On April 17-18, 2009, the University of Mary Washington will host the Spring 2009 MD-DC-VA Section Meet-ing of the MAA. High-lights include:

Friday: Mike May from St. Louis Univer-sity will lead the work-shop introducing Geo-Gebra, a free program allowing users to ex-plore algebraic and geometric aspects of mathematical objects.

That evening, Bob Val-lin of Slippery Rock University will give the banquet address. He is the Associate Director for Student Programs for the MAA, and his talk is entitled ―What I’ve Learned in 18+ Months on the Job.”

Saturday: In addition to the contributed paper sessions, we will also have two invited ad-dresses, as follows:

Katherine Socha of St. Mary’s College of Mary-land will present “The Cointreau Caviar Conun-drum,” applying mathe-matics to mixology and small spheres of Coin-treau (as reported in the media).

William Goldman from the University of Maryland will present “The Geometry of 2x2 Ma-trices,” describing the link between complex 2x2 matrices and non-Euclidian geometries.

Of course, some of the best parts of our Section meetings are not the formal presentations, but the informal oppor-tunities to meet with colleagues from around the region.

Registration can be done online—register soon!

Spring Meeting at the University of Mary Washington Fast Approaching

Inside this issue:

Bud Brown and Jon Scott give national and sectional MAA news

Read about the accomplishments of members of our Section—awards, grants,

promotions, publications and more

Read about the Pi Day Resolution passed by the House of Representatives

Learn more about the upcoming Spring meeting—biographies and abstracts from

our invited speakers

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To find maps, hotel, registration, and program information, visit our Section website at

http://www.mddcvamaa.org/.

Our own MD/DC/VA Section was the host Section for this past January’s Joint Math Meetings, which were held in Wash-ington, DC, January 5-8. The meeting was the largest ever, with some six thousand attendees. By my rough count, some sev-enty (70) Section institutions, businesses, and government agencies were represented. Many of you brought students, many of whom gave talks. Section members helped organize and run some 30 AMS and MAA Paper Sessions and Short Courses, and many Section members had books and works of art on display.

The MAA Board of Governors meeting was mainly about economics and the budget, planning, and transition. Before we get to all of that, I’m happy to report that once again, a young teacher from our Sec-tion will receive a national award. The MAA Board voted approval of the 2009 Henry L. Alder Awards recognizing excep-tional teachers in the first years of their professional careers. The three winners will be delivering talks at MathFest 2009. To be congratulated are: Jennifer McLoud-Mann of the University of Texas at Tyler, Scott Annin of California State University at Fullerton, and – yes! – Sommer Gentry of the United States Naval Academy. Con-gratulations, Sommer!! This is one more reason for Section members to go to this summer’s MathFest, which will be held in Portland OR on August 5–8, 2009.

In general the MAA is doing well. While membership is down slightly, retention is fairly high and the activity level of our core members has been outstanding. The eco-nomic situation in the country has affected the MAA. Our investments lost money but less than many others did. The 2008 budget shows a deficit, but the deficit will be about $100,000 less than we had budg-eted. The Treasurer’s report is available on the MAA website at

http://www.maa.org/treasurer/.

The Board approved a modest increase in dues for 2010, while keeping student dues at the same level as 2009. In a recent change announced by the staff, gratis mem-berships to students who have presented

their research at section meetings will no longer be offered. Sections are urged to offer their own incentives to students who give talks at meetings. (Editorial comment: this is a good idea.)

On strategic planning, new groups now are actively working on Cycle III in the areas of STEM issues, periodicals and communi-cations, meetings, and sections. And now for those transitions I previously men-tioned:

After 15 years on the job, Chris Stevens asked that she be allowed to step down as Director of Project NExT in August 2009. The Board acknowledged Chris’ accom-plishments and enthusiastically supported the appointment of Aparna Higgins to a five-year term as Director beginning Au-gust 16, 2009. Many thanks were expressed for Stevens’ work over these last 15 years. It was noted that we now have about 1085 NExT Fellows and are accepting almost 80 new Fellows a year. As a parting gift, the Board agreed that Chris should retain the right to ―DOT‖ Fellows and Consultants for as long as she wants! (If you don’t know what this means, ask Betty Mayfield.)

David Bressoud assumes the position of MAA President, and Joe Gallian will be Past-President. Our Associate Secretary for the past 11 years, Jim Tattersall, stepped down at the end of the Joint Meetings. Gerard Venema of Calvin College has had a year of serving as Associate Secretary-Elect, and he took over the position as of the end of the Joint Meetings.

