In 1991, the MAA Board of Governors established Section Awards for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics to recognize excellence in mathematics teaching at the post-secondary level. The Rocky Mountain Section Award is named in honor of Burton W. Jones, a lifelong advocate of excellence in teaching and a strong supporter of the members and programs of the MAA. In addition to being honored with a certificate and check, award recipients are invited to deliver the opening address at the following year's spring meeting.
Criteria for the DTA award require more than merely effective teaching. Awardees are expected to be outstanding teachers who are widely recognized both within and beyond their own institution for their extraordinary success in teaching. Professor Barbara Bath of the Colorado School of Mines is clearly such a teacher.
Barbara's students consider her demanding, yet supportive. She is sincere with praise and constructive with criticism, and students quickly recognize her genuine compassion for them. In the last eight years, she has received teaching awards on seven separate occasions, four of which were awarded by graduating seniors at CSM. She was also instrumental in the award of the 1998 Minority Engineering Program Commitment Award to the CSM Department of Mathematics and Computer Sciences.
In recent years, Barbara has played an exceedingly important role in the development of new curriculum at CSM. She has provided leadership in the design of several new courses, including a complete revamping of the calculus sequence. She also serves as a mentor in the Guy T. McBride Jr. Honors Program, a program designed to provide students an opportunity to cross the boundaries of technical expertise and gain sensitivity to the moral and social implications of their profession.
Barbara's commitment to student success goes well beyond the classroom. For 8 years, she was Co-PI (with Ardel Boes) on the NSF Young Scholars program for Native American middle school students and teachers. She directed an AWM Sonia Kovalevsky High School Mathematics Day in 1995, and is active in promoting women's programs at CSM. In the arena of K-12 teacher preparation, she has held an NSF Teacher Enhancement grant, a CCHE Professional Development Grant, and served as a facilitator for CONNECT, Colorado's NSF Statewide Systemic Initiative grant. And in her spare time (?!), Barbara has served on committees which touch every aspect of undergraduate education at CSM, organized workshops for advanced placement calculus teachers, presented at ASEE meetings and other venues, and served on panels for incoming CSM freshmen and their parents.
Barbara's unswerving dedication to the promotion of quality mathematics teaching and learning, her unflagging enthusiasm and superb organizational and leadership skills, and her thorough understanding of the entire educational system and its interconnections truly serve as a model for the rest of us to emulate. It is a distinct pleasure to see her excellence recognized with the 2000 Burton W. Jones Distinguished Teaching Award. Congratulations, Barbara!
Arapahoe Community College
Many personnel changes have occurred at ACC. Corrinne Brase and Patricia Hauss have retired. Patricia is currently on a transitional contract for the 2000/2001 academic year and Corrinne is catching up on her fly fishing. Patrick Enright has advanced into the position of Dean of Health, Mathematics, Science and Engineering. The new faculty members of the department are Erica Johnson and Mary Sloan. Tracy Lawrence is currently on a temporary full-time contract for the fall semester.
The department is now back in our newly remodelled space, and trying to determine how to best use the upgraded space. One initiative is the creation of a mathematics support room where students have access to tutoring, computers, and VCR's. A primary goal of the support room is to improve student progress towards their educational goals by fostering relations between faculty and students. Support room services will be available primarily to students enrolled in MAT 090 - Mathematics Tutorial. The plan is to increase MAT 090 from 0.5 credits to 1 credit, and to essentially require all ACC mathematics students to enroll in it. The department is anxious to get information and advice from other institutions in the region who have experience with similar initiatives. [E-mail Jeff Berg at JBerg@arapahoe.edu with comments.]
We will be hiring 3 or 4 new people next year. Gary Grefsrud is totally retired. Dick Gibbs and Cliff Capp are finishing their last year here. Dorothy McShan, after many years as an adjuct faculty member, has become an Instructor. Visiting for the year are Tom Ware and Kyong Chung. Kyong is from the University of Hawaii and has the distinction of being the last doctoral student of Burton W. Jones.
Edwin Hawkins and Carl Kerns officially retired from the Computer Science, Mathematics and Statistics department at Mesa State College in the spring. Ed joined the department at Mesa State College in 1963, and Carl in 1969. Both have been absolutely essential to the growth, development and improvement of the department through the years, and have increased the visibility and importance of mathematics at Mesa State College immeasurably. They will be on transitional retirement for up to three years, with Carl teaching in the fall, and Ed teaching in the spring.
Nancy Thompson retired last year (99-00) and was granted Emeritus status. Nancy received her Ph.D. in 1970 in topology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison under Mary Ellen Rudin. Robert Bruce retired at the end of the summer 00 term. Tom Kelley left the department to take a position at Henry Ford Community College in Dearborn, Michigan. Brad Kline left the department to take a position with the National Security Agency.
Shahar Boneh was tenured and Lew Romagnano was promoted to Full Professor in 99-00. Larry Johnson received the Distinguished Service Award in 99-00, and serves as chair of the Higher Education Council of the Colorado Alliance for Science. Jim Loats is on sabbatical this fall working on "Calculus for Cats", the sequel to the book "Algebra Unplugged." Bill Emerson will be on sabbatical in spring 2001, developing Mathematica notebooks for calculus III.
