UMKC Department of Mathematics and Statistics What's New News and Events Students

UMKC Department of Mathematics and Statistics

What's New
in Student-Related Matters?

[Student talks, awards, publications, gatherings, surveys,
visits, mathematics competitions, other successes,
MAA Student Chapter news, SEARCH news, and so on]

2008

2007

2006
Graduate Seminar Series
(Fall and Spring only)
Expository Talks, and Videos Series
(Fall and Spring only)
All Previous News and Events together, 2001-2005

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GO TO Mathematics and Statistics Home Page

2008

25 June 2008: We hear the good news that Mathematics major Jace Ferguson has won the Advanced Level Essay prize in the UMKC Ilus W. Davis Writing Competition, and his expository paper
"De Morgan: Teacher and Algebraist"
will be published in the UMKC Fall 2008 Sosland Journal. The paper was written during Spring 2008 for Math 464 WI (History of Mathematics, Writing Intensive) taught by Richard Delaware.
25 April 2008: In the Expository Talks Series,
undergraduate mathematics major Tracey Davidson gives a first 20 minute talk,
"Abraham De Moivre's 1718 Proof of a Gambler's Ruin Problem",

and undergraduate mathematics major Vivian Bozikis gives a second 20 minute talk,
"Leonhard Euler's 1734 and 1743 Proofs that
[The 1/k² Series] = pi²/6.

For Tracey and Vivian the talk was an assignment for Math 464 WI (History of Mathematics, Writing Intensive) taught by Richard Delaware. [For more pictures, see All Pictures.]
25 April 2008: Statistics graduate student Danna Zhang presents the data of her research (in collaboration with others) over two areas titled
"Variations in Carotid Artery Intima-media Thickness during the Cardiac Cycle"
Spencer Menees, Joseph Le, David McCrary MD, Danna Zhang MS, Jie Chen PhD, Geetha Raghuveer MD, MPH, and

"Vascular Age of Children of Hypercholesterolemia"
Joseph Le, Spencer Menees, David McCrary MD, Danna Zhang MS, Jie Chen PhD, Geetha Raghuveer MD, MPH,
at the tenth annual UMKC School of Medicine Student Research Day 2008. Congratulations, Danna! Her department faculty mentor is Jie Chen.
22 April 2008: Today our M.S. in Mathematics GTA Samantha Reynolds was awarded a 2007-2008 Graduate Teaching Assistant Superior Teaching Award at the School of Graduate Studies 18^th Annual Awards Convocation. Hers is one of just five such awards given in the College of Arts and Sciences. Congratulations, Samantha! [Previously, on 4 May 2006, our then GTA Breanne Volkerding won the same award.]
[See pictures below, and also All Pictures.]
11 April 2008: Undergraduate major Whitney Berard presents a poster titled
"Graphs Based on Vector Spaces over Finite Fields"
at the eighth annual SEARCH Symposium for Research and Creative Achievements in Pierson auditorium, winning First Prize in the "Physical Sciences and Mathematics" Division. Congratulations, Whitney! Her faculty mentor is Liana Sega. [This award was also mentioned in a U-News article, April 28 issue, p.5, "UMKC Undergrads Show Off Research".]
[See pictures below, and also All Pictures.]
10 April 2008: We hear the good news that undergraduate mathematics major Tracey Davidson is a finalist for the fifth annual HOMSIGMAA (History of Mathematics Special Interest Group of the Mathematical Association of America) contest for papers written in History of Mathematics courses across the country. Congratulations, Tracey! In 2006, three of our department majors were finalists, and one won first place. We also won (or co-won) first place in both 2005 and 2004. Tracey's paper is titled
"Nicole Oresme: The Kinematics of Celestial Motion."
Her paper was written this Spring 2008 for Math 464 WI (History of Mathematics, Writing Intensive) taught by Richard Delaware.
17 March 2008: We learn that undergraduate major Whitney Berard [See picture at right.] is awarded a SEARCH grant to do undergraduate research with our own Liana Sega.
12 March 2008: Several department Faculty, Adjunct Lecturers, graduate and undergraduate students, organized by our department HSCP Coordinator Becky Roberts, participated as problem writers, moderators, judges, computer operators, and runners in the UMKC Math and Science Competition for high school students and teachers, sponsored by the UMKC High School/College (HSCP) Partnership. Faculty members Mark Gamalo, Eric Hall, Liana Sega, Richard Delaware, and Xin Yan, along with Adjunct Lecturers Ari Bavel, John Swartz, and Breanne Volkerding, graduate student Zhiyong An, as well as undergraduate students Vivian Bozikis, Cameron Buie, Nicholas Cale, Adam Ross, Evan Stone, and Mitch Terry represented our department.