In the Publications arena, there are some new faces, including one from our own

section. Michael Henle of Oberlin College begins his five-year term as the new Editor of the College Math Journal, succeeding Lowell Beineke. Bruce Torrence of Randolph-Macon College and Stephen Abbott of Middlebury College begin their five-year terms as co-Editors of MathHori-zons; they succeed Art Benjamin and Jenny Quinn. Walter Stromquist of Swarthmore College begins a one-year term as the Edi-tor-elect of Mathematics Magazine, as this is Frank Ferris’s final year as interim Editor.

And finally, our own Martha Siegel of Towson University and MAA Secretary will be stepping down after a long term of excel-lent service. She had this to say on the oc-casion:

―My term as Secretary expires next January and I hope to welcome a Secretary-Elect within a few months. Any successes I have had in this position are due primarily to the

spirit and dedication of the many MAA volunteers who are willing to do so much to advance the profession. We have an Association of talented, generous, and scholarly colleagues. Many are among my most treasured friends. I owe a tremendous debt to the outstanding staff in Washing-ton, DC and Lincoln, Nebraska, and to my assistant, Denise Raspa. Without the con-tinued support of Towson University and the Mathematics Department, none of this could have been possible. Many thanks to all as we begin the transition to a new Sec-retary!‖

Elections for MAA national officers will be held this spring; the Board of Governors voted several years ago that the Association should progress to electronic elections. The 2009 ballots will be sent by email. If the MAA does not have an email address for you, be sure to inform us. Directions are posted at maa.org. Members who cannot vote by email can request a paper ballot.

Come and join us at the University of Mary Washington April 17-18 for our spring section meeting in Fredericksburg, and at MathFest in Portland OR August 5-8!

Governor’s Report — Bud Brown

Page 2 MD-DC-VA NEWSLETTER

In 1994, the Section issued a statement addressing the Mathe-matical Preparedness of Incom-ing College Students. It was a reflection our collective concern that many students arrive at college lacking sufficient skills to succeed in college level mathe-matics courses. The statement further outlined our expecta-tions and included several rec-ommendations, including ―that all college bound students study mathematics during each year of high school.‖

Do we still see this lack of preparation today? Certainly, our best students are well prepared and ready to tackle anything we offer. But, on the other hand, we seem to have as many enter-ing students as ever with very poor algebra and arithmetic skill—even at the most elemen-tary level. And, what about the

vast majority of entering stu-dents that fall between these two extremes?

At our last Section meeting, a motion was made and passed to revisit our statement. Is it still relevant? Does it need to be stronger? To whom should it be addressed? How can we help our secondary school colleagues prepare students for a more successful college experience? To help address these questions and more, Lee May will moder-ate an open discussion session at the Spring Section meeting. I encourage you to attend this session and offer your own ideas and suggestions. You can find a copy of the original statement on the section website at www.mddcvamaa.org. Click on the Students link at the top of the opening page.

This is my last Spring meeting as your Chair. It’s been a pleasure to serve in this position. I thank you for the opportunity, and for the trust and support you have shown. But the real work of the Section is done by others. A big round of applause goes to all those who have made this Sec-tion the best ever. Special thanks go to our outgoing section offi-cers: Dan Joseph, secretary; Greg Hartman, newsletter edi-tor; Deirdre Smeltzer, depart-ment liaison coordinator; Leigh Lunsford, at large member for Section NExT; and Dan Sy-mancyk, at large member; and George Rublein, student activi-ties coordinator.

As always, I look forward to seeing you all at our Spring Sec-tion meeting at University of Mary Washington.

Chair’s Report — Jon Scott

Page 3 SPRING ISSUE, 2009

awarded $125,000 from the Vir-ginia Department of Education for their Algebra Functions and Data Analysis (AFDA) for Southside Virginia grant. This grant allows Longwood mathe-matics and mathematics educa-tion faculty to work with 40 high school teachers in Southside Virginia in 2009-2010. Lea Lanz, at the Virginia Mili-tary Institute, has been awarded the MAA Tensor grant. The program, Math Zone for Girls at VMI, will host high school girls from the surround-ing areas on two one-day math workshops in October 2009 and April 2010. Vonda Walsh and Meagan Herald, also from

At Radford University, Laura Spielman and Jean Mistele have received two grants in the past year. They are as follows:

Spielman & Mistele, NSF-CCLI, Phase I for the Mathe-matics Education in the Public Interest Project ($119,667) Barland, Spielman, Mistele, Uppuluri, Rogers, NSF-SSTEM grant for the Bridges and Pipe-lines to Success and Leadership in STEM (Anticipated award: $597,427; Award to date: $74,397) At Longwood University, Wendy Smith and Sharon Em-erson-Stonnell have been

VMI, will also be working on this project with Lea. Lea has also been awarded the MAA National Research Experi-ence for Undergraduates Pro-gram grant. The program will provide research experience for four undergraduate students who will be working on mathe-matical models of infectious diseases. In addition to the sup-port from the MAA NREUP grant, the program is also sup-ported by VMI Summer Under-graduate Research Initia-tive. Support for NREUP is provided by the National Sci-ence Foundation's Division of Mathematical Sciences and the National Security Agency.

Grants — those receiving monetary support for their projects

“Mathematicians are like Frenchmen: whatever you say to them they translate

into their own language and forthwith it is some-thing entirely different” - Johann Wolfgang von

Goethe

“A statistician is someone who is good with numbers,

but lacks the personality to be an accountant”

- Anonymous

It is easier to square a circle than to get round a

mathematician. - Augustus De Morgan

I regret that it has been necessary for me in this

lecture to administer such a large dose of four-

dimensional geometry. I do not apologize, because I

am really not responsible for the fact that nature in

its most fundamental aspect is four-dimensional. Things are what they are.

- A. N. Whitehead

The different branches of Arithmetic - Ambition,

Distraction, Uglification, and Derision.

- Lewis Carroll from Alice in Wonderland

Arithmetic is one of the oldest branches, perhaps the very oldest branch, of

human knowledge; and yet some of its most abtruse

secrets lie close to its tritest truths.

- H. J. S. Smith

Let no man ignorant of geometry enter

- Sign over Plato's Acad-emy in Athens

A mathematician is a

blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat

which isn't there. - Charles Darwin

American University welcomes three new tenure track faculty. Ugur Tuncay Alparslan is a probabalist from Cornell, spe-cializing in heavy-tailed distribu-tions. Inga Maslova is a statisti-cian from Utah State, with inter-ests in wavelet methods and functional data analysis. Each start this fall. Coming in the fall of 2010 is Anna Amirdjanova, a statistician from UNC Chapel Hill. Her research interests are in stochastic fluid dynamics, frac-tional Brownian motion, nonlin-ear filtering, and nonparametric statistics.

Roanoke College has two new hires. Durell Bouchard has been a Visiting Professor of Computer Science, and has now been hired in a tenure track po-sition. His Ph.D. is from the University of Pennsylvania, with interests in computer graphics, human simulation, and motion capture. Adam Childers is fin-ishing up a Statistics degree at Virginia Tech and will start this fall.

Radford University has two new hires for this fall, each com-ing to the Mathematics Educa-tion Program. Agida Manizade earned a Ph.D. from UVA and recently taught at Clemson. José María Menédez has a Ph.D. from Virginia Tech and is cur-rently a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Arizona, in the Center for Mathematics Educa-tion of Latinos/Latinas. (The Editor is also a Hokie/Wildcat hybrid, and welcomes José back into our Section.)

Transitions — A collection of promotions, retirements, and remembrances

tion. While in this position, he continued to support efforts in mathematics education. He chose to return to his real pas-sion, teaching, as this would be a fitting end to a career dedicated to student success. Throughout he was a member of MAA largely due to the organization’s efforts in undergraduate mathe-matics education.

Towson University reports that Jim Coughlin has recently retired. He has been a long time supporter of the MAA, attend-ing nearly every Section meeting

and was their MAA departmen-tal liaison for many years.

The University of Maryland, College Park remembers two faculty members who passed away in 2008. John Brace (1926-2008) was a functional analyst in the department from 1953 until 1988. He was famous for his Tuesday evening seminars at his home, surrounded by a large scale model railroad. Richard Good (1917-2008) was famous for his finite mathematics course and his generosity to both the MAA and Pi Mu Epsilon.

At the University of Maryland, College Park, both Wojtek Czaja and Dio Margetis have been promoted to Associate Professor.

