RESOLUTIONS
TEXAS SECTION, MATHEMATICAL ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA
APRIL 2, 2016
Oyez, Oyez, Oyez, Hear Ye, Hear Ye, Hear Ye,
Whereas the Texas Section of the Mathematical Association of America has annually met in congress for the 96th time, or as the poet department of your resolutions committee recommends to us, this august body has met for four score and four squared years, four score and four square being particularly auspicious being the ultimate number of inscribed and circumscribed polygons employed by our brother Archimedes in his quest for a more perfect Pi;
And whereas this distinguished body has been joyfully hosted with both dignity and graciousness by the revered and respected Stephen F. Austin State University, which did bring honor and renown to itself by expending labors, long and hard, to provide the 210 students and 138 faculty in attendance, one and all, with ambiance of surroundings, salubrious weather including warm and refreshing mist at opportune times, nourishing and tasty snacks and meals, abundant coffee and water, and most importantly, opportunities for conversations between friends, old and new;
And whereas we recognize our debt for this abundance to the citizens of Stephen F. Austin, we acknowledge our unflappable host and master of detail large and small, our Arrangements Chair Jane H. Long, who was named after the historical Jane H. Long, in fact about 188 years after, historical Jane Long who is known as “The Mother of Texas” and our much appreciated hostess Jane Long share a pioneer spirit, a love of hard work, and a determination to do whatever it takes to get the job done, and getting the job done has provided a memorable experience for all;
And whereas tending to our guest and members in every imaginable and some unimaginable ways Dr. Long was assisted and supported by her commendable colleagues, specifically and to wit by Stacia Prince who has quietly guided this section through the labyrinth of registration sans pay pal, ignoring those naysayers who said it couldn’t be done, and, by the much accomplished web wrangler, master of the bits and bytes, Brian Beavers, without whose accomplished efforts we would be as children in the dark, stumbling around taping our smart phones while interrogating each other for insight into location of presentations and times of meals;
And whereas the officers of the Section: Chair Therese Shelton, Chair-Elect Sarah Stovall, Secretary/Treasurer David Hendricks, Immediate Past Chair Ted Mahaver, Governor James Epperson, Arrangements Chair-Elect Lymeda Singleton, and Directors Mike Panahi, Meri Hughes, Joe Iaia and Susan Staples have given from the affluence of their intellects, the pleasures of their society, the security of their judgment, and the light of their insight;
And whereas Theresa Martines and Nick Long did repeatedly meet with and model professorial demeanor as to be emulated by the Texas NExT Fellows, these fellows were also enlightened by special contact with Erica Flapan who did travel from Pomona College to share wisdom which will prove to be much to the benefit of our NExT fellows as they ultimately benefit the great state of Texas;
And whereas aforementioned Erica Flapan did address these assembled masses one and all in opening remarks concerning Topological and Geometric Symmetries of Molecular Structures from which we emerged enriched by the new understanding that socks are like gloves unless there is a heart on the palm of the glove;
And whereas Paul Zeitz, an honored guest from the University of San Francisco, did in student forum expose the assembled younger persons of our section to the evil genus that lies within, (we shudder to think), but in addition to exposing these students to Evil, Paul did as well lead more seasoned and aspiring teachers of mathematics in the exploration of math circles, a most honorable work to unite University and K through 12 in the quest for excellence in math instruction, this noble effort being co-hosted by the East Texas Math Teachers Circle which is housed right here at SFA;
And whereas the calculus bowl has once again been organized by Hristo Kojouharov and Roy Joe Harris, providing friendly competition to what is most assuredly a record number of participating teams, that number being 33, and where joy was won by all and honors won by teams from UT Dallas, Abilene Christian, and A&M Commerce, and A&M Commerce, and A&M Commerce…’
And whereas Professor Rob Beezer did journey from the University of Puget Sound to draw our attention to the clouds and sagely present a worthy Sage Workshop, said workshop followed this very morning by sage advice to mathematicians on publishing open source textbooks;
And whereas Rebecca Garcia , our esteemed colleague of long standing and the 2015 winner of the Distinguished College and University Teaching of Mathematics Award did broaden our perspective with her address concerning the timely topic of Mentoring Programs that Broaden STEM Participation, be it remembered that she urges us all to involve students in research activities and communication about the mathematical content of their research experience, experience and communication that go well beyond our own youthful research and communication experience which was often in the vein of “hold my beer and watch this”;
And whereas Becky Kamas of NASA did follow a suborbital trajectory from the Johnson Space Center to Nacogdoches, TX and inspired us with examples of problem solving and prototyping and the immensely important lesson that success often comes as a result of early and spectacular failure;
And whereas the section welcomes Keith Emmert as “the new Carl Seaquest “, Keith now being the worthy who is charged with the responsibility of being guardian of the printed word and purveyor of the bound collection of mathematical wisdom of this age and all ages past;
And whereas approximately two hundred of the honorable members of our society did partake of a sumptuous Banquet and enjoy the remarks of Dr. R. G. Dean who spoke of his early years in the Texas Section of the MAA and his authorship of “A Seventy-five Year History of the Texas Section of the Mathematical Association of America,” an address that did bring to the mind of the nostalgia department of the resolutions committee many happy memory of sharing moments similar to these with such notables as John Ed Allen, Glen Mattingly, Bo Green, Joe Cude, Robert Northcutt, Stuart Anderson, and others too numerous to mention;
And whereas it has been brought to the attention of the brotherhood department of your resolutions committee that our former governor, Neal Brand, has burned his bridges and appears to be friendless, a strong recommendation is made that every fifth member of the section reach out and befriend Neal;
And whereas the membership, student and faculty, did rise to the challenge and example set forth by our renowned invited speakers and did present to each other NINETY learned papers on an amazing profusion and diversity of subjects mathematical;
And whereas this event, in all its diversity and venues, has been recorded for posterity with photographs by our master of digital imagery, Angie Brown;
Be it resolved and recorded for all time (and in particular in the soon to be compiled 100th year history of this section), that the section has not failed to fully acknowledge the efforts and successes of these and others who have most diligently labored to bring forth three days of happy proceedings, and that these many mathematicians have honorably and profitably invested their time at our 96th meeting, concluding this second day of April, 2016.
See you in Commerce in 2017.
Resolutions Committee
John T. Sieben, Chairman