 1998, and continued in the spring of 1999, by Deborah Hughes Hallett and David Lovelock. Hughes Hallett was in charge of seven Math 223 TA's in the fall and nine Math 125B and Math 223 TA's in the spring. Lovelock was in charge of four TA's in the fall and four in the spring, all teaching Math 123. Both reported to the UGC on their experiences with the program at the March 23 meeting. In the meeting of April 2, the UGC recommended that the program be continued and that, if possible, the same person should be both Super-Supervisor and course coordinator.

Survey of Instructors' Opinions Related to Common Finals in MATH 124, 125B, and 223.

Four years ago faculty in the Department voted to have common finals in Math 124, 125B and 223. In order to determine faculty opinion on how this program was working, the UGC appointed a subcommittee to create a questionnaire and survey the faculty. The survey was administered during March, the results tabulated, and a summary report written and submitted to the UGC at its May 4 meeting. A copy of the report can be found in the Math Center and, soon, as an attachment to the UGC's May 4 minutes at the UGC website.

Advanced Placement scores. The University Learning Center requested departmental review of credit allowed for Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate, and College Level Examination Programs (CLEP). The University currently awards credit for the calculus AP tests according to the following scheme: for a score of 3, 4 or 5 on the AP Calculus Test AB a student gets credit for Math 125 (new number for first semester calculus); for a score of 3, 4 or 5 on the AP Calculus Test BC a student receives credit for Math 125 and Math 129 (new number for second semester calculus); for a score of 2 or for an AB sub-score of 3, 4 or 5 on the AP Calculus Test BC a students gets credit for Math 125. The UGC voted to make no changes in the AP scheme for next year but recommended gathering more data and revisiting the issue next year. See the minutes of February 3 and April 2 for discussions of these issues. See Chris Mikel in the Math Center for current policy on the International Baccalaureate and CLEP programs.

UPPER DIVISION COURSES; THE MATH MAJOR

Review of Math Major Sequences. In 1996-7, the UGC focused attention on certain math- major, year-long sequences (415a-b, 425-426, 422a-485, 464-466/468) in order to stabilize their content, drum up customers and maintain quality control. Specific faculty members were asked to oversee/teach the sequences for the ensuing two years. During the 1997-98 academic year the Committee heard reports on MATH 422a-485 and MATH 425-426. (See the minutes of 3/3/98 and 4/21/98 for these reports.) This year we heard reports on the probability/statistics sequence and the algebra sequence from Tom Kennedy and Warren May, respectively. Written reports are attached to the minutes of 3/5/99 and 4/27/99.

Outstanding Senior Award. The UGC nominated Patrick Shipman for the College of Science's Outstanding Senior Award for spring commencement. The Committee also decided to give Departmental Awards for Excellence to graduating seniors Evan Deaubl and Carolyn Lanser. The latter awards were publicly presented in May at the Mathematics Department's reception for graduating seniors.

Math Major Scholarship Awards. The UGC distributed over $8000 in scholarship money to undergraduate math majors.

Policy on Graduating with a GPA < 2.0. The deans of the colleges of Science, Humanities and SBS have agreed to the following policy:

If the advisor supports a student's request to graduate with less than a 2.0 GPA in the major, then the advisor should: (1) consult with the Department Head about the student's situation, and if the Head approves the major GPA, (2) forward the student's degree check to the dean's office for final approval.

The Undergraduate Committee added to this policy statement the following:

The general policy of the Mathematics Department is that the 2.0 major GPA requirement not be waived.

