OAKLAND UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS AND STATISTICS
ADVISING NEWSLETTER
FALL, 2000 -- Volume 6, Number 1
Early registration coming
Here's a rundown on the advanced undergraduate courses being offered
Winter 2001, as you continue thinking about your course
selections (early registration starts November 13, and
you can register on the Web).
Don't forget that we now have a 1-credit computer
laboratory, MTH 266, as an optional supplement to the 3-credit
Linear Algebra course (MTH 256). You can take it along with the main
course, or you can take it in a later semester. The MATLAB package is
used to solve interesting linear algebra problems.
For more details, contact Professor Singer(dwsinger@oakland.edu, 450 SEB, 370-4023).
MTH 414: History of Mathematics (Wright, TuTh 7:30
PM)
You should have completed MTH 351 in order to have the level of
mathematical sophistication needed to understand the history of the
subject as it will be taught here. Professor Wright usually stresses the
history of calculus, using original sources. The course is required for
majors who are in the Secondary Teacher Education Program (and an
elective for other math majors), and it is
offered every Winter.
MTH 453: Advanced Calculus II (Shi, MWF 1:20 PM)
This is a continuation of MTH 351 and is required for the Bachelor of
Science degree in mathematics (and is an elective for the Bachelor of
Arts). It is offered every Winter, if enrollment warrants.
MTH 475: Abstract Algebra (C. Cheng, MW 3:30
PM)
This
course provides an
introduction to groups, rings, and fields. It is hard to describe these
topics before you study them, but if you liked the more abstract parts of
linear algebra, you'll feel right at home in this course. MTH 475 is
required of all mathematics majors, and it's offered every Winter.
APM 434: Applied Numerical Methods (Jiang, TuTh 5:30
PM)
This course will be offered if there is sufficient interest. It
deals
with solving problems in linear algebra efficiently with numerical
algorithms.
MOR 342: Introduction to Operations Research
(Schochetman, TuTh 3:30
PM)
Operations research involves applying mathematical models such as
matrix theory to problems in management, such as where to locate
warehouses. This course is an elective for mathematics majors and is
offered about once every two years.
STA 323: Design of Experiments (Khattree, MW 7:30
PM)
If
you liked STA 226, and especially the time spent studying analysis of
variance, you should look into this course. All statistics majors will
take this course, and it is an elective for math majors. It is
recommended that you have taken STA 322 first. This course is offered
every Winter.
STA 428: Mathematical Statistics (Ogunyemi, MW 5:30
PM)
This is the continuation of STA 427. If you're taking STA 427
now,
you're probably already planning to take this course. The STA 427-428
sequence is offered every year.
In all cases, you can obtain further information by talking to the
instructor.
If you have a request for future years, make your desires known to us!
Also, don't forget that you can do an independent study
of topics not
regularly offered as courses. And if you meet the prerequisites, consider
taking graduate courses or advanced computer science courses. In
particular, look into the analysis of algorithms course
(APM 567, Professor E. Cheng, TuTh 5:30). (Students who find scheduling
difficulties can also substitute STA 501 for STA 226.)
What's new?
The Department has four new faculty faces this fall. Serge
Kruk and Anna Spagnuolo have joined us as
Assistant Professors. Serge recently obtained his PhD from the University
of Waterloo, with a dissertation in continuous optimization. Anna was an
Oakland University undergraduate math major several years ago, and also
obtained her masters degree here, before heading off to Purdue University
for her doctorate in numerical analysis, and a postdoctoral position at
Texas A&M. Dan Singer is a Visiting Assistant Professor
this year (PhD from University of California at San Diego in
combinatorics). Finally, Assistant Professor Babette
Benken holds a joint appointment in mathematics and the School of
Education. She just finished her PhD in mathematics education from the
University of Michigan, and her role will be primarily with the methods
course and intern supervision for the mathematics Secondary Teacher
Education Program, as well as the MTE courses (mathematics content) for
elementary education majors. Please make these new members of the
Department feel at home!
You've probably noticed the wonderful wall tiling in
the hallway outside the Department office (368 SEB). Designed and
executed by Richard Ulrich, a local artist who has taken
many mathematics courses at Oakland, this work features intricate
geometric patterns and tiles that tell the story of the development of
mathematics.
Professor Marc Lipman has been reappointed to a 3-year
term as Department Chair. Professor Barry Turett is on
leave this year, conducting research at a university in Germany.
Professor Devadatta Kulkarni is on a leave of absence to
work in the research center at General Motors.
Become a tutor
The Academic Skills
Center (103 NFH, 370-4215) always needs more mathematics
tutors. If you've had several mathematical sciences
courses at OU and want to help your fellow students (while at the same
time gaining valuable experience and earning a little spending money, with
very flexible hours, and gaining valuable experience, especially if you
are interested in a career in education), check it out.
We also are looking for graders for our courses
(particularly MTH 154-155) to correct homework the students turn in.
Contact the Department office (368 SEB, 370-3430) if you are interested.
On a related front, you might consider being an orientation
group leader (OGL) next summer, and have a chance to influence
incoming students. Contact the New Student Programs Office (134 NFH,
370-3260) for further information and application procedures.
