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Departmental News
Smith Team receives Meritorious designation in Interdisciplinary Contest for Modeling
This year three Smith teams received recognition for their work in the ICM! Two received Honorable Mention and one received a Meritorious designation. Congrats to Vera Bao, Maria Xu, Lucy Li, Rebecca Rohrlich, Elizabeth Freeman, Ji Won Chung, Erina Fukada, and Monica Zhang.
Smith Team wins Best in Show at ASA Five College DataFest
Once again a Smith team won Best in Show at the annual ASA Five College DataFest competition. The winning team DataBest consisted of Zainab Aqdas Rizvi, Subashini Sridhar, Ji Young Yun, Ji Won Chung, and Van Nguyen.
Smith Team wins Best in Show at ASA Five College DataFest
For the second year in a row, a Smith team brought home the Best in Show prize at the annual ASA Five College DataFest competition. The winning team, called 2β||!2β, consisted of Galen Long, Sara Stoudt, Zhenzhen Tan, Aiyi Zhang, and Vega Zhang.
Ruth Haas awarded the 2015 Gweneth Humphreys Award
Professor Ruth Haas was named as the recipient of the 2015 Gweneth Humphreys Award from the Association for Women in Mathematics. The prize recognizes outstanding mentorship in encouraging female undergraduate students to pursue mathematical careers and/or the study of mathematics at the graduate level. From the press release:
The importance of Haas's contributions to Smith and to the mathematics community in general is best understood by the following extraordinary statement from her nomination letter: "Of the U.S. citizen women earning doctorates in mathematics in 2013 from the top 100 graduate schools in America, 6% were mentored by Ruth Haas. From her position at a relatively small school, Ruth Haas is mentoring a sizable percentage of the new generation of American women mathematicians."
Stoudt '15 wins First Prize in Statistics in Sports Undergraduate Research Competition
Sara Stoudt '15 was awarded First Prize in the 2014 Statistics in Sports Undergraduate Research Competition held at the Joint Statistical Meetings in Boston in August. The competition was sponsored by the Statistics in Sports section of the American Statistical Association and was open to all undergraduate students doing research in sports analytics. Stoudt received a $250 cash prize for her entry: The Perfect Bracket: Machine Learning in NCAA Basketball
Warren Buffett's 1 billion dollar prize for the perfect 2013 - 2014 NCAA bracket and Kaggle's March Machine Learning Madness competition increased the stakes of predicting this year's tournament results. Adding to the core data given by the Kaggle competition of team wins and loses since 1995 - 1996, we gather other team data to allow for more flexibility and options for modeling. We investigate different ensemble methods in R that contain strategies such as a modified PageRank algorithm, decision trees, neural networks, among others to predict probabilities of different match-ups and create a bracket for this season. We discuss strengths and weaknesses of our approach.
At the JSM, Stoudt gave a four-minute SPEED talk and presented an electronic poster the next morning. These presentations were the culmination of work conducted as part of MTH 301 in the spring of 2014 with Loren Santana '14 and Ben Baumer. The resulting paper will be published in the Proceedings of the JSM and is under review for a special issue of the Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports centered around the Kaggle March Machine Learning Madness competition.
The winner of the 2014 Statistics in Sports Undergraduate Competition was Sara Stoudt from Smith College (1 of 2)— Michael Lopez (@StatsbyLopez) August 26, 2014
Here's the winning abstract http://t.co/zCK57fmyv8, with complements to Sara and her adviser, @BaumerBen (2 of 2)— Michael Lopez (@StatsbyLopez) August 26, 2014
Smith students recognized in Amstat News for DataFest
Several Smith students were featured in a recent article about DataFest published in the Amstat News. The inaugural Five College DataFest took place at UMass in late March. The article describes how DataFest has spread to multiple locations across the country in 2014.
Evelyn Boyd Granville turns 90!
