Sometimes, being Chair is like riding a bucking horse. It is hard to do much else than hang on. In such a state, it is difficult to think up any pithy lines for the newsletter. As a result, I will limit my comments to a few nuts and bolts items.
The Department is growing. The number and quality of math majors are increasing. As you can see from this newsletter, we have added two new faculty members, Dr. Sandra Richardson and Dr. Kyehong Kang. We are expecting great things from them and we are already seeing very good results from having them on board. Because of limited space, we were able to reengineer Lucas 200G and adjoining closet into two very nice faculty offices.
We were able to redesign our BA/BS degrees. All degrees have the same well thought out core. I must commend the Curriculum Committee of the Department for their good work. We expect our new degree plans to be more attractive to potential majors. We must tweak our course offerings especially the calculus sequence. It is in those introductory courses (including some core classes) that students need to see real mathematics not just mechanics. For better or worse, calculus is the front door for most mathematics majors. As a result, we must make those courses attractive while maintaining the integrity of the discipline.
We are attempting to examine the graduate program this year. Big issues are financing and curriculum although there are no unimportant ones. It is mandatory that we get our graduate stipends up to a competitive level.
At any rate, we are making good progress in making those changes that fit the mission of Lamar University and that are exciting for students and faculty alike.
We are pleased to welcome two new tenure-track faculty members, Dr. Sandra Richardson and Dr. Kyehong Kang, as the newest additions to our faculty.
Dr. Sandra Richardson is Assistant Professor with a joint appointment in the Department of Mathematics and the Department of Professional Pedagogy. She received her Ph. D. in Mathematics Education in 2004 from Purdue University. Her area of expertise is problem solving and mathematical thinking.
Dr. Kyehong Kang is Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics. He received his Ph. D. from Virgina Tech University in the area of applied mathematics. He is also very interested in educational technology, particularly computer-based instruction.
Departmental academic scholarship recipients for the 2004-2005 academic year and their donors are:
| Ralph and Ruth Brookner Scholarship | Paul Hay |
| Annie Sue and Richard Green Scholarship | Joseph Hunt and Janet Sossamon |
| Homer Dennis Scholarship | Jessica Clark and Clint Jones |
| Margaret Lumpkin Lakey Scholarship | Clint Jones |
A number of our majors are also being funded by scholarships by the National Science Foundation funded Computer Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Scholarship Program (CSEMS). The CSEMS program is being administered under the direction of Professors Matheson, Andreev, and Daniel.
Congratulations to these outstanding students!
The Putnam team is under the direction of Dr. J.Baker. There were six students who took the 2003 Putnam Exam on December 6. They were Frances Read, Joni Espinosa, Katie Tyler, Clint Jones, Jessica Clark, and Tiffany Stafford. The median grade on that test was 1 point, and all but one of our six students made that score. This year the 2004 Putnam exam will be given on December 4, and we have five students who will be taking it. They are Joseph Hunt, Clint Jones, Jessica Clark, Paul Hay, and Janet Sossamon. Good Luck!
The department held its annual awards luncheon this past May. The luncheon was held at the China Border restaurant and was well attended by students, retired faculty, current faculty, and special guests. Students were recognized for their academic accomplishments. Frances Read Iglesias was selected as our Outstanding Senior.
We are pleased to continue to report the successes of our recent graduates. Mr. Ravi K. Nukala (M.S., '02) is an Instructor at Kilgore College in Kilgore, Texas. Mr. Alfred de la Rosa (M.S., ’03) is presently teaching at L.I.T. Ms. Mandy Arnold (B.S. ’03) and Mr. Jason James (B.S. ’03) have entered the M.S. program and Ph. D. program, respectively, in mathematics at University of Texas at Austin. Congratulations also to Sunnee Stevenson and Loretta Morgan. They are the first graduates (May, ’03) of the recently created M. Ed. with Specialization in Mathematics.
Recent B.S. graduates are Joni Espinosa, Vivian Lane, Monica Meraz, Katie Tyler and Tiffany Stafford. Katie is teaching at W.O middle school and Tiffany is teaching at Vidor H.S. and Lamar Orange. Congratulations to each of these alumni - we are proud of you! If you are a mathematics alumnus, be sure that you are registered in the alumni database on the departmental website (http://www.math.lamar.edu/).
