Professors Kimberly Burch, Timothy Flowers, and Dan Burkett and their colleagues welcomed the students for the competition, lunch, and awards ceremony. For the 50th anniversary, all contest problems were taken from earlier contests.

Dean Deanne Snavely of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics presented students with their awards.

The schools attending were Annville-Cleona High School, Bishop McCort Catholic High School, Blairsville High School, Brookville Area Junior-Senior High School, Burrell High School, Butler Area Intermediate High School, Calvary Baptist Academy, Freeport Senior High School, Indiana Area High School, Jefferson County–DuBois Area Vocational-Technical School, Karns City High School, Keystone Junior-Senior High School, Kiski Area High School, Knoch High School, Marion Center High School, Oil City Senior High School, Penn Hills High School, Penns Valley High School, Punxsutawney Senior High School, Richland Junior-Senior High School, and United Junior-Senior High School.

Individual awards were given to the top six scorers and the top scorer in grades 9–12. Team awards were given to the top three schools in Division I (larger enrollment schools) and Division II (smaller enrollment schools), based on the top three scores for each school.

In addition, the Robert E. Cook Honors College gave full and half scholarships to their summer honors program to the top scorers in grades 10 and 11.

Please see our photo gallery of the winners of the competition.

Division II Top Schools

1. Bishop McCourt: Brett Diehl, Nana Teng, Ryan Eckenrod
2. Calvary Baptist: Shiqi Jiang, Jerry Zhang, Di Wu
3. (tie) Annville-Cleona: Michael Darok, Matthew Darok, Jack Kintigh
   (tie) Marion Center: Jakeb Rising, Kyle Anderson, Dalton Mack

Division I Top Schools

1. Indiana Area: Badi Zhou, Isaac Mastalski, Jennifer Han
2. Kiski Area: Paul Murray, Austin Feydt, Charles Law
3. Burrell: Glenn Spiering, Nathan Walker, Kaylyn Cameron

Top Scorers by Grade

• Grade 9: Badi Zhou, Indiana Area
• Grade 10: Brett Diehl, Bishop McCort
• Grade 11: Shiqi Jiang Calvary Baptist
• Grade 12: Paul Murray, Kiski Area

Top Scorers Overall

• First Place: Shiqi Jiang Calvary Baptist
• Second Place: Badi Zhou, Indiana Area
• Third Place: Paul Murray, Kiski Area
• Fourth Place: Brett Diehl, Bishop McCort
• Fifth Place: Nana Teng, Bishop McCort
• Sixth Place: Ryan Eckenrod, Bishop McCort

Department of Mathematics

Chairperson Francisco Alarcón spoke on behalf of the faculty, and each graduate spoke a few words to the assembled guests.

Master of Science, Applied Mathematics

• Ryan Grove
• Loic Niragire
• Jeffrey Vargson
• Joshua Buchheit (August, 2013)

Master of Education, Elementary and Middle School Mathematics Education

• Danielle Crossey (August, 1013)

Bachelor of Science, Applied Mathematics

• Charles William Gehrett

Bachelor of Science, Mathematics

• James Joseph Bradford
• Emilia Roberta Osborne
• Hannah Taylor Raihall
• Zachary Adam Seymour
• Aaron Joseph Waibel
• Robert W. Zinsmeister

Bachelor of Science in Education, Secondary Mathematics Education

• Salvatore Richard Brusco
• Jody Pounds Crissman
• Stephen Douglas Donnel
• Stephanie Renee Edsall
• Maranda N. Evans
• Robert C. Gromley
• Tyler Shane Jack
• Jordan Lindsay Ritchie 

Congratulations to all of our graduates, their families, and their friends.

View a photo gallery of the event.

• The James A. Boytim Scholarship in Mathematics was awarded to Shanna Grusky, a Secondary Mathematics Education major from Derry, Pa. and Kaitlyn Selfridge, a Secondary Mathematics Education major from Saxonburg, Pa.
• The Roy A. Daugherty Scholarship was awarded to Savanna Bonds, a Mathematics major from Palmyra, Pa.
• The Dr. Willard Hennemann, Jr. Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Breanne Denning, a Middle Level Mathematics Education major from Marion Center, Pa., and to Andrea Marra, a Middle Level Mathematics Education major from Morton, Pa.
• The Tony and Carole Kuczinski Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Michael Myers, a Secondary Mathematics Education major from New castle, Pa.
• The Arthur G. Morrell Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Hadley Cesar, a Mathematics major from Clarksburg, Pa.
• The Mildred M. Reigh Scholarship was awarded to Shanna Grusky, Kaitlyn Selfridge, and Renee Clouse, a Middle Level Mathematics Education major from Butler, Pa.
• The Terry Serafini Outstanding Scholar awards were given to Derek Hanely, a Mathematics major from Pleasantville, Pa. and Theresa Scarnati, a Mathematics major from Erie, Pa.
• The Merle Stilwell Scholarship for Mathematics was awarded to Rebecca Nichol, a Mathematics major from Dayton, Pa.
• The Rebecca A. Stoudt Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Ashleigh Craig, a Mathematics major from Hollidaysburg, Pa.

Also recognized at the banquet were students who were awarded scholarships during Fall 2012 and Spring 2013 from the Scholarships–Creating Opportunities for Applying Mathematics program, run by Rick Adkins and Yu-Ju Kuo.

Please view a gallery of photos from the event.

Department of Mathematics

Richard Coultas, Ryan Grove, and Jeremy Yagle presented at the Allegheny Mountain Section of the Mathematical Association of America Spring 2013 meeting at IUP on April 5–6, 2013.

Ryan Grove, Scott Rega, and Jon Wayland presented at the annual spring meeting of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Mathematics Association on April 17–18, 2013.

Ryan Grove presented his master’s thesis work, “Immersed Boundary Modeling of Journal Bearings in a Viscoelastic Fluid.” Jon Wayland and Scott Rega presented “White-Tailed Deer Forecast,” Jeremy Yagle presented “Mathematical Models of Running,” and Richard Coultas presented “An Introduction to Non-Repetitive Sequences.” Wayland, Rega, Yagle, and Coultas presented work they had completed for Rick Adkins’ Modeling and Simulation class.

Department of Mathematics

Monday, May 13:

• 8:00–10:00 a.m., Stright 232
• 12:30–2:30 p.m., Stright 226

Tuesday, May 14:

• 8:00 a.m.–12:15 p.m., Stright 229

Wednesday, May 15

• 10:15 a.m.–4:45 p.m., Stright 302/310

Thursday, May 16

• 10:15 a.m.–12:15 p.m., Stright 226

Department of Mathematics

The event will be held in the Zink Hall gymnasium on Friday, April 26, 2013, from 6:00–8:00 p.m. It features math games, snacks, stories, and prizes for children from kindergarten through grade 6.

For more information, contact Kylie Smathers at cxcr@iup.edu, or Mary Lou Metz, advisor to IUP-PTM, at mlmetz@iup.edu.

Family Math Night Flyer

Department of Mathematics

Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s chapter of the Sigma Xi Science Research Society will present a lecture on the science of stock car racing by Diandra Leslie-Pelecky, a physics professor at West Virginia University, on Thursday, April 18, 2013 at 7:00 7:30 p.m. in Eberly Auditorium.

The program is free and open to the community.

Leslie-Pelecky’s lecture, “The Science of Speed,” will focus on how physics and aerodynamics affect how NASCAR drivers compete. Her research has involved going to the Texas Motor Speedway and meeting with mechanical engineers, aerodynamicists, chemical engineers and physicists who are critical participants in the world of motorsports.

Her 2008 book, “The Physics of NASCAR,” was quoted in Time magazine and featured in The New York Times and Sporting News magazine. She also writes for the Building Speed blog at buildingspeed.org, in which she explains the math and science behind current events in motorsports.

Leslie-Pelecky earned degrees in physics and philosophy from the University of North Texas and a doctorate in condensed matter physics from Michigan State University. After 14 years as a professor at the University of Nebraska, she became director of the WVU Nano Initiative and a physics professor at the university. Her research seeks news ways to apply magnetic nanoparticles to make chemotherapy more efficient while decreasing side effects for patients.

Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, was founded in 1886 as an honor society for scientists and engineers. It actively promotes scientific research and the promise of science and technology. Its goals are to foster interaction among science, technology and society; to encourage appreciation and support of original work in science and technology; and to honor scientific research accomplishments.

Approximately 75,000 scientists and engineers are active members of Sigma Xi in North America and abroad. There are more than 500 chapters at academic institutions, government laboratories and industry research centers.

For more information about the event, contact Ed Donley, professor, IUP Mathematics Department, at (724) 357-3792.

Rosenberg will give three presentations. Verification of attendance can be provided for students.

“Least Squares with One Constraint” 

2:00–3:00 p.m., Stright 327/329

Abstract:

We have a collection of prices that reflect brand preferences from a retail client. Think of a grocery store chain with various name brands like Kellogg’s, General Mills, or Quaker Oats and private-label store brands. Think Cheerios versus “Tasty-O’s.” We are trying to quantify the price relationships among N brands based on existing prices.

We’re going to use a least-squares fit to find N-1 brand values (if we fix one of them) based on the N*(N-1)/2 observed price ratios. We avoid the trivial solution of all the values equal to zero by imposing a single constraint on the magnitude of the values.

Starting with the derivation of the basic formula for minimizing the least sum of squared error with linear coefficients, we’ll add the single constraint and derive the formula we’re using in our own brand-value calculation.

Operations Research Career Talk 

3:30–4:20 p.m., Stright 327/329

Abstract:

A discussion of three decades of Operations Research work.

“Optimal Choices contour for sums”

5:00–6:00 p.m., Stright 327/329

Abstract:

For each of N products p we have a selection of M(p) prices. Each of these prices has revenue R(P) and profit pi(P) [that’s supposed to be the Greek letter pi for profit] associated with that price. The revenue and profit value are derived from retail demand models. We want to know the best price for each product.

The concept of “best” depends on our relative weight of revenue and profit. We consider a pure-revenue objective to be lambda=zero and pure profit to be lambda=one with a continuum of revenue-profit lambda optimization weights in between. The goal of this work is to present all the optimal price possibilities for all N products over the zero-to-one range of lambda.

We’ll start by finding the optimal price for each product as a function of lambda. That involves finding the frontier, part of the convex hull of the revenue-profit values for all the prices.

Rather than enumerate M-to-the-N price-choice possibilities, we’ll find their convex hull in revenue-profit space with nothing more computationally vigorous than sorting the individual-product solutions once. While this two-objective frontier is complete and exact, extension this method to three objectives (for example, revenue, profit, and units sold) is diluted to a good approximation.

Adam Rosenberg has three decades of mathematical decision-support expertise in industries including retail science, airline optimization, financial-market analysis, hotel yield management, railroad line simulation, and telephony. He started his career at Bell Telephone Laboratories developing the emerging cellular telephone systems. He also worked in printed circuit board design and manufacture and wrote a book on CDMA, the most-recent mobile telephone technology. Many of his software solutions have remained in production for over a decade and they have earned or saved hundreds of millions of dollars for his employers and clients. Rosenberg earned his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Stanford University in Operations Research and his A.B. from Princeton University in Mathematics (cum laude). He holds several patents.

Department of Mathematics

Labant, a graduate of the Secondary Mathematics Education program from Indiana, Pa., received an award for best Mathematics Education Work Sample at the Women in Mathematics, Science, and Technology Program held on April 1. Labant’s faculty supervisor was Edel Reilly. Labant is currently a mathematics teacher at Robert E. Lee High School in Springfield, Va.

Craig, from Hollidaysburg, and Scarnati, from Erie, both junior Applied Mathematics majors, presented their research on Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) scores and survival rates of liver transplant recipients. Their research, which started as a class project in Rick Adkins’ Modeling and Simulation class, models the effects of the MELD scores on the survival rates of liver transplant recipients. The purpose of their model is to determine how to allocate livers so that they will be used most effectively. It is best to provide a liver to a patient with a higher rate of survival after transplantation over someone with a small chance of survival. MELD scores range from 0 to 40, with the national average of 20. Craig and Scarnatti examined data from Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia to determine which values are optimal for saving the most lives with liver transplants.

