Up Coming -&- Accomplished

• Fall Membership Drive
  • Start of Fall Semester - October 14
  • An invitation letter and an application form will be sent to students as soon as we receive the needed information from the Registrar's office. Please see the invitation letter for a list of criteria for membership. The application form explains how to apply to PME and/or GMC.
  • Returning members are asked to renew their membership by filling out the above application form. We will send you an email about this.
  • Advertising Team: Prof. Girardi and helpers.
  
  
• Opening Organizational Meeting -&- Dessert and Games Night
  • Tuesday September 16 at 6:30 pm in LC 311
  • We are looking forward to another exciting year for Pi Mu Epsilon and the Gamecock Math Club! Now is the time for you to help promote and develop PME/GMC. The best advertising for our club is word of mouth, so we encourage you to bring friends (students) who may consider joining.
  • Returning (and protential new) members will introduce themselves. We will elect new officers for the year. The elected positions are: President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer.
  • We will discuss possible events for this year. So, before the meeting, please look over events from previous years and be thinking of what you would like your club to do. 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!
  • Then ... dessert and games. Need we say more. You are welcomed to bring comtributions: your favorite dessert and/or game.
  • Recap: The meeting was attended by roughly 25 members. Officers were elected. Cookies, brownies, and ice-cream were consumed. Games (e.g. cranium) were played.
  
  
• Hair Cut Day Fundraiser
  • Monday October 13 from 10am to 4pm in LC 311.
  • Trained, licensed, and experienced Beauty Consultants from Belk's Beauty Salon at Dutch Square Mall have volunteered to help PME/GMC. Come have a hair cut for a suggested donation of $10.
  • We hope to raise enough to replace the PME/GMC refrigerator.
  • Recap: Photos to come. They raised $183. Let's thank them!
  
  
• Fall 2008 Initiation Ceremony
  • Tuesday October 14 at 6:30 in LC 311&312.
  • Event Flier
  • Returning PME/GMC members will welcome the new PME/GMC members in the traditional Initiation Ceremony. New PME inductees take the honorary society pledge and officially sign their names into our Chapter's book.
  • We will discuss this year's events, for which members will sign up as Team Captions and/or Team Members. Be thinking of in which events you would like to partake.
  • Immediately following there will be pizza and refreshments in LC 311.
  • Spouses, children, significant others, and parents are all welcome. Typically there is a wide variation in dress attire.
  • Committee Chair: PME/GMC President
    Committee Members: PME/GMC Officers
  • Recap: Photos to come. 8 new members joined. Around 20 people attended. Cranium was, again, a hit.
  
  
• Graduate School Information Night
  • Tuesday October 28 at 6:00 in LC 210B
  • Event Flier (with more info)
  • Come ask your 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. For example, what classes should I be taking now, to which schools should I apply, what does an application entail, when should I apply...? If you are interested in studying math or a related field after your bachelor's degree, this is an excellent opportunity.
  • We have USC representatives from: mathematics, math education, engineering-&-computer science, and statistics.
  • There will be a panel discussion, with the opportunity to ask your specific questions individually afterwards.
  • Team Captions: Kelvin Pompey, Hudson Harper.
  • Recap: Four professors and several graduate students come to inform us. About 7 undergraduates attended.
  
  
• Undergraduate Student Seminar: Hudson Harper
  • Tuesday November 11 at 3:30 pm in LC 412
  • Event Flier (with more info)
  • USC undergraduate Hudson Harper will talk about his results from his NSF project last summer.
  • Title: Modeling Plant Phyllotaxis and Primordia Growth
  • Abstract: This talk will focus on the appearance of spirals with frequencies related to the Fibonacci sequence in plants. The number of these spirals, a plants phyllotaxis, are a means for categorizing plants. Due to the fractal nature of these spirals, one way to study and count these spirals is to look at growth of plant primordia. Classical models for regular primordia growth using dynamical systems and bifurcation theory will be discussed. Primarily, more recent work on modeling irregular primordia growth including computer simulation of growth will be discussed. Last of all, since this is ongoing research, I will mention current efforts and expected results.
  
  
• 2nd Annual Sudoku Championship
  • Tuesday November 11 at 6:30 pm in LC 412
  • Event Flier (with more info)
  • Take One Flyer: 2008-09 (html), 2008-09 (pdf)
  • USC Prof. Josh Cooper will start us off by discussing connections between Sudoku and Math.
  • After this, test your skills to see how good you really are at our Sudoku Championship:
    • Can you solve the most puzzles in a set amount of time?
    • Can you solve a tough puzzle faster than everyone else?
    • How much progress can you make on an insane puzzle?
  • Prizes for the overall winners. Door prizes and snacks throughout.
  • Team Members (graduate students): Virginia Johnson, can 2-3 graduate students please step forth?
    Refreshment/Prize Team (undergrads): Alyse Shayer, Christel Sheridan, Holly Watson.
    Advertising Team: Kevin Pompey, Holly Watson, and helpers.
  