2007

14 December 2007: Undergraduate mathematics major Raulee Lucero graduates with the distinction of Departmental Honors. Congratulations, Raulee! [See picture at right.]
30 November 2007: In the Expository Talks Series,
undergraduate mathematics major Yawo Ekpoh gives a first 20 minute talk,
"Koksma's 1949 Proof that: e^r is irrational for all nonzero rational exponents r. [Plus! Sondow's new 2006 geometric proof that e is irrational.]",
[See picture at left.]

then undergraduate mathematics major Jamie Spenard gives a second 20 minute talk,

"Courant's 1941 Pancake Theorem Proof: Two bounded, open, connected plane sets can be cut by a single line that divides each set in half by area".
[See picture at right.]

and finally undergraduate mathematics major Tom Scott gives a third 20 minute talk,

"A Proof of Lebesgue's 1903 Criterion: A function f: [a, b] to R is Riemann-integrable if and only if f is bounded and the set of points of [a, b] at which f is not continuous has measure zero".
[See picture at left.]
For Yawo, Jamie, and Tom the talk was an assignment for Math 402 (Advanced Analysis I) taught by Richard Delaware.
20 November 2007: We receive the 2006-2007 Academic Year Senior Survey Results for our Department of Mathematics and Statistics. This survey is taken by students after their Major Field exam during the semester they plan to graduate. Below is a sample of the responses from our graduating undergraduate majors.
- Have applied to or will attend Graduate or Professional school:
  43% Mathematics & Statistics majors
  30% College of Arts & Sciences
  26% UMKC Overall
- "Satisfied/Very Satisfied" with UMKC Preparation for Graduate School
  57% Mathematics & Statistics majors
  52% College of Arts & Sciences
  53% UMKC Overall
- "Very Satisfied" with Overall Experience within our department:
  67% Mathematics & Statistics majors
  34% College of Arts & Sciences
  34% UMKC Overall
- "Definitely Yes" that if they had it to do over again, they would Select the same Degree Program:
  50% Mathematics & Statistics majors
  41% College of Arts & Sciences
  43% UMKC Overall
- "Much Stronger" Problem Solving Ability:
  57% Mathematics & Statistics majors
  30% College of Arts & Sciences
  30% UMKC Overall
- "Much Stronger" Ability to Write Clearly:
  86% Mathematics & Statistics majors
  42% College of Arts & Sciences
  43% UMKC Overall
16 November 2007: In the Expository Talks Series,
undergraduate mathematics major Whitney Berard gives a first 20 minute talk,
"Benko's New 2007 Proof that: A given axb rectangle R can be decomposed into finitely-many rectangles which can be translated to compose another given parallel cxd rectangle R' if and only if area(R) = area(R') and a/c is rational.",
[See picture at left.]