Department of Mathematics

Homology groups are an important algebraic invariant of topological spaces, while infinite loopspaces are an important type of topological space.

McCarty and his coauthor address the question of how one can compute the homology groups of infinite loopspaces from information about their "stable" homology groups, by integrating many topological and algebraic ideas. 

A full abstract can be found at the journal's website.

Ryan’s thesis work has involved the mathematical modeling of both Newtonian and viscoelastic fluid flow inside a journal bearing. To model the flow inside a journal bearing, numerical simulations using an Oldroyd-B/Navier-Stokes fluid solver and the immersed boundary method were conducted. Model parameter studies showed the effects of viscolasticity and viscosity on the flow generated between two rotating annular geometries.

Department of Mathematics

The MAA is an organization for those interested in mathematics and mathematics education. The Allegheny Mountain Section serves all of western Pennsylvania and most of West Virginia. The annual spring meeting provides numerous mathematical and social activities for faculty and students.

The Mathematics Department is very excited to host this event. Several IUP faculty and students will be presenting at the meeting. Also, many faculty and students are volunteering their time to ensure that things run smoothly.

More information about the conference, including schedule and registration information, may be found at the meeting website.

Pi Day is celebrated every year on March 14 (3-14). The Preservice Teachers of Mathematics (PTM) auction off chances to “pie a professor,” with all proceeds going towards awards and prizes for children during Family Math Night, a PTM program for children and parents to show the fun side of mathematics.

The article proposes inferences procedures for assessing the generalized Koziol-Green model that is used to analyze recurrent event data where informative right censoring is present. The procedures are constructed using functionals of a class of empirical processes. Asymptotic properties of the resulting procedures are established and finite sampling properties are investigated via a computer simulation study. The procedures are applied to a data set that contains the recurrence times of bladder tumors for patients in a study.

Department of Mathematics

Details on all the scholarships and their requirements, as well as a link to the electronic application, can be found on the department scholarship page. Please note that this year all applications are submitted online.

Truth tables are the basic elements behind the “thinking” power of electronic devices. Basic modules of semiconductor electronics are generally referred to as logic gates. These gates can make decisions based on the presented inputs (statements).

Typically, presenting the concepts of truth tables is a difficult task. Introducing logic gates and implementing a class project can not only help students to understand the importance of truth tables, but it also inspires them to create their own projects. The authors describe the basics of logic gates and how they can be used in teaching truth tables.

Sage is a free mathematics software system licensed under the General Public License. Using a Python-based interface, Sage’s goal is to be an open source alternative to software packages such as Maple, Mathematica, and Matlab. In the workshop, an introduction to the Sage software and its different interfaces will be given using the IUP Sage server and hands-on Sage notebook activities.

Due to the limited number of seats in Stright 220, please e-mail Yu-Ju Kuo at yjkuo@iup.edu to confirm your participation by noon on Tuesday, February 12.

Cosponsored by the S-COAM Program and the Mathematics Department.

The article is in Physics of Fluids (Vol. 25, Issue 1) and has been made available online as of January 31, 2013.

Lisa Fauci is the Pendergraft Nola Lee Haynes Professor of Mathematics at Tulane University. Michael Shelley is the Lilian and George Lyttle Professor of Applied Mathematics at the Courant Institute, New York University.

DOI: 10.1063/1.4789410

The alumni are:

• Dane Alabran (B.S. Mathematics '10, M.S. Applied Mathematics '12), a report analyst in the Information Services Department at Indiana Regional Medical Center
• Jennifer Casanova (B.S. Chemistry '10), currently pursuing a Master of Science in Public Health degree in the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• SaraJane Parsons (B.S. Mathematics '12), in the Economics Ph.D. Program at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan

This career/graduate school panel is sponsored by the Scholarships–Creating Opportunities for Applying Mathematics (S-COAM) program directed by Rick Adkins and Yu-Ju Kuo of the Mathematics Department.

The first chapter, “Reform-Based Instruction in Korea: Looking over Its Promises to Discover Its Successes,” was coauthored with Jinho Kim (Department of Mathematics Education, Daegu National University of Education) and Jung Colen (Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Penn State University). This chapter introduces practices for successful implementation of reform-based instruction from the perspectives of the learner, the teacher, knowledge, instruction, assessment, and classroom culture. Moreover, this also examines mathematical and instructional practices before, during, and after Korea’s seventh National Curriculum and concludes with some implications to improve reform-based instruction.

Colen coauthored the other chapter, “Teaching and Learning Practice in Mathematics Classrooms: Focus on Statistics,” with Sanglyong Kim (Department of Mathematics Education, Daegu National University of Education), Seonghee Kim (Curriculum and Instruction, Arizona State University), and Jinho Kim (Department of Mathematics Education, Daegu National University of Education). This chapter introduces the practices of teaching and learning mathematics in Korea. It describes the content of the “probability and statistics” strand in the elementary school curriculum and considers some of its shortcomings. In order to overcome these shortcomings, the authors transform the fourth grade unit (“Broken Line Graph”) into the theme “Students Understanding Themselves.” In this unit, students collect their height and weight measurements, organize and represent data, and project them into the future. These lessons demonstrate students’ abilities to investigate the posed problems, to communicate their thinking, to summarize their findings, and to reflect upon the project and their metacognitions.

Jinho Kim, Inki Han, Joongkwoen Lee, and Mangoo Park edited the volume.

Find out more information about monograph.

“The Shape of Sacred Space: Geometry Used to Lay Out and Design Maya Art and Architecture”

• Monday, October 29, 2012
• Stright Hall, Rooms 327-329
• Christopher Powell, Maya Exploration Center, Austin, Texas

“Maya Arithmetic”

• Wednesday, October 31
• Stright Hall, Rooms 327-329
• Francisco Alarcón, Department of Mathematics

See the complete program for Maya Week.

The award is presented to a mathematician or a mathematics educator from a public or private school, college or university, or industry who has made an outstanding contribution to mathematics education in Pennsylvania.

The award was presented at the PCTM Annual Conference in Harrisburg on October 18, 2012.

The presentation reports on a student-focused comprehensive research project integrated in undergraduate introductory econometrics classes at IUP. Since 2000, approximately 150 IUP undergraduate students have completed these research projects. The assignment requires each student to conduct empirical research on a topic of his/her choice, write a formal paper formatted like a scholarly journal article, and give an oral presentation of the findings to the class. As a result of this project, students gain hands-on experience applying econometric techniques to real economic data and learn how to conduct independent research. The multiple benefits of the assignment for the professional development of IUP students as they apply for jobs and graduate school admissions are discussed.

Department of Mathematics

The 2000 presidential election provides an ideal backdrop to introduce the electoral voting system, the weighted voting system, and the Banzhaf and the Shapley-Shubik Power Indices. (Lloyd Shapley is the 2012 corecipient of the Nobel Prize for economics.) Through investigating these concepts, the authors show students how to solve authentic, real-world problems and value the utility of mathematics.

Due to the limited number of seats, please e-mail Yu-Ju Kuo at yjkuo@iup.edu to confirm your participation by noon on Tuesday, October 9.

LINDO and LINGO are comprehensive software tools designed by Lindo Systems, Inc. to help efficiently build and solve a wide variety of optimization models. Free trial and student versions of the software make it an ideal choice to start solving optimization models. In this workshop, we will take a hands-on approach to learning some of the basics of the LINGO and LINDO software by solving several example problems.

These scholarships are funded by the National Science Foundation Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program under Award No. DUE 0966206, awarded to Rick Adkins and Yu-Ju Kuo of the Mathematics Department.

Students receiving these scholarships must maintain a high QPA, attend S-COAM meetings, participate in extracurricular activities (such as workshops and colloquia), and take specified applied mathematics courses. Students with majors outside of the Mathematics Department will also declare a minor in mathematics.

The Scholarship Winners are:

• Joshua Buchheit, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Cogan Station, Pa.
• Kayla Copeland, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Scottdale, Pa.
• Richard Coultas, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Newport News, Va.
• John Float, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Monroeville, Pa.
• Ryan Grove, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Portage, Pa.
• Scott Rega, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Bethlehem, Pa.
• Alexander Romito, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Murrysville, Pa.
• Jonathan Wayland, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Dubois, Pa.
• Jeremy Yagle, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Moshannon, Pa.
• Rebecca Beadling, a Biology/Chemistry major from Levittown, Pa.
• Savanna Bonds, a Mathematics/Economics major from Palmyra, Pa.
• Ashleigh Craig, a Applied Mathematics major from Hollidaysburg, Pa.
• Charles Culbertson, a Biochemistry major from Oil City, Pa.
• Kaitlyn Grzywinski , a Secondary Mathematics Education major from Saxonburg, Pa.
• Tyler S. Jack, a Secondary Mathematics Education major from Cadogan, Pa.
• John Kearney, a Geology major from Pittsburgh, Pa.
• Amber McClure, a Natural Science/Pre-Optometry major from Milesburg, Pa.
• April Mitchell, a Natural Science/Pre-Physical Therapy from Camp Hill, Pa.
• William Moon II, a Chemistry/Pre-Med major from Homer City, Pa.
• Rebecca Nichol, a Mathematics major from Dayton, Pa.
• Daniel O’Hara, a Geology/Computer Science major from Ebensburg, Pa.
• Theresa Scarnati, a Mathematics major from Erie, Pa.
• Zachary Seymour, a Computer Science/Mathematics major from Hollidaysburg, Pa.
• Julie Stachurski, a Mathematics major from Indiana, Pa.
• Elizabeth Stimmell, a Chemistry major from Leechburg, Pa.
• Matthew Sulkosky, a Mathematics/Computer Science Major from Indiana, Pa.
• Loeun Thach, a Computer Science major from Philadelphia, Pa.
• Aaron Waibel, a Computer Science/Mathematics major from Rochester, Pa.
• Brittney Wiesheier, a Chemistry Education major from Johnstown, Pa.

As part of this program, participants will receive and assemble a portable mini-computing cluster (called LittleFe). Chrispell and Donley will also learn about the curriculum modules available for teaching parallel programming, high-performance computing, and how to develop new curriculum modules for the LittleFe/Bootable Cluster CD platform. The LittleFe cluster built during the program will be used to teach high-performance computing in courses at IUP.

Additional information about the LittleFe system.

More information on the High Performance Computing Educators program.

Del Valle earned a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics and Computational Sciences in 2005 from the University of Iowa, and a B.S. and M.S. in Applied Mathematics in 2000 and 2001, respectively, from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. She has worked on developing and analyzing mathematical models for the spread of infectious diseases, including smallpox, anthrax, malaria, HIV, and influenza, on a pandemic scale. She has also worked on social network analyses and modeling and simulation of large scale, agent-based simulations.

Dr. Del Valle will be giving three presentations:

Great Careers in Mathematical Sciences

1:25–2:15 p.m. in Pratt Auditorium

Abstract: Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are playing a key role in the development of new discoveries and meeting the challenges of this century. In this talk, I will present some examples of scientific advances made possible by the interaction between science and mathematics. In particular, I will describe the role of mathematics in epidemiology, climatology, biology, sports, and entertainment.

How to Succeed in Science: My Story

3:35–4:35 p.m. in Stright Hall, Room 327/329

Abstract: Pursuing a career in science has never been more timely, but also difficult due to the current economic uncertainty. In this talk, I describe my journey and provide some advice on the difficulties that lie ahead and the skills that you will need to succeed. Although my advice is geared toward women and minorities, many aspects of my talk are universal.

Mathematical Modeling for the Spread of Infectious Diseases

5:30–6:30 p.m. in Stright Hall Room 327/329

Abstract: Emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality across the globe. Modeling efforts can help improve the effectiveness of public health interventions and minimize the population and economic impacts of an epidemic. In this talk, I will describe different mathematical and computational models used to simulate the spread of infectious diseases, including smallpox, influenza, and HIV and show the impact of intervention strategies on their spread.

Charles comes to IUP after finishing his Ph.D. work in spatially discrete differential equations. His research plans include additional studies of spatial discrete models as well as examining biological phenomena of interest.

While born and raised in the Sunflower State, it is a total coincidence that he so thoroughly enjoys roasted sunflower seeds. He currently owns two dogs adopted from the Humane Society, and he has been known to appreciate both fine wood craftsmanship and print design. Lastly, he has no known ancestral ties to the British essayist of the same name.

