MAA Missouri Section Fall 1997 Newsletter

Table of Contents

Meeting Announcement
MAA Book Sale
Call for Papers
Collegiate Mathematics Competition
Teaching Award Winner
Distinguished Teaching Award Nominations
Minutes of Spring 1997 Executive Committee Meeting
Minutes of Spring 1997 Business Meeting
Minutes of Fall 1996 Executive Committee Meeting
From the Governor
From the Campuses
Short Course



MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT
To: All Missouri Mathematicians
From: Jim Downing, Chair of the MAA Missouri Section

We at Southwest Missouri State University are looking forward to hosting the joint meeting of the Missouri Section of the MAA, the Missouri Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and the Missouri Mathematical Association for the Advancement of Teacher Training on Friday and Saturday, April 17 and 18, 1998, in Springfield, Missouri. The various sessions and talks should prove to be interesting as well as informative.

The Third Annual Missouri MAA Collegiate Mathematics Competition will be held Thursday, April 16, and Friday, April 17, 1998. Complete details appear on page 2 of this Newsletter. We would love to see every college and university in Missouri have at least one team entered in the competition.

Professor Ed Dubinsky of Georgia State University and Les Reid of Southwest Missouri State University will be the featured speakers for the meeting.



MAA BOOK SALE
20% discount, below member price, for all meeting registrants


CALL FOR PAPERS
You are invited to present a paper at the Spring Meeting. Papers are to be between 15 and 20 minutes in length and may be on research topics or expository in nature and may deal with any topic in mathematics or mathematics education. For example, papers may pertain to your current mathematical scholarly activity, new courses that you have developed, or successful techniques you have found useful in teaching. You may opt to design a presentation directed to the undergraduate and graduate students attending the meeting.

Also, faculty are urged to assist honors students in presenting papers at the meeting. MAA student memberships will be awarded as prizes for the top student papers.

The presenter’s name, title, affiliation, title of paper, and abstract should be sent to:


Jim Downing
Department of Mathematics
Southwest Missouri State University
Springfield, MO 65804


Deadline for receipt of abstracts is February 2, 1998.
 Please use the form at the center of this Newsletter.



MISSOURI MAA COLLEGIATE
MATHEMATICS COMPETITION
The third Missouri MAA Collegiate Mathematics Competition will be held Thursday, April 16, 1998 and Friday, April 17, 1998 on the campus of Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri. Any college or university in the state of Missouri can send up to two teams of 1-3 undergraduates each to compete in the competition. A one-person team will be allowed in the competition only if this person is his or her college's only representative in the competition. A completed registration form for each team must be sent one week before the competition begins. Late registration will be accepted only if there is room for the team in the competition. No calculators or computers or reference material can be used during the competition. The contest will consist of challenging mathematical problems, comparable but not quite as difficult as the Putnam Exam. The Putnam Exam is a national exam sponsored by the MAA and given to outstanding college mathematics students. Previous Putnam Exams can be found in past October issues of the American Mathematical Monthly.

The first session will begin on Thursday, April 16 at 7:30 pm and last until 10 pm and will consist of 5 problems for each team to solve. The second session will begin on Friday, April 17 at 8:30 am and will end at 11 am. It will also contain an additional 5 problems. Each problem will be worth 10 points and will be scored by a committee of the MAA Missouri section. The committee consists of the following members: Mangho Ahuja (SEMSU), Hang Chen (CMSU), Curtis Cooper (CMSU), Joseph B. Dence (UMSL), Joe Flowers (TSU), Leon Hall (UMR), and Alvin Tinsley (CMSU). Some partial credit may be earned for substantially correct work toward a solution to the problem.

There will be a registration fee of $25 per team. A complementary continental breakfast will precede the Friday morning competition. Each team member and the faculty sponsor are invited to a Friday luncheon at 12 noon. Each team member is also invited to be a guest at the MAA Missouri Section Banquet on Friday night. At that time, the results of the competition will be announced. A traveling trophy will be awarded to the first place team. In addition, each member of the first place team will receive a plaque. Certificates will also be given to each participant in the competition.

Any questions about the competition can be sent to

Curtis Cooper
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
Central Missouri State University
Warrensburg, MO 64093-5045
(816) 543-8851
fax: (816) 543-8006
email: cnc8851@cmsu2.cmsu.edu



Congratulations to Professor Troy Hicks
The 1997 MAA Missouri Section Award for Distinguished University Teaching of Mathematics was presented to Dr. Hicks at the Spring meeting in St. Joseph. He has taught at the College of the Ozarks, the University of Cincinnati, Illinois State University, and, since 1967, the University of Missouri-Rolla. During 39 years of teaching, he has had ten Ph.D. students and chaired the committee for over forty Master’s Degree students. Over 20 of his more than 50 publications were co-authored with a student. Through his own work and that of the many students he has mentored, Professor Hicks continues to have a profound impact on mathematics in the Missouri Section and beyond.



CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
1998 MISSOURI SECTION AWARD FOR

DISTINGUISHED COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY TEACHING

OF MATHEMATICS

Nominations for the seventh (1998) Missouri Section Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics are now being accepted. The Missouri Section Selection Committee will choose one of the nominees for the Section Award. The awardee will be honored at the Spring 1998 meeting of the Section and will be widely recognized and acknowledged within the Section. The awardee will also be the official Section candidate for the pool of Section awardees from which the national recipients of the MAA Deborah and Franklin Tepper Haimo Awards for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics will be selected except that one of the national winners may be selected from another source. There will be at most three national awardees, each of whom will be honored at the national MAA meeting in January 1999 and receive a $1,000 check and a certificate.

Anyone is entitled to make a nomination, but nominations from chairs or MAA liaisons in departments of mathematical sciences are specially solicited. We urge you to submit a nomination if you have someone eligible and qualified in your department in order that your candidate has an opportunity to be considered for the Section Award and, if so selected, also for the national award. Even if not selected this year, it is an honor for someone to have been nominated, your department will receive recognition for its commitment to excellence in teaching, and the work done in preparing a nomination folder for your candidate is not wasted since your candidate can be nominated again in a future year. Self-nomination is not permitted.

Eligibility


Guidelines for Nomination

The nominees should


*"teaching" is to be interpreted in its broadest sense, not necessarily limited to classroom teaching (it may include activities such as preparing students for mathematical competitions at the college level, for example, the Putnam Prize Competition or the Mathematical Contest in Modeling, or attracting students to become majors in a mathematical science or to become Ph.D. candidates).

**"influence beyond their own institution" can take many forms, including demonstrated lasting impact on alumni, influence on the profession through curricular revisions in college mathematics teaching with national impact, influential innovative books on the teaching of college mathematics, etc.

Nominations must be submitted on the "Nomination Form" found at the center of this Newsletter. Please follow the instructions on that form precisely to assure uniformity in the selection process both at the Section and national levels. If a file on a Section awardee significantly exceeds the prescribed limits (as stated on the back of the Nomination Form), it will not be considered for a national award and will be returned to the Section.

Please send four copies of each nomination packet to

Joe Flowers
Division of Mathematics and Computer Science
Truman State University
Kirksville, MO 63501

so as to be received no later than December 1, 1997.

The Section Selection Committee will select the Section awardee and communicate its selection to the national selection committee no later than February 1 so that the national Committee can then make its selections.

We look forward to your participation in this exciting MAA venture of taking substantive action to honor extraordinarily successful teaching. We want to see such teaching recognized at all post-secondary school levels. We depend on you to help us identify those who merit such recognition.



Minutes of Missouri Section Executive Committee Meeting
April 11, 1997
The Executive Committee meeting of the MAA Missouri Section was held in Spratt 109 on the campus of Missouri Western State College on April 11, 1997. Members present were: Chair, David John, Missouri Western State College; Vice-Chair, Jim Downing, Southwest Missouri State University; Past-Chair, Bob Sheets, Southeast Missouri State University; Governor, Lanny Morley, Truman State University; Newsletter Editor, Vic Gummersheimer, Southeast Missouri State University; Student Chapter, Dennis Malm, Northwest Missouri State University; Secretary-Treasurer, Yungchen Cheng, Southwest Missouri State University.

1. David John called the meeting to order at 11:00 a.m.

2. The minutes of the 1996 Spring Executive Committee meeting were distributed.

3. Lanny Morley highlighted the report he was going to present at the Section meeting.

4. Yungchen Cheng distributed the financial report. The current balance as of April 1, 1997 was $4,385.62. He asked members to consider using part of it to fund one or two projects within the section.

5. Vic Gummersheimer reported his activities on the newsletter. The expenses were $209.47 for the Fall newsletter and $257.45 for the Spring newsletter.

6. Dennis Malm reported that there were currently 11 chapters in the Section. He also mentioned the Exxon $1,000 grant we received for 1996-97.

7. David announced that Al Tinsley and Vic Gummersheimer were nominated for Governor of our Section and Al was elected. He further reported the Nominating Committee's slate to be presented at the Section meeting: John Koelzer of Rockhurst for Vice-Chair and Judith Paradise Colburn of Lindenwood College for Student Chapter Coordinator.