Co-ops 1998-99

Elias Toubassi

During the 1998-99 academic year, the Co-Op Program has six participants, five from Tucson area high schools and one from Pima Community College. The group consists of

  • Mel Artz was born in Racine, Wisconsin. At the tender age of 11 his family moved to Tucson. He attended CDO High School where he recorded his first jazz album playing the trumpet. He attended the U of A for a couple of years. During this time he studied Tae Kwon Do and won several full contact Karate competitions. He graduated from Point Loma College in San Diego, California with a BA in business administration. After a few years of owning and running businesses, he sold his business and decided his calling was to be a teacher like his father. He studied at Chapman University, Pima College and the U of A to take the required math courses to become certified. He received his masters degree in curriculum and instruction in July of 1995. He started teaching at Mountain View High School in September of 1993 where he continues to teach and coach the girls varsity volleyball team. He is married to Young Hee who was born and raised in Seoul, Korea. She moved to the States and started her own business when she was 26 years old. Mel's hobby is reef aquariums. He owns three tanks with a total of 300 gallons of salt water. These tanks contain various species of hard and soft corals, invertebrates, and about 20 marine fish. Two of the tanks are reef tanks and one is a saltwater-fish only tank.
  • Sue Jensen earned her bachelors and masters degrees from the College of Engineering at the University of Minnesota. She taught at Normandale Community College in Minnesota and Santa Rosa Junior College in California before moving to Tucson in 1991. Since that time she has been on the faculty of Pima Community College (East Campus). She is married to Ralph, a chemist/systems analyst, and they have three children.
  • Bryce Linkvis grew up in Sioux City, Iowa. He graduated from the University of Iowa with a bachelor's degree in economics with a minor in mathematics. He worked as an actuary for a Des Moines-based insurance company for five years before moving to Arizona with his wife in 1995. He decided to change careers and pursue his certification to teach in the state of Arizona. Bryce did his post-baccalaureate studies at the University of Phoenix and is currently completing his masters degree in mathematics from the University of Arizona. He has taught on the Tohono O'odham Reservation for one year and has been with Sunnyside School District for the last three years teaching seventh grade math. Bryce also teaches part time at Pima Community College. He has a one and a half year old daughter named Lauren.
  • Cal Stanley was born and raised in Sandusky, Ohio. He joined the Air Force shortly after high school and spent eight years working on airplanes. He received his bachelor of science degree from the University of Arizona, just one semester after leaving the Air Force. Since 1987 Cal has been employed by the Tucson Unified School District. He has earned a masters degree in education with a mathematics emphasis. Next year Cal will start a new teaching assignment at Sabino High School. Cal has coached basketball and the academic decathlon team at Cholla High School and hopes to continue that work at Sabino. Cal is currently working on his Ph.D. in education, which he expects to complete by 2001. He has been married for 21 years to Theresa, who is a real estate appraiser for GreenPoint Mortgage. They have four children, Cal Jr., Anthony, Joe and Greg.
  • Diane Theriault was born in Michigan and grew up in a suburb of Detroit. She graduated from Michigan State University with majors in mathematics and psychology. After three years of teaching in the inner city she moved to beautiful, sunny, warm Tucson. Her experiences as a teacher include working with students with a wide range of academic abilities and behaviors. She began her career in Tucson developing individualized courses for high school students attending evening school. She also taught at University High School, Rincon Accommodations Program and currently is with Tucson High Magnet School. Diane enjoys reading, swimming, dancing and gardening. She has two daughters Danielle (20) and Margaux (17).
  • Michael Warrick was born and raised in Tucson with a short five year experience in Boulder, Colorado. He attended the University of Arizona for his undergraduate and graduate studies with an emphasis in mathematics and computer science. For the past five years Michael has taught general and high school credit mathematics to 7th and 8th grade students at Coronado K-8 school. He loves mathematics and his job! His hobbies include basketball, racquetball, serious mountain biking, snowboarding, playing chess, mathematical art, and reading the Bible. Michael has been happily married to Jill for nearly seven years and has an adorable one year old son named Brevin.