R is a free software package commonly used for data analysis and research. It is an open source platform that has over 4,000 contributed packages that allow users to implement the latest statistical methodology.

In this workshop, Russ Stocker from the Mathematics Department will introduce the major components of R. This will include the importing and exporting of data, descriptive statistics, graphics, inferential statistics, and statistical modeling. Participants of the workshop will utilize the R package on a computer to perform a variety of analyses.

Due to the limited number of seats in Stright 220, please e-mail Yu-Ju Kuo at yjkuo@iup.edu to confirm your participation by noon on Tuesday, September 4.

Details

• Presenter: Dr. Russ Stocker, IUP Mathematics Department
• Location: Stright Hall, Room 220
• Date and Time : September 5, 2012; 3:30–5:00 p.m.

John Lattanzio was promoted to the rank of professor. He is a native of Kittanning, Pennsylvania, and completed his Ph.D. at the University of Pittsburgh in 2001. He joined the Department of Mathematics at IUP in 2002. Lattanzio's area of specialization is in graph theory, in particular the theory of graph coloring. His current activities include coauthoring a book on linear algebra and serving as chairman of the board of trustees of the Pennsylvania Faculty Health and Welfare Fund.

Mary Lou Metz was promoted to the rank of associate professor. She joined the department in 2007 after spending over 25 years teaching secondary mathematics in the public schools. Metz received her B.S.Ed. and M.Ed. in Secondary Mathematics Education from IUP and her Ed.D. in Mathematics Education from the University of Pittsburgh. She is the advisor of the IUP–Preservice Teachers of Mathematics organization and is active in several state and national mathematics education associations.

Mavis Pararai was promoted to the rank of associate professor. She joined the Mathematics Department in 2007 and holds a Ph.D. degree from Central Michigan University. Her research focuses on topics in statistics.

Edel Reilly was promoted to the rank of associate professor. She joined the Mathematics Department in 2007 after receiving her D.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She earned her M.S. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and her B.A. in Mathematics and Economics from the National University of Ireland–Galway. Prior to coming to IUP, Reilly taught middle school mathematics for 10 years and high school mathematics for three years. She teaches courses for elementary and middle level education majors. Reilly’s research focuses on mathematics and writing, middle level mathematics education, and curriculum integration.

Department of Mathematics

The article stems from work Lattanzio did with Quan while Quan was a graduate student in the Mathematics Department.

Abstract

For natural numbers k and n, where 2 ≤ k ≤ n, the vertices of a graph are labeled using the elements of the k-fold Cartesian product In×In× …×In.

Two particular graph constructions will be given and the graphs so constructed are called generalized matrix graphs. Properties of generalized matrix graphs are determined and their application to completely independent critical cliques is investigated. It is shown that there exists a vertex critical graph which admits a family of k completely independent critical cliques for any k, where k ≥ 2. Some attention is given to this application and its relationship with the double-critical conjecture that the only vertex double-critical graph is the complete graph.

Professor Kimberly Burch, Professor Timothy Flowers, Professor Dan Burkett, and their colleagues welcomed the students for the competition, lunch, and awards ceremony.

Dean Deanne Snavely of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics presented students with their awards.

The schools attending were Annville-Cleona High School, Blairsville High School, Bishop McCort High School, Brookville Area Junior-Senior High School, Burrell High School, Derry Area High School, Indiana Area High School, Jefferson County–DuBois Area Vocational-Technical School, Kiski Area High School, Knoch High School, Marion Center High School, Oil City Senior High School, Penn Hills High School, Penn Trafford High School, Portage High School, Punxsutawney Senior High School, Richland Junior-Senior High School, and Venango Catholic High School.

Individual awards were given to the top six scorers and the top scorer in grades 9–12. Team awards were given to the top three schools in Division I (larger enrollment schools) and Division II (smaller enrollment schools), based on the top three scores for each school.

In addition, the Robert E. Cook Honors College gave full and half scholarships to their summer honors program to the top scorers in grades 10 and 11.

Please see our photo gallery of the winners of the competition.

Division II Top Scorers

1. Bishop McCourt: Song Lu, Zheru Liu, Brett Diehl
2. Burrell: Josh Murphy, Maggie Okobi, Drew Klebine
3. Marion Center: Amanda Adkins, Aaron Hoover, Jakeb Rising

Division I Top Scorers

1. Kiski: Penn Trafford: Jiahao Shen, Jeff Kelly, Jordon Ellis
2. Punxsutawney: Jake Smith, Alex Voris, Quinton Weber
3. Penn Hills: Zeleena Kearney, Courtney Chambers, Andy Christman

Top Scorers by Grade

Grade 9: Brett Diehl, Bishop McCort

Grade 10: Zeleena Kearney, Penn Hills

Grade 11: Jiahao Shen, Penn Trafford

Grade 12: Amanda Adkins, Marion Center

Top Scorers Overall

First Place: Jiahao Shen, Penn Trafford

Second Place: Amanda Adkins, Marion Center

Third Place: Song Lu, Bishop McCort

Fourth Place: Josh Murphy, Burrell

Fifth Place: Zheru Liu, Bishop McCort

Sixth Place (tie): Brett Diehl, Bishop McCort; Christopher Berger, Anniville-Cleona

Chairperson Francisco Alarcón spoke on behalf of the faculty, and each graduate spoke a few words to the assembled guests.

Master of Science, Applied Mathematics

• Dane Alabran 
• Christopher DeLeo 
• David DeMateo
• Albert Harrison
• Kristen Lester
• Matthew Love
• Loic Niragire
• William Noel
• Darryl Walker

Master of Education, Elementary and Middle School Mathematics Education

• Megan Ringler 

Bachelor of Science, Applied Mathematics

• Stephanie Williams 
• Craig Glatfelter 
• Ryan Grove 

Bachelor of Science, Mathematics

• Lindsay Bender 
• Michelle Crise 
• SaraJane Parsons 
• Billy Wilson 

Bachelor of Science in Education, Secondary Mathematics Education

• Jordan Alsop* 
• Lee Bigelow 
• Rebecca Braymer 
• John Chelednik 
• Danielle Egley 
• Dean Farabaugh
• Tiffany Fry
• Sarah Fyock
• Sarah Geiger
• Brandon Kochinsky
• Kelly Kramer
• Megan Labant
• Rachael Marion
• Antoinette Moeslein
• Derek Morf
• Jessica Pcola
• John Sokol
• Brianne Thomas*
• Leah Wallock

*Graduated with a perfect 4.0 grade point average

Congratulations to all of our graduates, their families, and their friends.

• The Roy A. Daugherty Scholarship was awarded to Rebecca Ann Nichol, a Mathematics major from Dayton, Pa.
• The Dr. Willard Hennemann, Jr. Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Renee Clouse, a Middle Level Mathematics Education major from Butler, Pa., and to Stefany Stofko, a Middle Level Mathematics Education major from Greensburg, Pa.
• The Arthur G. Morrell Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Theresa Scarnati, a Mathematics major from Erie, Pa.
• The James R. Myers Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Jason Susko, a Middle Level Mathematics Education major from Allentown, Pa.
• The Mildred M. Reigh Scholarship was awarded to Jessica Crawford, a Middle Level Mathematics Education major from Friedens, Pa., and to Shanna Grusky, Secondary Mathematics Education major from Derry, Pa.
• The Rebecca A. Stoudt Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Maranda Evans, a Secondary Mathematics Education major from Cassandra, Pa.

This year marked the inaugural awarding of two new department scholarships. The Merle Stilwell Scholarship for Mathematics was awarded to Michael Myers, a Secondary Mathematics Education major from New Castle, Pa. Terry A. Serafini Outstanding Scholar awards were given to Ashleigh Craig, an Applied Mathematics major from Hollidaysburg, Pa., Tyler Jack, a Secondary Mathematics Education major from Cadogan, Pa., and Michael Myers, a Secondary Mathematics Education major from New Castle, Pa.

Also recognized at the banquet were students who were awarded scholarships during Fall 2011 and Spring 2012 from the Scholarships–Creating Opportunities for Applying Mathematics program, run by Rick Adkins and Yu-Ju Kuo.

Please view a gallery of photos from the event.

Department of Mathematics

The presentation included examples of how smart board and smart pen technologies are used in their work with pre-service teachers of mathematics.

NCTM is the largest professional organization in the world for mathematics teachers and educators.

Students in advanced mathematics courses will give brief presentations on projects related to the course. The presentations will be on Thursday, May 3, 2012, from 2:00–5:00 p.m. in Stright Hall, rooms 202 and 232.

Take a look at the schedule of presentations, or downloaded as a pdf file.

The event will be held in the Zink Hall gymnasium on Friday, April 20, 2012, from 6:00–8:00 p.m. It features math games and activities for children from kindergarten through grade 6.

For more information, contact co-presidents Kimberly Hofstetter at K.A.Hofstetter@iup.edu or Mary Lou Metz, advisor to IUP-PTM, at mlmetz@iup.edu.

Department of Mathematics

“Variational Methods in Materials Science and Image Processing”

Time: 1:25–2:15 p.m.
Location: Pratt Auditorium

Several questions in applied analysis motivated by issues in computer vision, physics, materials sciences, and other areas of engineering may be treated variationally leading to higher order problems and to models involving lower dimension density measures. Their study often requires state-of-the-art techniques, new ideas, and the introduction of innovative tools in partial differential equations, geometric measure theory, and the calculus of variations.

In this talk, it will be shown how some of these questions may be reduced to well-understood first order problems, while, in others, the higher order plays a fundamental role. Applications to phase transitions and to the equilibrium of foams under the action of surfactants, imaging, micromagnetics, thin films, and quantum dots will be addressed.

“Careers in Mathematics”

Time: 2:45–3:45 p.m.
Location: Stright Hall, room 226

Fonseca will speak to students about careers in mathematics.

“Variational Methods for Crystal Surface Instability”

Time: 4:00–4:50 p.m.
Location: Stright Hall, room 226

Using the calculus of variations, it is shown that important qualitative features of the equilibrium shape of a material void in a linearly elastic solid may be deduced from smoothness and convexity properties of the interfacial energy. In addition, short-time existence, uniqueness, and regularity for an anisotropic surface diffusion evolution equation with curvature regularization are proved in the context of epitaxially strained two-dimensional films. This is achieved by using the $H^{-1}$-gradient flow structure of the evolution law, via De Giorgi's minimizing movements. This seems to be the first short-time existence result for a surface diffusion type geometric evolution equation in the presence of elasticity.

Irene Fonseca is president-elect of SIAM, Mellon College of Science professor of Mathematics at Carnegie-Mellon University, and director of the Center for Nonlinear Analysis.

Department of Mathematics 

This program will highlight any mathematics-related scholarly work of undergraduate and graduate students. All oral presentations will take place in Stright Hall. Students are invited to present scholarly work conducted during the 2011–2012 academic year. Talks will be for 10 to 12 minutes, with a few minutes for questions.

Interested students should fill out the submission form and suibmit it to Yu-Ju Kuo. If you have questions about the program, contact Kuo at yjkuo@iup.edu or Rick Adkins at fadkins@iup.edu.

The talk will be aimed at a general audience, so students are welcome.

Abstract:

Influenza A virus (IAV) causes a respiratory disease and continuously evolves, producing new pandemic strains of varying phenotypes. These pandemics occur seasonally, with about 3 to 5 million cases annually and an estimated 250,000 to 500,000 deaths worldwide. An individual becomes infected by inhalation of virus particles, which infect cells of the respiratory tract. Upon infection, influenza virus triggers an immune response, which consists of a rapid innate response and a slower adaptive response. The dynamics of the immune response and virus/host interactions are highly complex. We will discuss strategies for mathematical modeling of influenza viral growth and the immune response, and show how mathematical modeling may be used to estimate biological parameters governing interactions between the virus and the host.

Department of Mathematics

Megan Agosti (Physics), Dane Alabran (M.S. in Applied Mathematics), Albert Harrison (M.S. in Applied Mathematics), and SaraJane Parsons (Mathematics) recently applied to various graduate programs.

The discussion will take place from 3:30–5:00 p.m. on March 30, 2012, in Stright Hall, room 327. Light refreshments will be served.