GT-TAME (Golden Triangle - Texas Alliance for Minorities in Engineering) announced the establishment of the Dr. Richard L. Price, I Endowment Scholarship for Engineering Students at Lamar University. In Phase I, Ms. Annie Carter (Chevron Phillips) conducted a Silent Campaign to raise $10,000. To date that amount has been surpassed. In Phase II, announcements will be conducted on a national level to include former students of Dr. Price who have been directly impacted by his presence at Lamar, in the state and across the country. Quoting from Mr. Oscar Polk, a Lamar Graduate, “Eastman Chemical Company would like to pay honor to Dr. Richard L. Price for the excellent job he has done over the years with the Minority Engineering Program at Lamar, his demonstrated commitment to the GT-TAME organization, along with his contributions as a National, Regional, and Chapter Advisor to the National Society of Black Engineers.”
Congratulations to Dr. Jennifer Daniel; she has been chosen to be a Project NExT Fellow for the academic years 2004-2005. Project NExT (New Experiences in Teaching) is a program for new or recent Ph.D.s in the mathematical sciences who are interested in improving the teaching and learning of undergraduate mathematics.
Dr. Charles Coppin is President-Elect for the Texas Association of Academic Administrators of the Mathematical Sciences (TAAAMS). Dr. Coppin will serve during the academic years 2005-2006. Congratulations to Dr. Coppin!
Doug Brumbaugh, Peggy Moch , and MaryE Wilkinson, “Mathematics for Elementary School Teachers”(textbook), Lawrence Elbaum, 2004
P. Chiou and K. C. Chang, "Conditional interval estimation of the ratio of extreme-value scale (Weibull shape) parameters following rejection of a pre-test" accepted for publication in Journal of Statistical Research
P. Chiou and W. Miao, “Interval estimation for the difference between exponential guarantee time parameters” accepted for publication in Journal of Probability and Statistical Science
D. Daniel, J. Nikiel, B. Treybig, M. Tuncali, and E. D. Tymchatyn, “Concerning continua that contain no metric subcontinua,” Houston Journal of Mathematics, Vol. 30, No. 4, 2004
D. Daniel, Contributed presentation: “On Metrizability of Images of Ordered Compacta,” 2004 Spring Topology and Dynamical Systems Conference, University of Alabama at Birmingham, March 25-27, 2004
J. Daniel and A. G. Helminck, “Algorithms for Computations in Local Symmetric Spaces”, submitted to Journal of Symbolic Computation
J. Daniel, Contributed presentation: “Computations in Local Symmetric Spaces”, 2003 Weekend Algebra Meeting; Florida Atlantic University; November 8, 2003.
J. Daniel, Contributed presentation: “Computing a Basis for the Local Symmetric Space, p”, MAA-AMS Joint Mathematics Meeting; Phoenix, Arizona; January 7, 2004
J. Daniel “Crystallographic Groups and the Artwork of M.C. Escher”, Gray Library Lecture Series
S. Richardson, Address: A design study: Tracing the development, diffusion, and appropriation of mathematical ideas in middle school students. North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, Toronto, Canada.
Wm. Ted Mahavier, Invited address: World Congress of Non-linear Analysts - Special Session on Sobolev Descent Methods
MaryE Wilkinson, Invited address: Seventh Annual Legacy of Moore Conference
The Department is grateful to the University and Entergy Texas for funding MathFest! activities for 2004-2005. The Department is grateful to the Educational Advancement Foundation for partial funding of the project “Student Centered Geometry”. The Lamar component of this project is being directed by Drs. Coppin and Daniel.
If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to the Department, please make your check payable to the Lamar University Department of Mathematics and send to:
| Lamar University | |
| Department of Mathematics | |
| P. O. Box 10047 | |
| Beaumont, Texas 77710-0047 |
If you have questions or comments, please write to the address above or call us at (409)-880-8792.
1. Prove that, in the sequence of all integers, there are arbitrary long runs with no primes.
2. The time on your watch is off. Comparing it to an accurate clock, you notice that every 65 minutes, the hour hand and the minute hand are together. Does your watch gain or lose, and how much per hour?
1. For each natural number N?2, each of N!+2, N!+3, …, N!+N is composite.
2. On an accurate clock, the hands are together every 65+5/11 minutes. So every 65 minutes your watch gains 5/11 minutes, so every hour your watch gains (5/11)(60/65)=60/143 minutes.