  
• Hair Cut Day Fundraiser - Part II
  • TENTATIVE Monday November 24 from 10am to 4pm in LC 311.
  • Trained, licensed, and experienced Beauty Consultants from Belk's Beauty Salon at Dutch Square Mall have volunteered to help PME/GMC. Come have a hair cut. just before Thanksgiving Break, for a suggested donation of $10.
  • We still have a ways to go to replace the PME/GMC refrigerator.
  
  
• Christmas Stocking Stuffing
  • Late November (TBA)
  • 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 contribute and make a child smile this holiday season by helping stuff the stocking with the donated toys. We gather somewhere in LeConte, put all the toys out on the large table, and stuff the stockings.
  • If you are interested, please contact Ronda Sanders
  • Team Caption: Ronda Sanders
    Team Members:
  
  
• Spring Membership Drive
  • from Start of Spring Semester to Spring Initiation Ceremony
  • An invitation letter and application form will be sent to students as soon as we receive the needed information from the Registrar's office. Please see the invitation letter for a list of criteria for membership. The application form explains how to apply to PME and/or GMC.
  • Those who were member of PME/GMC in the fall semester do NOT need to fill out the above application form.
  • Advertising Team:
  
  
• Spring Initiation Ceremony
  • Tuesday February 24 in LC 311&312, starting at 6:30
  • Event Flier to come
  • New members, returning members, family, and friends are welcomed. Come to as much of the evening's festivities as your schedule permits. Dress varies widely.
  • Here's the evening's plans; attend as much as your class/work schedule will afford you.
    • Returning PME/GMC members welcome the new PME/GMC members at a candlelit Initiation Ceremony at 6:30pm in LC 312.
    • Followed by a discussion of and sign-up for upcoming PME/GMC events in LC 311. Yes, there will be pizza.
    • Then the Spring Initiation Student Presentation (see just below).
  • invitation letter (pdf).
    application form (pdf).
  • Team Caption: PME/GMC President
    Team Members: PME/GMC Officers.
  
  
• Spring Initiation Student Presentation
  • Tuesday February 24 3rd floor LeConte, following the Spring Initiation Ceremony.
  • On the Constructability of Origami Folds by Harry Richman
  • Learn more about the mathematics behind ORIGAMI, the traditional Japanese art of paper folding. Afterwards, try your hand at some folds.
  • Harry Richman took first place in the mathematics senior division at the 2008 USC Science Fair with his project: A Mathematical Investigation of the Constructability of Origami. He also took first place in the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd annual USC High School Math Contest.
  
  
• Picnic-&-Canoeing
  • Sunday March 22 in the afternoon at the Congaree National Park
  • Event Flier (please view for important info)
  • Check out the Congaree National Park (a.k.a. The Swamp) for the park's offerings and a map.
  • If you could like come (or have questions), please contact PME/GMC Vice President Holly Watson. She is organizing a caravan (leaving at 1pm from Pendelton Street Garage) to help provide rides. She also needs a mouth count (to know how much food to pick up).


• Julia Robinson Night
  • Tuesday March 24 starting at 6:30 in LC 312 with Prof. McN's talk, followed by the movie in LC 412
  • Event Flier (please view for important info)
  • Some homework: research the math and life of Julia Robinson, a famous mathematician.
    Some hints on the homework. Try AWM and Wiki.
  • USC Prof. George McNulty, who has meet her, will speak about her.
  • Then we will watch a movie about her life.


• Annual USC Integration Bee
  • Tuesday April 7 starting at 7pm in LC 412
  • Event Flyer (with more info)
  • The USC Integration Bee was begun by Carrie Finch (a former graduate student at USC and current tenure-track assistant professor at Washington and Lee Univ.) on April 8, 2003. Since then, PME/GMC hosts the USC Integration Bee annually. It is similar to a spelling bee, but one integrates insteads of spells. In teams, students try to work through each integral before the music ends. Snacks, drinks, and prizes are all provided.
  • To quote a student: This event is more fun than seems feasible, really.
  • We thank the USC Math Department and the South Carolina Honors College for their generous support of this event over the years.
  • King Bee: Kenny Brown
    Helpers (graduate students and faculty): Kamala Diefenthaler, Sam Gross, Daniel Savu, Kate Scott, Pavel Zheltov, Prof. Wu
    Refreshment/Prize Team: Hudson Harper, Kelvin Pompey, Holly Watson
    Advertising Team: Kelvin Pompey, Holly Watson,


• REU's and You!
  • Spring
  • Are you interested in doing research in the summer with a Research Experiences for Undergraduates program? Come find out more about this program offered by the National Science Foundation.
  • USC undergraduates who have participated in an REU, MathFest, or summer intership will discuss their experiences.