Department of Mathematics 

WinEdt is a Window interface for various typesetting systems, such as TeX or HTML. Download the free trial version.

An introduction of the software will be given. Participants will gain experience in creating articles and presentation slides in WinEdt with MiKTeX templates. We will also show how to use TeX commands to create reports using MATLAB's publishing function.

Feel free to pass the information to your students.

Due to the limited number of seats, please e-mail Kuo at yjkuo@iup.edu to confirm your participation by noon on Friday, Feb. 24.

Commencement for May graduates in the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics (which includes all of the Mathematics Department degree programs) will be held on Saturday, May 12, at 9:00 a.m. at Kovalchick Complex.

The Mathematics Department ceremony will be held at 1:30 p.m. in Stright Hall, rooms 226/229.

Dorsett will give the presentation “Mathematica in Education and Research” from 3:30–4:30 p.m., including a question and answer session, in Stright Hall, room 229.

Attendees with no prior experience with Mathematica report that this talk helps with getting started using Mathematica language and workflow.

With improvements like the new free-form input and expanded areas like finance, statistics, engineering, software development, and image processing, even the most advanced users report learning quite a bit from Mathematica technical talks. All attendees will receive an electronic copy of the examples, which can be adapted to individual projects.

The workshop will be offered by Francisco Alarcón of the Mathematics Department. Workshops will take place on multiple Wednesdays or multiple Thursdays.

• Wednesday Workshops: February 22 through April 25
• Thursday Workshops: February 23 through April 26

To sign up or for more information, contact Alarcón at falarcon@iup.edu. The deadline to sign up is February 22. Up to 40 faculty can sign up, with preference given to faculty in the NSM college.

This page also lists the scholarships along with a description of the qualifications and requirements.

The application is due in the Mathematics Department office by 4:00 p.m. on March 21, 2012.

These scholarships are funded by the National Science Foundation Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program under Award No. DUE 0966206, awarded to Rick Adkins and Yu-Ju Kuo of the Mathematics Department.

Students receiving these scholarships must maintain a high QPA, attend S-COAM meetings, participate in extracurricular activities (such as workshops and colloquia), and take specified applied mathematics courses. Students with majors outside of the Mathematics Department will also declare a minor in mathematics.

Scholarship Winners:

• Dane Alabran, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Smicksburg, Pa.
• Albert Harrison, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Dillsburg, Pa.
• Kristen Lester, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Blairsville, Pa.
• William Noel , a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Connellsville, Pa.
• David DeMateo, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Pittsburgh, Pa.
• John Float, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Monroeville, Pa.
• Kayla Copeland, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Scottdale, Pa.
• Joshua Buchheit, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Cogan Station, Pa.
• Elijah Rach, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Perryopolis, Pa.
• Alexander Romito, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Murrysville, Pa
• Rebecca Beadling, a Biology/Chemistry major from Levittown, Pa.
• William Moon II, a Chemistry/Pre-Med major from Homer City, Pa.
• Zachary Seymour, a Computer Science/Mathematics major from Hollidaysburg, Pa.
• Megan L. Agosti, a Physics major from St. Mary's, Pa.
• Aaron Lenzi, a Physics/Pre-Engineering major from Homer City, Pa.
• Ryan Grove, a Physics/Applied Math major from Portage, Pa.
• Matthew Sulkosky, a Mathematics/Computer Science Major from Indiana, Pa
• Sarah Geiger, a secondary Mathematics Education major from Indiana, Pa.
• Jessica Pcola, a Secondary Mathematics Education major from Portage, Pa.
• Tyler S. Jack, a Secondary Mathematics Education major from Cadogan, Pa.
• Lindsay Bender, a Mathematics Major from Hollidaysburgh, Pa.
• Julie Stachurski, a Mathematics major from Indiana, Pa.
• Margo P. MacKenzie, a Mathematics major from Somerset, Pa.
• SaraJane Parsons, a Mathematics major from Negaunee, Mich.
• Kevin Pomorski, a Mathematics major from Erie, Pa
• Jeremy Yagle, a Mathematics major from Moshannon, Pa.
• Aaron Waibel, a computer Science/Mathematics major from Rochester, Pa.
• April Mitchell, a Natural Science/Pre-Physical Therapy from Camp Hill, Pa.
• Daniel O’Hara, a Geology/Computer Science major from Ebensburg, Pa.
• Theresa Scarnati, a Mathematics major from Erie, Pa.
• Nicole Mountain, a Earth/Space Science Education/Geology major from Clarksburg, Pa.
  

Due to the limited number of seats, please e-mail Yu-Ju Kuo at yjkuo@iup.edu to confirm your participation by noon on Tuesday, January 31.

MATLAB is a high-level technical computing language and interactive environment for algorithm development, data visualization, data analysis, and numerical computation.

Professor John Henry Steelman retired at the end of the Fall 2011 semester after nearly 26 years in the Mathematics Department.

Steelman came to IUP as an associate professor in 1986 and was promoted to professor in 1992. His dedication to students, colleagues, and the university was widely known, and will be missed.

Steelman was a frequent contributor to the Problems and Solutions section of the American Mathematical Monthly.  He played a leadership role in the High School Mathematics Competition held annually at IUP, for which he supervised the construction of scores of mathematics problems. He was also active in the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties.

Acting with the local Indiana Players is among his other interests. 

Each student presented a hands-on activity for teaching middle school mathematics. The students presenting with Dr. Walker were:

• Brandon Kochinsky, from Nicktown, Pa.
• Megan Labant, from Indiana, Pa.
• Antoinette Moeslein, from Pittsburgh, Pa.
• Derek Morf, from Annandale, N.J.
• Brianne Thomas, from Homer City, Pa.

Check back in late January 2012 for tutoring hours for the Spring semester.

Department of Mathematics

This talk is intended to be accessible to those without a background in combinatorics. Students are encouraged to attend.

Abstract:

Thirty years ago, three mathematicians made a conjecture for counting the number of n x n alternating sign matrices. Then they discovered that someone else already had seen those same numbers—but he had been counting a certain type of restricted plane partition. In the years since, many proofs and results have been found in each of these seemingly unconnected fields. We will follow the story of the conjectures, theorems, and proofs, including the surprising twist in 1996.

The career panel will take place on Friday, December 2, 2011, from 2:30–3:30 p.m. in room 340 of Stright Hall. Light refreshments will be served.

The panelists include three recent graduates of IUP and a new faculty member:

• Kwasi Abrefa-Kodom (M.S. Applied Mathematics, 2010), who works for IBM
• Ben Jarrett (M.S. Applied Mathematics, 2010), who works for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
• Paul Rossman (B.A. Journalism, 2006, M.S. Applied Mathematics, 2008), who works for Sheetz
• John Chrispell (Ph.D. in Mathematical Sciences, Clemson University, 2008), who is an assistant professor of Mathematics at IUP

On Thursday, Dr. Famoye will speak on “Regression Models for Count Data” at 5:00 p.m. in Stright Hall, room 327.

On Friday, he will meet with interested students, where he will discuss and take questions on aspects of his career. This meeting will take place in Stright Hall, room 329, from 12:20 to 1:10 p.m.

Abstract of Dr. Famoye's Talk

Linear regression models have been found useful when the experimental observations follow the normal distribution. Quite often, experimental observations are count, and it is natural to assume that these observations follow a count discrete distribution instead of a continuous distribution. This talk will provide a survey of research work on modeling count data.

All students pursuing a degree in science or mathematics with at least junior standing at the end of Fall 2011 are eligible to apply.

Information about applying and application forms can be found on the S-COAM webpage.

The first paper was accepted in The Proceedings of the 2011 Hawaii University International Conferences on Mathematics and Engineering, where he presented the paper in June 2011, and the second, a complete generalization of the ideas in the first work, was accepted in the journal Discussiones Mathematicae Graph Theory.

The Discussiones Mathematicae Graph Theory was co-authored by IUP student Quan Zheng (M.S. Applied Mathematics, December 2010).

His manuscript was accepted for publication in the conference proceedings.

This article has also been published in the Journal of Combinatorial Mathematics and Combinatorial Computing and appeared in print in August 2011.

The picnic will be held at Dr. Donley’s farm on Five Points Road (off of Rt. 422 before you get to the BP near Shelocta). We will have hamburgers, hot dogs, s’mores, cider, and other picnic fare.

Dr. Donley has finished his new fire pit, so campfire songs may be in order. Come and join friends, faculty, and staff for a great time.

Please RSVP to Dr. Brian Sharp (bds@iup.edu) by October 5 so we can determine how much food to purchase.

The application form is due in the Mathematics Department office by Friday, October 14, 2011.

All students whose major is in the department are eligible to apply.

Join fellow alumni and their families and past and current faculty members to reminisce and enjoy a light breakfast before the Homecoming parade.

Dr. Browning received a Ph.D. in Mathematics from Purdue University. For the past thirty-seven years, his work has principally focused on applications of mathematics to naval operations. He has embarked as a technical adviser on over thirty U.S. and United Kingdom nuclear submarines and naval aircraft conducting operations throughout the world. He has led consulting projects in a variety of areas, including submarine warfare, Coast Guard search and rescue, clinical informatics, fluid flow control, ship tracking, and viticulture.

Dr. Browning received a Meritorious Public Service Citation from the chief of Naval Operations for his work in submarine search theory and sonar systems employment; a Distinguished Alumni Award from Purdue University College of Science; and the Naval Submarine League Distinguished Civilian Award.

Dr. Browning will give three talks:

• 1:25–2:15 p.m. (Eberly Auditorium ECB 101)
  Title: Some Applications of Mathematics in Industry
  Applications of mathematics will be described in the areas of submarine warfare, ocean surface current estimation, and grape crop yield estimation.
• 3:35–4:25 p.m. Stright Hall Room 329
  Title: Career Planning for Math Majors
  A degree in the mathematical sciences is good preparation for a variety of careers. Some suggestions for preparing for a career in industry will be given.
• 5:20–6:20 p.m. Stright Hall Room 329
  Title: The Mathematics of Search and Rescue
  Search and rescue is a core mission of the U.S. Coast Guard. An introduction to mathematical methods used in search and rescue will be given.

All talks are open to the public, and students are especiially encouraged to attend.

Department of Mathematics

These scholarships are funded by the National Science Foundation Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program under Award No. DUE 0966206, awarded to Dr. Rick Adkins and Dr. Yu-Ju Kuo of the Mathematics Department.

Students receiving these scholarships must maintain a high QPA, attend S-COAM meetings, participate in extracurricular activities (such as workshops and colloquia), and take specified applied mathematics courses. Students with majors outside of the Mathematics Department will also declare a minor in mathematics.

The Scholarship Winners are:

• Dane Alabran, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Smicksburg, Pa.
• Albert Harrison, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Dillsburg, Pa.
• Kristen Lester, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Blairsville, Pa.
• William Noel , a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Connellsville, Pa.
• David DeMateo, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Pittsburgh, Pa.
• John Float, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Monroeville, Pa.
• Kayla Copeland, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Scottdale, Pa.
• Joshua Buchheit, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Cogan Station, Pa.
• Elijah Rach, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Perryopolis, Pa.
• Rebecca Beadling, a Biology/Chemistry major from Levittown, Pa.
• William Moon II, a Chemistry/Pre-Med major from Homer City, Pa.
• Zachary Seymour, a Computer Science/Mathematics major from Hollidaysburg, Pa.
• Megan L. Agosti, a Physics Education major from St. Mary's, Pa.
• Aaron Lenzi, a Physics/Pre-Engineering major from Homer City, Pa.
• Ryan Grove, a Physics/Applied Math major from Portage, Pa.
• Matthew Sulkosky, a Math/Computer Science major from Indiana, Pa.
• David Burkett, a Computer Science major from Punxsutawney, Pa.
• Sarah Geiger, a secondary Mathematics Education major from Indiana, Pa.
• Jessica Pcola, a Secondary Mathematics Education major from Portage, Pa.
• Tyler S. Jack, a Secondary Mathematics Education major from Cadogan, Pa.
• Lindsay Bender, a Mathematics major from Hollidaysburgh, Pa.
• Julie Stachurski, a Mathematics major from Indiana, Pa.
• Margo P. MacKenzie, a Mathematics major from Somerset, Pa.
• SaraJane Parsons, a Mathematics major from Negaunee, Mii.
• Kevin Pomorski, a Mathematics major from Erie, Pa.
• Jeremy Yagle, a Mathematics major from Moshannon, Pa.