Contact information
The editor of the Advising
Newsletter is Professor Jerrold Grossman, the chief
undergraduate adviser in the Department. We welcome your comments and
suggestions; in fact, we welcome your contributions of
material, if there's something you'd like to share with your
fellow majors.
The department's very useful Web Page has the
following
URL:
http://www.math.oakland.edu). Come have a look! Netscape browsers are
available on the computers in the computer laboratories on campus.
All faculty have e-mail addresses that are the same as
their last names (followed by @oakland.edu), with certain exceptions:
bjiang, dwsinger, echeng, pshi, schochet, spagnuol, and w2zhang. Phone
numbers and office locations can be obtained from the Department office
(368 SEB, 370-3430) or the Web.
Keep the advisers busy Majors in mathematics or statistics
should consult with their advisers at least once a year.
Professor Grossman is currently the departmental chief adviser, and he can
be found in Room 346 SEB most of every day (370-3443, grossman@oakland.edu). Sit down with him
to review your progress, check the myriad graduation requirements, explore
your options after you graduate, or just talk about mathematics. He has
some nice give-aways, too, such as a booklet prepared by the Mathematical
Association of America spotlighting careers in the mathematical sciences,
and copies of recent issues of Math Horizons, a magazine for
majors.
S.A.M.: the math club
All it takes to reactivate Students for the Advancement of
Mathematics (S.A.M.) as an official campus organization is for a
few energetic undergraduates to step forward and assume the roles of
president and treasurer and plan activities for this year. Please contact
Professor Grossman and get involved to keep it alive. The university
provides funding for speakers and other activities. It's a great way to
pursue your interests and socialize at the same time.
Calling all problem solvers
The annual Putnam Examination will be given on Saturday,
December 2. Match your skills against undergraduates from all over North
America in the most challenging mathematics test you'll ever take,
consisting of two 3-hour blocks, with six problems to solve in each. (See
the Web site http://math.scu.edu/putnam/ for more
information.) To sign up, contact professors Eddie Cheng
or Darrell Schmidt, this year's coaches. They are
running prep sessions this fall, at which you can hone your
problem-solving skills by looking at old versions of the exam. Three of
you will form OaklandÕs team to compete with hundreds of other schools
throughout North America. In 1999, the OU team placed an amazing 36th!
A mathematical modeling competition is also held each winter. If there
is enough interest, Oakland can field a team. For information, visit http://www.comap.com/mcm/mcm.htm,
and let us know if you want to participate.
Math majors honored The Department has selected Matt
Halfan to receive the fourth annual Louis R. Bragg
Graduating Senior Award, given each year to the most outstanding
major in mathematics or statistics. Matt is now a mathematics graduate
student at the University of Waterloo in Ontario.
A personal look
Each issue of the Newsletter will include a feature on one member of
the
Department faculty, telling you a little about his/her life and interests,
both professional and personal. We are proceeding by seniority, and for
this issue we focus on
Professor Subbaiah Perla, who has been at Oakland since
1976. He did his undergraduate work at the Indian Statistical Institute
in Calcutta, and he received his PhD in statistics at the University of
Rochester in New York. He also spent one year at the University of
Vermont.
Dr. Perla's research interests revolve around multivariate statistical
methods and their applications in industry and the health sciences. He
has written over 30 research papers, and he has consulted with several
area health professionals as well as practitioners and researchers in
other fields, both on and off campus.
Professor Perla has taught a wide range of statistics courses at
Oakland,
as well as some of the basic undergraduate mathematics courses, such as
calculus and linear algebra. Part of his graduate-level teaching has
occurred off campus at Ford and GM.
Professor Perla lives in Bloomfield Hills with his wife, Ratnavali, who
is
a pediatrician. Their daughter, Durga, is a biophysics major at Johns
Hopkins University in Maryland. In his spare time, Dr. Perla likes to
listen to Indian music, attend cultural events, and interact with other
Americans from his native country, especially his home state of Andhra
Pradesh in southern India, through the Detroit Telugu Association and the
Bharatiya Temple.
Try these problems
1. You have a serious illness for which you need to take one of pill A
and one of pill B every morning. Not taking your pills, or overdosing,
has dire consequences, and these pills are expensive, so you don't want to
waste any. Unfortunately, the pills look exactly the same once you take
them out of the labeled pill boxes -- you can't tell an A from a B. This
morning you have a bottle of each kind. You open up the A bottle and
shake a single pill into your palm. Then you open up the B bottle and, to
your horror, two B pills pop into your palm. Being upset, you then drop
the three pills on the table and now you can't tell which is which. So
you have three pills there, an A and two B's, but they all look alike.
Remember, you must take exactly one of each pill each day, and you don't
want to waste any. What can you do?
2. Three suitors for the king's daughter are engaged in a contest; the
winner will get her hand. Each of them is pretty clever. Here's how the
contest works. First, each of them is blind-folded and has either a red
hat or a white hat placed on his head; no one can see the color of his own
hat. Then they are all led into a room and sit in a circle. They are
told that if they see a red hat, then they are to raise their hand, and
once someone knows the color of the hat on his own head, then he is to
stand up, and he wins the contest (if he is correct). The blindfolds are
removed, and all of them raise their hands. After a few minutes have gone
by, one of the guys (the cleverest one) stands up. What color hat was he
wearing, and how did he know?