2004 Annual Meeting for KYMAA
Welcome!
Murray State University is pleased to host the 2004 Annual Meeting of the KYMAA on April 2 - 3, 2004. This should be an enjoyable and inspiring meeting and we strongly encourage you to join the fun. Perhaps you can give a talk, or just come and listen to what your fellow mathematicians are up to these days.More information will be provided below, including a description of the invited talks, a call for papers, information for students, meeting forms, directions, and lodging and meal information. A complete schedule for the meeting should be available on this site by March 15, 2004 at: Program for the 2004 Annual Meeting of KYMAA
Please note the following important dates for the KYMAA Annual Meeting:
- March 1 : deadline for submitting abstracts for talks at the meeting
- March 15 : publication date of meeting program on this webpage
- MARCH 17 : is the Registration Deadline. You Must register by this date if you would like to join us for meals at the meeting since the caterer needs a headcount by this date. At the very least e-mail our section secretary Daylene Zielinski at dzielinski@bellarmine.edu.
- March 19 : is the last day the hotels will hold the blocks of rooms set aside for the meeting; contact information is provided below under Hotel Information.
- April 2 - 3 : a grand celebration of Kentucky mathematics
at Murray State University!
The Invited Talks
The short course on Friday afternoon will be an MAA Workshop on Mathematics for Business Decisions. Professor Tina Deemer and Professor Pallavi Jayawant from the University of Arizona will be conducting the workshop. Both have experience giving this workshop at several national meetings. All participants in the workshop will receive examination copies of the e-texts and a Guided Tour CD, with video and a narrated interactive PowerPoint introduction to the program.On Friday evening, the invited talk will be given by Professor Suzanne Lenhart of the University of Tennessee. Her talk is entitled Can You Parallel Park Your Car with Lie Brackets? In addition to her faculty position, Professor Lenhart is a part-time research staff member at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Saturday morning will feature two invited speakers:
- Last year's recipient of the Kentucky Section's Distinguished Teaching Award,
Professor Ted Suffridge of the University of Kentucky will speak on
Geometric Properties of a Family of Polynomials.
Professor Suffridge has been on the faculty at UK for the last 36 years.
He has directed 10 Ph.D. students and has two more who will receive their degrees
later this year.
- Our second invited speaker on Saturday morning is also an award-winning teacher.
Professor Ed Spitznagel of Washington University will give a talk entitled
Six Easy Pieces -- or How I Came to Be an Applier of Mathematics,
with Half a Dozen Short Short Stories.
Professor Spitznagel has authored two books and 187 papers in physics,
group theory, mathematical modeling, statistics, and medicine.
Abstracts and Bios
MAA Workshop on Mathematics for Business DecisionsAfter five years of development, and testing by thousands of students, the Mathematical Association of America has published the electronic texts Mathematics for Business Decisions, Parts 1 and 2. These are distributed as boxed software, with installation CD's and Student Notebooks. Jointly written by a mathematician and a professor of finance, these e-texts feature four interdisciplinary, multimedia projects for lower division students in business and public administration. The two course sequence, including probability, simulation, calculus, and optimization, is designed to replace the traditional combination of finite mathematics and brief calculus. We will demonstrate the new materials, discuss the challenges and rewards of teaching the program, and allow plenty of time for hands-on computer experimentation with the texts.
Suzanne Lenhart speaking on
Can You Parallel Park Your Car with Lie Brackets?
Abstract:
This talk gives an introduction to the idea of controllability
for systems of ordinary differential equations. The connection
of Lie brackets with controllability will be given.
The relationship between "parallel parking" actions and "noncommunicativity of operators"
will be discussed.
Biographical Information:
Suzanne Lenhart is a full professor in the Mathematics Department at the
University of Tennessee and a part-time research staff member at Oak Ridge
National Laboratory. She received her PhD at the University of Kentucky in
partial differential equations.
Her research involves partial differential equations, ordinary differential equations
and optimal control. She works on a variety of applications, including population models,
disease models, bioremediation, lasers and resource management.
She served six years on the SIAM Council from 1995-2000 and currently serves on
the SIAM Education Committee. She just finished a two-year term as the President
of the Association for Women in Mathematics. She is an elected member of the Board
of the Society for Mathematical Biology. Lenhart has been the director of the Research
Experiences for Undergraduates summer program at UT since 1990.