The Department is entering its third year of the approximately $1,000,000 grant "Making Connections" that introduces interdisciplinary math curriculum into grade 3 - 5 classes in Denver Public Schools. Other grants include an evaluation extension of the RMTEC grant, a grant to evaluate the use of new math techniques for educating high school teachers, a junior high math content project and Eisenhower workshops.
In May 1998, the Department won a state-wide bid to offer a baccalaureate computer science degree on-site at the Lockheed-Martin facilities at Deer Creek Canyon and Waterton in Jefferson County. Ten students are expected to graduate from the program in Spring 2001. Pat Tucker is in charge of the project.
The Department has again extended graphing calculator usage, and now requires a graphing calculator for college algebra, trigonometry, precalculus, finite mathematics and calculus courses for business majors, and non-Mathematica sections in the calculus sequence. Most upper division courses now use Mathematica.
The new chair of the Department of Matheamtics is Peter Elliott. The Department of Mathematics also had two new faculty members join them this fall: Bin Wang (Algebraic Geometry) and Keith Kearnes (Logic).
Our new Department Chair is Jim Derr. We also have a new name (Department of Mathematics and Physics), and will soon be moving [over Thanksgiving Break, no less] to temporary quarters while our building remodel takes place.
Bruce Lundberg returned in Fall 2000 from a one-year sabbatical leave. In September 2000, Jim Louisell delivered an invited plenary lecture at the annual summer seminar on control theory at the Automatic Control Laboratory of Grenoble, France.
The second USC Math Camp for Young Women took place in summer 2000 with funding from the MAA Tensor Foundation. This week-long residential camp provided 20 high school girls an introduction to problem solving and probability, and an opportunity to interact with women in math related career fields. Math Camp faculty were Paul Chacon, Jim Derr and Hortensia Soto-Johnson (project director).
The Department also recieved funding for a CCHE Eisenhower Teacher Professional Development project entitled "Pueblo Regional Initiative in Mathematics Education (PRIME)". As part of its professional development work with teachers, PRIME also sponsored a Summer Math Academy for students grade 6 - 10. Department faculty participating in the grant are Janet Barnett (project director), Paul Chacon, Janet Nichols and Hortensia Soto-Johnson.
Longtime MAA members honored
Each year, the section uses the Spring Meeting Banquet as an opportunity to recognize just of few of the longtime active members of the MAA who reside in our section. At the Spring 2000 Meeting Banquet, the following twenty-five year supporters of the MAA were recognized: Richard Grassl, Mike Hanagan, William Manzer and Karen Whitehead. Each will receive a certificate honoring their long-term commitment to the mission of the MAA.
Other longtime supporters of the MAA celebrating an ends-in-5 anniversary are Ronald Arms (45 years), Harold Edmundson (55 years), Francis Hildebrand (45 years), Richard Painter (35 years), Ottis Rechard (55 years), Dave Roeder (35 years), and William Trench (45 years). Congratulations, all!
Applications for Section Activities Grants are again being accepted to assist Section members fund projects in support of the Section Mission. Proposals may request up to $500 per project; matching funds are preferred, but not required. The project director(s) must be a current member(s) of MAA, and the proposal must be clearly tied to one or more of the Rocky Mountain Section Mission Goals. (A copy of these goals appears on the inside back cover of this newsletter.)
Applications should be received by the Section Secretary no later than 31 January 2001. Application materials must include (a) Description of project (no more than one page); (b) Statement of how the project supports Section Mission Goals (no more than one page); (c) Estimated budget, including a description of additional funds available, if any; and (d) Vitae of project director(s).
All applications will be reviewed by two non-officer members of the Section, with funding decisions made by the Executive Committee on the basis of these reviewers' reports. Monies for funded projects will be available to project director(s) no later than March 1. Upon completion of the project, the director(s) of the funded projects are required to file a brief report (no more than one page), and to present a project report at the next meeting of the Section.
Every year, a number of initiatives are suggested by the membership for funding by the section. Suggestions include providing awards to top scorers in student competitions, sponsoring special student activities at annual meetings, offering Project NExT-like experiences for graduate students in the section, and increasing the size of Section Activity Grants awards to make that initiative more valuable to the membership. Excellent as these suggestions are, each does come with a price tag.
Recently, we have been in the fortunate position of funding annual meeting expenses through registration and vendor fees, supplemented by host institution contributions. Fortunate indeed, since the newsletter and other incidentals largley use up our annual subvention from national. Thus, while a reasonable cushion exists for emergencies, additional funds will be needed to pursue additional initiatives … and perhaps just to sustain existing efforts. Funding for recent student activites (such as the Student Logo Competition), for example, has come from the Exxon Grant secured for the section by Tom Kelley (MSCD) in 1995 — a surplus which is soon to run out.
The success of the fund raising initiative launched by Bill Ramaley (Fort Lewis College) in 1998 to create an endowment for the Burton W. Jones Distinguished Teaching Award offers ample proof of the membership's commitment to the Section Mission and Goals. A voluntary section dues contribution from you now can help build up funds in support of other important initiatives!
To submit your dues, simply return the coupon below with a check for any amount you wish — every little bit will help, and all contributors will receive a letter acknowledging the contribution for their financial records.
