Up Coming

Tentatively, no more events are scheduled for the semester.

On Going

Mathematics Tutoring in Local Elementary/High- Schools

• Dates: to be arranged.
• Last year several PME/GMC members requested that we start a program of tutoring in local schools. The PME/GMC Facutly Advisors have arranged for interested PME/GMC members to tutor students in mathematics at Dreher High School (2 miles from LeConte - on Devine St.). Ms. Maureen Thunell runs the tutor center. She will be present and turoring at the center but needs help with the heavy demand subjects such as: algebra I-&-II, geometry, and pre-calculus.
• If you are interested, please contact one of the PME/GMC faculty advisors.
• Committee Chair: John Webb
  Participants: Carl Scherman, Ben Ingram, Kasey Crompton

PME/GMC Bulletin Boards

• Continues through the whole of the academic year.
• PME/GMC has 2 glassed in bulletin boards on 1st floor LeConte to showcase our club's events and accomplishments.
• The first one is for announcements of events. Chairs of events should post announcement of upcoming events there for all to see.
• The other one is for our Photo Gallery. If you have not already donated your personal photo of choice, please drop one off (with your name on the back of it) to the PME mailbox outside LC 411. We prefer personalized photos over mug shots.
• It takes (approximately) 2 PME/GMC members to maintain the boards.
• Committee Chair: Jenn Mason

The Hedberg Student Lounge (LC 311)

• Continues through the whole of the academic year.
• Thanks to the generousity of former USC mathematics professors Ernest and Marguerite Hedberg, there is now a student lounge in the math department. The Hedbergs were also PME members! Many of our PME/GMC events occur here.
• The lounge offers a place to study your mathematics. There is a large table for groups to work together along with a big chalkboard (if out of chalk, just go the the math dept office and ask for more). There are also several bookcases of math books for you to look through for additional sources to your textbooks. And, for your convenience, there is a micorwave, refrigator, and telephone.
• It takes (approximately) 2 PME/GMC members to keep the student lounge in order.
• Committee Co-Chairs: Jenifer Davenport and Jenn Guest

Possible

Undergraduate Math Contests at USC

• Date: to be arranged.
• The PME/GMC Annual Integration Bee is a well-established success. We have also hosted, and can again host, other math contests.
• Not-too-scary math contest: math for everyday life. (April 2003)
  Accessible to students who have the knowledge of Math 115 or Math 111+112. Math instructors of 100-level courses should highly encourage their students to take the contest. Open to undergraduate students who have not had a math class at the 200 level or above. No calculators.
• USC Math Challenge (Nov 04, Nov 05)
  Try your hand at this hour-long math competition on topics from classes like calculus, abstract algebra, combinatorics, number theory, and others. Snacks will be eaten; prizes will be won.
• Committee Chair/Co-Chairs: Tyler Ray
  Committee Members: Joe Montoya, Kelvin Pompey, Kevin Yeh

Math/Stats Career Night

• Date: to be arranged.
• We could bring in speakers for a Math/Stats Career Night.
• Dr. Robert M. Rhinehart can speak about the services offer by the USC Career Center .
• Two other possible speakers are: Mr. Charles Beazley (a retired statistician who worked for General Foods/Kraft) and Mr. Bucky Gardner (a former USC math undergrad who now works for hedge funds in NYC).
• Committe Chair: Kasey Crompton
  Committe Members: Cassondra Bigini

Tutoring during finals week to supplement Math Lab hours

• Dates: the weeks before and during finals.
• The USC Math Lab offers free tutoring to USC students for 100-level math courses. Often, the Math Lab wishes to extend its hours (by 1 to 2 hours a day) the weeks before&during finals but cannot since it falls short of tutors. This is a chance for PME/GMC members to step up and tutor in the lab.
• The Committee Chair will contact and coordinate with the Math Lab Director, Bob Murphy, towards the end of the semester. PME/GMC members should receive an email from them about the possible tutor time slots (typically about 1 hour apiece).
• Committee Chair: Carl Scherman
  Participants: Kelvin Pompey

Dessert and Game Nights

• Dates: to be arranged, in the Student Lounge (LC 311)
• A chance for everyone to learn and play their favorite mathematical games, while nibbling on marvelous desserts. If you're able, bring your favorite strategy, board, and math-like games. Also if you're able, bring dessert. Most of all, bring yourself and enjoy mental and edible delights.
• Do you have a mathy game to bring? If so, please do.
• Committee Chair: Ronda Sanders
  Participants: Almost every signed up fopr this one!

