DRAFT--------DRAFT-----------DRAFT---------DRAFT Report on the 74-th Annual Meeting of the Wisconsin Section of the Mathematical Association of America Report submitted July 04, 2006 The 74-th Annual Spring Meeting of the MAA-Wisconsin Section was hosted by UW-Whitewater the weekend of April 21-22, 2006. Registration began at noon, Friday, in the Horicon Lounge, in the building called Campus Center on the UW-Whitewater campus. Talks began at 1:00 p.m. Friday, and the last talk was an invited address from 11:00 a.m. until noon on Saturday. From 5:30 til 6:30 there was a reception and cash bar and, concurrently, a student competition, Face-Off, which had been organized by Ken Price and Steve Szydlik and their student Adam Bremberger, all from UW-Oshkosh. The banquet followed the reception and competition, Friday evening, with a serving line offering salad, rolls, a choice of vegetable, and a choice of entrees. A beverage and desert were served by the wait staff. The banquet was attended by 153 persons. After the meal came awards. First there were awards for "Face Off -- The Math Game Show". These were presented by John Koker, UW-Oshkosh. UW-Platteville (Team Newton) finished first, followed closely by St. Norbert College (Team Byron) and UW-Rock County (Team La Grange). Other teams came from Carthage College, UW-Rock County, UW-Eau Claire, and UW-Whitewater. Seven teams competed since two came from UW-Rock County. Teams ranged in size from two team members to four. No more than four students are allowed on a team, and the competition is for students only. Here are several sample questions: Bad Math Puns: What do you call an attractive 3-sided polygon? Big Ideas: How many zeros are there at the end of 100! ? Face Book: A simply connected polyhedron has 6 vertices and 12 edges. How many faces does it have? Thinking Cap: What is the largest denomination that cannot be made using 6 cent and 7 cent stamps? Final Challenge: Write 800 as the sum of two or more consequetive integers. Each solution was worth 25 points. No team came up with more than one. The competition was lots of fun and was very popular. The Chancellor of UW-Whitewater attended the competition and was very supportive, earning UW-Whitewater top honors for being a gracious and supportive host university for a mathematical evet. Four local teachers received the Wisconsin Section Award for Distinguished High School Mathematics Teaching. The teachers and presenters, who made tastful award speeches, were 1. Diana Callope, Whitewater Middle School, Whitewater; award presented by Julie Letellier 2. Michael Tamblyn, Whitewater High School, Whitewater; award presented by Geetha Samaranayake 3. Gayna Gabor, Watertown High School, Watertown; award presented by Joan Stamm 4. Joan Fitzgerald, Jefferson High School, Jefferson; award presented by Manasi Sheth After the teaching awards to high school and middle school teachers came the presentation of the 2006 Wisconsin Section Award for Distinguished University Teaching in the Mathematical Sciences. This year the award went to Professor Robert Calcaterra, UW-Platteville. Andy Matchett presented the award, and then Rob came to the podium and said a few well- chosen words. Matchett's presentation speech and Calcaterra's response are appended to this report. Next, Andy Matchett, Secretary/treasurer since April, 1985, was surprised when he was presented with a beautiful plaque commemorating his 21 years of service to the section. He thanked the Section for this honor, and he commended all those very fine people on the Executive Committee that he has worked with over the years. Matchett also wished his successor well, Mark Snavely, of Carthage College. After the awards came the after-dinner-address by Thomas Banchoff, Brown University on leave at the University of Georgia. Banchoff gave a most entrancing talk on the fourth dimension, the Spanish painter Salvadore Dali, and on the relationships among that painter, that dimension, and himself. The technology performed flawlessly. Memorable quote on the occasion of a little spinning wheel remaining on the computer screen for perhaps thirty seconds: "My wife calls this the wheel of death and has instructed me not to touch the keyboard until it is gone." But the technology did perform flawlessly and the talk on the Dali dimension was enjoyed by all. BOOKSALE Jim Marty could not be at the meeting to run the book sale, so it was run by