1999-2000 Activity Report

Officers for the 1999-2000 academic year are Jodie Matulja, president; Ben Keck, vice president; Tom Wakefield, secretary; Bob Shuttleworth, historian/webmaster; and Sara LaLumia, treasurer. Officers are Dr. Holcomb and Dr. Faires.

In the fall, PME members helped to prepare local high school students for the American High School Math Exam. Ten problem sessions were held between October 30 and January 29. Approximately thirty junior high and fifteen high school students participated. In November, students took a break from problem solving to attend a YSU football game and tailgating party.

Four PME members took the Putnam exam in December. These students are Dave Eichorn, Ben Keck, Bob Shuttleworth, and Tom Wakefield.

Dr. Faires hosted a Christmas party at his home on December 26, 1999. Both current YSU students and alumni attended.

In February, four students traveled to the University of Nebraska for the Conference for Undergraduate Women in Mathematics. Teresa Selee and Sara LaLumia gave talks. Sarah Grove and Katie Fleming also attended.

A great deal of planning went into the regional conference, held at YSU on February 19. Over 125 people attended and more than thirty talks were given. Although most of the students in attendance were from YSU, there were also visitors from Duquesne, John Carroll, Penn State, University of Akron, and Westminster.

Six YSU teams participated in the COMAP modeling competition held in February. In addition, one team of freshmen (Katie Fleming, Sarah Grove, and Ryan Siskind) participated even though they were unable to submit their solution. Each school is permitted to submit a maximum of six projects.

Ten students (6 of whom are PME members) and three faculty attended the spring meeting of the Ohio MAA on April 7 and 8. The meeting was held at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Other colleges attending included Akron, Ashland, Bowling Green, Capital, Cedarville, Cleveland, Dayton, John Carroll, Kenyon, Marietta, Miami, Ohio, Ohio Northern, Shawnee, and Xavier. YSU sent the greatest number of student speakers. All YSU students gave talks. One YSU faculty member, Dr. Barger, gave a presentation. The students stayed overnight in the dorms and attended invited addresses, faculty and student presentations, and a pizza party.

An induction ceremony was held on April 20. The following students were inducted: Stephen Franz, David Gerberry, David Kananen, Joel Lepak, Marianne Lloyd, Deanna Oles, Enyinda Onunwar, Lucas Pascute, Joni Petrusko, Mario Sallee, Shannon Superak, and Vanessa West. Teresa Selee, Robert Shuttleworth, and Tom Wakefield had been inducted previously.

The chapter is currently planning several events. A calculus competition, partially supported by the chapter, will be held on May 6. The annual banquet will take place on May 12. This year’s speaker is Ray Flannery, a YSU alumnus currently at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. Several YSU students will attend the Joint PME/MAA summer meeting in Los Angeles. The chapter is also in the process of updating its constitution.