• Session 1: Introduction to Mathematica September 13
  
  This hands-on session will familiarize participants with the basic capabilities of Mathematica, including experience with Mathematica's notebook interface and syntax. Topics will include 2D, 3D, and parametric graphing; animations; and equation solving.
• Session 2: Programming in Mathematica September 15
  
  Participants will learn to create their own customized functions in Mathematica. Examples will include drawing polygonal spirals and pyramids.

Due to the limited number of seats in Stright 112A, please reply to Dr. Yu-Ju Kuo at yjkuo@iup.edu to confirm your participation by noon on Monday, September 12.

Ms. Parsons and her colleague, Nathan Marculis, spoke on analysis of data logs from accelerometers in iPads and smartphones using wavelets and other mathematical tools.

This research was conducted as part of the 2011 Research Experience for Undergraduates program at Grand Valley State University, with Professor Edward Aboufadel.

The College Board’s Advanced Placement Program (AP) gives more than 1.8 million capable high school students an opportunity to take rigorous college-level courses and examinations. Based on their exam performance, successful students can receive credit and/or advanced placement when they enter college.

This year, more than 3.2 million examinations from more than thirty AP courses were evaluated by over 10,000 AP readers from universities and high schools. Representing many of the finest academic institutions in the world, AP readers are made up of professional educators from the United States, Canada, and abroad. The AP Reading is a unique forum in which an academic dialogue between high school and college educators is fostered and strongly encouraged.

“The Reading draws upon the talents of some of the finest teachers and professors that the world has to offer,” said Trevor Packer, vice president of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board. “It fosters professionalism, allows for the exchange of ideas, and strengthens the commitment to students and to teaching. We are very grateful for the contributions of talented educators.”

Dr. Kimberly Burch, Dr. Daniel Burkett, and their colleagues welcomed 174 students from twenty-one schools to IUP for the competition, lunch, and an awards ceremony. Dr. John Henry Steelman supervised the construction of the fifty mathematics problems used in the competition.

The schools attending were Annville-Cleona High School, Blairsville High School, Bishop McCort High School, Burrell High School, Deer Lakes High School, Derry Area High School, Homer-Center Junior-Senior High School, Indiana Area High School, Jefferson County–DuBois Area Vocational-Technical School, Karns City High School, Keystone High School, Ligonier Valley High School, Marion Center High School, Oil City Senior High School, Penns Manor Junior-Senior High School, Penns Valley High School, Penn Trafford High School, Punxsutawney Senior High School, Richland Junior-Senior High School, and United High School.

Individual awards were given to the top six scorers and the top scorer in grades nine through twelve. Team awards were given to the top three schools in Division I (larger enrollment schools) and Division II (smaller enrollment schools), based on the top three scores for each school. In addition, the Robert E. Cook Honors College gave full and half scholarships to their summer honors program to the top scorers in grades nine through eleven.

Please see our photo gallery of the winners of the competition:

Division II Schools

1. Annville-Cleona: Aaron Hartman, Eric Weaver, Christopher Berger
2. Bishop McCourt: Lynn Hu, Minnu Suresh, Ryan Eckenrode
3. Burrell: Quinn Casselberry, Josh Murphy, Kyle Legters

Division I Schools

1. Kiski: Kelly Kuzemchak, Alexis Mozga, Paul Murray
2. Punxsutawney: Quinton Weber, James Kachmar, Alex Voris
3. Indiana: Kevin Mullen, Dani Alarcon, Nicholas Holuta

Grade 9: Nick Pattock, Burrell
Grade 10: Paul Murray, Kiski
Grade 11: Kelly Kuzemchak, Kiski
Grade 12: Lynn Hu, Bishop McCort

Sixth Place: Quinton Weber, Punxsutawney
Fifth Place: Patrick Yurky, Homer-Center
Fourth Place: Eric Weaver, Annville-Cleona
Third Place: Aaron Hartman, Annville-Cleona
Second Place: Kelly Kuzemchak, Kiski
First Place: Lynn Hu, Bishop McCort

The full story can be found in the Indiana Gazette.

Department of Mathematics

Chairperson Francisco Alarcon spoke on behalf of the faculty, and Secondary Mathematics Education major Ahmed Affaneh spoke on behalf of the graduates.

Master of Science, Applied Mathematics

• Nathan Adelgren
• Bradley Garrone
• Nadia Man
• Yao Wang

Master of Education, Elementary and Middle School Mathematics Education

• Eileen Phelan

Bachelor of Science, Applied Mathematics

• Robert Kennis
• David Miller
• Tinashe Mukasa
• Matthew Szymusiak

Bachelor of Science, Economics/Mathematics

• John Kopczyk
• Jeffrey Moon
• Travis Himes

Bachelor of Science, Mathematics

• Amelia Uecker
• Robert Varner
• Sarah Wissinger

Bachelor of Science in Education, Mathematics Education

• Ahmed Affaneh
• Jenna Black
• Timothy Cali
• Kerri Evans
• Justin Hill
• Tyler Hughes
• Gretchen Ludwig
• Alex Minnick
• Rachel Struble

Congratulations to all of our graduates, their families, and their friends.

• The James Boytim Scholarship was awarded to Leah Wallock, a Secondary Mathematics Education major from Dubois, Pa.
• The Roy A. Daugherty Scholarship was awarded to Maranda Evans, a Secondary Mathematics Education major from Cassandra, Pa.
• The Dr. Willard Hennemann, Jr., Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Jung Colen, a student in the M.Ed. in Elementary and Middle School Mathematics education program from Indiana, Pa., and to Abigail Mosier, an Elementary Education major from Kersey, Pa.
• The Arthur G. Morrell Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Ulugbek Tashpulatov, an Economics/Mathematics major from Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and to Tyler Jack, a Secondary Mathematics Education major from Cadogan, Pa.
• The Mildred M. Reigh Scholarship was awarded to Jordan Alsop, a Secondary Mathematics Education major from Penn Run, Pa., and to Katelyn Romesburg, an Elementary Education major from York, Pa.
• The Rebecca A. Stoudt Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Brianne Thomas, a Secondary Mathematics Education major from Homer City, Pa.

Also recognized at the banquet were students who were awarded scholarships during Fall 2010 and Spring 2011 from the Scholarships–Creating Opportunities for Applying Mathematics program, run by Dr. Rick Adkins and Dr. Yu-Ju Kuo.

The Mathematical Sciences Research Institute at Berkeley, Calif., will sponsor “Critical Issues in Mathematics Education: The Mathematical Education of Teachers” on May 11–13, 2011. The workshop will showcase materials and successful teacher education programs, examine the Common Core State Standards and its implications, and explore how mathematics education research can improve practice. The audience for the workshop includes mathematicians, mathematics educators, classroom teachers, and education researchers who are concerned with improving the teaching of mathematics and, in particular, the mathematical education of teachers.

University of Michigan will sponsor “IBL Workshop on Inquiry Based Learning” on May 21–25, 2011. Inquiry-based learning (IBL) has been highly successful both in mathematics and mathematics education environments. Via IBL, students actively participate in their mathematical education. They become adept at understanding and explaining mathematics.

This workshop will discuss IBL methods in a variety of settings. In particular experienced instructors will present on

• The Freshman Experience
• The Math Major Experience
• Math Education
• Assessment

Workshop participants will be prepared to present effective IBL style courses after the workshop. Participants will be connected to a mentoring support system to help them as they implement these ideas in their own institutions.

Presenters will come from a diverse set of institutions: California Polytechnic University, De Paul University, Kenyon College, Marshall University, University of Chicago, UCSB, University of Colorado, University of Michigan, and University of Texas.

Department of Mathematics

The colloquium will be on Wednesday, April 27, 2011, at 3:30 p.m. in Stright Hall, Room 202.

Abstract

Penalized Regression procedures have become very popular ways to estimate complex functions. The smoothing spline, for example, is the solution of a minimization problem in a functional space. If such a minimization problem is posed on a reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS), the solution is guaranteed to exist, is unique, and has a very simple form. There are excellent books and articles about RKHS and their applications in statistics; however, this existing literature is very dense. Our intention is to provide a friendly reference for someone approaching this subject for the first time.

This talk begins with a simple problem, a system of linear equations, then gives an intuitive motivation for reproducing kernels. Armed with the intuition gained from our first examples, we take the reader from Vector Spaces to Banach Spaces and to RKHS. Finally, we present some statistical estimation problems that can be solved using the mathematical machinery discussed.

Abstract

The minimum and maximum values in a random sample are two of the descriptive statistics reported by many types of statistical software. These are examples of order statistics.

In this talk, I will introduce some basic calculations involving order statistics for a continuous random variable, and then I will turn my attention to the Super 6, a defunct Pennsylvania Lottery game, and present an analysis of order statistics in the context of this game. As a part of this discussion, we will employ some inductive reasoning by examining patterns in Pascal’s Triangle, and then we will use math induction to prove our conjectures.

Jung presented “Discrete Mathematics in the Elementary Grades” at the spring 2011 meeting of the Allegheny Mountain Section of the Mathematical Association of America at Clarion University of Pennsylvania on April 9.

At the 2011 Pensylvania State System of Higher Education Mathematics Association conference, on April 2 at California University of Pennsylvania, she presented “Teaching Map Coloring to Elementary Students.”

These presentations shared an experience in teaching map coloring to a second-grade student and explored ways to incorporate discrete mathematics at the elementary grade level.

Department of Mathematics

Minimizing airplane turnaround time is an important objective of airline companies since it is used as a measure of airline efficiency. Passenger boarding time is an important factor for determining turnaround time. This is the factor for which airlines have the least control.

The focus of our study is to determine a way to decrease passenger boarding times by expanding upon past studies [1]. Using similar methods as the authors of [1], passenger and aisle interferences during airplane boarding were studied. It was determined that an outside-inside boarding strategy is the most efficient way to board the airplane. This differs from the results determined by [1], which suggests a reverse pyramid strategy. The difference in these results was attributed in part to the different usage of aisle interference penalties in the model.

[1] van den Briel, M. L., Villalobos, J. R., Hogg, G. L., Lindemann, T., & Mule, A. V. (2005). America West Airlines Develops Efficient Boarding Strategies. Interfaces, 35(3), 191-201.

Department of Mathematics

Jessica did her student teaching under the direction of Mr. Matthew Rodkey (B.S. Ed. in Mathematics Education, 2000) at Homer-Center Junior/Senior High School.

Jessica is currently an eighth-grade mathematics teacher at Palmyra Middle School in Palmyra, Pa.

Department of Mathematics

The event will be held in Zink Hall on Thursday, April 7, 2011, at 7:00 p.m. It features math games and activities for children from kindergarten through Grade 5.

Thanks to local donations, each child will receive a small gift bag, and door prizes will be given.

For more information, contact students Katelyn Romesberg at bhtp@iup.edu or Lee Bigelow at l.r.bigelow@iup.edu or Dr. Mary Lou Metz, advisor to IUP-PTM, at mlmetz@iup.edu.

His research is an extension of the work he did for his thesis at IUP.

Abstract

Baseball is a sport full of numbers and statistics. With a large sample size of a 162-game season, it also is a perfect atmosphere for advanced statistical analysis. Fewer than one thousand players competed at the Major League level this past season, but more than three thousand played in the minor leagues with the hope and ambition of making it to “the big show.” In reality, however, less than 10 percent of these players will actually accomplish that dream.

This talk contends that a probability can be determined for each player in the minor leagues that predicts that player’s chances of making it to the major leagues. Probabilities are computed using logistic regression.

Department of Mathematics

On Thursday, Dave will give a talk geared towards faculty entitled “Of Elephants, Fuzzy Dogs, and Teaching Backwards: A Story about Making Your Course Engaging.” This talk will be in Stright 302 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.

On Friday, Dave’s talk will be geared towards students. He will present “Dude, Just How Big IS Infinity?” in Stright 229 from 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

Dave Sobecki is an associate professor in the Department of Mathematics at Miami University in Hamilton, Ohio. He earned a B.A. in math education from Bowling Green State University before continuing on to earn an M.A. and a Ph.D. in mathematics from Bowling Green State University. He has written or coauthored five journal articles, eleven books, and five interactive CD-ROMs.