MAA Rocky Mountain Section Voluntary Dues Contribution Form
Name _____________________________________________________________
Address _____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
Please indicate in the space provided how you would like your dues to be used:
____________ Undergraduate Student Initiatives
_____________ Graduate Student Initiatives
_____________ Burton W. Jones DTA Fund
_____________ Section Activity Grant Program
_____________ Wherever needed most
_____________ Other: ____________________________________
_____________ TOTAL DUES PAID ($10 recommended)
Please make check payable to MAA Rocky Mountain Section and return to
Janet Barnett, MAA Rocky Mountain Section Treasurer, Department of Mathematics, University of Southern Colorado, 2200 Bonforte Boulevard, Pueblo, CO 81001-4901.
Vice-Chair Position To Be Filled
Nominees are now being sought for the position of 2001 - 2003 Section Vice Chair. This position on the Executive Committee is reserved for a faculty member from a junior or community college within the Rocky Mountain Section. In addition to acting as a contact between the Executive Committee and the two-year\community colleges within the section, duties of the Vice Chair include serving as a member on the Program Committee, the Awards Selection Committee, and the Committee on Professional Linkages. The election for Vice Chair will take place at the 2001 Spring Section Meeting in Gunnison. If you would like more information about the position and its responsibilities, please contact the Section Secretary. To make a nomination, please contact the Nomination Committee Chair George Donovan (Metropolitan State College of Denver) at donovang@mscd.edu.
Nominations are currently being accepted for the Rocky Mountain Section Certificate for Meritorious Service. The Certificate for Meritorious Service program was created by the Mathematical Association of America Board of Governors at its August meeting in 1983. At the Sectional level, each Section is entitled, and encouraged, to nominate one person for the award every five years. For this purpose, the Sections of the Association are separated into five groups, with one group of Sections making their nominations to the Board each year on a rotating basis. At each January meeting of the Association, honorees from roughly six Sections are recognized.
Past recipients of the Rocky Mountain Section Certificate are David Ballew (1987), A. Duane Porter (1992), and William C. Ramaley (1997). The next Rocky Mountain Section recipient will be honored at the January 2002 National Meeting.
Nominees for the 2002 Certificate of Meritorious Service should be individuals who have played a significant role in the activities of the section over a sustained time period, and made extraordinary contributions and outstanding efforts which are consistent with the Rocky Mountain Section Mission Statement of promoting excellence in mathematics education, especially at the collegiate level. Although any member of the MAA Rocky Mountain Section may nominate any other member of the Section, self nomination is not permitted. The Certificate may be issued posthumously. However, previous recipients are not eligible.
To submit a nomination, please submit a completed nomination form, a letter of nomination, and a current vita for the nominee to the Section Secretary no later than 31 January 2001. The nomination letter should provide a narrative description of those activities and accomplishments which demonstrate the nominee's meritorious service to the MAA and the section. Please do not submit any additional materials.
Certificate for Meritorious Service
Nomation Form
Name of Nominee _____________________________________________
Affiliation ____________________________________________________
Address ______________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
Email Address _________________________________________________
Telephone: Work __________________ Home ____________________
Is the nominee a member of the MAA? ____________________________
Name of Nominator ___________________________________________
Address ______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Email Address _________________________ FAX: _________________
Telephone: Work __________________ Home ____________________
Is the nominator a member of the MAA? __________________________
Signature of Nominator _________________________________________
A completed nomination form,
along with a letter of nomination and a current vita for the nominee
should be submitted no later than 31 January 2001 to:
Janet Barnett, MAA Rocky Mountain Section, Department of Mathematics,
University of Southern Colorado, 2200 Bonforte Boulevard, Pueblo, CO 81001-4901.
On May 24, 2000, the Fifth Annual Colorado Mathematics Awards Ceremony was held at the Grant-Humphreys Mansion in Denver. Organized by Dick Gibbs of Fort Lewis College, this event recognized 52 Colorado students for their outstanding performances on six national mathematics competitions: MATHCOUNTS, the American Mathematics Contests 8, 10 and 12, the William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition, and the Mathematical Contest in Modeling. The AMC 8, AMC 10, AMC 12, and Putnam Competitions are sponsored programs of the national MAA, which also provides support for the other two competitions. The Rocky Mountain Section is an educational sponsor of the Colorado Mathematics Awards Ceremony.
An especially exciting aspect of this year's competitions was the success of Marin Linck, William Woessner, and Richard Younger (University of Colorado-Boulder) in this year's Mathematical Contest in Modeling. Coached by Anne Dougherty (Department of Applied Mathematics), this CU-Boulder team received the designation Outstanding for their solution of the continuous traffic control porblem. Reserved for those papers which provide excellent analysis, thoughtful insights and exceptionally clear exposition, only 4 of the 154 teams completing this problem received this highest possible designation. Of these four, the solution submitted by the CU-Boulder Team was selected for the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) Prize. Excellent work, Marin, William, Richard, and Anne!
Indiviual top Putnam finishers recognized at the Colorado Mathematics Awards Ceremony were Fritz Obermeyer and Jonathan Batchelder (Colorado State University; Coach Dick Osborne), and Aleksandr Arustamyan (University of Colorado, Boulder; Coach Gordon Brown). The top Putnam team was also from Colorado State University: Jonathan Batchelder, Donald Brower and Fritz Obermeyer (coach Dick Osborne). Congratulations, students and coaches!
In addition to supporting the Colorado Mathematics Awards Ceremony, the Section also recognizes top section scorers on two exams. This year, the Rocky Mountain Section AMC 12 Top Score was earned by Jason Chiu, Grade 11, of Laramie, Wyoming. The Rocky Mountain Section Putnam Exam Top Score belongs to Fritz Obermeyer, Colorado State University. Congratulations, Jason and Fritz!