Accomplished this Year

Abscissa

• annual event
• The math dept puts out an annual newsletter (Abscissa) for its alumni to keep them abreast of all the niffty things the math department is up to. Usually a PME/GMC member writes a few paragraphs of our clubs activities for the Abscissa.
• Here are some samples of previous year articles.
  Summer 2003
  Summer 2004 .
• Would someone like to write a few paragraphs for the upcoming Abscissa which highlighting PME/GMC activities for the past Academic Year? The PME/GMC homepage is a source of information for this. Suggestions on photos from there are most welcomed.
• Writer: Kelvin Pompey

Membership Drive

• Drive: Sept 29 - Oct 10
• Next meeting: Tuesday 10 October at 7pm in LC 312
• If you would like to join PME and/or GMC, please see:
  Invitation Letter    and    PME/GMC Application Form .
• We are now 28 members strong and coordinating events!

Organizatinal Meeting

• Tuesday 10 October at 7pm in LC 312
• Returning and new members will introduce themselves. Then we will elect officers and organize events.
• Before the meeting, please look over the list of events and decide which events are of interest to you. Which ones would you like to: be the Committee Chair, be a Committee Member, and/or a Participant? Those events that have the interest and support of PME/GMC members will prevail. Those events that fall short of interest ... will not occur. Let your voice be heard!

Fall 2006 Initiation Ceremony

• Tuesday Oct 24: starting at 7pm in LC 312 for the ceremony, followed by pizza in LC 311
• Returning PME/GMC members will welcome the new PME/GMC members in a special candle-lit Initiation Ceremony. New PME inductees take the honorary fraternity pledge and officially sign their names into this Chapter's book.
• Following will be a gathering for all so that we may become better aquainted with each other.
• Spouses, children, significant others, and parents are all welcome. Typically there is a wide variation in dress attire.
• We had a special visit from Cornelia and Leland Williams. For more information about them, see the announcement:    page 1    page 2
• Committee Chair: PME/GMC President
  Committee Members: PME/GMC Officers

Annual Virginia Tech Regional Mathematics Contest

• Oct 28, 2006 (at USC)
• This exam will be given on many campuses throughout the Southeast, including USC.
• For more information, see:
  official homepage of the contest (including past exams and solutions)
  USC information
  problems from 2004 Exam   and   problems from 2005 Exam
• If you are interested in participating in the contest, contact Bob Murphy.
• If you would like to form/join a study group for this year's and/or next year's contest, please contact one of the PME/GMC faculty advisors.
• Participants: Jessica Joye, Bill Kay, Kevin Ludwick, Joe Montoya, Chris Poirel, Kevin Yeh

Calculus Book Review

• Sept 18 - Nov 15
• PME/GMC is reviewing problems in a new calculus book Prof. Jon Rogawski of UCLA. We are looking over Chapter 13: Vector Geometry. If you are interested, please contact one of the PME/GMC Faculty Advisors. The reviewed material is due 15th November.
• Reviewers: Ben Garrett, Bill Kay, Kevin Ludwick, Joseph Montoya, Tyler Ray, Carl Scherman, Kevin Yeh

Movie Night

• Tuesday 7 November 2006, starting at 5 pm, in LeConte 412.
• We shall view: A Beautiful Mind.
• We gather to watch a math-related movie after a PME/GMC member presents an educational explanation of the movie.
• Possible refreshments: Soda and (microwave) popcorn. What do you think? Please provide the Faculty Advisors some input.
• Committee Chair: Jenn Guest
• approx. 9 students came

Graduate School Information Night

• Tuesday, 14 November, 2006 at 7pm in LeConte 412
• Representatives from USC will answer questions (those you have as well as those you don't even know you have) about applying to graduate school in mathematics and related fields. Wow: what classes should I be taking now ... where to even begin to apply? If you are interested in studying math or a related field after your bachelor's degree, this is an excellent opportunity.
• Prof. Matt Miller (math dept graduate director), Prof. Ed Dickey (chair of Dept of Intruction and Teacher Education), and Prof. Antonello Monti (electrial engineering graduae director) will team up to answer you questions.
• Committee Chair: Tyler Ray
• approx. 8 students attended

Christmas Stocking Stuffing

• Tues 28 Nov at 6pm in the Seminar Room (LC 312).
• The Math Department participates in the Salvation Army Stocking Stuffers program that provides (filled) Christmas Stocking for children in need. The Math Dept collects up toys to fill the stocking.
• You can join in and make a child smile this holiday season by helping stuff the stocking with the donated toys. We gather in the Seminar Room, put all the toys out on the large table, and start a stuffin'.
• If you are interested, please contact Ronda Sanders
• Committee Chair: Ronda Sanders

Dessert and Game Night

• Tues 28 Nov at 7pm in the Student Lounge (LC 311)
• A chance for everyone to learn and play their favorite mathematical games, while nibbling on marvelous desserts. If you're able, bring your favorite strategy, board, and math-like games. Also if you're able, bring dessert. Most of all, bring yourself and enjoy mental and edible delights.
• Committee Chair: Ronda Sanders
  Participants: Almost everyone signed up for this one!