and undergraduate mathematics major Brian Johnson gives a second 20 minute talk,

"Saari's 1981 Proof that:
In any election with n > 3 candidates, given j < n voting vectors W₁, ..., W_j (procedures which assign points to each candidate according to the voter's ranking), there exist voter profiles (choices of how the set of voters rank the candidates) so that when the voters vote for j of the candidates using voting vector W_j, then the j^th candidate wins."
[See picture at right.]
For Whitney and Brian the talk was an assignment for Math 402 (Advanced Analysis I) taught by Richard Delaware.
2 November 2007: We hosted a visit from about 8 students and 3 faculty members of the Emporia State University Department of Mathematics, Computer Science, & Economics, who drove up to see Nicholas Baeth, University of Central Missouri, speak on "Merlin: The Magic of Matrices" in our Expository Talks Series, eat dinner at Genghis Khan's Mongolian BBQ, and lastly see a comedy show in the area. We were also visited by several students and 2 faculty members from the Department of Mathematics and Physics at William Jewell College. From our department, Liana Sega, Eric Hall, and Richard Delaware joined the group for dinner.
[See picture at right.]
19 September 2007: Graduate Teaching Assistant Carol Hanson is recognized at the Student Affairs Convocation as a graduate Student Award Winner, an award for "students who have persevered through difficulty while pursuing their academic goals". Her photo will be displayed on Sept. 20 at the Celebrate UMKC Convocation, and her award will be announced on the Celebrate UMKC web site. Congratulations, Carol!
14 September 2007: We visit Pembroke Hill Upper School at the invitation of the Chair of their mathematics department, Ron Beeler, and 10 of his gifted and talented students, to discuss "What is Mathematics" as well as questions of the mathematics needed in college and further careers. Faculty members Eric Hall, Mark Gamalo, and Richard Delaware represented the department.
5 May 2007: Undergraduate mathematics major David Jackson graduates with the distinction of Departmental Honors. Congratulations, David!
19 April 2007: At the first University of Saint Mary Science and Math Undergraduate Research Forum in Leavenworth, Kansas, faculty member Liana Sega gave an invited talk on Careers in Mathematics [one of 5 speakers, the other four being from Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Hill's Pet Nutrition (a Principal Scientist), the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Kansas, and the Environmental Protection Agency], and Richard Delaware acted as a judge for the student poster session. We also distributed information about our department to all those potential students, and invited the mathematics majors for a future visit.
13 April 2007: In the Expository Talks Series,
undergraduate mathematics major Tera Smith gives a 20 minute talk,
"A Proof of the 'Law of Quadratic Reciprocity'
First proved by Gauss in 1801",
[See picture at left.]

and undergraduate mathematics major Dan Brigham gives a second 20 minute talk,

"At Most 4 Colors are Needed to Color any Plane Map:
Kempe's Incorrect 1879 'Proof'
and the Error Found by Heawood 10 Years Later!".
[See picture at right.]
For Tera, the talk was an assignment for Math 410 (Modern Algebra) taught by Eric Hall, and for Dan, the talk was an assignment for Math 414 (Mathematics for Secondary Teachers: Algebra & Analysis) taught by Richard Delaware.
12 April 2007: We hear excellent news about two of our current graduate students and two of our recent Master's degree graduates:
- Li Deng, MS graduate (Dec. 2006) with statistics emphasis, has been employed by PRA International in Overland Park, KS since February 2007.
- Yue Zhu, MS graduate (Dec. 2006) with statistics emphasis, has been employed as a Statistical Analyst intern by T-mobile in Seattle, WA since March 2007.
- Nicole Wright, MS graduate student (graduating May 2007), and our first department Graduate Student Representative has accepted a position from Lockheed-Martin in Denver, CO.
- Steve Shattuck, Interdisciplinary PhD graduate student, with coordinating discipline Mathematics (with Statistics emphasis) and co-discipline Education, has been awarded the Chancellor's Doctoral Fellowship for 2007-2008, following the completion of his Preparing Future Faculty Fellowship of 2004-2007. Dr. Chen is his IPhD advisor.
Congratulations to them all!
16 March 2007: We hear the good news that the new Honors Undergraduate Journal Lucerna has accepted for publication in the Fall 2007 Volume 2, an expository mathematics paper written by Mathematics major Sam Butler-Hunziker titled
"George Berkeley's Mathematical Philosophy and The Calculus",
and another expository mathematics paper written by Mathematics major Lisa Erickson, titled
"Polygonal Numbers".
Congratulations Sam and Lisa! The two papers were written during Winter 2006 for Math 464 WI (History of Mathematics, Writing Intensive) taught by Richard Delaware.
6 March 2007: Several department faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students participated as moderators, judges, and computer operators in the UMKC Math and Science Competition for high school students and teachers, organized by the UMKC High School/College (HSCP) Partnership. Faculty members Mark Gamalo, Eric Hall, Liana Sega, and Richard Delaware, along with Adjunct Lecturers Gerry Baygents and Madhur Mathur, as well as GTAs Chris Moore, Brian Cicutti, and Nikki Wright, and undergraduate students Tera Smith and Dan Brigham represented our department. During the awards ceremony, our Chair Dr. Kamel Rekab announced the winners of the prizes for Mathematics and Statistics.
6 February 2007: We host a visit organized by the UMKC Welcome Center of 30 top 8^th grade mathematics students from Northwest Middle School in Kansas City, Kansas. Faculty members Eric Hall, Liana Sega, and Richard Delaware offered them a 45 minute mathematics presentation, assisted by Graduate Teaching Assistant Samantha Reynolds, and an undergraduate student. Afterward, the visiting students observed a Calculus I class in action, taught by our own Master's degree graduate and current Adjunct Lecturer Breanne Volkerding.

