The annual meeting of the Michigan Section-MAA and MichMATYC will be held on
May 2–3, 2003 at Saginaw Valley State University in Saginaw, Michigan.
The meeting will include a well-balanced variety of plenary addresses, talks, and other activities led by mathematicians, mathematics educators, and students. The opening plenary address on Friday morning will be given by Jerry Bona (U of Illinois, Chicago) on the historical development, properties, and applications of Solitons and Other Longwave Phenomena. The Friday luncheon speaker will be Deborah Ball (UM-Ann Arbor). In her presentation, Preparing Teachers for the Mathematical Work of Teaching, she will share with us examples that illustrate how teaching mathematics is a specialized form of mathematical work that entails substantial mathematical problem solving and reasoning, what this type of teaching requires of teachers, and implications of this type of teaching. In the Friday afternoon plenary address, The State of Dynamical Systems in Ecology, Shandelle M. Henson (Andrews U) will discuss how many nonlinear dynamic phenomena have been documented in population data. This work provides rich interdisciplinary opportunities for mathematics and biology. The Friday night banquet speaker is Victor Katz (U of the District of Columbia). He will speak on What is Algebra and Why Is It So Important—A Historical Survey. This session will be a rapid journey through the history of algebra, noting the important changes and reflecting on the importance of this history in the teaching of algebra in secondary school or college.
The plenary address on Saturday morning will be given by Peter J. Vermeire (CMU). This session, Ideals Defining Projective Varieties, will begin with the basic idea of identifying complex projective space as a natural place to study solutions of polynomial equations. From there, we will learn about the various types of questions one asks in this field. The Saturday luncheon speaker is Jeff Weeks, who will talk to us about The Curvature of Space. In this session we will learn about the first full-sky measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation and how these measurements will determine the curvature of the universe to unprecedented precision. This may hold clues to the topology of space as well. On Saturday afternoon we will have a special MAA Workshop on Mathematics for Business Decisions, which will focus on texts published by the MAA for a two-semester sequence that includes probability, simulation, calculus, and optimization. This sequence is designed to replace the traditional combination of finite mathematics and brief calculus. You can learn more about the course by going to http://business.math.arizona.edu/MBD/mbd.html. The workshop can accomodate10 to 12 participants. The registration fee is $20.
We will also have a variety of talks on topics of interest from several areas of mathematics, a number of talks relating pedagogical results in particular courses, and a second report on a multi-part, multi-year project of enhancement of a mathematical core. Details about the schedule (with abstracts), registration, and accommodations are contained in the Program for the Annual Meeting. There will be book exhibits from MAA and other publishers (many of whom are sponsoring coffee breaks).
The program committee consists of chair Steven Schlicker (GVSU), Scott Barnett (Henry Ford CC), Sid Graham (CMU), Paul Fishback (GVSU), and Rebecca Walker (GVSU). Tom Zerger chairs the local arrangements committee; other members are Tyler Haynes, Bing Liu, John Mooningham, and Rose Novey (all from SVSU).
Steve Schlicker, Four-Year College Vice Chair