Annual William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition

• Sat Dec 2, 2006 (at USC)
• This exam is given on many campuses throughout North America (including USC) on the first Saturday in December. For more information, see:
  official homepage of the contest
  William Lowell Putnam Competition Archive (including past exams and solutions)
  Prof. Sumner's USC-Putnam page.
• If you are interested in participating in the contest, contact Prof. Sumner. If you want to join the USC team, contact Prof. Sumner asap.
• If you would like to form/join a study group for this year's and/or next year's contest, please contact one of the PME/GMC faculty advisors.
• Participants: Kevin Yeh, Tyler Ray. Any more?

Annual SC State High School Math Contest

• Dec 9, 2006 (at USC)
• The math dept hosts the annual South Carolina High School Math Contest. Many PME/GMC members participated in this contest while in high school.
• Typically, PME/GMC volunteers to help out. This involves helping with registration, proctoring the written exam, or helping out with the logistics of the cipering contest. There is a morning shift (9-noon-ish) and an afternoon shift (1-3pm-ish). In between shifts there is pizza for the helpers.
• As time nears, Bob Murphy, will send out an email requesting volunteers.
• If interested, please return the Volunteer Form by Mon 27 Nov 2006 to Bob Murphy's mailbox (in LC 411).
• Participants (thus far, more to come?): Kevin Yeh, Joe Montoya, Jenifer Davenport.

Regular Problem Sessions

• Meets regularly (about once a week), time depends on the participants' schedules.
• We gather on a regular basis and work through math interesting problems. Such would be good preparation for math contests, such as: Putnam Competitionand Virginia Tech Regional Mathematics Contest.
• Sources of Problems (and sometimes solutions): William Lowell Putnam Competition Archive, VT Math Contest, Mathematical Association of America journals, American Mathematical Monthly, Mathematics Magazine, The College Mathematics Journal.
• If you are interested, please contact USC math dept post-doc Dr. Andy Yingst.
• Committee Chair: Andy Yingst
  Participants: Please let Prof. Girardi know so she can list you.

Annual Nebraska Conference for Undergraduate Women in Mathematics

• Feb 9 - 11, 2007
• This conference brings together undergraduate women mathematicians from across the country. There will be panel discussions on topics such as graduate school and careers in mathematics. There will be plenary speakers from established women mathematics professors. Undergraduates who have already done research will present their results.
• For more information, see:
  official homepage   ,   informational letter sent to USC   ,   poster sent to USC
  Funds are available to cover part of your expenses. If you are interested in attending, please contact one of the PME/GMC faculty advisors.
• Participants: if you are interested in attending, contact PME Treasurer Jenn Guest about sources of travel funding (application due 3 Nov for this).

Membership Drive

• Spring 2007 Membership Drive: February 1 - February 15
• Next meeting: Thursday, February 15 at 7 pm in LC 312
• If you would like to join PME and/or GMC, please see:
  Invitation Letter    and    PME/GMC Application Form .
• We are now 28 members strong and coordinating events!

Department Colloquium

• "Mathematical art and complex numbers."
• Speaker: Paul Sisson, Louisiana State University at Shreveport.
• Date and time: Thursday, February 15, 4:00 pm.
• Room:LeConte 412.
• Abstract: This talk will be accessible to undergraduates which have seen the basics about complex numbers. The creation of fractal art is easily accomplished through the use of widely-available software, and little mathematical knowledge is required for its use. But such an approach is inherently limiting and obscures many possible avenues of investigation. This talk explores the use of orbit traps together with a simple escape time algorithm for creating fractal art based on nontrivial complex-valued functions. The purpose is to promote a more direct hands-on approach to exploring fractal artistic expressions. The article includes a gallery of images illustrating the visual effects of function, color palette, and orbit trap choices, and concludes with suggestions for further experimentation.
• Refreshments will be served before the talk in the Wyman Williams Room (Leconte 408) starting at 3:00 pm.

Spring 2007 Initiation Ceremony and Organizational Meeting

• Thursday, 15 February: starting at 7 pm in LC 312 for the ceremony, followed by pizza in 311 and/or 312.
• Returning PME/GMC members will welcome the new PME/GMC members in a special candle-lit Initiation Ceremony. New PME inductees take the honorary fraternity pledge and officially sign their names into this Chapter's book.
• Spouses, children, significant others, and parents are all welcome. Typically there is a wide variation in dress attire.
• Following will be a gathering for all so that we may become better aquainted with each other. We will also take this opportunity to discuss/plan events for the semester. Before the meeting, please look over the list of events and decide which events are of interest to you. Which ones would you like to: be the Committee Chair, be a Committee Member, and/or a Participant? Those events that have the interest and support of PME/GMC members will prevail. Those events that fall short of interest ... will not occur. Let your voice be heard!
• Committee Chair: PME/GMC President
  Committee Members: PME/GMC Officers

Dessert and Game Night

• Wed., Feb. 21 at 6:30pm in the Student Lounge (LC 311)
• A chance for everyone to learn and play their favorite mathematical games, while nibbling on marvelous desserts. If you're able, bring your favorite strategy, board, and math-like games. Also if you're able, bring dessert. Most of all, bring yourself and enjoy mental and edible delights.
• Committee Chair: Ronda Sanders
  Participants: Many.