The section owes special thanks to Dick Gibbs (Fort Lewis) for his assistance in identifying and recognizing these outstanding young mathematicians. Dick, who has served for many years on the MAA Committee on American Mathematics Competitions, has recently formed a steering committee for the Colorado Mathematics Awards Ceremony (members Dick Gibbs, David Carlson, Annette Cooper (AMC 8 Director), David Larue (AMC 10,12 Director), Lou Talman (MAA Rocky Mountain Section), and a CCTM representative to be named). Dick is also consulting with the Section Executive Committee concerning ways to provide additional recognition for outstanding performance on student competitions throughout the Rocky Mountain Section. Thanks, Dick!
Plans are now under way for the 2001 Spring Section Meeting, to be held at Western State College in Gunnison, April 20 - 21.
The meeting will be officially opened with an address by our 2000 Burton W. Jones Distinguished Teaching Award Recipient, Professor Barbara Bath of Colorado School of Mines. Professor Bath is currently spending a year in Washington at the NSF, working in the Elementary, Secondary, and Informal Education Division. Her address Reflections on K - 16 Connections will take a look at her experiences with K - 12 mathematics, her experiences with the NSF, and the connection of these experiences to collegiate mathematics. Many thanks to the NSF for their willingness to allow Professor Bath to return home for our meeting!
Also joining us from the East Coast will be Professor Thomas Banchoff, current President of the MAA and Professor of Mathematics at Brown University. A past recipient of several prestigious national collegiate teaching awards, Professor Banchoff will deliver both the Friday Banquet Address Beyond Math Awareness Month and Saturday's Keynote Address Interactive Mathematics via the Internet, Across All Dimensions. To preview the kinds of interactive computer graphics which he may be sharing with us, visit Communications in Visual Mathematics at http://www.maa.org/news/cvm.html, the first electronic journal featuring articles that cannot be published in the traditional printed form.
Rounding out the scientific program will be talks contributed by intelligent, involved and inspirational people like you! Although talks on all topics mathematical are welcome, special sessions are being organized around the following themes:
Geometry and Its Teaching: Individuals who have attended David Henderson's UFE workshop on teaching geometry are particularly invited to present what they have done since then as part of this session.
Technology Projects in Mathematics Courses: Individuals with ideas appropriate for a "poster session" in which computers would be available to actually try out projects created for courses are encouraged to contact the program chair as soon as possible to further explore this possibility.
History of Mathematics: Organized by Janet Barnett, this session invites talks on how history of mathematics can be used to teach mathematics in courses other than a history of mathematics course, as well as historical talks about the development of mathematical ideas which proved to be important, interesting, or just plain fun.
Student presentations are also especially encouraged — registration for students is free, and all student speakers receive a complimentary one-year membership in the MAA as well.
A Speaker Response Form can be found on page 11 of this newsletter. Registration and hotel information will be mailed early in the Spring semester.
For more information about the meeting, or to make suggestions concerning the program, please contact Program Chair Heidi Keck (hkeck@western.edu).
The deadline for submission of abstracts for the 2001 Spring Section Meeting is March 16, 2001.
Proposals received from students and MAA members after this date will be scheduled on a first-come, first-scheduled, space-available basis.
Proposals from non-members who are sponsored by MAA members must reach the program organizers by the deadline to be included in the program.
As in past years, the default talk length will be 20 minutes. Every reasonable effort will be made to accommodate requests for other talk lengths, as well as other scheduling preferences, within the constraints of the schedule.
For non-electronic submissions, please use the Speaker Response Form located on the following page. E-mail equivalents of this form are encouraged! Please be sure to include all requested information if using e-mail.
Suggestions for additional special topic sessions, workshops and panel discussions are also being sought at this time! See page 9 of this newsletter for a description of special sessions currently proposed for the program.
If you are interested in organizing a special topic session, a panel discussion, or a workshop —— or if you know of a topic which would be of particular interest for the meeting —— please contact the Program Chair Heidi Keck (hkeck@western.edu ; 970-943-3167) now!
Speaker Name .
Institution .
Mailing Address .
Email Address Phone Number .
Faculty Sponsor* .
MAA Member Sponsor** .
Title of Talk: .
.
Abstract (100 words or less): .
.
.
.
.
.
.
Is this talk intended for the: Geometry and Its Teaching Special Session? .
Technology Projects Special Session? .
History of Mathematics Special Session? .
Special Equipment Needs: .
Schedule Preference Request: .
Special Talk Length Request: .
PLEASE RETURN THIS FORM OR AN E-MAIL EQUIVALENT TO:
(Note: e-mail submissions are strongly preferred.)
Professor Heidi Keck
Department of Computer Science, Mathematics and Physics
Western State College
Gunnison, CO 81231
hkeck@western.edu
* For student speakers only ** For non-MAA members/non-students only
200
- Approximate date of birth of Diophantus, best known for his Arithmetica, a work which inspires later mathematicians, including Regiomontanus, Bombelli and Fermat.
800
- Approximate date of birth of al-Jawhari, an Islamic mathematician associated with the remarkable House of Wisdom established in Baghdad by the Caliph al-Ma'mum. Other mathematicians at the House of Wisdom included al-Kindi, al-Khwarizmi and Thabit ibn Qurra, a remarkable collection of research scholars to be gathered together in the same place.
