Amy Kiger wrote:
>
> Hello Wonderful WIMSE members, faculty, and friends!
>
> I hope you had a fantastic winter break and are ready for an even
> better semester! We already have lots of exciting and helpful things
> in the planning stages for this semester--your feedback on the end of
> semester evaluations was VERY helpful. Thank You!! (If you didn't get
> a chance to fill out your evaluation, please see me ASAP. Your input
> will be used to help determine this semester's programs!)
>
> Here's some important info:
>
>     WISMEProgram Meeting--Thursday, January 21st, 9:00pm Wells Hall
>                               Basement.
> This meeting is for all members of WIMSE, and is a very important
> meeting to be at, because we will be discussing the future of WIMSE
> (meeting times, membership requirements, study groups, programs, etc.)
>
>     WIMSE Staff Meeting--Tuesday, January 19th, 5:00pm, Wells Hall
>                                Basement
>
> We will be bringing dinner in...email dinner preferences to
> [log in to unmask] if you want to have a say in what we order. This
> meeting is for all WIMSE RAs, Committee chairpersons, WIMSE members
> who are currently working on a project for WIMSE, and WIMSE faculty.
> Please email me at [log in to unmask] if you cannot make it, so we
> won't order too much food. Please come prepared to talk about what
> ideas you have for this semester, what you need help with, and what
> you would like to put on the agenda for the first WIMSE Program
> meeting. I will present a summary of the end of semester evaluations
> and my ideas for how to improve participation in WIMSE.
>
> See you soon!
>
> Amy Kiger
> First Year Adviser
> Wells Hall
Dear Amy (and other WIMSE folks),
        Several of us in the Math & Stat Dept are in our annual January frenzy
of trying to pull together a good program for Sonia Kovalevsky Day.
This is a math day for area high school girls and is named in honor of
of a Russian woman born in the nineneeth century who was the first woman
to earn a PhD in mathematics. This will be our Eighth Annual Sonia Day.
We've been hosting about 200 girls and teachers in the last several
years; most come from the greater Cincinnati area. To encourage
attendance, we do not charge any fee and
we provide lunch for everyone.
        We try to introduce the students to profesional women who use
math in their work.  We're trying to encourage girls to continue
studying math so they will be equipped for any of the majors and careers
which depend on good problem solving skills.  Part of what we're doing
is showcasing the variety of careers which depend on math skills;  the
other part is to introduce them to some role models and prove that real
women DO do
math (and science).   I'm trying to line up women in various math,
statistical, financial, computer science, and chemical areas and also to
recruit women in architecture and music to make the point that there's
math in the arts too. We'll also have a lab hour when the students can
visit various science labs on the Oxford campus. So far, I have physics,
manufacturing engineering, computer science, and paper science labs
lined up.
        This year's Sonia Day will be Saturday, February 20.  I thought
I should solicit ideas from WIMSE.  Do members know of a particular
speaker they think could effectively address a high school audience and
convey what they do in their work, why they enjoy it, and its connection
to math?  Perhaps some of the students have presentations they'd like to
make. I'll be glad to listen to any ideas.  I'm hoping we can do
something to get the students involved in doing some actual problem
solving themselves.  Do people have any suggestions about how to make
this work or do they have interesting, tractable problems to suggest?
What would WIMSE members have liked to have known about college and
careers back in high school?  Etcetera.
        Thanks in advance for thinking about this.
Emily Murphree
Math/Stat
210 Bachelor
529-5826