Evelyn Boyd Granville '45, the second African American woman to earn a Ph.D. in mathematics, turned 90 on May 1, 2014. Scientific American followed with a nice article about her life in mathematics.
Mary Murphy Named as Winner of Sherrerd Teaching Award
Mary Murphy, senior lecturer of mathematics and statistics, was named recently as a winner of the 2014 Kathleen Compton Sherrerd '54 and John J. F. Sherrerd Prizes for Distinguished Teaching. Each year, Smith students, faculty and alumnae submit nominations for the Sherrerd teaching prize, which recognizes the distinguished teaching records and demonstrated enthusiasm and excellence of Smith faculty members. It has become a symbol of the value, commitment and dedication Smith places on superior pedagogy.
This year's recipients will be formally recognized at the Sherrerd teaching prize ceremony and reception on October 16, 2014, which is open to the Smith community.
New School Record Set in Putnam Competition
The scores from the 2013 Putnam Competition are in, and Smith's team, organized by Rajan Mehta, had a record-high ranking of 66 out of 557 competing schools. The Putnam is notoriously hard -- half of the students that take the exam get a score of zero. At Smith, out of eight students taking the exam, six earned positive scores. Four students (Vera Bao '17, Helen He '16, Emily Li '17, and Yijin Wei '16) ranked in the top 1000 out of more than 4000 competitors. Our highest performer, Yijin Wei, ranked in the top 15%.
Five Math Majors win Best in Show at 2014 Five College DataFest
11 students from Smith, including two entire teams of five students, competed for prizes in the inaugural Five College DataFest held at UMass over the weekend of March 28-30th. DataFest is a nationally-coordinated data analysis competition for undergraduates that has grown from one site to five in just four years. This first edition of the Five College event, which was sponsored in part by the department, featured over 60 students representing each of the Five Colleges. Three of the nine teams that finished the competition contained Smithies, including two teams comprised mostly or entirely of math majors:
- The Unpredictables: Elizabeth Atkins '15, Carmen Augusto '16, Yadira Flores '15, Ji Ah Lee '14, and Shreeya Rajanarayanan '14
- P-Valuables: Deirdre Fitzpatrick '14, Michele Handy '15, Maja Milosavljevic '14, Sara Stoudt '15, and Dana Udwin '14
@smithcollege team getting started early at #datafest pic.twitter.com/lnBHsXilV7— Ben Baumer (@BaumerBen) March 30, 2014
After a careful deliberation from the judges, the P-Valuables brought home the Best in Show prize.
#BestInShow at the #fivecollege #datafest goes to the P-Valuables! #datascience is alive and well @smithcollege pic.twitter.com/dnOAFV8t5L— Ben Baumer (@BaumerBen) March 31, 2014
Student Work Featured at Celebrating Collaborations
A number of math students and faculty will have their work showcased at Celebrating Collaborations, which will take place on Saturday, April 12, 2014.