1100
- Approximate date of birth of Jabir ibn Aflah (better known in the west as Geber) in Seville. Although not among the first rank Islamic mathematicians, ibn Aflah's works were translated into Latin, thereby becoming available to European scholars. [One of ibn Aflah's more infamous influences was on Regiomontanus, who copied large parts of ibn Aflah's work in his 1464 De triangulis omnimodis, the first systematic account of the use of trigonometric methods for solving plane triangles, and the first treatment of trigonometry as an independent topic from astronomy in Europe.]
1500
- Pacioli is appointed to teach geometry at the University of Pisa in Florence (following a 1494 revolt at the University of Pisa which forced it to move from Pisa to Florence). Pacioli is best known for his Summa de arithmetica, geometria, proportioni et proportionalita, a work which lacked originality but was widely studied, thereby providing a basis for the major progress in mathematics which took place in Europe shortly after this time.
1600
- Kepler becomes an assistant to Tycho Brahe in Prague.
1700
- Daniel Bernoulli, son of Johann and nephew of Jacob, is born on February 8.
- Leibniz receives a lifetime appointment as President of the newly created Brandenburg Society of Sciences by Duke Friedrich of Hanover. [Although the Society was not particularly successful, it did lead to the creation of the Berlin Academy some years later.]
1800
- Karl Feuerbach, discoverer of the nine point circle of a triangle, is born on May 30.
1900
- David Hilbert delivers his famous speech The Problems of Mathematics to the Second International Congress of Mathematicians in Paris on August 8.
- Emmy Noether passes State of Bavarian language examinations to become a certified teacher of English and French in Bavarian girls schools. Her later work in the theory of invariants is praised by Einstein for its "penetrating mathematical thinking"
- David van Dantzig is born on September 23. After making substantial contributions in topological algebra, Dantzig turns to probability and statistics after WWII.
* Historical details courtesy of St. Andrew's History website, http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history.
The 2000 Annual Spring Section Meeting was hosted by Colorado State University the weekend of 7 - 8 April. Participants numbered 208, including 59 students registrants and at least one representative from Montana! The meeting was officially opened by Robert E. Gaines, current Vice Provost and former Mathematics Department Chair at Colorado State University, whose warm welcome set the tone of hospitality which marked the entire meeting. 1999 Burton W. Jones Distinguished Teacher Award Recipient Bill Briggs then took us on a fascinating journey through the century-long history of population genetics in his talk An Ideal Problem: The Mathematics of Population Genetics. Friday evening's banquet talk by James Tattersall took us farther back in time for a brief tour of Medieval Western Europe mathematics through the lens of Two Texts that Spanned a Millennium. Professor Tattersall also guided us along pathways in Mathematics at Cambridge University in the Nineteenth Century in Saturday morning's Keynote Address. And yet another amusing and amazing journey awaited meeting participants in Joseph Gallian's account of his personal excursion through the problem of Breaking Drivers License Codes in Friday afternoon's Polya Lecture.
In addition to the four invited addresses, a total of 48 contributed paper talks were given, including 15 by students. [A complete list of presenters appears on pages 12 - 13]. The program also included an open discussion on How are Calculus and Differential Equations Currently Being Taught? moderated by Barbara Bath (Colorado School of Mines), a panel discussion on Visualization: How it Relates Art and Mathematics presented by Arapahoe Community College faculty Pat Hauss, Erica Johnson, Marsha Wooley, and Kevin Kennedy (moderated by Jeff Berg), and a workshop on Quantitative Reasoning for Liberal Arts Students by UCD's Bill Briggs.
Other meeting features included the usual early morning Business Meeting (see page 14 for minutes), a Department Chairs Luncheon, a meeting of Department Liaisons, and a very active Publishers' Exhibit (see page 13 for a list of publishers participating in this year's meeting). And, of course, no meeting is complete without a chance to catch up with colleagues from across the region, and Friday's reception in the CSU's University Club provided the perfect opportunity to do just that.
Many (many!) congratulations and many (many!) thanks are due to CSU Program Chair Darel Hardy, not only for organizing a superb program, but also for his success in attaining financial support to defray the extra costs associated with the meeting site. Special recognition is also due to CSU's Gloria Balderrama, whose expert assistance with logistical details were vital in making things run smoothly. Finally, special thanks go out to Robert E. Gaines, CSU Vice-Provost, Rick Miranda, CSU Mathematics Department Chair, and the entire CSU Department of Mathematics faculty for their support (financial and otherwise) of the meeting and gracious hospitality throughout the meeting. Thanks for having us!