8. David updated the Committee on the MAA and MOMATYC joint recommendation to CBHE to modify the mathematics portion of the state articulation agreement.

9. The Committee accepted Truman State University's request to host the 2002 spring meeting.

10. Jim Downing announced that the 1998 spring meeting, joined by MCTM, will be held on April 17-18 at Southwest Missouri State University.

11. The Committee asked Jim Downing to attend the summer Section Officers meeting at Atlanta. If he can't make it, Yungchen would substitute.

12. The Committee accepted a mathematics contest proposal submitted by Curtis Cooper and will present it at the business meeting.

13. David informed the Committee that Troy Hicks was selected as the recipient of this year's Distinguished Teaching Award. David will present the award to Dr. Hicks at the banquet.

14. A request from Curtis Cooper to provide guidelines for our Web page usage was discussed. The consensus was to let Curtis make his own decisions for now and we will visit this issue at a later time.

15. The Committee supported the idea of appointing a Math Contest Coordinator to enhance the success of this excellent event. There was a consensus that Curtis Cooper will be the best person to serve in this capacity. David will ask him.

16. David presented the agenda he prepared for the business meeting. It was approved by the Committee.

17. It was decided that the next Committee meeting will be held in Columbia, and we will coordinate with the Math Contest Committee so that both meetings are held at the same time to simplify travel arrangements.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:15 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,



Yungchen Cheng
Secretary-Treasurer




Minutes of MAA Missouri Section Business Meeting
April 12, 1997
The business meeting of the MAA Missouri Section was held in Spratt 101 on the campus of Missouri Western State College on April 12, 1997. The meeting was convened by Chair David John at 11:08 am.

1. To recognize those students who had made presentations, David John presented a certificate and offered a one-year MAA student membership to Grant Broker, Dan Cazacu, Misty Cracraft, Jason Fuller, Jennifer Hubbard, Jason Meadows, Lori Lewis, Tracy Lohmeier, William Slabaugh, Jr., Dennis Smith, Mary Talbot, and Stephanie Tingler.

2. The minutes of the 1996 business meeting, as published in the Fall 1996 Newsletter, were approved.

3. Lanny Morley, Section Governor, highlighted his reports which had appeared in the Fall and the Spring Newsletters. He mentioned the excellent Project NExT and the liaison program.

4. Martha Siegel, Secretary of the MAA, addressed the Section. She commented on the national office budget and the MAA On-line Web page.

5. Yungchen Cheng, Secretary-Treasurer, distributed the treasurer's report. The current balance was $4,385.62. Student presenters may still request reimbursements (up to $50 each) for portions of their related expenses which have not been supported by other funds.

6. Vic Gummersheimer, Newsletter Editor, reported that we currently were sending out about 450 copies of the newsletter and encouraged all institutions to publicize their campus activities in the Fall newsletter. He reminded members that newsletters were currently accessible through the Section’s Web page and asked for suggestions on topics for future issues.

7. Dennis Malm, Student Chapter Coordinator, reported there are 11 chapters currently in the Section. He also informed the Section of the Exxon $1,000 grant we received for 1996-97.

8. Robert Kennedy, Visiting Lecturer Coordinator, urged members to continue supporting the visiting lecturer program.

9. Al Tinsley, Regional AHSME coordinator, distributed a preliminary financial report and information on schools ranking in the top decile. He noted that 78 high schools participated. His request to spend $325 for cash prizes was approved.

10. Jerry Wilkerson, Public Information Officer, commented on Mathematics Awareness Week, department liaisons, and Math Horizons.

11. Rhonda McKee presented the Nominating Committee's slate to the Section: John Koelzer of Rockhurst for Vice-Chair and Judith Paradise Colburn of Lindenwood College for Student Chapter Coordinator. David John asked for further nominations from the floor. There were none. The Committee's nominations were accepted.

12. David John announced that Al Tinsley had been elected to serve as our next Section governor, Rhonda McKee as our next Visiting Lecturer Coordinator, and Curtis Cooper as our new Math Contest Coordinator. He also informed the Section of the Executive Committee’s acceptance of Truman State University’s request to host the 2002 Spring meeting.

13. Jim Downing, Vice-Chair, announced next year's meeting will be held on April 17 and 18, 1998 at Southwest Missouri State University together with MCTM.

14. Curtis Cooper was the winner of the drawing for a free book up to $15.

15. Jacqueline Maxwell informed the Section that MOMATYC will hold its own meeting in the future, even though their members may still attend our meeting individually. She also urged us to send a letter to CBHE to reiterate our position on the Articulation Guidelines.