Abstracts for both talks can be found below.

“Of Elephants, Fuzzy Dogs, and Teaching Backwards: A Story About Making Your Course Engaging”

Abstract: The traditional method of teaching math goes something like this: Definition; Theorem; Example; Example; Example; Application. Many of us feel pretty comfortable with that—hey, it worked for us. But does it work well for the average student? I propose a backward method: starting with applications to introduce and motivate the math. When you start to think this way, it opens up a world of possibilities. I’d like to share some of my world of possibilities, as well as some other strategies I use to keep students involved in their learning.

“Dude, Just How Big IS Infinity?”

Abstract: Everyone knows that infinity is pretty darn big, but just how big? In this talk, I’ll present scenarios that will lead us into answering difficult arithmetic questions like “What is infinity plus infinity?.” Along the way, we’ll learn about different types of infinity and how they apply to sets of numbers you’re familiar with. We’ll close with some perspective on a topic that most people should have some understanding of, but very few actually do: the amount of money that our government actually spends. It’s not infinite, but the sizes will probably surprise you when compared to numbers you’re more familiar with.

In 1977, Martin Gardner's “Mathematical Games” feature in Scientific American posed the challenge of factoring a 129-digit number (known as RSA-129). Using the resources available at the time, it was estimated that it would take 40 quadrillion years to factor this number. However, in 1994, Lenstra, et al., announced a factorization of RSA-129. Using many computers, it took them eight months to complete this groundbreaking calculation. They used a modified implementation of the Quadratic Sieve, which had been originally introduced by Carl Pomerance in 1982.

The goal of this talk will be to give a general overview of the Quadratic Sieve algorithm. Special attention will be given to the elementary number theory and linear algebra techniques used in the algorithm.

Undergraduate students are encouraged to attend! The talk is intended to be accessible to those who are familiar with the basics of modular arithmetic and linear algebra.

Metz was appointed by Mike Shaughnessy, president of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

Student Explorations in Mathematics is an official publication of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and serves as a resource for students in grades 5-10, teachers, and teacher educators.

The article proposes a class of goodness-of-fit tests for assessing the parametric form of the baseline intensity process found in models used to analyze recurrent event data. These tests are based on a class of weighted empirical processes. Asymptotic properties of this class of weighted empirical processes are given for a sequence of Pitman alternatives. Test statistics are constructed as functionals of the weighted empirical processes. Optimal choices for the weight process are found for a class of chi-squared tests. Khmaladze's transformation is applied to the test statistic, and the asymptotic null distribution of the resulting transformation is given. Two data sets are used to illustrate the goodness-of-fit tests.

In collaboration with the Carnegie Mellon Institute for Talented Elementary and Secondary Students (C-MITES), Dr. Yong Colen of the Mathematics Department will teach two courses at IUP.

C-MITES is a rigorous summer program in which gifted students are presented with challenging material that complements what they have studied in school.

More information about C-MITES is found on the Carnegie Mellon C-MITES website. The two courses are as follows:

Why Aren’t Manhole Covers Square?

Come stimulate your curiosity and develop mathematical problem-solving tools. Working individually and in small groups, you will encounter a variety of problem situations such as, “Why aren’t manhole covers square?” and, “Why isn’t the circular design optimal?” Solving atypical, perplexing problems, you will expand your originality of thought, intuitive reasoning, and mathematical knowledge.

June 20–24, 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. (For students enrolled in grades 5–6 as of April 2011)

Insights into Algebra

This course is designed for students who have taken a Pre-algebra or Algebra 1 course. You will explore how to make sense of more important algebraic concepts and examine why algebra has been a useful tool to solve meaningful problems. One particular focus of the course will be to analyze and utilize algebra in various forms—verbally, numerically, graphically, and symbolically.

June 27–July 1, 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. (For students enrolled in grades 7–8 as of April 2011)

This event is co-sponsored by the Mathematics Department and the Scholarships–Creating Opportunities for Applying Mathematics (S-COAM) project at IUP.

The session will be from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. in room 116 of the Northern Suites on Monday, February 28, 2011.

Light refreshments will be served.

This program has increased the overall number of students pursuing degrees in mathematics, and is unique in its goal of establishing a supportive connection of master’s students with undergraduates through scholarship cohort activities. Each year, need-based scholarship funds support five or six new graduate students from the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program and ten new junior or senior undergraduate students seeking a major or minor in a mathematical area.

The Standards Aligned System is a collaborative product of research and good practice that identifies elements which, if utilized together, will provide schools with a common framework for continued school enhancement and improvement.

This institute was held in State College, Pa., on February 9, 2011.

Dr. Colen will serve a two-year term.

The Mathematics Council of Western Pennsylvania is an organization of mathematics educators and is affiliated with both the Pennsylvania Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

He obtained a Ph.D. in Statistics from the University of New Mexico in November 2010.

Nosedal-Sanchez recently submitted a tutorial about the use of reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces for penalized regression, and he is currently working on another paper where he proposes a new method to find spatially adaptive nonparametric regression estimates.

His research interests are: nonparametric regression, linear models, generalized linear models, and applications of statistical models.

Learn more about Alvaro Noseda-Sanchez.

The application, including an essay and two letters of recommendation, is due in the department office by March 16, 2011.

These scholarships are funded by the National Science Foundation Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program under Award No. DUE 0966206, awarded to Dr. Rick Adkins and Dr. Yu-Ju Kuo of the Mathematics Department.

Students receiving these scholarships must maintain a high QPA, attend S-COAM meetings, participate in extracurricular activities (such as workshops and colloquia), and take specified applied mathematics courses. Students with majors outside of the Mathematics Department will also declare a minor in mathematics.

The scholarship winners are:

• Nathan Adelgren, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Emeigh, Pa.
• Dane Alabran, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Smicksburg, Pa.
• David DeMateo, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Pittsburgh, Pa.
• Albert Harrison, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Dillsburg, Pa.
• Kristen Lester, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Blairsville, Pa.
• Nadia Man, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Philadelphia, Pa.
• William Noel, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Connellsville, Pa.
• Megan Agosti, a Physics Education major from St. Mary's, Pa.
• Ryan Grove, a Physics/Applied Math/Computer Science major from Portage, Pa.
• Travis Himes, an Economics/Mathematics major from Rochester Mills, Pa.
• Tyler S. Jack, a Secondary Mathematics Education major from Cadogan, Pa.
• Aaron Lenzi, a Physics/Pre-Engineering major from Homer City, Pa.
• Margo MacKenzie, a Natural Sciences/Pre-Engineering major from Somerset, Pa.
• SaraJane Parsons, a Mathematics major from Negaunee, Mich.
• Jessica Pcola, a Secondary Mathematics Education major from Portage, Pa.
• Sarah Wissinger, a Mathematics major from Mountville, Pa.
• Jeremy Yagle, a Mathematics major from Moshannon, Pa.

Career Development professionals are seeking companies to participate that hire students and graduates in the math and science disciplines for jobs and internships.

Here are the details:

• What? Math and Science Interview Day
• When? Friday, February 18, 2011, 9:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.
• Where? Community College of Allegheny County–Boyce Campus
• Who? Students and recent graduates in the Math and Science disciplines
• How? Register online

IUP Department of Mathemetics

His appearance is in conjunction with the IUP Actuary Club.

Mr. Johnson is a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and an associate of the Casualty Actuary Society.

Department of Mathematics

This article combines the areas of theoretical graph theory and abstract algebra. This combination of mathematical areas gives fascinating results concerning the partitions of V(G) as they relate to a forty-two-year unsolved problem in graph theory posed by Erdős and Lovász.

In this article, for a graph G having chromatic number k, Dr. Lattanzio defines an equivalence relation on the set X of all proper vertex k-colorings of G. This leads naturally to an equivalence relation on the set P of all partitions of V(G) into k independent subsets of color classes. He then investigates the notion of a partition type and the algebra of types.

Both presentations take place at 3:30 p.m. in Stright Hall, room 229.

Part I: Dr. Lattanzio

In this presentation, k-dimensional n-square matrices are defined and subsequently matrix graphs arise naturally. Particular matrix graphs will be constructed. An application of two dimensional matrix graphs will be discussed as they provide the only known examples of graph admitting two completely independent critical cliques.

Part II: Dr. Lattanzio and Quan Zheng

The construction of graphs admitting two completely independent critical cliques is generalized from two dimensions to three dimensions. Using 3-dimensional matrix graphs, we demonstrate the existence of an infinite family of graphs, the members of which admit three completely independent critical cliques. It is conjectured that a similar construction, using k-dimensional n-square matrices, can be used to prove the existence of a graph admitting k completely independent critical cliques.

Her article, “Using GAISE and NCTM Standards as Frameworks for Teaching Probability and Statistics to Pre-Service Elementary and Middle School Mathematics Teachers,” discusses statistical concepts that have been identified as necessary for statistical literacy.

The article also describes how an undergraduate course in Probability and Statistics for pre-service elementary and middle school teachers was revised and implemented using the Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education and the NCTM Standards.

Check back during the Spring semester for revised times.

Department of Mathematics

His appearance is in conjunction with the IUP Actuary Club.

Mr. Johnson is a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and an associate of the Casualty Actuary Society.

Department of Mathematics

Baseball is a sport full of numbers and statistics. With a large sample size of a 162-game season, it also is a perfect atmosphere for advanced statistical analysis. Less than 1,000 players competed at the Major League level this past season, but more than 3,000 played in the minor leagues with the hope and ambition of making it to “the big show.” In reality, however, less than 10 percent of these players will actually accomplish that dream. This colloquium contends, using logistic regression, that a probability can be determined for each player in the minor leagues that predicts that player’s chances of making it to the major leagues.

Light refreshments will be provided.

Ross has worked for Eastman Kodak Company, and his current research is in the application of differential equations to problems in biophysics and biochemistry.

Ross will give two presentations on November 3:

• “Mathematical Modeling of Calcium Homeostatis and Bone Remodeling,” 8:00–9:00 a.m. in Wallwork Hall, Room G98 (suitable for those who have studied calculus)
• “A Fully Nonlinear Bellman PDE for Inferring Gibbs Free Energies from Light Scattering Data,” 5:00–6:00 p.m. in Stright Hall, Room 327 (suitable for those who have studied differential equations)

The workshop took place on October 1 and 4, 2010.

Dr. Alarcón and Ms. Casanova, a Chemistry major and Mathematics minor, received the award from FASEB to attend the annual SACNAS Conference from September 30 to October 3 in Anaheim, California. They are trying to initiate a SACNAS student chapter at IUP.

The textbook series is published by Carnegie Learning in Pittsburgh, Pa.

NCATE is the profession’s mechanism to help establish high-quality teacher preparation. Through the process of professional accreditation of schools, colleges, and departments of education, NCATE works to make a difference in the quality of teaching and teacher preparation today, tomorrow, and for the next century. NCATE’s performance-based system of accreditation fosters competent classroom teachers and other educators who work to improve the education of all P-12 students. NCATE believes every student deserves a caring, competent, and highly qualified teacher.

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics recognized the IUP Mathematics Education program as having “a very strong content component. In the past three years, the 36 teacher candidates have passed the Praxis II test, scoring 136 or higher. Nine teacher candidates received recognition from ETS for passing in the top 15% of the field. The program also has a very strong education component with a very well designed and sequenced field experience component culminating with student teaching. An additional strength of the program is that the university professors for both the pre-student teaching courses and the supervisors for the student teaching are members of the Mathematics Department Faculty.”

Dr. Mary Ann Rafoth, dean of the College of Education, recognized the efforts of Dr. Janet Walker, who designed the program’s evaluation system, collected data over the past five years, and compiled the report. “I would like to commend Dr. Janet Walker, Secondary Math Education coordinator, for her hard work in preparing this excellent application,” Rafoth said. “You cannot earn better accolades than those given by NCATE.”

NCATE also selected the IUP Mathematics Education Program report to use as a sample for a successful program application at conferences and on their website. This will be used by NCATE to help other universities and teacher education programs prepare their own reports.