Jon Kane. A total of 9 books were sold for gross sales of $ 247.75. Of this total, $27.00 was a credit card purchase of 2 books, while the rest was in cash and checks. Gross proceeds from the booksale are sent to the national office. In return, the national office gives the section a 10% commission. Wisconsin Project NExT There was a special luncheon on Saturday for members of Wisconsin Project NExT. The cost to the section was $ 123.94. INCOME Meeting Registrations Amount 58 students $ 0.00 4 School teachers receiving awards 0.00 33 regular registrations at meeting @ 20.00 660.00 1 retiree registered at meeting @ 10.00 10.00 6 retirees pre registered @ 10.00 60.00 1 high school teacher pre registered @ 10.00 10.00 6 invited or supported speakers 0.00 18 non members pre registered @ 17.00 306.00 7 publisher exhibits @ 50.00 350.00 76 regular members pre registered @ 15.00 1140.00 Total number of participants: 210 $ 2536.00 Miscellaneous income $ 120.25 Banquet Reservations by category 48 students @ 5.00 240.00 8 School teachers and guests (Teaching awardees) 0.00 12 reservations purchased at the meeting @ 20.00 240.00 4 retired persons pre registering @ 17.00 68.00 5 invited or supported speakers 0.00 10 non MAA members preregistering @ 17.00 170.00 1 publisher representative @ 17.00 17.00 65 regular members, pre-registered @ 17.00 1105.00 Total banquet sales $ 1840.00 Total income (excluding book sales) $ 4496.25 COSTS 153 dinners (Buffet style) 2092.50 Before dinner reception 3 dozen mini quiche 40.47 3 dozen stuffed celery 14.97 spinach dip 27.99 Refreshments at student competition 4 gallons lemonade 35.96 4 dozen cookies 23.96 2 lb pretzels 10.98 2 lb potato chips 10.98 2 lb party mix 13.98 Refreshments for Friday afternoon 6 dozen cookies 35.94 2 gallons of iced tea 17.98 3 gallons of coffee 32.97 Refreshments for Saturday morning 5 gallons of coffee 54.95 4 dozen tea breads 27.96 3 dozen small sweet rolls 26.97 Subtotal (total bill from Chartwells dining services) $2468.56 Travel expenses and honoraria for speakers 867.90 Bus transportation for the theater group 245.00 Total costs (excluding Project NExT) $ 3581.46 Spring Meeting Profit: $ 914.79 The accounting for the NExT program and the accounting for the Book Sale are treated separately. Julie Letellier was the chair of the orgainzing committee for the meeting. She had lots of help from Geetha, Joan, and Manasi. Other members of the UW-Whitewater Math Department pitched in as well. Also Mohammad was responsible for finding the monies to bring Tim Pennings to campus. To all these good colleagues at UW-Whitewater, thank you for a wonderful meeting. Of course accolades are also due to J. Sriskandarajah, chair elect for 2005- 06. Publishers representatives: Anita Bartelson John Wiley & Sons Ruth M. Baruth Freeman & Worth Larry Granec Prentice Hall Timothy Maruna McGraw-Hill Lisa Miller Thompson Higher Education (Includes Brooks/Cole) Bob Ross Houghton Mifflin Shannon Schaefer Addison-Wesley, Benjamin Cummings Respectfully submitted, Andrew Matchett Secretary/treasurer APENDIX The presentation of the 2006 distinguished teaching award The 2006 award for distinguished college or university mathematics teaching goes to Robert Calcaterra of UW-Platteville. I first noticed Rob at the Wisconsin Section annual spring meeting at UW Green Bay in 1995. Rob had brought several students to that meeting to give talks. I remember one talk in particular. The young man was a little nervous, but stated his result clearly and developed the proof. He finished with 3 or four minutes to spare. After questions were answered, Rob in his laid back, matter of fact way, said something like "Well, you skipped the main lemma and left out the Chinese Remainder Theorem, but that's ok." So the student had left two gaping holes in the proof he presented but Rob pronounced it ok. I knew then that I was in the presence of a very special teacher. He had the charisma to get that kid to sign up to give a talk in the first place, then he had the grace and respect for the audience to lay the flaws of the talk bare, but the sensitifity to do so in a way that did not hurt any feelings or make for any awkwardness in that room, and then to top it off he had the ... authority .. to say that it was OK. And, his saying it made it OK. There is a deep lesson there in how you give honest feedback to students without devastating them. Paul Erdos said that there