16. Curtis Cooper, Web Page Administrator, made a short but lively presentation on our Web page.


The meeting was adjourned at 11:55 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,



Yungchen Cheng
Secretary-Treasurer




Minutes of Missouri Section Executive Committee Meeting
September 20, 1997, Columbia, Missouri


The following members of the Executive Committee were present. Chair, Jim Downing, Southwest Missouri State University; Vice-Chair, John Koelzer, Rockhurst College; Past-Chair, David John, Missouri Western State College; Governor, Al Tinsley, Central Missouri State University; Newsletter Editor, Vic Gummersheimer, Southeast Missouri State University; Student Chapter, Judith Paradise Colburn, Lindenwood College; Secretary-Treasurer, Yungchen Cheng, Southwest Missouri State University



1. Jim Downing called the meeting to order at 1:25 p.m.

2. The minutes of the 1997 Spring Executive Committee meeting were distributed.

3. John informed the Committee of the upcoming Greater Kansas City Area Tech Expo to be held at Rockhurst on October 3-4.

4. David John suggested that the Section make efforts to provides registration receipts to all participants in future meetings.

5. Al Tinsley reported the following main items from the summer Governor’s meeting:

(1) MAA will have a joint meeting with SIAM next summer in Toronto.
(2) MAA is joining an effort with NCTM and AMS to promote minority participation.
(3) The national MAA office strongly encourages each section to consider establishing a Liaison Coordinator.

He further reported an invitation from the Kansas section to have a joint Project NExT.

6. Yungchen Cheng distributed the financial report. The current balance as of September 1, 1997 was $4,816.65.

7. Vic Gummersheimer requested all officers to keep their e-mail addresses current. He also reminded the Committee of the various reports (including Call for Papers and Teaching Award Nomination Form) he would need by late October to help compile the next issue of our newsletter.

8. Judith reported that she had submitted another Exxon grant proposal for 1997-98 but was still waiting for the decision.


9. Al Tinsley moved that an ad hoc committee be appointed by the Chair to analyze the roles and functions of the Section’s Newsletter Editor, Public Information Officer, and Web Page Administrator to see if any of them should be combined or eliminated. David John seconded. After some discussion, the motion was approved.

10. Jim Downing announced he will appoint a nominating committee for the following positions: Vice Chair, Secretary-Treasurer, and High School Contest Coordinator. Suggestions for the committee members were invited. He informed the Committee that Robert Roe will continue to serve as the Junior High Math Contest Coordinator.

11. The following meeting sites were affirmed: 1998 SMSU; 1999 Rockhurst; 2000 CMSU; 2001 UMR; 2002 Truman. Requests for 2003 and beyond will be welcome.

12. Yungchen Cheng highlighted the following information or suggestions from the summer Section Officers meeting:

(1) Give a sectional service award annually (vs. national award every five years).
(2) Try other sections’ activities (attachment distributed).
(3) Develop NExT project at the sectional level (attachment distributed) - up to $5,000 support from the national project. (The consensus was to see if those national Fellows in our section would be interested in helping to develop this project.)
(4) Join the Sectional Officers List-Serve. If interested, contact Jane Heckler at jheckler@maa.org.
(5) MAA membership has been down.
(6) A department liaison coordinator? Receiving liaison newsletter? New faculty list? Liaisons to survey their colleagues? (It was suggested that future Vice Chairs be given the task of serving as the liaison coordinator. John Koelzer agreed to try it out this year.)
(7) Stickers on meeting name tags for officers, liaisons, first-timers, student chapter advisors, math contest sponsors, etc.
(8) Teaching award - simpler procedure for nominations.

13. Jim Downing announced this year’s Teaching Award Selection Committee: Joe Flowers (chair), Susan Callahan, and Troy Hicks. The tentative deadline for this year’s nominations was set at December 1.

14. Jim Downing invited suggestions for the Spring meeting at SMSU.

15. The meeting was adjourned at 3:05 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

Yungchen Cheng
Secretary-Treasurer

 

From the Governor Al Tinsley, CMSU

The Board of Governors met on Friday, August 1, 1997 in Atlanta, Georgia. A dessert and New Governors Orientation Session was held on the preceding Thursday evening.

One of the more exciting issues considered by the board was a proposal to meet jointly with SIAM next summer. The discussion lead to a successful motion to authorize the MAA to hold the 1998 Mathfest jointly with SIAM in Toronto on July 16 - 18. At meeting time, the MAA was negotiating with the University of Toronto for dormitory space and was expecting an agreement in about two weeks.