We are happy to have them aboard, and we invite you to learn more about them.

Meet Tim Flowers 

Meet Russell Stocker

In the chapter (co-authored the chapter with Dr. Margaret Niess of Oregon State University), Dr. Walker incorporated an activity that used the IUP Marching Band, and worked with Dr. David Martynuik, who provided charts that he uses with the marching band.

The book is published by the International Society for Technology in Education, Eugene, Oregon, and is edited by Glen Bull and Lynn Bell.

These scholarships are funded by the National Science Foundation Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program under Award No. DUE 0966206, awarded to Dr. Rick Adkins and Dr. Yu-Ju Kuo of the Mathematics Department.

Students receiving these scholarships must maintain a high QPA, attend S-COAM meetings, participate in extracurricular activities (such as workshops and colloquia), and take specified applied mathematics courses. Students with majors outside of the Mathematics Department will also declare a minor in mathematics.

The scholarship winners are:

• Kwasi Abrefa-Kodom, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Exeter, Pa.
• Nathan Adelgren, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Emeigh, Pa.
• Kristen Lester, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Blairsville, Pa.
• Nadia Man, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Philadelphia, Pa.
• William Noel, a graduate student in the M.S. in Applied Mathematics program from Connellsville, Pa.
• Megan Agosti, a Physics Education major from St. Mary's, Pa.
• Jennifer Casanova, a Chemistry major from Indiana, Pa.
• Travis Himes, an Economics/Mathematics major from Rochester Mills, Pa.
• Julie Kardell, a Secondary Mathematics Education major from Indiana, Pa.
• Margo MacKenzie, a Natural Sciences/Pre-Engineering major from Somerset, Pa.
• SaraJane Parsons, a Mathematics major from Negaunee, Mich.
• Jessica Pcola, a Secondary Mathematics Education major from Portage, Pa.
• Sarah Wissinger, a Mathematics major from Mountville, Pa..

The journal is published by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

The workshop took place on August 30, 2010, at the Archdiocese of New York Summer Symposium.

Come meet your department chairperson, your adviser, and other faculty members; learn about resources in the Mathematics Department; and meet other new students.

In additiion, for Secondary Mathematics Education majors, there is a mandatory Teacher Education Meeting on Sunday, August 29, at 1:30 p.m. in Stouffer Hall, Beard Auditorium.

Dr. Morgan came to IUP in 1988 after eight years at Clemson University. Among his many accomplishments, his tenure as graduate coordinator for the department and as director of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics Pre-Professional program were the most time-consuming and the least rewarded. Many will also remember Fred as one of the founders of the Center for Statistics Education in Pennsylvania and for his work on the first Statistics Education through Quantitative Literacy (SEQuaL) grant in 1992. Most importantly to students, his “hot dogs” will remember him as an entertaining and effective instructor.

Dr. Ray also came to IUP in 1988 after earning his doctorate at the Ohio State University. Students will remember Phil as a meticulous lecturer: logical, coherent, and ready with well-chosen examples. Dr. Ray also made sure the mathematics section of the university library was well stocked. Next time you are in section QA, thank Dr. Ray.

Her paper, “Getting Creative with Mathematics,” discussed various activities that could be used in the classroom to teach mathematics in a meaningful way.

Dr. Reilly also presented at the recent meeting of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Association of Multicultural Education. Her paper was entitled “E = MC²: Mathematics and Culture Combined.”

Both courses will run Monday through Thursday, June 1 through July 2, 2010.

MATH 105-511, CRN 30976, will run from 1:00 to 2:50 p.m., and MATH 115-511, CRN 30979, will run from 10:15 a.m. to 12:05 p.m.

This is a great opportunity for students in the greater Pittsburgh area to satisfy requirements without commuting to the Indiana campus.

Directions to the Monroeville site.

For more information, call the Mathematics Department at 724-357-2608 or e-mail dradelet@iup.edu.

Markoff will also give a presentation on the topic at the IUP Undergraduate Scholars Forum on April 1, 2010.

Abstract:

In the early part of this millennium, it was predicted that two well-known games would be solved by the end of the decade: checkers and reversi (Herik, Uiterwijk, and Rijswijck 2002, 306). In 2007, the first half of this prediction became a reality when it was announced that, with perfect play, or the strategy which leads to the optimal outcome regardless of the response(s) of his opponent(s), either player in a game of checkers can force a draw. Sorting through the 5 x 1020 possible checkers positions required around-the-clock computing on, at times, up to 200 processors for nearly twenty years (Schaeffer et al. 2007, 1518). It currently appears unlikely that reversi, with an estimated 1028 possible positions and significantly more possible games than checkers (Allis 1994, 167-8), will be solved before the end of 2010.

Solving the game of reversi would be a multi-year effort with inherent extensive computing and storage requirements unavailable to the author of this thesis. It has, however, been said that a well-defined problem is half solved; the intent of this thesis is to define the characteristics of reversi in such a way that it could be solved given the proper resources. Results from the solution of a reduced form of the game show that equivalent positions can be generated at a reasonable processing cost to greatly reduce physical storage requireme

Time: 3:30 p.m. on March 29, 2010

Location: Stright 302

The teachers attending this Title I math in-service explored ways to:

• Make mathematical tasks worthwhile and engaging for all students
• Differentiate mathematics instruction to meet student needs
• Implement flexible grouping and ongoing assessments in mathematics lessons
• Support purposeful student struggle and identify common misconceptions in mathematics as opportunities for learning
• Incorporate prevention strategies from the response to intervention (RTI) multi-tiered approach in the mathematics classroom
• Support mathematics learning for English Language Learners (ELL).

Dr. Edel Reilly presented sessions on “Literacy and Mathematics: A Bridge to Social Justice” and “The Tangram Tango: Geometric Manipulatives for Elementary Students.” Dr. Margaret Stempien presented “Coloring Maps: Fun with Students in Discrete Mathematics,” and Dr. Mary Lou Metz presented “Fractals: The ‘New Math’ of the 21st Century.”

In addition, four students from the Mathematics Department did presentations at the Pre-Service Teacher Day component of the conference. Hayley Markoff, a junior Secondary Mathematics Education major, presented her research on “Women in Mathematics—Still a Man’s World?” Alyssa Aiello, Daniele Chahoy, and Jay Murgi, all Elementary Education majors from the CCAC cohort with a Mathematics Concentration, presented their lesson, “All About Pittsburgh,” which integrated geometry in the study of the architecture and history of Pittsburgh. Of the seven students presenting at Pre-Service Teacher Day, four were from IUP.

Over one hundred pre-service teachers from fourteen colleges and universities in Pennsylvania attended Pre-Service Teacher Day. IUP was represented by ten students. In addition to the four presenters, Sarah Romasco, Annalese Weldy, Julie Kardell, John Sokol, Heather Hobbins, and Kayla Kohler—all Secondary Math Education majors—participated.

After a quick overview of using the Smart Board, Annalse will show how to create object animations and “training videos.” She will also present a list of research articles discussing the impact of using Interactive Electronic Boards.

Her presentation will be on Tuesday, November 17, 2009, in Stright Hall, room 202, at 3:30 p.m.

Plan to come to G-12 in the Suites on Maple West to learn more!

Thursday, November 5, 2009, at 7:00 p.m.

• Learn ideas, strategies, and techniques to make mathematics important to you and your students.
• Learn more about the proposed Middle School Mathematics certification and degree program.

Department of Mathematics

The program will be held on Thursday, November 12, 2009, at 7:00 p.m. in the Northern Suites. Five alumni of the Mathematics Department, who have a variety of careers in mathematics education, will talk about how their careers as teachers of mathematics led them to their current careers. They will also answer questions from students and others in the audience.

Returning department alumni include Dr. Rose Zbiek, professor of Mathematics Education at Penn State University; Mr. William Hadley, cofounder and former chief academic officer of Carnegie Learning; Dr. John Uccellini, coordinator of K-12 Mathematics for the Indiana Area School District; Ms. Barbara Carnahan, elementary mathematics coach for the Armstrong School District; and Ms. Shari Reed, elementary mathematics specialist for the Bellefonte Area School District. The program is being organized by Dr. Mary Lou Metz, also an alumna of the Mathematics Department.

These review sessions will be conducted by by Drs. Sharp and Stempien. Junior and senior Mathematics Education majors who have not previously passed the Praxis II exam should attend both these sessions and take the Praxis II exam soon.

Department of Mathematics

The presentations will be October 14, 2009, from 4:00–5:00 p.m. in Stright Hall, Room 302, and all are welcome. Ben interned in the IUP Admissions office, Christine worked with the IUP College of Education and Educational Technology, and Cody interned at the Local Management Board of Allegany County in Maryland.

Come hear about their experiences and learn about other internship possibilities.

• Tuesday, October 13
  Stright Hall, Room 201, 4:30–5:30 p.m.
  Topic: Internships and Job Search
• Tuesday, October 27
  Stright Hall, Room 201, 4:30–5:30 p.m.
  Topic: Interviews and the Hiring Process
• Tuesday, November 10
  Stright Hall, Room 201, 4:30–5:30 p.m.
  Topic: TBA
• Tuesday, November 24
  Stright Hall, Room 201, 4:30–5:30 p.m.
  Topic: TBA

Contact Dr. Yu-Ju Kuo for more information.

Department of Mathematics

This year's conference was in honor of the sixty-eighth birthday of Walter Wallis and was held at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

For a graph G having chromatic number k, an equivalence relation is defined on the set X consisting of all proper vertex k-colorings of G. This leads naturally to an equivalence relation on the set P consisting of all partitions of V (G) into k independent subsets of color classes. The notion of a partition type arises and the algebra of types is investigated. Visual assistance is provided by Mathematica.

Dr. Walker and her coauthor, Maggie Niess of Oregon State University, discuss the use of video clips to help students explore mathematical ideas.

The Northern Suites are behind Weyandt Hall, and everyone has access to the lounge area, so no key scan is necessary.

Dr. Reilly also participated in a workshop on mathematics and fiction in Oxford, England.

The article can also be accessed on line. The Post-Gazette is doing a weeklong series on mathematics education.

The Datasets and Stories department of the journal provides a forum for exchanging interesting datasets and discussing ways they can be used effectively in teaching statistics. Rossman compiled his dataset as part of his master's thesis under the direction of Dr. Christoph Maier. His thesis concerned players in baseball's minor league system, and he explored factors that best predict their making it to the major leagues.

Department of Mathematics

Come and meet the other new students, our faculty members, and your academic advisor. Snacks and beverages will be available. The meeting is in Stright Hall, room 226.

The article relates experiences in teaching about elections to a class of fifth graders and connecting the activities to fractions, percent, and working with multiple variables. The journal is published by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and is considered the premier magazine for mathematics education at the elementary school level in the United States.

She is poised to break the IUP career records for goals, assists, and points. Sarah is currently second on the career lists with 57 goals, 31 assists, and 145 points. She is also an excellent student in the Secondary Mathematic Education program who consistently makes the Dean’s List for her high academic performance.

You can read a full article on Romasco on the IUP Magazine website: Mighty Mite.

All three were recommended by a universitywide committee of their peers, and their promotion was recently granted by President Tony Atwater.

Members of the editorial panel are selected from NCTM’s council members that have demonstrated extraordinary leadership in mathematics education. The eleven-member panel is charged with producing and editing ready-to-use mathematics activities for students in grades 5-10. Student Explorations in Mathematics appears five times a year.

Thomas, the daughter of Dale and Tammy Thomas, is a 2008 graduate of Northern Cambria High School. A Math Education major with a Geography minor, she is a member of IUP’s track and field team.

Daniel Griffith is a spatial statistician and is the Ashbel Smith Professor at the University of Texas at Dallas. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Mathematics Education in 1970 and his master’s degree in Geography in 1972 from IUP. He earned a second master’s from Penn State University and his doctoral degree from the University of Toronto. He is a 1982 recipient of an IUP Distinguished Alumni Award and was IUP’s 2008 commencement speaker, receiving an honorary doctoral of science degree at the ceremony.

Griffith and his wife established the Griffith Scholarship to provide interested students with the financial support to pursue a joint program in Geography and Mathematics at IUP. The scholarship is awarded to high-achieving freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior students who have declared an academic course of study as a dual Geography-Mathematics major, a Geography major and a Mathematics minor, or a Mathematics major and a Geography minor.