CONTRIBUTED PAPERS - CSU 2000 MEETING
Distance Learning from a Traditional Classroom: A Win-Win Proposition,
GENE ABRAMS & JEREMY HAEFNER, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
An application of Poisson Summation Formula, ALI A. AL-JARRAH, Yarmouk University
Math Extravaganza, JANE ARLEDGE & ANNE SPALDING, Mesa State College
Liberty, Equality and Calculus: Mathematics and the French Revolution,
JANET BARNETT, University of Southern Colorado
Insights Provided Through Portfolio Assessment, JEFF BERG, Arapahoe Comm.College
Collaborative Strategy for Curriculum Reform and Faculty Development,,
JEFF BERG & LUANNE LINTON, Arapahoe Community College
Using Hands-On Laboratory Experiences Elementary Algebra,
NICOLE BETSINGER & LUANNE LINTON, Arapahoe Community College
A probabilistic insight into mathematical paradoxes,
SHAHER BONEH, Metropolitan State College of Denver
Zero Divisor Graphs of Rings and Semigroups, FRANK DEMEYER, Colo. State University
Success of Assessment/Prerequisite Policies, MARSHA DRISKILL, Aims Comm. College
FFT Methods for Modified Nodal Cubic Spline Collocation for Poisson's Equation,
GRAEME FAIRWEATHER, Colorado School of Mines
An Overview of the American Mathematics Competitions, DICK GIBBS, Fort Lewis College
Mersenne et Ses Amís, GEORGE W. HEINE III, Math and Maps
The Teaching Post-Doctorate Program at the University of Arizona,
BRIGITTE LAHME & CINNAMON HILLYARD, University of Arizona
Lessons learned from two years of Eisenhower-funded teacher staff development projects,
LARRY JOHNSON, Metropolitan State College of Denver
Estimating NFL Point-Spreads, ROGER JOHNSON, So. Dakota School of Mines & Tech.
A Classroom Model of the GPS, THOMAS KELLEY, Metropolitan State College of Denver
Some Linear Algebra through the Eyes of Mathematica,
BRADFORD KLINE, Metropolitan State College of Denver
Complex Numbers and Trigonometry: A geometric approach to the addition formulas
for sine and cosine, SANDY LEMBERG
An Elementary Algorithmic Matrix Course, ROBERT A. LIEBLER, Colorado State Univ.
Non Functionality of Systems and Other New Standards of Measure, ZIM M. OLSON
Mesa State College Is the area of a circle really pr2? ERIK PACKARD, Mesa State College
A Proof of the 1-to-1 Correspondence Between the Natural Numbers and the Real Numbers,
DAVID JEROME QUARTON
Strong Properties of Graded Rings and Applications, MASHHOOR REFAI, Yarmouk Univ.
The History of Lagrange's Theorem, RICHARD ROTH, University of Colorado
Shadows of Shadows Passing... , MICHAEL J. SEERY,USAFA Preparatory School
Trigonometry: A new way to look at the Ambiguous Case, CHUCK SMITH, Red Rocks CC
What do Brain and Weather have in common? IGOR SZCZYRBA, Univ. of N.Colorado
Transformations in God's Eye, or the Road to Mandalas,
LOU TALMAN, Metropolitan State College of Denver
Gauss, Legendre, and the Method of Least Squares ,
DON TEETS, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology
Implementing Service Learning into Introductory Statistics,
EVAN WANTLAND, Western Montana College
A Group Learning Program for College Algebra,
TAMARA WATKINS, University of Southern Colorado
Early History of Combinatorics, ROBIN WILSON, Open University, UK
STUDENT PAPERS - CSU 2000 MEETING
Computer Generated Images of Cubic Splines and Parametric Equations,
SHARON ASCOTT, Regis University
A Signal to Noise Study m/s, JENNIFER BOWMAN, Regis College
Projective Geometry and Computer Graphics,
KRISTEN BRAUN, Metropolitan State College of Denver
Musical Chaos, MATT CALHOUN, Metropolitan State College of Denver
Dissections of polygons, JONATHAN CROSS, Colorado State University
Automated Geometric Theorem Proving, ANAMARIA DENT, Colorado State University
The Irrationality of p, SEAN EASTMAN, Colorado State University
Cell Exclusion Algorithms, MELISSA ERDMANN, Colorado State University
The Modularity Conjecture, RICHARD HASENAUER, Mesa State College
Alternating Direction Implicit Crank-Nicolson finite Element Galerkin Methods for
Schrödinger Systems, KHEBCHAREON MORRAKOT, Colorado School of Mines
Using Maple to Create a Cryptic Alphabet, JENIFER MCGIRL & LUCIE TRAN, Regis U.
C Algebraic Structures and "Casting Out Nines" (Isomorphisms from digital addition
base np+1 to Zn), CAMMIE NEWMYER, Adams State College
Proof of the Collatz 3x+1 Problem and Other Peculiar Happenings,
GABRIEL PETTUS, Metropolitan State College of Denver
Mathematical Applications within Distributed Environments in Java (MADE in Java),
KRISTOPHER RICHARDS, Colorado State University
Bisecting a Triangle, ANTHONY TODD, Colorado State University
The Program Committee and Executive Committee of the Rocky Mountain Section gratefully acknowledge the generous support and assistance provided for the 2000 Annual Spring Meeting by the following individuals and organizations.
Colorado State University Department of Mathematics, H.P. Miranda (Chair)
Colorado State University Provost's Office,
Loren Crabtree (Provost) & Robert E. Gaines (Vice-Provost)
Colorado State University University Club, Sheldon Godkin (Manager)
Addison-Wesley/Longman Publishing Company, Karin Dejamaer (Representative)
Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, Alan Bricker (Representative)
Harcourt/Saunders Publishing Company, David Hall (Representative)
Houghton Mifflin Company, Christa Harris (Representative)
Key Curriculum Press, Rori Reber (Representative)
MacKichan Software, Enrique Wintergerst (Representative)
McGraw-Hill Publishing, Oliver M. Tillman (Representative)
Wiley Publishing Company, Tom DeMarce (Representative)
University of Southern Colorado Department of Mathematics
The meeting was called to order by Section Chair John Brown at 8 am, April 8, 2000. The minutes of the meeting for the preceding year were approved, and ballots for the election of Chair-Elect were distributed.