Don Albers, Associate Executive Director for Publications and Electronic Services, reported that 10 new books have been published and that MAA is now associated with Amazon.com. Amazon offers the MAA more customers and a financial benefit consisting of a cut of all book sales. Albers requested that the board of governors express a position with respect to generating revenue by allowing commercial advertisements on MAA Online. A show of hands revealed that the board wants the Joint Advisory Board to develop guidelines for consideration.

Tom Banchoff reported on Communications in Visual Math, a totally electronic journal which offers video images and hypertext links to topics from the elementary level to research mathematics and other features unavailable in a paper journal.

Bill Hawkins, SUMMA Director, indicated that the MAA is looking for funds to continue SUMMA programs. He stated that the focus is now on departmental intervention programs rather than programs centered around individuals. MAA has been unable to become a full partner in a Joint Office of Minority Participation with AMS and NCTM due to budgetary constraints, and the momentum for the development of the office may have been lost. NCTM is still in the "what can we do?" stage, and AMS having committed $65,000 per year for three years is considering naming a person in its home office to work on minority issues. Marsha stated that the MAA has much to offer with its intervention programs in place and that talk about joint efforts with NCTM and AMS will continue regardless of whether the Joint Board becomes a reality.

Carol Shaw, Director of Development, reported that the MAA has been made a one-third beneficiary of a $4,000,000 trust to be paid in the future and that others have put MAA in their wills or have asked for information in that regard.

Gerald Porter, Treasurer, indicated that a final audited report on the 1996 budget would be made a part of the minutes of the meeting and listed on MAA Online. A deficit of $150,000 in the 1997 budget is anticipated due to unexpected expenses resulting from the Executive and Finance Committees' 1995 decision to outsource publication and membership fulfillment along with the establishment of new departments and staff positions. Measures have been taken to mitigate the losses. Marsha Sward, Executive Director, has assumed the responsibilities of budget director, the contract with Marketing General has been terminated, and Caroline Fuchs, a professional marketer on staff at headquarters, has assumed the marketing duties. A balanced 1998 budget is anticipated. Investments continue to perform well, and the mortgage on the headquarters buildings will be retired in January freeing up funds to reduce the deficit in the building fund and to improve the cash flow.

Barbara Faires, Chair of the Budget Committee, reported a four per cent increase in dues and an increase in corporate membership for 1997-8. Her motion to approve the proposed 1998 budget with the understanding it will be revised in November carried.

Walter Mientka, Executive Director of the American Mathematics Competitions, reported on recent contest activity and reminded the governors that the USA will host the IMO in the year 2001.

The board confirmed the following award recipients:

The Deborah and Franklin Tepper Haimo Awards for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics -
Colin C. Adams, Williams College
Rhonda Hatcher, Texas Christian University
Rhonda Jo Hughes, Bryn Mawr College

The Chauvenet Prize -
Alan Edelman and Eric Kostlan for their article entitled "About how many zeros of a random polynomial are real?" published in the Bulletin of the AMS.

The Yueh-Gin Gung and Dr. Charles Y. Hu Award for Distinguished Service -
Alice T. Schafer

The Beckenbach Book Prize -
"Algebra and Tiling" by Sherman K. Stein and Sandor Szabo

Offices were filled as follows:
Treasurer - Gerald Porter reelected
Finance Committee - Barbara Faires reelected
Editor of the College Mathematics Journal - Underwood Dudley
Editor of the Mathematics Magazine - Paul Zorn
Associate Secretary - James J. Tattersall
Editorial board of the Monthly - William A. Adkins, Douglas B.West, Gerald A. Edgar

Henry Alder gave a report from the Task Force to Re-examine MAA Governance. The Task Force was appointed in August of 1996 as a response to a recommendation by Alan Tucker who observed that the MAA as an organization has become large, saw tensions between committees and offices at all levels, and expressed a concern that grass roots was not getting enough attention. The Task Force identified the following areas as problems to be addressed:

A. A perceived lack of direct input into deliberations of the Executive Committee on recommendations by councils and committees particularly before action is taken by the Executive Committee.
B. According to the MAA bylaws, the Vice Presidents at present have no specific assignments beyond sitting in the meetings of the Executive and Finance Committees and the Board of Governors.
C. Someone with a broader view of the publications program should be a member of the Executive Committee.
D. A change in the last few years in the nature of the meetings of the Executive Committee in that these meetings have been attended by a larger number of non-members than members.
E. A need to involve members of the Board of Governors more actively in the conduct of the MAA's activities, specifically in the deliberations and actions of the councils and committees.

It was noted that appointments to councils and committees now address issues A, B, and E. A motion and a change in the by-laws would be necessary to address the remaining issues and will likely be on the January 1998 Board of Governors agenda.