From left: Dr. Francisco Alarcon, Mathematics Department chairperson; Elizabeth Thomas, Griffith scholarship recipient; and Dr. John Benhart, Geography and Regional Planning chairperson

The student organization, established and advised by Dr. Mary Lou Metz, is one of only two student affiliates in the state of Pennsylvania. Nationally, there are only twenty such students groups in twelve states. The forty-three members of IUP-PTM are secondary Math Education majors and Elementary Education majors at IUP who are interested in developing teaching and leadership skills in mathematics.

From left: Tori Groves, Emily Golden, Jen Hunter, Dr. Mary Lou Metz, and Alyssa Aiello receive the affiliation documents.

Department of Mathematics

The presentation was given to faculty and students in the Mathematics Department at Universidad del Valle in Guatemala City, Guatemala, on May 13, 2009. The presentation consisted of an overview of the life and work of Leonhard Euler, his solution of the Basel Problem, and the connections of that problem with the Riemann Hypothesis.

B.S. Applied Mathematics 

Christopher Lynn DeLeo (Lake City)

Timothy Brannon Muller (Doylestown)

Joseph Damian Veltri, Jr. (New Kensington)

Colin Patrick Zinda (Plover, WI)

B.S. Mathematics 

Lauren Jeanine Abbott (North Potomac, MD)

Adam Craig Moser (Kittanning)

B.S. Ed. Secondary Mathematics Education 

Tori L. Groves (DuBois)

Jennifer L. Hunter (Bellwood)

Jeffrey Daniel Krznaric (West Mifflin)

Jonathan R. Lunieski (Irwin)

Drew Tyson Moyer (Hollidaysburg)

Erin Bethel Porter (Pittsburgh)

Allison L. Yorks (Camp Hill)

M.Ed. Mathematics 

Jason A. Myers (Mount Pleasant)

Traci Renee Stevens (Indiana)

M.Ed. Elementary and Middle School Mathematics Education 

Lisa Marie Thompson (Ford City)

M.S. Applied Mathematics 

Melissa A. Bagi (Indiana)

Amy Berdett Bowser (Reynoldsville)

Jason A. Smith (Punxsutawney)

Tao Sun (Indiana)

The James A. Boytim, Ed.D. Scholarship in Mathematics is awarded to a senior in the Mathematics Department who is of good character and who demonstrates the promise of future success in the education profession. This year’s winner is Annalese Weldy from Canonsburg, Pa. Annalese is a Secondary Mathematics Education major. She was joined at the banquet by one of the people who inspired her, Susan Stonebraker, her elementary school principal.

Kaitlyn Yeomans is the recipient of the Dr. Willard W. Hennemann, Jr., Memorial Scholarship, awarded to a deserving and worthy student with a strong commitment in the field of mathematics education at the elementary or middle school level. Kaitlyn is an Elementary Education major with a Mathematics concentration from Creekside, Pa.

This year’s Tony and Carole Kuczinski Memorial Scholarship winner is Tiffany Cornman, a secondary Mathematics Education major from Home, Pa. Tiffany credits the teachers she had as a student for her decision to pursue mathematics education.

The Arthur G. Morrell Memorial Scholarship is given to a Mathematics major completing the sophomore or junior year at IUP who best reflects the character and interests of Captain Arthur G. Morrell. This year two scholarships were awarded, to Antonio Ayllon and Sarah Romasco. Antonio is an Economics/Mathematics major from Avondale, Pa., who is originally from Mexico. Sarah is a Secondary Mathematics Education major from Freedom, Pa., and is the latest in our tradition of scholar athletes. Sarah a first team member of the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District II squad for women’s soccer.

The second James R. Myers Scholarship was awarded to Rachel Holuta from Indiana, Pa. Rachel is an Elementary Education major with a Mathematics concentration. Rachel was able to meet with Dr. Myers’ family during the ceremony.

The Mildred M. Reigh Scholarship was awarded to Julie Kardell of Indiana, Pa. Julie teaches at the Seeds of Faith Christian Academy in Indiana and is looking to finish her degree in Secondary Mathematics Education.

This year there were two winners of the Rebecca A. Stoudt Memorial Scholarship for Mathematics: Jessica Schnebel and Amelia Uecker. Jessica is a Secondary Mathematics Education major from Pittsburgh who is active in dance and the Robert E. Cook Honors College. Amelia is another Cook Honors College student majoring in Mathematics and Physics. Amelia is from Mason, Ohio, and active in Bella Voce, a choral group that performs at local nursing homes.

The awards banquet is a special time in the life of the department as we honor both our current outstanding students and the IUP faculty and alumni who are an important part of our past.

The session began and ended with a link to research findings of Liping Ma. Participants went through activities that had been done with fifth graders with the help of Katie Bungo (a student in the M.Ed. in Elementary and Middle School Mathematics Education program).

Reilly, along with Julie Bisi, M.Ed. Elementary and Middle School Mathematics ’08, and another middle school teacher from Connecticut reported on their work with two hundred students in exploring math concepts and writing new math stories.

Megan Sheeler won the New Teacher Award at Thornburg Middle School. Megan graduated in May 2008 with a B.S.Ed. in Mathematics Education and currently teaches eighth grade mathematics.

Derek Stiffler won the New Teacher Award at Post Oak Middle School and subsequently won the New Teacher Award for the entire Spotsylvania County School system. Derek is also a May 2008 graduate of the B.S.Ed. in Mathematics Education program. Derek teaches seventh grade mathematics at Post Oak.

Congratulations to Megan and Derek and all of our graduates who do the important work of educating young people.

Reilly’s article “Parental Involvement Through Better Communication” has been included in the Middle Level Education Research Annual 2009 Connecting with Parents and Families published by the National Middle School Association.

IUP Department of Mathematics

SSHEMA is the organization of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) educators who are involved in courses or programs that are considered to be a part of mathematics or the mathematical sciences.

Description: We define an equivalence relation on the set of all k-colorings of a k-chromatic graph. Partition types are subsequently defined from the equivalence classes, and we explore how these algebraic techniques give some insight into a longstanding conjecture of Erdos and Lovasz. Visual aids will be provided by Mathematica.

Dr. Navaratna also presented “Non-linear Filtering with Mobile/Fixed Antennas,” another joint work with Menaka Navaratna, at the February Joint Meeting of the Florida Section of the MAA and the Florida Two-Year College Mathematics Association.

Formal recognition was approved at the February 2009 meeting of NCTM’s Board of Directors, and the group will receive its charter at the Washington, D.C., delegate assembly in April.

Dr. Wu’s research applies mathematical modeling and social science tools to environmental health problems. In particular, she is interested in food safety and indoor environmental quality and the economics of regulating these. This talk will feature her work on genetically modified crops.

The majority of the corn, cotton, and soybean fields we plant today in the U.S. are genetically modified (GM), in most cases for herbicide tolerance and/or pest protection. GM crops have a variety of benefits for growers and secondarily for animals and humans (for example, through mycotoxin reduction), but it is important to fully understand and reduce any potential environmental and food safety risks.

Dr. Wu’s work in this area concerns quantitative benefit-risk assessment of environmental and health impacts of GM crops and application to improving policy. Dr. Wu has focused on issues of pesticide and mycotoxin reduction. For this work, she has spoken at the United Nations Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, on mycotoxin reduction in Bt corn and its health and economic benefits.

About Dr. Felicia Wu

Dr. Wu is an assistant professor of Environmental and Occupational Health at the University of Pittsburgh. She conducts research on the economic and health impacts of agricultural and food safety issues today, including ethanol production from corn, genetically modified crops, and mycotoxins (fungal toxins) in food.

Dr. Wu is the 2007 winner of the Chauncey Starr Award, given annually by the international Society for Risk Analysis to an outstanding risk analyst under age forty. She has a National Institutes of Health Early Career Award as well as grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Dr. Wu serves on the editorial boards of the journals Risk Analysis, World Mycotoxin Journal, and Archives of Environmental and Occupational Health. She earned her Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University and her A.B. from Harvard University.

The goal of this T³ Conference is to provide quality professional development, empowering educators to be successful in the classroom with appropriate use of technology. T³ Conferences are open to all kindergarten to university educators interested in using educational technology to enhance teaching and learning.

We invite you to learn from experienced educators via hands-on and demonstration sessions for both new and experienced users of technology.

Find more information about the T3 Conference.

(Please note the date change.)

Please join us in room 202 Stright Hall at 6:00 p.m.

The updated schedule is as follows:

For MATH 100, 101, 105, or 110:
Monday 12:10–1:10 p.m. in STRGT 202; 4:00–5:00 p.m. in STRGT 202; 6:30–7:30 p.m. in STRGT 202
Tuesday 2:30–4:30 p.m. in STRGT 231
Wednesday 12:10–1:10 p.m. in STRGT 202; 6:30–8:30 p.m. in STRGT 231
Thursday 2:30–4:30 p.m. in STRGT 231

For Other 100-and 200-level MATH courses:
Monday 2:30–5:00 p.m. in STRGT 202; 6:30–8:30 p.m. in STRGT 231
Tuesday 9:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m. in STRGT 231
Wednesday 3:30–5:00 p.m. in STRGT 331; 6:30–8:30 p.m. in STRGT 231
Thursday 9:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m. in STRGT 231

For memorial donations to the Mathematics Department, the family has requested funds be contributed to the Arthur G. Morrell Scholarship fund. Don and Wally Morrell (Art’s dad) were good friends, and since Don himself was a military man, the family thought it would be appropriate.

Checks should be made payable to The Foundation for IUP, and the memo line of the check should contain “Morrell 630142 in memory of Don Duncan.”

The schedule is as follows:

For MATH 100, 101, 105, or 110:
Tuesday 12PM-4:30PM in STRGT232
Thursday 12PM-4:30PM in STRGT232

For other 100- and 200-level mathematics courses:
Tuesday 9AM-4:30PM in STRGT 231
Thursday 9AM-4:30PM in STRGT 231

Additional hours may be added later, so check our news page often.

The New Faces of Engineering program highlights the interesting and unique work of young engineers and the resulting impact on society. Each year, the National Engineers Week Foundation—a coalition of engineering societies, major corporations, and government agencies—asks its members to nominate colleagues thirty years old and younger who have shown outstanding abilities and leadership.

Tessa is a systems engineer in the Advanced Technical Leadership Program for Lockheead Martin in Moorestown, New Jersey. Tessa is also a 2007 recipient of a Young Alumni Ambassador Award from IUP. She will be honored in the winter issue of the SWE Magazine.

This past summer and fall, Colen provided a workshop, “Enhancing Instruction in Mathematics: Numbers and Numeration,” to two hundred Atlanta public school teachers.

The colloquium will be held on Tuesday, October 7, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in Stright 112A.

Social network analysis is a method of research using data to analyze relationships between individuals, organizations, and committees, and driving the concept is the idea that social networks are fundamentally a part of any group or community. The people who know each other and, in turn, know others present a web of power and knowledge. Theoretically, these connections and relationships speak volumes about our society and the individual players, or actors, themselves. This field is very popular amongst social scientists, and even journalists have begun to use it. However, the field is rooted deeply in mathematics—namely graph theory. This presentation will provide an introduction to the basic concepts of social network analysis, some of its fundamental ideas in graph theory, and an overview of software used to perform the analysis. It will also look at several applications of social network analysis, including analyzing a few datasets.

Reilly also presented “Mathematics Apart: Examining the History of Subject Isolation and Its Implications for Mathematics Education” at the History and Pedagogy of Mathematics Meeting in Mexico City, and her paper was accepted for publication in the conference proceedings.

• James Boytim Memorial Scholarship: to Jennifer Hunter, a Mathematics Education major from Bellwood, Pa.
• Mildred M. Reigh Memorial Scholarship: to Sarah Romasco, a Mathematics Education major from Freedom, Pa.
• Willard W. Hennemann, Jr., Scholarship: to Nicole Park, an Elementary Education (mathematics concentration) major from Creekside.
• James R. Myers Memorial Scholarship: to Lyndsay Book, an Elementary Education (mathematics concentration) major from Edinburg, Pa.

Congratulations!