EPaDel Spring 2014 Section Meeting

The spring 2014 meeting was held April 26, 2014 at University of Scranton.

Invited Speakers

• Colin Adams (Williams College)
  Blown Away: What Knot to Do When Sailing
  • Being a tale of adventure on the high seas involving great risk to the tale teller, and how an understanding of the mathematical theory of knots saved his bacon. No nautical or mathematical background assumed.
• Doug Ensley (Shippensburg University)
  Invariants under Group Actions to Amaze Your Friends!
  • By understanding invariant properties of a group action (a.k.a., shuffling) on a deck of cards, a magician can find order where the spectator believes he or she has created disorder, often resulting in a surprising, perhaps even magical, effect. This presentation will illustrate basic properties of permutations and the idea of invariance through some specific card tricks that anyone can do.
• Ruth Charney (Brandeis University)
  An Excursion into the Strange World of Singular Geometry
  • In high school we learn about the geometry of the plane. Later, we encounter the geometry of smooth manifolds. In this talk, we take a peek at the mind-bending geometry of singular spaces and their applications.

Session for New Colleagues

Faculty talk schedule (PDF)

Faculty talk abstracts (PDF)

Student Contributed Paper Session

Student talk schedule (PDF)

Student talk abstracts (PDF)

Governor's Message

Section Governor, Annalisa Crannell, Franklin & Marshall College
January 2014

Some of the biggest and most substantial changes to the MAA this year will be nearly invisible to the majority of our members.Our able and enthusiastic new executive director, Michael Pearson, has restructured headquarters, made a few strategic hires, streamlined our financial operations, and overhauled the computer system in order to turn the MAA into a lean, mean, math association machine.

You might have seen the periphery of these efforts in the launch of the new website (http://www.maa.org) or in the revised membership application, which has gotten kudos all around for its relative simplicity --- not to mention the enhanced benefits that now come with an MAA membership!

It's awe-inspiring to be a governor who gets to hear about all that the MAA is doing these days.

For example, in the swirl of professional development (PREP workshops, workshops for chairs, book series, minicourses, etc), the MAA is an exemplar. President Bob Devaney saw this first-hand at the Mathematical Congress of the Americas in Guanajuato, Mexico; mathematicians from around the world told him that Project NExT is a model for other countries and might be a topic at future meetings.

On top of that, there are meetings (with record-breaking attendance!), amazingly inexpensive textbooks, AMC and Putnam competitions, and a collection of lovely and widely-read journals.

Coming down the line (watch for that train!) is the result of about $3 million in successful grant writing, all for projects that ought to be of great service to our community:

• National Research Experiences for Undergraduates
• Training the Next Generation of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences Professionals
• Integration of Strategies that Support Undergraduate Education in STEM (ISSUES)
• Characteristics of Successful Programs in College Calculus - supplement (1st)
• WeBWorK: Improving Student Success in Mathematics
• Travel Grants for Presentations by Undergraduates at National Meetings
• Preparing Students for Business, Industry, and Government (PreBIG)

Last but not least, for all those of us who are considering what how our math major curricula might respond to changing demographic and technological trends, the Revised Curriculum Guide is on the horizon!

Respectfully submitted:
Annalisa Crannell