The question of the size of the Board of Governors arose but no recommendations were made. It was noted that most professional organizations have much smaller boards.

The report of the Subcommittee on MAA/Department Liaisons encourages Sections to appoint Section Liaison Coordinators. The section liaison coordinator would help the Subcommittee in establishing liaisons in the colleges and universities having no liaisons, distribute Section Liaison Newsletters and Section Bulletins, and plan activities and meetings for liaisons at Section meetings.

The Committee on Minority Participation in Mathematics offered the following motion which prevailed:
"The MAA strongly encourages every college or university mathematics department either to conduct an intervention project itself or to be an active member of a consortium that conducts intervention projects affecting a substantial number of students in the geographical area served by the institution."




From the Campuses
Avila College (Kansas City)

New faculty members:
Don Faurot, Ph.D. from the University of Oregon, 1994. His specialty is ring theory.
Judy Munshower, Ph.D. from Washington University in St. Louis, 1997. Her specialty is boundary value problems on unbounded domains. (Submitted by Judy Munshower)


Central Missouri State University (Warrensburg)

Receiving tenure effective August 1997:
Dr. Hang Chen, Dr. Sue Sundberg, and Dr. Jean Tao

Promoted to the rank of Professor:
Dr. Shing So and Dr. Alvin Tinsley

Promoted to the rank of Associate Professor:
Dr. Hang Chen, Dr. David Ewing, Dr. Phoebe Ho, and Dr. Sue Sundberg.

Dr. Terry Goodman and Dr. Rhonda McKee are project co-directors of the Missouri Undergraduate Faculty Enhancement (MUFE) conferences. The first conference was held Oct. 30 - Nov. 1 on the topic of "The Changing Undergraduate Mathematics Curriculum." The second conference will be held in May with two more conferences scheduled for 1998-1999. The project is funded by the National Science Foundation and the High Plains Consortium.

Last spring Dr. Curtis Cooper received the Byler Distinguished Faculty Award, the highest honor that Central awards to a faculty member.

The annual Math Relays will be held March 1, 1998. The annual Mathematics Awareness Banquet is scheduled for March 31, 1998. (Submitted by Ed Davenport)


College of the Ozarks (Point Lookout)
New Faculty: Craig Haile, Ph.D. from University of Missouri at Columbia with a specialization in partial differential equations. Craig is a recent graduate of Southwest Baptist University and was a student of Mark Ashbaugh at MU where he received his Ph.D. May 1997.

Special Events: The College of the Ozarks Math Leagues were held in the spring. Over 30 junior high schools and 25 senior high schools participated in these annual contests. The events are being planned for March and April of 1998. Dr. Al Dixon and Mrs. Jamie Fugitt oversee these events.

The department has recently purchased 15 TI-92 calculators the 10 CBLs to be used along with the classroom set of TI-85s which the department already had. These will be used in a variety of mathematics and physics classes.

David Vernier presented a workshop on using CBLs and graphing calculators in science classes to the members of the Division of Mathematical and Natural Sciences.

Mrs. Jamie Fugitt is working with an elementary teacher from the Branson School System on a presentation titled Teaching Algebraic Thinking Through Hands-On Activities. This presentation will be presented at the Middle School Interface '98 conference in February.

Awards: Mr. Pete Leonard, Associate Professor of Mathematics and Physics, received the Eugene Charles Wittick Teaching Excellence Award in May 1997. This award is given annually to a member of the faculty who demonstrates excellence in teaching. (Submitted by Jamie K. Fugitt)


Culver-Stockton College (Canton)

Gary G. Cochell, Professor of Mathematics, is participating this year in the "Supporting Standards in Secondary Mathematics in Missouri" project that is sponsored by DESE.

Both Gary G. Cochell and Atul Roy, Associate Professor of Mathematics, taught this past summer at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.

Gary G. Cochell's paper, "The Early History of the Cornell Mathematics Department: A Case Study in the Emergence of the American Mathematical Community", has been accepted for publication in Historia Mathematica.

A Mathematics Department web page is being constructed this fall by Tim Randall, senior.

A Mathematics Club has been formed and is active this academic year. Alison Leitch, senior, is President. (Submitted by Gary G. Cochell)


Drury College (Springfield)

The highlight of our math club spring activities was the opportunity to co-host the National Convention of Kappa Mu Epsilon in Springfield. Drury was proud to have one of our students, Michelle Biggers, win a top award for her paper on the orbit of the comet Hale-Bopp.

This fall, our math club is continuing to run a tutoring service for the math students at Drury. The club is also holding several social events at the homes of the faculty members, including a bonfire in October and a special Christmas party. Our faculty sponsor is Dr. Charles Allen.