Robert (Bob) Brown has re-tired from Montgomery Col-lege. He has been their mathe-matics education colleague since 1968 when he joined the faculty at Federal City College which then became the University of the District of Columbia. In 1972 he came to Montgomery College as a faculty member and moved on to administra-

New Faculty — A collection of new faces in our Section

Page 4 MD-DC-VA NEWSLETTER

Recognitions — awards earned by members of our Section

member each year, so we are especially proud of this recogni-tion.

Student Thomas Wolfe won the 2009 Joint Mathematics Meetings Student Poster Award for Excellence in Statistics. His

poster, titled ―Modification and Investigation of the Akaike In-formation Criterion for Models in the Natural Log of Y‖ was completed as part of UMW’s summer science institute under the direction of Debra Hydorn.

Both of our awards listed here come from the University of Mary Washington. Professor Debra Hydorn won the univer-sity’s ―Topher Bill Award‖ for distinguished service. This award is given to only one faculty

To create a good philoso-phy you should renounce

metaphysics but be a good mathematician.

- Bertrand Russell

Mathematics is the only good metaphysics.

- Lord Kelvin

How can it be that mathe-matics, being after all a

product of human thought independent of experience, is so admirably adapted to

the objects of reality? - Albert Einstein

Every New body of discov-

ery is mathematical in form because there is no

other guidance we can have.

- Charles Darwin

The Infinite! No other question has ever moved so

profoundly the spirit of man.

- David Hilbert

The notion of infinity is our greatest friend; it is

also our greatest enemy of our peace of mind. - James Pierpont

In my opinion a mathema-tician, in so far as he is a mathematician, need not

preoccupy himself with philosophy—an opinion, moreover, which has been

expressed by many phi-losophers.

- Henri Lebesgue

God ever geometrizes. - Plato

God ever arithmetizes.

- Charles Jacobi

The Great Architect of the Universe now begins to

appear as a pure mathe-matician.

- James Jeans

Bruce and Eve Torrence of Randolph Macon College have recently published the sec-ond edition of The Student’s Intro-duction to Mathematica®: A Hand-book for Precalculus, Calculus and Linear Algebra with Cambridge University Press. The book has a companion website at www.studentsmathematica.com.

The book walks the reader through the use of Matheematica, including the basics of functions and graphs, before moving into algebra, calculus, and linear alge-bra. The 484 page book ends with a guide to programming in Mathematica.

Bud Brown of Virginia Tech has edited, along with another guy you never heard of named Art Benjamin, Biscuits of Number Theory, published by the MAA.

As stated on the MAA website, ―Biscuits of Number Theory is a collection of classic mathemati-cal gems—noteworthy articles covering intriguing topics in arithmetic; primes; irrationality and continued fractions; sums of squares and polygonal numbers; Fibonacci numbers; number-theoretic functions; and elliptic curves, cubes, and Fermat's Last Theorem.‖ The editor guesses that the ―biscuits‖ in the title refers both to the articles being ―tasty mathematical morsels‖ that are fun to read and also to the biscuits Bud is famous for making for his students towards the end of each semester.

Dan Kalman of American University has published through the MAA “Uncommon Mathematical Excursions: Polynomia and Related Realms.” Again quot-

ing the MAA website, the book is ―Designed to surprise, in-trigue, and delight read-ers, Uncommon Mathematical Ex-cursions presents unexpected aspects of the mathematics sur-rounding the standard curricu-lum, guiding readers to little-

known corners of the mathe-matical landscape not far from the main byways of algebra, geometry, and calculus.‖ The readers are guided through the Province of Polynomia, into the region of Maxministan, and fi-nally into the Calculusian Re-public. The 300 page book is number 35 in the Dolciani Mathematical Expositions Se-ries.

Although announced previously in earlier editions of this News-letter, our Bruce Torrence of Randolph Macon College produced his first edition of Math Horizons as editor (along with Stephen Abbott of Middle-bury College) in February. This edition is pictured below just in case you did not realize at the time of its release that it was Bruce’s first.

Congratulations to Bruce (and Stephen) for a job well done; we look forward to more excellent editions in the future.

Publications — books (and more) from members of our Section

Page 5 SPRING ISSUE, 2009

Ask a philosopher 'What is philosophy?' or a histo-

rian 'What is history?' and they will have no difficulty in giving an

answer. Neither of them can pursue his own disci-

pline without knowing what he is searching for.