The financial report was presented by Section Treasurer Janet Barnett. In summary, we had $7796.39 in interest-bearing accounts on 30 April 1999, and $7329.78 in interest-bearing accounts on 7 April 2000. Of this amount, $2495.61 is encumbered in some form, including an endowment of $1000 to support the annual Burton W. Jones DTA cash award. An additional $500 is currently on loan to Fort Lewis College as seed money for a summer short course, bringing the total financial holdings of the section as of 7 April 2000 to $7829.78. Barnett noted that expenses are anticipated in connection with the CSU meeting, and that the annual section subsidy of approximately $700 from the National is expected in July 2000.
Barnett also reported on the discussion concerning solicitation of voluntary dues which took place at the April 7 Executive Committee Meeting. A By-Law change authorizing solicitation of such dues as a means to support section programs in support of the Section Mission was approved by the section membership and the National Board of Governors in 1998. Although efforts to solicit such dues have not yet been implemented for a variety of reasons, a voluntary dues form will appear in the Fall 2000 Newsletter. [See page 5.]
Brown reported on other business transacted at the April 7 Executive Committee Meeting. A selection procedure for the Certificate of Meritorious Service was approved [see pages 6 - 7], and it was decided not to modify the selection procedure for Distinguished Teaching Award recipients. Registration fees for the 2001 Spring Meeting were approved at $12 in advance, $20 on-site. The Executive Committee also discussed the issue of providing recognition to top scorers in student mathematical competitions throughout the section, but has no recommendations at this time.
Section Governor Bill Emerson reported that the decrease in national membership continues. While the reasons for this are not totally clear, there is speculation that junior faculty do not realize what the benefits of membership may be, or that they do not believe the benefits are worth the cost of membership. Other news from the Board of Governor's includes the appointment of Dr. Tina H. Straley as new Executive Director of the MAA. Emerson also reported that the Board of Governors has decided to table a decision concerning decoupling of journal subscriptions and memberships for further study. The governor concluded his report by reminding members that recommendations concerning membership on national committees are solicited from Section Governors on an annual basis. Anyone interested in the possibility of serving on a national MAA Committee should contact him at emersonb@mscd.edu.
Brown announced the results of the election. Lou Talman of Metropolitan State College of Denver will serve a one-year term as Chair-Elect, followed by a two-year term as Chair and a one-year term as Past-Chair.
Brown also announced that the Executive Committee is currently seeking a host institution for the 2003 meeting.
Other annoucements scheduled to appear in the Fall Newsletter were made by Brown before the floor was opened for other announcements. James Tattersall, Associate Secretary of the MAA, announced that Boulder is being considered as a possible site for Mathfest 2001. [Editor's Note: It appears that the decision was made to use Madison instead of Boulder since that time.] Jim Loats (MSCD) thanked the University of Southern Colorado for hosting the 2000 Winter Meeting the Rocky Mountain Teacher Education Consortium (RMTEC) and announced that Metro will host the 2001 Winter RMTEC Meeting. Loats also announced that the MAA Committee on the Mathematical Education of Teachers (COMET) has issued a draft report (available at www.maa.org) on Mathematics Teacher Preparation.
Brown opened the floor for discussion of the Section Activities Grants program. Established by membership in 1995 to provide support to individual members for activities promoting the section mission, an expenditure of $1000 from the General Fund was approved in 1995 to finance an initial round of grants. To date, only one funding request has been received (and later withdrawn), so that no funds have been expended on the program. The Executive Committee intends to issue another call for applications in the Fall Newsletter [see page 4] before considering a decision to discontinue the program in favor of other activities which would support the section mission. Bill Briggs (UCD) reported that discussion took place at the Department Liaisons meeting about the possibility of using these funds to upgrade the section website. Ron Loser (Adams) suggested that integrating student activities into the website as part of that upgrade would be desirable. Loats inquired about the possibility of applying for a Section Activity Grant to help support the Winter RMTEC Meeting. It was recommended that both projects submit applications for funding in response to the Call for Applications in the Fall Newsletter.
Brown invited discussion on Colorado SB 99-229, which bases 75% of funding increases on meeting Colorado Council of Higher Education (CCHE) performance indicators. Barnett noted that a new CCHE performance indicator calling for 120-hour degree programs could impact curricular programs, as well as financial resources. Charlotte Murphy (MSCD) reported that discussion also took place at Friday's Department Chairs Luncheon concerning compliance with new Performance-Based Standards for Teachers from the Colorado Department of Education (CDE). Murphy reported that Metro is developing an analysis of the CDE Standards drawing on discussions which they have had with CDE. She indicated that this analysis will be available to interested department chairs upon request. [Contact murphyc@mscd.edu.]
The Section moved to thank Colorado State University and the CSU Department of Mathematics faculty and students for their efforts in hosting such a successful meeting. The meeting was adjourned by Brown at 8:45 a.m.
Respectively submitted, Janet Heine Barnett, Secretary/Treasurer
From the national MAA, several major items for section members to be aware of are:
A few other notes:
The National Board of Governors approved the latest upgrading of the "Guidelines for Programs and Departments" at the MathFest in August, 2000.