In the department, we have switched to a reform calculus approach. We are implementing a recruiting weekend this fall, organized by Dr. Alan Letarte. We are making plans to start a Computer Science major in the near future. Dr. Pamela Reich participated in a summer institute on the "Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications of the Human Genome Project" at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. She will be co-teaching a Values Analysis class in the spring covering these topics. (Submitted by Carol Collins)


Missouri Valley College (Marshall)

Dr. Ruth Ann Harre retired after 17 years of service.

Dr. Gary Raduns, PhD from Binghamton University (SUNY) in 1995, has joined the faculty as assistant professor of mathematics. (Submitted by Gary Raduns)


Northwest Missouri State University (Maryville)

New Faculty:
Christine Benson, Ph.D. from the UMKC in Mathematics and Mathematics Education
Brian Haile, Ph.D. from the University of Missouri-Rolla in Differential Equations

Promotion:
Mark Sand to Associate Professor

Grants:
Ken McDonald and Terry King, "Planning Regional Isolated Statisticians Meetings",Exxon Educational Foundation
Amy Gaskins and Cheryl Gregerson, "Empowering Teachers With Technology" Cycle XIV Eisenhower Grant
Amy Gaskins,Lynda Hollingsworth,Terry King and Jawad Sadek, "Accelerated Learning Projects in Mathematics and Statistics", Northwest Grant

Editorships:
Terry King, Lead Editor of "Newsletter: Section on Statistical Education of the American Statistical Association"
Russell Euler, "Pi Mu Epsilon Journal" (Submitted by Dennis Malm)


Southeast Missouri State University (Cape Girardeau)

Retirements:
Jack Gosnell, Mathematics Education, August 1997.
John Young, Mathematics Education, August 1998.
On leave:

Sharon Yan, working on a grant with Ulla Larson at Harvard University.

Moved to New Position
Shari Harris to University of Missouri-Columbia to pursue Ph.D. Degree.
Janie Kennedy to Samford University, Birmingham, Alabama.

New Faculty:
Tamela Randolph, Assistant Prof., Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University, Mathematics Education
Chengjie Xiong, Assistant Professor, Ph.D. from Kansas State University, Statistics
Curtis Miller, Visiting Assistant Professor, Ph.D. from Indiana University, Probability
Stefan Baratto, Visiting Instructor, MS from University of Oregon
New Positions beginning August 1998
Assistant Professor in Mathematics Education and Assistant Professor in Applied Mathematics (Submitted by Vic Gummersheimer)


Southwest Baptist University (Bolivar)

Dr. Kevin W. Hopkins co-directed an Eisenhower project with Mr. Tim Chappell (of Penn Valley Community College, part of the Metropolitan Community College District) at Penn Valley Community College for Math and Science Teachers on the Use of the Internet. They received 238 applications for the workshops which were held in June, 1997. Ninety six teachers attended and spent a good week learning about the internet and how it can help them be better math and science teachers. Web pages have been set up to disseminate information presented during the workshop and to disseminate results from the workshop. It is at http://www.kcmetro.cc.mo.us/pennvalley/math/eisen/index.htm.
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Dr. Hopkins spoke on this topic at Interface B in February 1997 to 300-400 teachers. He will also be speaking on the topic Oct. 17 at the Science Teachers of Missouri fall conference, Oct. 18 at SBU's annual Education Day, and at the NCTM regional in January, 1998, in St. Louis.(Submitted by Kevin Hopkins)


Southwest Missouri State University (Springfield)

Promotion:
Shouchuan Hu, Shelby Kilmer and George Mathew (to Professor)

Award:
Kishor Shah (1997 SMSU Foundation Excellence in Teaching);
Les Reid and Woodrow Sun (1997 CNAS Excellence in Teaching);
Xiang Ming Yu (1997 CNAS Excellence in Research);
John Kubicek (1997 CNAS Excellence in Service);
Dustin Gary (1997 CNAS Senior Student Award);
Catherine Montgomery and Jennifer Mulder (1997 SMSU KME Merit Award)

Sabbatical:
Wenxiong Chen and Les Reid (1997-98);
Frank Gillespie (1997 Fall);
Liang-Cheng Zhang (Spring 1998)

On Leave:
Vera Stanojevic (ACE Fellowship, 1997-98)

Retiring:
Sam Lynch (December 1997)

External Grant:
Wenxiong Chen (NSF); Lynda Plymate (Eisenhower)

Internal Grant:
Larry Campbell and Yungchen Cheng (Funding-For-Results);
Shelby Kilmer (University Grant, Funding-For-Results);
Richard Belshoff, Xingping Sun, Cameron Wickham, Xiang Ming Yu (Summer Faculty Fellowship)

Special Event: SMSU co-hosted (with Drury College and Evangel College) Kappa Mu Epsilon’s thirty-first biennial convention in Springfield on April 3-5.

