[*Concerns of Young Mathematicians*] [Concerns of Young Mathematicians*] New Year's Edition
Kung, David T
dtkung at smcm.edu
Thu Jan 5 14:51:50 PST 2006
*Concerns of Young Mathematicians*
New Year's Edition
An electronically distributed digest for discussions of the issues of
concern to mathematicians at the beginning of their careers.
Please visit the Young Mathematicians' Network Scoop site at
http://concerns.youngmath.net <http://concerns.youngmath.net/>
to join the discussion or submit stories. You may also direct
submissions and questions to the board by writing to
<moderator at youngmath.net>.
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Editorial:
Happy New Year!
I hope everyone recovered from their holiday festivities and is ready
for classes to begin! What I really wanted for Christmas was tenure -
that's still to be decided, but in the mean time we can all enjoy a new
present in the form of a new largest prime number! (See below for
details.)
The Joint Meetings are coming up fast and we thought we'd send out a
quick message to preview the many YMN events taking place in San Antonio
- as well as to review the many interesting articles that were posted
last fall.
In addition to a guide to YMN events at the meetings, this edition
contains some great info for job seekers including a post about a
Chronicle forum for job seekers, advice from someone who was doing the
interviews last year, and a story with links to lots of advice.
There are a couple of posts which seek advice, including a fascinating
discussion of issues of race and gender in graduate school.
On a lighter note, there's a story of a high school student debunking
the myth that you can only fold paper 8 times - she folded a long roll
of toilet paper an amazing 12 times! Also, there's info on great gifts
for out-of-the-closet math geeks.
Finally, the Board members of YMN are slowly heading toward MM status
(that's Middle-aged Mathematician). We are always looking for young,
energetic people to help us out - writing stories, organizing panel
discussions and helping to lead YMN. If you've enjoyed YMN posts and
panels, please drop me a note (dtkung at smcm.edu). We'd love to hear from
you.
See You in San Antonio,
dave
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YMN Events at the Joing Meetings
By dkung, 2006-01-03 13:35:58
Section: Misc
For the full schedule of YMN events at the Joint Meetings in San
Antonio...
http://concerns.youngmath.net/story/2006/1/3/133558/6504
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Job Search Info on Chronicle and Beyond
By kroth, 2005-12-22 12:01:51
Section: Job Search
The Chronicle of Higher Education online has a Job Seeking Experience
forum here [http://chronicle.com/jobs/forums/list.php?f=2] which answers
questions (mostly about humanities realted searches but it contains some
general good advice and does get non-humanities postings as well.)
For more details and to share your thoughts and comments visit
http://concerns.youngmath.net/story/2005/12/22/12151/408
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Researchers find new prime number
By Anonymous Hero, 2006-01-04 13:46:35
Section: Research
The Great Internet Mersenne Prime search strikes again!
http://concerns.youngmath.net/story/2006/1/4/13731/60028
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Use of Computers
By Anonymous Hero, 2005-12-19 13:42:13
Section: Teaching
I'm becoming increasingly concerned about using these online courses
with WebCT and was wondering how other people feel. Where I am at,
almost all the lower level classes, Calc I, Calc II, and engineering
math are online (WebCT). Here, the exams are 8 multiple choice and
usually 4 written questions. The students never see their online exams,
never know what they got wrong, and can never ask us (TA's) for the
right answer. On top of this, the lower level classes get their
homework graded by undergrads, the scores recorded, and then thrown out.
So, the students never get their homework back, never know exactly what
they got wrong, etc... Personally, I really don't think this is
appropriate, but this may be how it is everywhere now. It wasn't like
this where I got my undergrad. Is this a common practice? Does anyone
have any thoughts about this?
For more details and to share your thoughts and comments visit
http://concerns.youngmath.net/story/2005/12/19/91730/930
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Math wins the Westinghouse science competition By kroth, 2005-12-06
07:03:12
Section: News
The Westinghouse science competition for high school students has
announced its winners. The top winner had proven a theorem with some
applications to airplane wing construction.
For more details and to share your thoughts and comments visit
http://concerns.youngmath.net/story/2005/12/6/7312/13643
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Folding Paper in Half 12 Times
By Anonymous Hero, 2005-11-18 14:01:40
Section: Research
I just came across the following somewhat interesting link about how, in
December of 2001, Britney Gallivan, a High School student, derived a
formula for the limit of paper folding and then proceeded to set a new
world record by folding first gold foil and then paper in half a
whopping 12 times in January of 2002, thus debunking the assertions of
that paper cannot be folded in half more than eight times.