May 1999

New Co-ops for 1999-2000:

  • Lisa Berger (Desert View High School)
  • Yvonne Brown (Pima Community College - West)
  • Dave Kukla (Sabino High School)
  • Mickey Levendusky (Pima Community College - Downtown)
  • Amy Ram (Tucson High Magnet School)
  • Cecilia Taylor (Palo Verde High School)

1998-99 Entry Level Mathematics Colloquium

Richard B. Thompson

The Entry Level Mathematics Colloquium, now in its fifth year of operation, is sponsored by the Entry Level Committee and is presented jointly with the Mathematics Instruction Colloquium. Its purpose is to present mathematical topics that are of interest to, and understandable by, those teaching our 100 and 200 level courses.

In 1998-99 the Entry Level Mathematics Colloquium presented a series of eight talks by entry level faculty members, co-op faculty, and regular faculty members. The programs included reports on interdisciplinary work, topics from computer science and number theory, and some mathematical history. Several of the talks featured live computer demonstrations. Speakers and topics included the following.

  • Richard Thompson; "Business Mathematics I, High Tech Collaboration Between Business and Mathematics."
  • Richard Thompson ; "Presenting Mathematics With PowerPoint, Excel, Word, MathCad, and Graphics Editors."
  • Cinnamon Hillyard; "Circle Generators, How to Make Your Own Crop Circles, Using Only Arithmetic."
  • Kate McGivney; "The Buzzziness of Bees, An overview of an integrated mathematics and science program for native American high school students."
  • Diann Porter; "A Stormy Episode in the History of Trigonometric Series."
  • Sue Jensen; "Is there any past history of mathematics in your family? It's None of Your Darn Business!!!"
  • Bryce Hanlon; "Waring's Problem."
  • Edward Alexander and Kris Green; "The roots of MAPLE run deep. Its branches reach into everything."

The entire series of talks was well-received, with an average attendance of over twenty people at each presentation.

Teaching Post-Docs 98-99

Elias Toubassi

We are pleased to introduce the second Teaching Post-Doc class in the department--Cinnamon Hillyard and Diann Porter.

  • Cinnamon was born and raised in Utah. She earned her bachelors and masters degrees from Utah State and in May 1999 she is expecting to receive her Ph.D. degree. Her dissertation is in numerical methods applied to partial differential equations under the direction of Joseph Koebbe. While at Utah State she was recognized for excellence in teaching with a university-wide award as Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant. She also helped develop a software package in Maple for variational calculus. From 1995 to 1997 she worked at Space Dynamics Lab as a quality assurance intern where she trained, supervised and coordinated a team of software employees. Cinnamon is interested in improving undergraduate mathematics education at all levels. She has used group work and projects in all the courses she has taught from algebra to calculus. At Arizona she has been involved in a variety of activities such as chairing a committee to put together workshops to review algebra skills, as a member of the adjuncts peer observations committee, working with the Daughters on Campus activities, and supervising an independent study course with calculus projects. This summer she will be working with the other Teaching Post-Docs on a workshop for high school teachers. She will also be doing some traveling spending most of July in India. Her faculty mentor is Moysey Brio.
  • Diann went to graduate school at the University of Illinois at Chicago where she received her D.A. degree in 1997. Her dissertation was a topic in the history of mathematics in the United States under the direction of William Howard, with additional direction provided by Karen Parshall of the University of Virginia. Diann is a native Oklahoman but has lived a nomadic life, which included stints in Kansas, California, Washington State, Nova Scotia, Hong Kong, France, Italy and Brazil before "settling" for several years in the Chicago area. All of Diann's degrees are from the University of Illinois at Chicago, but her bachelors degree was in French language and literature. After receiving this degree, she took up a career in international service work for several international organizations. It was only when she later returned to the University that she took up the study of mathematics. Diann has become interested in calculus instruction at the U of A and in the past year she has coordinated Math 124. Last she summer taught the course for the New Start Program and will be doing that again this summer. She has also been working with the other Teaching Post-Docs (and others) to prepare a summer enrichment program for high school mathematics teachers, aimed partly at helping them prepare students for the AIMS test. Diann's teaching interests include the incorporation of the history of mathematics into the undergraduate curriculum. Her faculty mentor is Dan Madden.

