The Math Major
CSU Fresno Mathematics Department
September 3, 1996
Vol 1. No. 1
Editor: Dr. Larry Cusick
Welcome
This is the first issue of a biweekly mathematics department newsletter.
In it you will find the occasional bit of math news along with announcements of department events and
opportunities for math majors (or minors). Each issue will also have a problem corner.
Students are encouraged to participate in the problem corner by submitting
solutions to posed problems. Comments and/or suggestions about The Math Major should be sent to Dr. Larry Cusick (Larry_Cusick@CSUFresno.EDU).
New Math Faculty Member
Dr. Sean Cleary joined the math department Spring semester of 1996. Dr. Cleary
recieved his Ph.D from UCLA in 1992 with a dissertation entitled ``Finiteness Properties of Groups of Piecewise-Linear Homeomorphisms." His undergraduate degree is from Cornell University, where he studied both mathematics and physics.
Dr. Cleary
has taught at UC Davis and the University of Pennsylvania. His research area is geometric topology and his research interests include topics from group theory, differential geometry and the topology of manifolds and cell complexes. He as recently been trying to understand some of the connections between differential geometry and group theory.
Some of his non-mathematical activities include bicycling and mountaineering.
Checkout his web page: http://math.math.csufresno.edu/~cleary/home.html.
New Department Chair
The department has a new chair this semester. Dr. Robert Arnold took over from
Dr. Rudy Najar in July. Dr. Arnold has served as chair of the department twice
before.
Advisors
Who do you see if you have a problem or need advise? If you are a graduate
student (or you just want some information on our graduate program) you should
talk to the Graduate Advisor Dr. Sun. Undergraduates should see the appropriate
advisor from the list: Freshman (Dr. Cohen), Sophmore (Dr. Haslam), Junior (Dr. Sun) and
Senior (Dr. Wagoner). For teaching credentional information you should talk to
Dr. Tuska.
Readers Needed
If you are interested in working as a reader (grader), please stop by the
department office (PB 381) to fill out an application.
Scholarship Opportunities
There are many university scholarships available. Some are need-based and others are non-need-based. For information on scholarships contact the university Financial Aid Office: Joyal Administration, Room 296 (278-2182).
PB 428
Where can you find other math majors? Try PB 428 (Peters Building). The room has been reserved for math majors during all times of the day. If you are a new math major, stop by and meet some of the other mathies. It can be a place to socialize, or study. It's up to you.
Math Club
Is there a Math Club? Would you like to have a Math Club? What would a Math Club do? These are questions only students can answer. If you're interested, start networking now.
Fresno Problem Solving Group
If you are interested in attacking challenging problems only for glory, join the Fresno Problem Solving Group. . We work on problems that are posed
in some of the undergraduate math journals (Math Horizons, Mathematics Magazine, College Mathematics Journal
and the Mathematical Monthly). Last year, one of our solutions appeared in Math
Horizons. Contact Dr. Cusick at 278-2462 or e-mail at
Larry_Cusick@CSUFresno.EDU. We will meet once a week--the day and time to be determined by individual schedules.
Use the Internet to Explore Math
The department now has a web page: http://www.csufresno.edu/math. It is still
under construction, but you can now find faculty office telephone numbers (and a
few faculty home pages) along with course descriptions and links to other math related web pages.
New Internet math web sites are springing up every day. For example, if you are interested in geometry there is the Geometry Center at the University of Minnesota (http://freeabel.geom.umn.edu ). There are sites for any kind of mathematics you are interested in. A good starting point is to use an internet search tool (like Yahoo!) for your topic. For math education you can go to Swarthmore's Math Forum (http://forum.swarthmore.edu).
Problem Corner
Each issue of the Math Major will contain the Problem Corner. Students are
encouraged to submit a solution to the posed problem. Students who submit a
correct solution will be listed in the following issue. To recieve credit, the
solution must be recieved by the posted date and time. At the end of the semester, the student with the most correct solutions will win $75. There will be a second prive of \$50. In case of a tie, the winners will share the $125.
Solutions may be delivered to the
math department office (for Dr. Cusick) or by e-mail to or e-mail at
Larry_Cusick@CSUFresno.EDU.
Problem 1.1
(Due Thursday Sep 12, 4pm) A ten story building is
being refurbished. All ten floors need to be painted. There are two possible
colors, white and blue. Each floor is to be painted one color, but no two blue
floors can be on top of one another. In how many ways can this be done? (It
should go without saying that what is wanted here is the correct number along
with a proof that your number is correct.)
CSU Fresno Math Department Home Page
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