[Left: Eric Hall & Richard Delaware]
23 January 2007: Our department is favorably mentioned in the University News student newspaper page 3 article "Writing, math centers well used" as follows:

"Because the Math Resource Center has a successful working relationship with the math department, it is very well advertised. All students taking math courses receive flyers about it during classes, and professors regularly refer those who need help."
The article also notes that the Math Resource Center "...serves about 3,000 students each year."

2006

1 December 2006: In the Expository Talks Series,
undergraduate mathematics major Sam Butler-Hunziker gives a 30 minute talk,
"A Proof of the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra [every real or complex polynomial of degree n > 1 has at least one real or complex root] using D'Alembert's Lemma of 1746",
[See picture at left.]

and undergraduate mathematics (and secondary education) major Tony Botello gives a second 30 minute talk,

"A 1995 Proof and Algorithm for a
4 Person Envy-Free Cake-cutting Protocol
[where each person believes his or her piece
is not less than anyone else's]".
[See picture at right.]
For Sam, the talk was an assignment for Math 407 (Introduction to Complex Variables), and for Tony, the talk was an assignment for Math 402 (Advanced Analysis I) both taught by Richard Delaware.
17 November 2006: In the Expository Talks Series, 4:00-4:50 pm,
undergraduate mathematics (and secondary education) major Lindsey Ramsey gives a 20 minute talk,

"Weierstrass' Proof that his 1872 'Pathological Function' is
Everywhere Continuous but Nowhere Differentiable!",
[See picture at left.]

and undergraduate mathematics (and secondary education) major Bill Gessley gives a second 20 minute talk,

"A Proof of Euler's 1750 Formula for Polyhedra
V - E + F = 2 [Vertices - Edges + Faces = 2], and
its Application to Pick's Theorem of 1899".
[See picture at right.]
For Lindsey, the talk was an assignment for Math 402 (Advanced Analysis I), and for Bill, the talk was an assignment for Math 424 (Mathematics for Secondary Teachers: Geometry) both taught by Richard Delaware.
17 November 2006: We hosted a visit from 15 faculty members and students of the Emporia State University Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, who drove up to see UMKC mathematics students Lindsey Ramsey speak on
"Weierstrass' Proof that his 1872 'Pathological Function' is Everywhere Continuous but Nowhere Differentiable!",
and Bill Gessley speak on
"A Proof of Euler's 1750 Formula for Polyhedra V - E + F = 2 [Vertices - Edges + Faces = 2], and its Application to Pick's Theorem of 1899"
in our Expository Talks Series, eat dinner at Baja 600 on the Plaza, and lastly see a movie in the area. From our department, Liana Sega, Eric Hall, and Richard Delaware joined the group for dinner.
[See picture at right.]
10 November 2006: For the first time, from 1:00-3:00 pm, we sponsor a Graduate Student Luncheon for all UMKC graduate students in mathematics or statistics. This is an opportunity for our faculty to know not only our Graduate Teaching Assistants, but all our graduate students so we can continue to mentor or advise them as needed.
27 September 2006: We participate with a "poster" in the First Student Success Poster Session in the University Center as part of Celebrate UMKC week. Our "poster" showcased our department's many ways of supporting students across UMKC.