May 1999

New Post-Docs for 1999-2000:

MAPPS

David Gay

picture

A four-year project to involve Sunnyside parents in the mathematical learning of their children's classrooms will get underway in August 1999. A partnership between Sunnyside Unified School District and the Department of Mathematics at the University of Arizona will develop programs and materials to attract parents/caretakers of children of all grade levels and make them active supporters of a system that promotes good mathematical learning for their children. These programs and materials will help them become aware of what is happening in their children's classrooms; offer them occasions to take on leadership roles in working with teachers, administrators, and other parents; and provide them opportunities for in-depth experiences with school mathematics and the processes used in teaching and learning it. An initial core of committed parents and teachers will participate in the development of these programs and materials and lead in the recruitment of additional parents and teachers. The programs, materials, and the momentum of this growing group will provide the means for strong district parent-teacher relationships and long-lasting involvement of parents in their children's mathematics education. The project with Sunnyside will be part of a larger effort which will involve three additional partnerships in the southwest --- between school district consortia and institutions of higher education. Funding for MAPPS --- pending at this time --- is anticipated from the National Science Foundation.

The goal of the project is to create at Sunnyside a community of parents that

  • are aware of what is happening in their children's mathematics classrooms
  • form partnerships with teachers and schools in supporting good mathematical learning and teaching for their children
  • do math with their children (just as they read with them)
  • believe that their children can be successful at learning and doing mathematics
  • understand the connection between school mathematics and access to future careers and convince their children to take math courses to keep options open
  • are aware of ethnic and gender biases as they relate to expectations and success in mathematics
  • have experienced mathematics as a human activity
  • have had real learning experiences with mathematics and will continue to learn more

The following activities are being planned for the 1999-2000 academic year:

  • Math Awareness Workshops throughout the year for parents at all levels at district schools.
  • Math for Parents "Mini-Courses". More in-depth activities for parents and interested teachers developed around a theme.
  • In the fall, a Math for Parents Sampler;
  • in the spring Geometry for Parents.
  • Training for the initial core of parent and teacher leaders, beginning with an opening conference in September and continuing throughout the fall.
  • Inservice workshops for teachers and administrators throughout the year.

Principal investigators for the project are David Gay and Marta Civil of the U of A Mathematics Department. For more information contact Georgine Speranzo at 621-6882 or by e-mail at speranzo@math.arizona.edu.

Math Awareness Month

clipart MAW

Please see the Math Awareness Month 1999 website.

Workshop on Diophantine Geometry

Please follow this link for information on the 1998 workshop.

Colloquia, Mathematics Department, Fall 1998

Past colloquiums for this period are archived at [THIS MISSING LINK].

Colloquia, Mathematics Department, Spring 1999

Past colloquiums for this period are archived at [THIS MISSING LINK].