But ask a mathematician 'What is mathematics?'

and he may justifiably reply that he does no know

the answer but that this does not stop him from

doing mathematics. - François Lasserre

No employment can be

managed without arithme-tic, no mechanical inven-

tion without geometry. - Benjamin Franklin

The advancement and

perfection of mathematics are intimately connected

with the prosperity of the state.

- Napoleon Bonaparte

I knew a mathematician who said, "I do not know

as much as God, but I know as much as God did

at my age." - Milton Shulman

A Mathematician is someone who can take a cup of coffee and turn it

into a theory. - Paul Erdos

I would like to thank my Section for allowing me to be the editor of this News-

letter for the past two years. I have enjoyed

doing my part in keeping our Section connected and

meeting many new and wonderful people. My

special thanks go to the Liaisons who faithfully

contribute news; without you, my efforts would be in

vain. - Gregory Hartman

Page 6 MD-DC-VA NEWSLETTER

Slippery Rock University Banquet Address: What I’ve Learned in 18+ Months on the Job

Abstract: A little over two years ago, I responded to an advertisement the MAA posted for a position they were creating. At the time, it was so new it didn’t even have a name. Lo and be-hold, I got the job and it has been quite a learning experience. My goal in this talk is to share some of what I’ve learned and what I’ve done: the big, the small, and the weird. At the end of the talk, hopefully everyone will come away with something they didn’t know.

Biographical Sketch: Robert W. Vallin holds two jobs. He is currently the As-sociate Director for Student Programs for the Mathematical Association of America and a faculty member at Slip-pery Rock University in Pennsylvania. A great proponent of student activities, he has for many years been involved in student research and in student pro-grams for the Allegheny Mountain Sec-tion of the MAA. For the Section he served four years as Puzzle Czar and six years as Coordinator of Student Pro-grams. A real analyst by training, he has written research papers in analysis, to-pology, and fractal geometry, along with several articles in both MAA FOCUS and Math Horizons. He likes to spend

his spare time with his children and admits he would not mind growing up to be Batman.

Bob Valin — Banquet Address

Spring Meeting Highlights!

Saint Louis University Workshop: GeoGebra

Abstract: GeoGebra is an easy to use, free, open source, cross platform pro-gram that allows the user to visualize and experiment with both algebraic and geometric representations of mathe-matical concepts. Constructions can optionally be saved as applets that can be used in any java enabled browser. Sample applets can be found at http://www.slu.edu/classes/maymk/GeoGebra/. The minicourse assumes only novice computer skills and covers an introduction to GeoGebra up through deploying applets in web pages. We will work through creating several activities to illustrate features of the program and to get participants to create their own activities.

Biographical Sketch: Mike May, S.J. received his BA from Saint Louis Uni-versity and his Ph.D. in ring theory from the University of California, Berkeley. He has been a faculty mem-

ber at Saint Louis University since 1993. Dr. May has done extensive work on using a variety of technologies as tools in teaching mathematics. He has made extensive use of the computer algebra package Maple, making a num-ber of presentations on using Maple at regional and national meetings and has co-presented three online PREP work-shops on using Maple in teaching mathematics. He has also made exten-sive use of applets in teaching in a vari-ety of classes. Since 2000 he has used a number of technologies to produce over 100 applets that are available at the website http://www.slu.edu/classes/maymk. He has made a number of presenta-tions on using these applets at regional or national meetings and has given workshops on constructing applets at the project NExT workshop at Math-fest 2008, the International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathemat-ics (ICTCM), and the 2009 JMM.

Note: There will be limited space for this workshop since it will be held in a

computer laboratory. We will take around 30 participants so please sign up early. Participants will be e-mailed prior to the meeting whether they made it into the workshop. If you will be bringing a laptop to the meeting and want to participate in the workshop please e-mail David Shoenthal at shoenthaldw@longwood.edu and let him know that you will be bringing a laptop. Also, if you are bringing a lap-top please download and install the GeoGebra program from http://www.geogebra.org/.

Mike May — Workshop

Katherine Socha — Invited Address

Biographical Sketch: Katherine Socha is an assistant professor of mathematics at St. Mary's College of Maryland. She received her B.A. from Reed College, her M.S. from Portland State University, and her Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin in 2002. She is a winner of the 2008 Henry L. Alder Award for distinguished teaching and of the Lester R. Ford Award for an article of exposi-tory excellence in the American Mathe-matical Monthly. Dr. Socha is commit-ted to improving access to higher educa-tion and, particularly, to mathematics for all students. Her two favorite mathe-matical shapes are the circle and the icosahedron. The sphere runs a close third.