For more details and to share your thoughts and comments visit
http://concerns.youngmath.net/story/2005/11/18/7166/5313
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Advice for Job Seekers
By dkung, 2005-11-17 11:49:19
Section: Job Search
Every year there's a fresh new batch of Ph.D's looking for academic
jobs.
YMN has provided lots of advice for candidates over the past years, both
in the form of great articles in Concerns and excellent panel
discussions at the summer and winter meetings. So if you're in the
midst of your job hunt, you might want to check this out...
For more details and to share your thoughts and comments visit
http://concerns.youngmath.net/story/2005/11/17/82529/061
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Math and the Computer Science Major
By Anonymous Hero, 2005-11-15 06:33:52
Section: Undergrad Life
Computer science majors tend to struggle for reasons that have very
little to do with computers. More often than not, such struggles are
rooted in weaknesses related to math. If you plan on getting a CS
degree, you need to come to grips with one important fact first:
computer science has more to do with math than computers.
For more details and to share your thoughts and comments visit
http://concerns.youngmath.net/story/2005/11/15/63352/844
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DIMACS Reconnect Conference 2006
By Anonymous Hero, 2005-11-01 06:31:53
Section: Research
DIMACS Reconnect '06 Conference: Morgan State University Simple and
Complex Discrete-time Population Models in Ecology and Epidemiology The
Reconnect '06 Conference sponsored by DIMACS (the Center for Discrete
Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science) is geared towards exposing
faculty teaching undergraduates to current research topics relevant to
the undergraduate classroom, involving them in writing materials useful
in the classroom and reconnecting them to the mathematical sciences
enterprise by exposing them to new research directions and questions.
The program at Morgan State in Baltimore will be held from July 9 - July
15, 2006. It is anticipated that applicants accepted to participate will
receive lodging and meals through NSF funding. For more information or
an application form, visit our web site at
http://dimacs.rutgers.edu/reconnect/.
Or, contact the Reconnect Program Coordinator, at
reconnect at dimacs.rutgers.edu or (732) 445-4304.
For more details and to share your thoughts and comments visit
http://concerns.youngmath.net/story/2005/11/1/63153/5082
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Notes from the other side of the table at the Joint meetings By kroth,
2005-10-31 16:40:57
Section: Job Search
My department had a successful search last year. Here are some things I
noticed when interviewing candidates at the Joint Meetings.
For more details and to share your thoughts and comments visit
http://concerns.youngmath.net/story/2005/10/31/164016/58
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brilliant vs hardworker, lazy vs slow
By sormani, 2005-10-23 20:33:55
Section: Grad Life
Scenario: A prof assigns a very difficult problem to a graduate student
and then asks how it's going a couple days later. The student has made
some progress, is on the right track but not finished. Which answer is
better? Which would you give? Which would you prefer to get? If
something in between, give an alternate response: 1) I spent 6 hours
working on a problem and came up with a couple ideas and only one worth
mentioning and it's not firm but here it is...2) I only had a few
minutes to glance at the problem. Here's an idea... What adjectives
would you use to describe each student in a letter of recommendation?
Do you think different faculty prefer different responses depending on
their institution/nationality/sex? Would you go so far as to suggest a
student be dishonest and answer (1) vs (2)? Do you think many students
are dishonest about this?
For more details and to share your thoughts and comments visit
http://concerns.youngmath.net/story/2005/10/23/203355/43
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visit URL
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___________________________________________________________
Disclaimer:
The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of the
administrative board or membership of the Young Mathematicians' Network.
The editorial policy of this newsletter is to encourage discussion of
issues and facilitate the dissemination of information relevant to the
concerns of young mathematicians.
___________________________________________________________
The YMN Board:
Brian Birgen brian.birgen at wartburg.edu
Kevin Charlwood kevin.charlwood at washburn.edu
Dov Chelst dchelst at nj.devry.edu
Vanessa Garcia vanessagarcia63 at gmail.com
James Hamblin jehamb at ship.edu
Bill Higdon whigdon at uindy.edu
Jackie Jensen jensen at shsu.edu
Lloyd Kilford l.kilford at gmail.com
Chawne Kimber kimberc at lafayette.edu
David Kung dtkung at smcm.edu
Josh Laison jlaison at coloradocollege.edu
Heather Lewis hlewis5 at naz.edu
Kim Roth kroth at wju.edu
John Vano jvano at youngmath.net
___________________________________________________________
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