The morning Science Poster session contains several math and statistics related projects:
- Yidan Jin '15 52 Modeling and Principal Component Analysis of Snail Shape science poster session deriving from special studies with Christophe Golé, professor of mathematics and statistics, and L. David Smith, professor of biological sciences
- Nicole Sonnert MHC '14, Elizabeth Sumner '14, Jessica Hopson '14 and Yidan Jin '15 53 Population Dynamics and Size Scaling Interactions of Carcinus maenas and Littorina obtusata in Northern Maine science poster session deriving from Five College Biomathematics Consortium with L. David Smith, professor of biological sciences, and Christophe Golé, professor of mathematics and statistics
- Jessica Hopson '14, Yidan Jin '15, Nicole Sonnert MHC '14 and Elizabeth Sumner '14 54 A Snail's Defense: Reducing Shell Vulnerability Through Phenotypic Plasticity science poster session deriving from concentration project with L. David Smith, professor of biological sciences, and Christophe Golé, professor of mathematics and statistics
- Yu Jin '14, Nicole Sonnert MHC '14 and Elizabeth Sumner '14 55 Population Dynamics of an Arms Race: Carcinus maenas and Littorina obtusata in Northern Maine science poster session deriving from concentration project with Christophe Golé, professor of mathematics and statistics and L. David Smith, professor of biological sciences
- Jamie Cyr '16 and Ria Deshpande '16 56 Modeling Actin Regulation in Cancer Cells science poster session deriving from special studies with Nessy Tania, assistant professor of mathematics and statistics
- Yu Jin '14, Maja Milosavljevic '14 and Sara Stoudt '15 57 Mathematical Contest in Modeling: An Objective Ranking of Best College Sports Coaches of All Time science poster session deriving from entry for Mathematical Contest in Modeling with Nessy Tania, assistant professor of mathematics and statistics
- Ji Ah Lee '14 58 Analyzing the Distribution of Interspike Intervals of Hair Cells in Zebrafish science poster session deriving from special studies with Nessy Tania, assistant professor of mathematics and statistics; Katherine Halvorsen, professor of mathematics and statistics; and Josef Trapani, Amherst College assistant professor of biology
- Ana Sofia Moreno-Mesa '16 59 Statistics and the Smithie: Factors Influencing a Student's Choice of an Introductory Statistics Course science poster session deriving from STRIDE research with Andrew Bray, visiting assistant professor of statistics
- Brittany Claiborne '16 60 Rainbow Dominating Sets in Graphs science poster session deriving from STRIDE research with Ruth Haas, Achilles Professor of Mathematics and Statistics and professor of engineering
- Loren Santana '14 and Sara Stoudt '15 61 The Perfect Bracket: Machine Learning in NCAA Basketball science poster session deriving from classwork with Benjamin Baumer, visiting assistant professor of mathematics and statistics
- Chloe Huayue Xie '14 62 Splines science poster session deriving from an independent research project with Julianna Tymoczko, assistant professor of mathematics and statistics
- Ellena Baum '14, Alicia Bowling '17, Hanna Mogensen '14 and Anna Sofia Moreno-Mesa '16 79 Fungal Communities in Primary and Secondary Growth Forests science poster session deriving from classwork with Jesse Bellemare, assistant professor of biological sciences, and Katherine Halvorsen, professor of mathematics and statistics
- Emily Wald '15, Tori Wolf '16 and Grace Abrahams-Dematte HC '15 80 Effects of Environmental Factors on Lichens at the MacLeish Field Station science poster session deriving from classwork with Jesse Bellemare, assistant professor of biological sciences, and Katherine Halvorsen, professor of mathematics and statistics
- Greylin Nielsen '14, Olivia Biller HC '13 and Madison Laetham '17 81 A Comparison of Invertebrate Herbivore Damage across American Chestnut, Chinese Chestnut and Blight-Resistant Hybrids: Implications for Reintroduction and Restoration science poster session deriving from classwork with Jesse Bellemare, assistant professor of biological sciences, and Katherine Halvorsen, professor of mathematics and statistics
- Emily Anderson '14, Claire Shope '16 and Michaela Rohde '17 82 Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) Feeding on Trees at MacLeish Field Station science poster session deriving from classwork with Jesse Bellemare, assistant professor of biological sciences, and Katherine Halvorsen, professor of mathematics and statistics
- Karen Yu '16, Chiu Yu Lau '16 and Michelle Jackson '15 83 Effects of Exotic Earthworms on Plant Diaspore Germination From Organic Soil Material science poster session deriving from classwork with Jesse Bellemare, assistant professor of biological sciences, and Katherine Halvorsen, professor of mathematics and statistics