She was just elected to the SIAM Board of Trustees.
Ted Suffridge speaking on Geometric Properties of a Family of Polynomials.
Abstract:
Polynomials are in one sense the simplest kind of complex valued functions and
yet their properties can be very complicated. In this talk, we define a family
of polynomials that have a surprising geometric property that simplifies the analysis
and leads to some unexpected applications.
Biographical Information:
Ted Suffridge received a Masters degree in Mathematics from Wichita State University
and taught for five years at Miltonvale Wesleyan College in Kansas.
He then went to The University of Kansas where he received a PhD under the
direction of Professor S.M. Shah. Ted has been on the faculty at UK for the past 36 years.
He has directed theses for 10 PhD students and expects to have two additional students
receive their degrees in May 2004.
Ed Spitznagel speaking on Six Easy Pieces -- or How I Came to Be an Applier of Mathematics,
with Half a Dozen Short Short Stories.
Abstract: We tell our students that mathematics is good for so many different things.
I firmly believe that this assertion is not just a pious fiction, and I will illustrate
with six vignettes from my own career as a mathematician with a taste for applied problems.
My vignettes are: 1) Landing a job with a postcard resume. 2) You haven't solved a problem
until you've found the real source of error. 3) Saving a typist's eyesight with a Kronecker
product. 4) Saving lives by terminating a $200,000,000 product line. 5) Bayes' rule and
paternity testing. 6) Pharmacokinetics and the battle of the antacids.
Biographical Information:
Edward Spitznagel received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1965.
He served on the faculty of Northwestern University from 1965 to 1969.
Since 1969 he has been on the faculty of Washington University, with a primary appointment
in the Department of Mathematics. Since 1978 he has also held a joint appointment
in the Division of Biostatistics in the Washington University School of Medicine.
He has received ten awards for teaching, including the MAA Deborah and Franklin Tepper
Haimo Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics.
He has authored two books and 187 papers in
physics, group theory, mathematical modeling, statistics, and medicine.
A Call for Papers
One of the main activities of each annual meeting is the presentation of papers by faculty and students. Please consider giving a talk at this year's meeting. Use this opportunity to share with colleagues mathematical ideas and insights, an interesting mathematical application or an effective teaching innovation. For students, consider reporting on an honor's project or a summer research project. A panel presentation on current mathematical issues is always interesting.For both faculty and students, if you wish to make a presentation, fill out the Presentation Abstract Form and submit by March 1, 2004. A copy of the form can be obtained below under Forms for the Meeting. In general, talks are scheduled for 20-minute intervals. Although, special presentations can be allocated more time if necessary. It is important to note any special needs and a time preference on this form. Submit the Presentation Abstract Form by either regular mail, fax, e-mail (preferred!) to:
Department of Mathematics
Centre College
Danville, KY 40422
e-mail: wilson@centre.edu
fon: 859 - 238 - 5409
fax: 859 - 236 - 9610
Nominations Needed
We're Taking Down Names!!As we acknowledged last year (see http://web.centre.edu/mat/kymaa/past/2003S.html#nominate), classified ads for college faculty tend to be less than honest, since none ever declare a desire to hire a "highly-motivated individual, tolerant of low pay, willing to work hard in exchange for occasional bouts of extreme job satisfaction."
Well, we in the KYMAA are setting a new standard for honesty! We want to hire two highly motivated individuals to serve as Vice-Chair and Student Chapters Coordinator (one person for each position, in case there is any doubt). These positions offer unique rates of pay: in each case, the monthly stipend is zero (note that this is the only real number whose reciprocal is infinite!). Job satisfaction can, quite seriously, be extraordinarily high.
For information about the duties involved in these positions, please contact those currently holding them:
- Vice-Chair: Kathy Lewis at k.lewis@moreheadstate.edu,
- Student Chapters Coordinator: Dora Ahmadi at d.ahmadi@moreheadstate.edu.
- Barry Brunson (chair) of Western Kentucky University at barry.brunson@wku.edu
- Karin Chess of Owensboro Community College at Karin.Chess@kctcs.edu
- Will Harris of Georgetown College at wharris@georgetowncollege.edu
- Tom Kearns of Northern Kentucky University at kearns@nku.edu
Barry Brunson at barry.brunson@wku.edu
Chair 2004 Nominating Committee
Hey Students!