Statistics Colloquia, 1998-99

  • Friday, September 25, 1999
    Leo M. Tilman, Vice President,
    Risk Management and Analytics, BlackRock, Inc.
    "Advanced Risk Measurements and Management: Statistical Perspective"
  • Friday, October 30, 1999
    Dr. John L. Denny, Professor Emeritus,
    University of Arizona
    "Option Pricing for Non-Log Gaussian Processes"
  • Friday, December 4, 1999
    Barry Arnold, University of California, Riverside
    "Conditionally Specified Priors"
  • Friday, January 22, 1999
    Dharmendra S. Modha, IBM, Almaden
    "Visualizing Class Structure of Multidimensional Data"
  • Friday, January 29, 1999
    Matthew Carlton, University of California at Los Angeles
    "Applications of the two-parameter Poisson-Dirichlet Distribution"
  • Friday, February 26, 1999
    David Aldous, University of California, Berkeley
    "Deterministic and Stochastic Models for Coalescense"
  • Friday, March 5, 1999
    Patricia Jones, CCIT and Marilou Mendel, University of Arizona
    "Statistical Software At the University of Arizona"
  • Monday, March 8, 1999
    Michael W. Trosset, College of William and Mary
    "Numerical Optimization Using Computer Experiments"
  • Friday, March 12,1999
    Junhyong Kim, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale
    "Searching for Genes and Reconstructing the Past: Messy Solutions to Good Problems and Good Solutions to Messy Problems"
  • Friday, March 26, 1999
    Dr. James Wayman, Director U.S. National Biometric Test Center College of Engineering
    "Mathematical Problems in Biometric System Evaluation
  • Friday, March 26, 1999
    Dr. Samir K. Bhattacharyya, Senior Economist,
    Proctor and Gamble Pharmaceuticals
    "Managing Health by Making Informed Decisions: How Can Statistical Tools Help Us Use Patient-Level Information?"
  • Friday, April 16, 1999
    George Roussas, University of California at Davis
    "Some Asymptotic Results And Exponential Approximation In Semi-Markov Models"
  • Thursday, April 22, 1999
    Thomas Cover, Stanford University
    "Kelly Gambling, Universal Data Compression, and Universal Investment"
  • Friday, April 30, 1999
    Scott Emerson, University of Washington
    "Evaluation of Medical Diagnostic Tests with Time Dependent ROC Curves"
  • May 7, 1999
    Larry Shepp, Department of Statistics Rutgers University
    "A New Modelfor Stock Price Fluctuations based on Delayed Information"

Colloquia, Program in Applied Mathematics, Fall 1998

Past colloquiums for this period are archived at [THIS MISSING LINK].

Colloquia, Program in Applied Mathematics, Spring 1999

Past colloquiums for this period are archived at [THIS MISSING LINK].

Staff News

Faye Villalobos

The Department of Mathematics Staff mission is to provide services to faculty and students in order to meet academic and professional standards as set forth by University and Department policies. This year has been another busy, event-filled year for the 20 staff members in the Department. Freshman enrollment was up so there were more students to be helped. Recruitment for faculty, visitors and graduate students and research projects continued at a high level, and the evolution of University and Federal policies seriously increased the complexity and accountability of all business transactions.

Bernadette Thomas and Brooke Zang were the Department representatives to the College of Science Staff Advisory Council and the Committee for Staff Recognition. They also planned and organized the College of Science Staff Appreciation Luncheon held in April and hosted by the College to recognize all staff for their significant contributions to the College.

This year's Department's Staff Recognition Award honored the contributions and dedication of Jerrie Bieberstein. Nominee's included Georgine Speranzo, Bernadette Thomas, Narquita Wright, Brooke Zang, Julie Zehring, and a team nomination for Jerrie Bieberstein and Carole Anderson.

Department career staff anniversaries at the University of Arizona included: Jerri Bieberstein -- 10 years, Deborah Gaines -- 25 years, and Sandy Sutton -- 10 years.

The Third Annual Ice Breaker Party given by the McCallum's was a resounding success finishing the keg for the second year in a row. The Derelict of the Year Award went to Grey Eyink. Rosario (formerly Garcia) Molina had a beautiful baby boy.

New additions to the staff included Georgine Speranzo in the Undergraduate/Algebra Office and Rosemary Montijo in the Business Office. Zora Mlejnkova transferred to the Department computer staff under the direction of Bob Condon, Coordinator for Academic and Research Computing. Jose Torres left the computing staff to pursue other interests. Changes in title included Deborah Gaines to Business Manager, Bernadette Thomas to Administrative Secretary, and Faye Villalobos to Operations Manager

The end of the academic year does not complete the year's activities for the staff since the summer is filled with summer session classes, camps, and outreach activities, but well-deserved vacations within that time will undoubtedly refresh the staff for the upcoming, last year of the millennium.