Special Projects: Fifteen Mediated Learning classes in Intermediate Algebra and College Algebra (using Academic Systems’ interactive mathematics software) were conducted in spring and summer; a combined class of CSC 101 (Intro. Personal Computers) and MTH 145 (Contemporary Mathematics) is currently underway. (Submitted by Yungchen Cheng)



St. Louis Community College-Florissant Valley (St. Louis)

New Faculty:
Christopher McDonald

Promotions:
Rick Armstrong to Professor
John Coburn to Associate Professor

Department Chair:
Ron Eldringhoff

Resignation
Herman Stephenson has resigned and moved to Florida.

New Position
The department is seeking an Instructor/Assistant Professor for Fall 98.

Projects
Faculty continue to participate in a wide variety of conferences and workshops.
The department is involved with Supplemental Instruction, Learning Communities, Writing Across and Mathematics Across the Curriculum, and other exciting projects. Multiple sections of College Algebra using graphing calculators and Survey Calculus using the Harvard project approach with graphing calculators are offered each semester.

A Contract for Success has been developed to help borderline students, in particular the multiple course repeaters. (Submitted by Ron Eldringhoff)


Three Rivers Community College (Poplar Bluff)

Moved to new position
Karen Croarkin, who had been at TRCC for 7 years, resigned during the summer. Her husband, Gene, who had been superintendent at Doniphan, MO, accepted the position of Superintendent of schools in Kirksville, MO. Karen is presently teaching a trigonometry class at Truman State University.

New Faculty
Kenny Bullington is our newest department member. Kenny comes from Caruthersville, MO and is a Spring '97 graduate of Arkansas State University.

Conference
Dr. Nahed Okasha, Stan Cunningham, Mary Lou Brown, and Carol Shoat plan to attend the AMATYC conference in Atlanta, GA., November 12-15.


University of Missouri-Rolla (Rolla)

New Faculty:
Dr. Michael Dorff, Ph.D., University of Kentucky, Complex Analysis

Promotion:
Dr. Timothy Randolph to Associate Professor with Tenure

Retirement:
Dr. James Joiner, a member of the faculty since 1959


Washington University (St. Louis)

New Faculty:
Assistant Prof. Nik Weaver, Ph.D.(Berkeley), functional analysis--especially noncommutative topology

Promotion:
Renato Feres is now an Associate Professor with tenure

Other:
The Washington University Putnam team finished fourth in the country last year.

Two teams from Washington University finished first and second in the Second Annual Missouri MAA Collegiate Mathematics Contest.

Jade Vinson, who graduated from Washington University in May, 1997 and is now pursuing graduate studies in mathematics at Princeton, was recently notified that he is this year's recipient of the AMS-MAA-SIAM Morgan Prize for the best undergraduate research in mathematics. (Submitted by Edward Wilson)


Westminster College (Fulton)

New Graduation Requirements
Starting in Fall 1998, all students will have to take Elementary Statistics or Calculus I.




The Ohio State University

College Short Course Program


The Ohio State University College Short Course Program -- part of the Teachers Teaching With Technology Program -- is now taking applications for mini-grants to partially fund 1 1/2 to 5-day hand-held technology based short courses throughout the United States in 1997 - 98. You may select to host courses for the developmental level (DEV), for the college algebra-trigonometry level (ALGT), for the precalculus and calculus level (PCALC-CALC), and for the calculus level (CAS-CALC), for teacher educators (MTE), for modeling science (M2S), for statistics and data analysis (STATS), and other affiliated courses. Participants will learn how to use Texas Instruments hand-held technology to enhance the teaching and learning of mathematics. Each course contains some use of the CBL and CBR to collect data for the purpose of mathematical analysis. Pedagogical, testing, and implementation issues are addressed in all courses. Academic year courses (1 1/2 - 3 days) are intended for individual or small groups of colleges, and 3 or 5-day summer 1998 courses are intended for wide-based audiences. If you are interested in hosting a course, the mini-grant application form, short course prospectus, and Program details are available at:
<http://www.math.ohio-state.edu/shortcourse>


Hard copies of the forms can be obtained from Bert Waits and Frank Demana through Ed Laughbaum at The Ohio State University, 231 West 18th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, or via e-mail at <elaughba@math.ohio-state.edu>. The College Short Course Program is endorsed by the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges (AMATYC) and has offered nearly 100 courses in 27 states in the last 4 years.