April is Mathematics Awareness Month. This year's theme is the Mathematics of Networks: It's a Small World. Encourage your math clubs to organize activities during the month of April. You can also kick off the 2004 Mathematics Awareness Month celebration by organizing a trip to attend the Annual KYMAA Section Meeting, April 2-3, 2004 at Murray State University (MSU).This year, students will join faculty at the Friday night banquet. Meals for students will be at a discounted price. Don't forget to prepare a poster to be displayed at a poster session of math and computer science club activities. Take pictures and prepare descriptions of your activities. Clubs can prepare self standing poster boards three feet in height and four feet in width to exhibit during the meeting or they can prepare 8 1/2 by 11 entries to be displayed on easels provided by MSU.
Students gave thirteen presentations at the 2003 meeting - it would be great to surpass this number at the 2004 meeting. Perhaps you know someone who could give a presentation at the meeting?! Student presenters will have a choice of a free one-year subscription to the Mathematical Association of America, which includes a monthly publication of the student's choice, or a book.
If you have any questions about MAA math clubs or student participation at the meeting, please feel free to contact me.
Dora Ahmadi at d.ahmadi@moreheadstate.edu
KYMAA Coordinator of Student Chapters
Hotel Information
All of the hotels listed below are fine and approximately equal in quality and amenities. They are located close together on Hwy 641 as you enter Murray from the north. All are visible as you drive along 641 and are within a mile of campus. Mention MAA mathematics meeting for these special rates. The stated rates do not include taxes.- Shoney Inn (270) 753-5353
Two regular beds in each room. $50.00 (1- 4 people)
Continental breakfast with waffles. All rooms have coffeepot, hairdryer, iron/board. Exercise room.
Block of forty rooms held to March 19th. After that date the discount will still apply provided there is a vacancy. - Holiday Inn Express (270) 759-4449
Could not discount room rate but upgraded room rate to suite:
Studio Suite $74.50 (1-6 people) or Deluxe Suite $84.50 (1-6 people)
Deluxe continental breakfast. All rooms have coffeepot, hairdryer, iron/board. Exercise room. Business Center. Heated indoor pool. - AmeriHost Inn (270) 759-5910
Two regular beds in each room. $62.00 (1-2 people) plus $6 for each additional person.
Continental breakfast. All rooms have coffeepot and hairdryer. Exercise room. Heated indoor pool.
Block of twenty rooms held until March 19th. After that date the discount will still apply provided there is a vacancy.
Maps and Directions
Maps and directions to Murray State University can be found by visiting: http://mapsonus.switchboard.com/bin/maps-maponly/usr=~40154965.a3f1f.36f3.7/c=1/isredir=1/.A campus map is available at: http://www.murraystate.edu/campus_maps/flashmap.htm. The KYMAA meeting will be held in the Industry & Technology Center, #34 on this campus map. The I&T Center is a white building at the corner of Chestnut and 16th streets.
Additional information can be found at: http://www.murraystate.edu by clicking on the phrase Information for Visitors.
Some directions for driving to campus:
Entering Murray from the north on Hwy 641, continue past the stadium to the next traffic light at Hardees (Chestnut street). Turn right onto Chestnut and continue under the pedestrian overpass. The I & T Center is the next building on your left. Turn in at the Front of the building and bear left to the parking area. Enter building at the front.From the east (hwy 94) take the new hwy 80 approximate ten miles past KY Lake. Follow hwy 80 till it ends at hwy 641. Turn left and follow directions above.
Future KYMAA Meetings
Our schedule of hosts for future section meetings is:
| 2004 |
Murray State University |
| 2005 |
Morehead State University |
| 2006 |
Centre College |
| 2007 |
any volunteers ?! |
Please contact any officer of KYMAA if you would interested in hosting a future meeting; we're always on the look out for a good meeting site!
Meeting Program & Abstracts
The information at the following links will be complete on March 15:The meeting program can be found at: Program for the 2004 Annual Meeting of KYMAA (html)
The meeting program can be found at: Program for the 2004 Annual Meeting of KYMAA (doc)
The abstracts for talks can be found at: Abstracts for the 2004 Annual Meeting of KYMAA