St. Mary's College of Maryland Invited Address: The Cointreau Caviar Conundrum

Abstract: Mathematics meets mixology! During Spring 2008, New York City mixologists made a social splash with a super-secret strategy for congealing Cointreau into small spheres, called Cointreau caviar. Media coverage of this advance in gastronomic technology en-couraged the speaker to consider how mathematical tools from a standard course in ordinary differential equations might be used to model the behavior of such spheres.

Page 7 SPRING ISSUE, 2009

William Goldman — Invited Address

projective geometries in dimension two. In particular the well-known theorem classifying pairs of unimodular matrices up to conjugacy can be used to derive elliptic and hyperbolic trigonometry, and forms the starting point for the defor-mation theory of geometric structures on manifolds.

Biographical Sketch: William Gold-man grew up in Kansas City and at-tended Princeton University, where he began his research on geometric struc-tures on low-dimensional manifolds. He received his doctorate from the Univer-sity of California, Berkeley in 1980. After positions at the University of Colorado, M.I.T., the University of Maryland and M.S.R.I. he moved permanently to the University of Maryland in 1986, where he has been since. He has advised over 23 doctoral dissertations, and in 2000 he co-founded the Experimental Geometry Lab at the University of Maryland. He is currently Editor-In-Chief of Geometriae Dedicata and recently completed a term

on the Council of the American Mathe-matical Society. At Maryland he served as Associate Chair for Graduate Studies and is currently the Principal Investiga-tor of the Department's VIGRE grant. He held an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship and was recently received a Distinguished Scholar Teacher award from the University of Maryland.

University of Maryland Invited Address: The Geometry of 2x2 Matrices

Abstract: The nineteenth century evi-denced a profusion of ―classical geome-tries‖, such as Euclidean, projective, conformal and non-Euclidean geometry. In Felix Klein's Erlangen Program 1872, these geometries (and many more) were united through the concept of symme-try. In modern terms, classical geome-tries identify with homogeneous spaces of Lie groups, and are classified using the theory initiated by Sophus Lie. Con-sequently the basic properties of classical geometries are special cases of algebraic constructions.

In this talk I will describe this algebraici-zation in a special case, also begun in the nineteenth century. Namely, 2x2 com-plex matrices have a beautiful invariant theory which relates (in fact, is equiva-lent to) non-Euclidean geometries and

This summer, August 10-14, the Univer-sity of Mary Washington will be hosting a week long workshop for Texas Instru-ments. The workshop has two compo-nents: ―Getting Started with TI-Nspire‖ runs for 1 1/2 days, followed by a 3 day workshop ―Using TI-Nspire in Your Classroom.‖ The course is open to all (registration fees apply). For more infor-mation, one can diligently search the TI website or follow this link: once there, click on the ―Explore TI Events‖ button on the right.

Two math ―celebrities‖ have visited our Section (or will soon visit). Art Benjamin of Harvey Mudd College visited Roanoke College in March as their Copenhaver Scholar in Residence. He presented a card trick workshop, several guest lectures in departmental courses, and several 30 min-ute talks geared towards undergraduates. Jan Minton organized the event, assisted by someone she knows named Roland.

Also, Ed Burger of Williams College will be the guest of honor at American Uni-

versity’s annual Spring Event on April 10.

Also at American Univeristy: Math For America will be starting there this sum-mer. The program supports Fellows with strong math backgrounds to earn a mas-ters degree in education then teach K-12 schools, with special emphasis here on teaching in DC. For more information about the national program, follow this link; for DC specific information, follow this link.

Events — talks and activities from across our Section

Page 8 MD-DC-VA NEWSLETTER

We all know that March 14th marks ―Pi Day.‖ This year, Roanoke College cele-brated the day by giving the students the opportunity to buy pies and throw them at their professors. Several math and biology professors were ―pied,‖ as well as the col-lege chaplain. The proceeds went to a local food bank.

Nationally, the House of Representatives passed a resolution denoting March 14, 2009 as Pi Day. The full resolution is given here.

111th CONGRESS 1st Session

H. RES. 224 Supporting the designation of Pi Day, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 9, 2009

Mr. GORDON of Tennessee (for himself, Mr. HALL of Texas, Mr. LIPINSKI, and Mr. BAIRD) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Sci-ence and Technology

RESOLUTION

Supporting the designation of Pi Day, and for other purposes.