[Left: Liana Sega & Samantha Reynolds]
[Right: Eric Hall & Samantha Reynolds]
14 September 2006: ATTENTION! Mathematics Majors & possible Majors!
The first Fall 2006 gathering of our MAA (Mathematical Association of America) Student Chapter will be on:

Friday September 22
3:00-3:50 pm
Royall Hall Room 205
with Pizza and Soft Drinks!
[For more information about the MAA Student Chapter, contact Dr. Liana Sega.]
Followed by
4:00-4:50 pm
Haag Hall Room 309
Expository Mathematics Talk
Dr. Tristan Londre of MCC Blue River Community College
[Tristan had Dr. Rhee as his PhD Advisor here.]
Title: "Clifford Algebras and Spacetime:
A Way to Multiply Vectors that has Useful Applications"
See Expository Talks for other talks this semester.
13 July 2006: We receive the 2005-2006 Academic Year Senior Survey Results for our Department of Mathematics and Statistics. This survey is taken by students after their Major Field exam during the semester they plan to graduate. Below is a sample of the responses from our 10 graduating undergraduate majors. Our department is doing well!
- Have applied to or will attend Graduate or Professional school:
  60% Mathematics & Statistics majors
  47% College of Arts & Sciences
  39% UMKC Overall
- "Satisfied/Very Satisfied" with UMKC Preparation for Graduate School
  70% Mathematics & Statistics majors
  55% College of Arts & Sciences
  52% UMKC Overall
- "Satisfied/Very Satisfied" with Academic Advising Services within our department:
  90% Mathematics & Statistics majors
  78% College of Arts & Sciences
  79% UMKC Overall
- "Very Satisfied" with Overall Experience within our department:
  60% Mathematics & Statistics majors
  35% College of Arts & Sciences
  35% UMKC Overall
- "Definitely Yes" that if they had it to do over again, they would Select the same Degree Program:
  50% Mathematics & Statistics majors
  40% College of Arts & Sciences
  46% UMKC Overall
- "Much Stronger" Problem Solving Ability:
  50% Mathematics & Statistics majors
  25% College of Arts & Sciences
  29% UMKC Overall
- "Much Stronger" Ability to Write Clearly:
  40% Mathematics & Statistics majors
  31% College of Arts & Sciences
  27% UMKC Overall
24 May 2006: We hear the good news that undergraduate mathematics major (and UMKC 2006 B.S. graduate) Samantha Reynolds has won one of two 1^st place awards in the third annual HOMSIGMAA (History of Mathematics Special Interest Group of the Mathematical Association of America) contest for papers written in History of Mathematics courses across the country. In fact, three UMKC Department of Mathematics and Statistics students were finalists this year: Samantha, Sam Butler-Hunziker, and Lisa Erickson (also a UMKC 2006 B.S. graduate) [Last year on 9 May 2005, we heard that undergraduate mathematics major Newlyn Walkup won 1^st place in the second annual contest. Newlyn's paper was then published in the MAA's online History of Mathematics magazine Convergence: Where Mathematics, History and Teaching Interact. The previous year on 24 April 2004, we heard that undergraduate mathematics major Heath Yates shared 1^st place in the first such annual contest.] Samantha's paper is titled
"Maria Gaetana Agnesi: Female Mathematician and Brilliant Expositor of the Eighteenth Century."
She will receive a certificate from the MAA, a free MAA student membership for next year, and $25 worth of books from the MAA online bookstore. Her paper will also be published on the HOMSIGMAA website. Congratulations, Samantha! Her paper was written during Winter 2005, while the other two finalist papers were written during Winter 2006, all for Math 464 WI (History of Mathematics, Writing Intensive) taught by Richard Delaware.
4 May 2006: Our 2006 M.S. in Mathematics graduate Breanne Volkerding is awarded a 2005-2006 Graduate Teaching Assistant Superior Teaching Award at the School of Graduate Studies 17^th Annual Awards Convocation. Hers was one of just three such awards given in the School of Arts and Sciences. Congratulations, Breanne!
7 March 2006: Several department faculty, staff, and graduate students participated as moderators and judges in the UMKC Math and Science Competition for high school students and teachers, organized by the UMKC High School/College (HSCP) Partnership. Faculty members Eric Hall, Liana Sega, and Richard Delaware, along with GTAs Breanne Volkerding and Nikki Wright, and Administrative Assistant Tanya Henderson represented our department.
15 February 2006: From Pembroke Hill Upper School, we hosted on a visit the Chair of their mathematics department, Ron Beeler, and 7 of his gifted and talented students, who drove over to discuss with us questions of mathematics in college and further careers. Faculty members Eric Hall, Liana Sega, and Richard Delaware represented the department for this pleasant meeting.