USC Clean Carolina Project

• Wednesday, February 28
• PME/GMC has overseen Gibbes Green (the green circular area near LeConte, with the black benches) through Clean Carolina Project for years now.
• So we set up a few times out of the year to pick up rubbish there en masse. Usually we try to coordinate with the USC Clean Carolina Campus-Wide days. Come on out! Of course, if you are just walking by and see some rubbish, feel free to see that it makesit to a proper place.
• Committee Chair: Jenn Guest
  Participants:
  The committee chair will send out an email announcement of the day/time and requesting volunteers.

National PME Lectureship visit by Professor Robert Smith, Miami University of Ohio.

• Date: March 27 and 28.
• Primary aim of the lectureship program (see the above link for details): The National PME representative will discuss and present ways to increase student participation (particularly in organizations like PME) and scholarship at the undergraduate level.
• Preliminary schedule of events: March 27: lunch at noon with members; lecture at 6:15 pm in LC 101; dinner afterward. Details to follow.
• Lectureship talk:
  Title: Boolean algebra and switching circuits.
  Abstract: Claude Elwood Shannon (1916 - 2001), an American electrical engineer and mathematician, has been called "the father of information theory." While studying the complicated ad hoc circuits of the differential analyzer, Shannon saw that Boolean Algebra could be used to great utility to simplify electromechanial relays and telephone circuits. In the 1938 he published the paper/ A Symbolic Analysis of Relay and Switching Circuits/. In this seminal work he not only established the relationship between Boolean Algebra and switching circuits, but also laid the foundation for the modern digital age. In this talk, we will discuss the properties of Boolean Algebra and illustrate how this powerful algebraic system can be used to simplify the arrangements of electronic circuits.
• Professor Robert Smith's biosketch: Robert S. Smith is a professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Miami University, Past President of Pi Mu Epsilon (the national mathematics honor society), and the Director of the Junior Scholars Program (a summer program for academically talented high school students). He received a B.S. from Morgan State College in 1963, an M.A. from the Pennsylvania State University in 1967, and a Ph.D. from the Pennsylvania State University in 1969. He has been on the faculty at Miami since 1969; however, his career has been punctuated with visiting positions at the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill), Butler University (Indianapolis), Miami University's Dolibois European Center (Differdange Luxembourg) and LaTrobe University (Melbourne, Australia). He is in the second of three years as Past President of Pi Mu Epsilon and in his 14th year as Director of the Junior Scholars Program. Professor Smith has had a variety of responsibilities and affiliations with the Mathematical Association of America. He has served on a number of committees and was the Program Committee Chair for the national MAA meeting in Cincinnati in 1994. He has presented numerous papers and given many minicourses at MAA national meetings. Professor Smith is also the recipient of the 1994 MAA Ohio Section Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching. Dr. Smith's scholarship has centered around the pedagogical effort and has made contributions to improving the quality and variety of instruction to undergraduate mathematics students. A few of his publications that highlight this direction are/ Quaternions/,* Linear Algebra Gems* (MAA Notes #59);/ Using ISETL and Cooperative Learning to Teach Abstract Algebra: An Instructor's View/, in* Innovations in Teaching Abstract Algebra* (MAA Notes #60); and/ Spreadsheets in the Mathematics Classroom/,* Proceedings of the First KAIST International Symposium on Enhancing University Mathematics Teaching*.
• Committee Chair: Ronda Sanders.

Annual USC Integration Bee

• Date: Wednesday, April 4.
• Time: 7:30 pm.
• Location: LC 412.
• The first USC Integration Bee was on April 8, 2003. Since then, PME/GMC hosts the Annual USC Integration Bee. It is similar to a spelling bee, but one integrates insteads of spells. To quote a student: This event is more fun than seems feasible, really.
• In teams, students try to work through each integral before the music ends. Snacks, drinks, and prizes are all provided.
• Committee Chair: Daniel Savu.
• Participants: 22 students competed on 5 teams. Prizes awarded to the top three teams included gift certificates to Barnes and Noble/Russell House Bookstore. Other prizes were, for example, electronic Sudoku games.