Whereas the Greek letter (Pi) is the symbol for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter;

Whereas the ratio Pi is an irrational number, which will continue infinitely without repeat-ing, and has been calculated to over one trillion digits;

Whereas Pi is a recurring constant that has been studied throughout history and is central in mathematics as well as science and engineer-ing;

Whereas mathematics and science are a critical part of our children's education, and children who perform better in math and science have higher graduation and college attendance rates;

Whereas aptitude in mathematics, science, and engineering is essential for a knowledge-based society;

Whereas, according to the 2007 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) survey done by the National Center for Education Statistics, American children in the 4th and 8th grade were outperformed by students in other countries including Taiwan, Singapore, Russia, England, South Korea, Latvia, and Japan;

Whereas since 1995 the United States has shown only minimal improvement in math and science test scores;

Whereas by the 8th grade, American males outperform females on the science portion of the TIMSS survey, especially in Biology, Phys-ics, and Earth Science, and the lowest Ameri-can scores in math and science are found in minority and impoverished school districts;

Whereas America needs to reinforce mathe-

matics and science education for all students in order to better prepare our children for the future and in order to compete in a 21st Cen-tury economy;

Whereas the National Science Foundation has been driving innovation in math and science education at all levels from elementary through graduate education since its creation 59 years ago;

Whereas mathematics and science can be a fun and interesting part of a child's education, and learning about Pi can be an engaging way to teach children about geometry and attract them to study science and mathematics; and

Whereas Pi can be approximated as 3.14, and thus March 14, 2009, is an appropriate day for 'National Pi Day': Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives--

(1) supports the designation of a 'Pi Day' and its celebration around the world;

(2) recognizes the continuing importance of National Science Foundation's math and sci-ence education programs; and

(3) encourages schools and educators to ob-serve the day with appropriate activities that teach students about Pi and engage them about the study of mathematics.

Pi Day — March 14, 2009

Page 9 SPRING ISSUE, 2009

Section Officers For complete contact information, visit our website, http://www.mddcvamaa.org.

Chair - Jon Scott (2 year term ending 2009)

Montgomery College Phone: 240-567-7795 E-mail: jon.scott@montgomerycollege.edu

Chair Elect - Dipa Choudhury

Loyola College in Maryland Phone: 410-617-2898 E-mail: dchoudhury@loyola.edu

Past Chair - Eve Torrence

Randolph-Macon College Phone: 804-752-7372 E-mail: etorrenc@rmc.edu

Program Chair - David Shoenthal (2 year term ending 2010)

Longwood University Phone: 434-395-2193 E-mail: shoenthaldw@longwood.edu

Past Program Chair - Laura Taalman

James Madison University Phone: 540-568-3355 E-mail: taal@math.jmu.edu

Governor - Bud Brown (3 year term ending 2010)

Virginia Tech Phone: 540-231-6950 E-mail: brown@math.vt.edu

Past Governor - David Carothers

James Madison University Phone: 540-568-2817 E-mail: carothdc@jmu.edu

Secretary - Daniel Joseph (3 year term ending 2009)

Virginia Military Institute Phone: 540-464-7495 E-mail: josephds@vmi.edu

Treasurer - Jan Minton (3 year term ending 2011)

Roanoke College Phone: 540-375-2488 E-mail: jminton@roanoke.edu

Newsletter Editor - Gregory Hartman (2 year term ending 2009)

Virginia Military Institute Phone: 540-464-7492 E-mail: hartmangn@vmi.edu

Departmental Liaisons Coordinator - Deirdre Smeltzer (3 year term ending 2009)

Eastern Mennonite University Phone: 540-432-4291 E-mail: smeltzed@emu.edu

Student Activities Coordinator - George Rublein (3 year term ending 2009)

College of William and Mary Phone: 757-221-2028 E-mail: gtrubl@math.wm.edu

At Large Executive Committee Member (Project NExT) - Leigh Lunsford (1 year term ending 2009)

Longwood University Phone: 434-395-2189 E-mail: lunsfordml@longwood.edu

At Large Executive Committee Member - Daniel Symancyk (1 year term ending 2009)

Anne Arundel Comm. College Phone: 410-777-2587 E-mail: dfsymancyk@aacc.edu

Webmaster - Don Spickler (3 year term ending 2010)

Salisbury University Phone: 410-543-6148 E-mail: despickler@salisbury.edu