Booksales at the regional meetings will need to be better documented for sales tax and IRS purposes. The MAA has one tax exemption number that is good for headquarters and all of the sections.
If you are looking for the Rocky Mountain Section Website but can't remember or find the exact address, you may find a link from the MAA website: www.maa.org. When the home page arrives just click on the Sections link to find a list of links to every section. You might want to check out the web pages of other sections.
One final thought. In speaking with colleagues, I've learned that several schools seem to be facing a decline in mathematics majors. I'm wondering how widespread this phenomenon is and if anyone is becoming concerned about it. Is there any interest in having a panel discussion on this topic at our next regional meeting? Please drop me a note at emersonb@mscd.edu. I'll let everyone know if there is any significant response.
Respectfully, Bill Emerson, Governor
In an effort to better serve members, MAA has instituted a program of Special Interest Groups known as SIGMAAs. The latest SIGMAA is devoted to statistics education, with the primary purpose of providing a forum through which MAA members interested in statistics education can meet, interact, and exchange ideas; provide support for each other; and foster increased awareness of statistics education.
Activities through which the SIGMAA plans to interact with members include sponsoring contributed paper sessions at meetings, publishing a newsletter and Web page with items of interest to statistics instructors, and providing an email discussion list to facilitate the exchange of ideas. The SIGMAA will meet formally for the first time at the New Orleans Joint Meetings where a reception will be held in conjunction with the business meeting on Friday evening from 6 - 8 pm.
The MAA has made the process of joining the SIGMAA on statistics education an easy one. MAA members will find a check box on their dues renewal form and interested persons simply indicate their willingness to be a member and include the $10 SIGMAA dues with their MAA renewal. For more information, contact the Statistics Education SIGMAA chair Dex Whittinghill at whittinghill@rowan.edu.
The Committee on the Undergraduate Program in Mathematics (CUPM) kicked off a major curriculum initiative at Providence's Mathfest 1999. Since then, CUPMs Subcommittee on Calculus Reform and the First Two Years (CRAFTY) has sponsored a series of interdisciplinary workshops comprising the heart of the Curriculum Foundations (CF) Project. Each workshop focuses on a particular partner discipline (such as physics), or a group of related disciplines (such as health-related life sciences).
The New Orleans Joint Meetings will feature several events centered on the CF Project, including presentations and panels by participants in the workshops, as well as a series of small focus groups comprised of individuals invited in advance who will analyze the implications of the CF Workshop Reports. If you are interested in participating in a focus group at the New Orleans meetings, please contact Bill Haver (Virginia Commonwealth University) by email at whaver@atlas.vcu.edu and indicate the reports in which you are interested.
Electronic copies of existing reports are available at http://academic.bowdoin.edu/math/faculty/barker/dissemination/ for departments who wish to initiate discussions with partner disciplines. CUPM further encourages members of the mathematical community to form focus groups at Section meetings and other venues, and provide CUPM with the analyses and opinions emerging from their discussions. To contribute your comments, send email to cupm-curric@maa.org or hard copy to Tom Berger, Chair of CUPM, Department of Mathematics, Colby College, Waterville, ME 04901. (Electronic copy preferred.)
Joint Mathematics Meetings, New Orleans, 10 - 13 January 2001
RMTEC Conference, Metropolitan State College of Denver, 2001
NCTM National Meeting, Orlando, 5 - 7 April 2001
MAA Rocky Mountain Section Meeting, Gunnison, 20 - 21 April 2001
MAA Mathfest, Madison WI, 2 - 4 August 2001
CCTM Annual Meeting, Denver, 28 - 29 September 2001
Joint Mathematics Meetings, San Diego, 6 - 9 January 2002
NCTM National Meeting, Las Vegas, 22 - 24 April 2002
MAA Rocky Mountain Section Meeting, Laramie, April 2002
CCTM Annual Meeting, Denver, October 2002
Deadline for DTA Nominations draws near!
The deadline for receipt of completed nomination materials for the
2001 Burton W. Jones Distinguished Teaching Award is 27 Novermber 2000.
If you are interested in submitting a nomination, and have not already contacted the Section Secretary to initiate the nomination process,
please send e-mail to jbarnett@uscolo.edu immediately!
From the Editor
It seems that what is true of the best laid plans of mice and men holds true for the best laid plans of editors too. Despite every intention to have this newsletter in your hands by the end of October, here we are in November. Maybe year three will be the charm, and next year's Fall Newsletter will arrive in a more timely manner.
Other than earlier delivery, please do let me know what you would like to see in that next newsletter. Volunteers to write regular features are most welcome! In particular, anyone serving on a national committee for the MAA is invited to submit a report for the newsletter at any time.
Also, please share the enclosed flyer on the Section Logo Competition with your students!! Many thanks to the Executive Committee and Tom Kelley (ex-MSCD) for approving the use of some of the left-over funds from the 1995-1996 Exxon Student Activity Grant for a cash prize of $50 in that contest.
If news from your school is missing from this issue, please send your news to your department liaison with a request to forward it to me for the next issue. The tenative deadline for items appearing in the January 2001 newsletter will be 15 December 2000. Any items received by that date will definitely be included .... a reminder will also be sent to liaisons via e-mail as that deadline nears.
Best wishes for a successful close to the current term, and a restful break before the start of the next. Hope to see you in New Orleans!