are no authorities in mathematics. However, that day I felt that I was in the presence of an authority on how to make students take to abstract algebra. Rob was nominated for the distinguished teaching award by the chair of his department, and I want to quote from the narrative she wrote. "Dr Calcaterra has high standards and makes his students work very hard, but they seem to really apresiate it. His students continually comment on his enthusiasm toward teaching mathematcs, his ability to make hard things simple, and his support and interest in their academic development. " She also says: "Dr. Calcaterra is always willing to help out when needed. If a faculty member is ill, Dr. Calcaterra is one of the first peole to lend a helping hand. He is an extremely competant mathematician and can teach almost any mathematics class at a moment's notice. He has also done extensive curriculum revision at UWP over the years, including classes such as statistics and modern algebra." Another colleague says this: "Rob is not an entertainer. He does not do magic tricks or sing the digits of pi. He is not constantly chasing after the newest trends in classroom management or alternative assessment. He has an old fashioned style and does a terrific job of teaching". He knows how and when to challenge his students and how and when to give them a boost". And this from a former chair of the department. " To many of our students, particularly our best students, Dr. Calcaterra was almost a cult leader. They became quite insistent on taking only courses from him. When I would inquire as to why they had to have Dr. Calcaterra they would usually state that his lectures were crisp and clear and that he challenged their intellect. When I would retort that I was sure other teachers in the department did this, they would tell me "Well not in the same way. They would tell me: From some teachers the questions are ridiculously easy and from other teachers they are nearly impossible." Here are some student comments: "What sets dr calcatera apart from others is his supreme intelligence and his ability to challenge his students. For me personally, the most challenging aspect of his course was his extremely rigorous homework. Through his demanding course work i have developed my skills as a mathematician, especilally in the area of writing mathematicsl proofs. Becaues of his constant expectation of exactness in all work, I now find myself stribving to reach that same level in all my mathematics courses. another says "The first word that comes to mind when I think of Dr. Calcaterra is genius. In the same breath, I also think humble, for i guarantee you will never hear him admit to his superior intelligence." And the comments go on and on like this. So it is very clear that Rob is indeed a very gifted teacher. ANd therefore it is highly appropropriate to honor him with the Wisconsin Section distinguished teaching award. Please join me in congratulating Rob. Robert Calcaterra's response I would like to thank the section and the selection committee for this award. There are so many gifted and hard working people in the section that I feel that there is nothing very extraordinary about my teaching. I was quite surprised when Andy informed me of the committee's decision. I would also like to thank my colleagues and students at Platteville for recommending me for this honor. It is a privilege to work with so many talented and dedicated people. I prefer to view this award, and hope others will as well, as a collective achievement of the department at Platteville instead of an individual accomplishment. As with anyone in our profession, I have had excellent role models as a student. The two most significant for me were David Bloom from my undergraduate days at Brooklyn College and Marty Isaacs from my days as a graduate student in Madison. Both were brilliant mathematicians whose love for mathematics came out in their teaching and was highly infectious. Lastly, I need to thank my wife and son. When reading my student evaluations, they seem most appreciative of - not my legendary generous grading - but my availability and the time and effort I expend on their behalf. Of course, the hours I devote to students are hours I cannot spend with Judy and Bryan. Although I know they would prefer I spend the time with them, they give me the latitude I need to do my job effectively. For this, I thank them. Thank you all again.