During the afternoon concurrent sessions, an entire session is devoted to:
Insights Through Math, Statistics and Logic: Seelye 206
- Sara Stoudt '15 and Dana Udwin '14 Social Media: Changing the Way We Talk About the Weather Presentation deriving from classwork with Benjamin Baumer, visiting assistant professor in mathematics and statistics
- Maja Milosavljevic '14 and Jordan Menter '16 The Smathie World Presentation deriving from classwork with Benjamin Baumer, visiting assistant professor in mathematics and statistics
- Yu Jin '14 Attack and Defense Game Between Crabs and Snails: Mathematical Insights Presentation deriving from thesis with Christophe Golé, professor of mathematics and statistics
Structure and Movement: Seelye 211
- Erin Linebarger GS, Maja Milosavljevic '14, Jennifer Tripp GS and Cloie Webster GS Bouncing Balls in Ells Presentations deriving from classwork with James Henle, Myra M. Sampson Professor of Mathematics and Statistics
New Data Science course featured in Alumnae Quarterly
The department's newest course, MTH 292: Data Science, was featured in the Spring 2013 issue of the Smith Alumnae Quarterly. The course, taught by Ben Baumer, develops students' abilities to extract meaningful information from large, messy, complex, and even live data sets. These skills are in high demand, but require a blend of training in mathematics, statistics, and computer science. Sara Stoudt '15, Dana Udwin '14, and Kelly Francis '15 completed a project for the course on people's perceptions of the weather that is featured in the article. For a more complete description of their work, see their presentation at Celebrating Collaborations. A second group project from the course by Maja Milosavljevic '14, post-bac Loren Santana, and Jordan Menter '16, will also be featured in the same session.
- Sara Stoudt '15 and Dana Udwin '14
Social Media: Changing the Way We Talk About the Weather
- Maja Milosavljevic '14 and Jordan Menter '16
The Smathie World
Atela delivers lecture in "Sunny in the Furance"
In Aki Sasamoto's performance "Sunny in the Furnace," Pau Atela delivers a lecture on catastrophe theory. The performance debuted in Chelsea in early March and features large mathematical objects designed by Atela. Read more in The New York Times.
Department to sponsor upcoming Five College DataFest
We are happy to announce that the Five College DataFest, sponsored in part by the department, will be held the weekend of March 29th and 30th at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. DataFest is a nationally-coordinated competition that challenges undergraduates working in teams of up to five to extract meaningful insights from a rich and complex data set. A number of prizes will be awarded, including: "Best in Show", "Best Visualization", and "Best Use of External Data". Previous DataFests held at UCLA and Duke University have drawn large numbers of students, and we are hoping for a great turnout from the Five Colleges. Please contact Ben Baumer or Andrew Bray for more information.
Henle awarded Robbins Prize at Joint Math Meetings
On Januray 16, 2014, at the Joint Mathematics Meetings held in Baltimore, Jim Henle and his son Frederick shared the David P. Robbins Prize, which is awarded every three years by the Mathematical Association of America for a paper that reports on novel research in algebra, combinatorics, or disceret mathematics, has a significant experimental component, and is on a topic which is broadly accessible.
The text of the Citation is presented below. Please see the Prize Booklet for a fuller description.
Frederick V. Henle and James M. Henle
"Squaring the plane," American Mathematical Monthly, 115 (2008), no. 1, 3–12.
The problem is simple. You are supplied with infinitely many square tiles, but they all have different sizes, in fact there is exactly one n-by-n square for each positive integer n. Your task is to use these squares to tile the plane, no overlaps or gaps allowed, and you must use all of the squares. A traditional tiling uses many congruent copies of the same tile or a few tiles. Now, no two tiles are alike.
Inspired by a paper of William Tutte in 1950 showing that a square can be tiled by finitely many different smaller squares, Solomon Golomb (recent winner of the U.S. National Medal of Science) posed the question in 1975 on whether the plane can be tiled with the integer squares. Shortly after, it was picked up by Martin Gardner in his Scientific American column, and several partial results appeared in the intervening years.
With only meager progress, some began to think such a tiling was not possible. But it is.
This delightful article gives a complete description of a tiling of the plane using one square of each integral side. The argument itself does not bring in any "big guns" to settle the problem; rather it uses "big ingenuity," which is always prefer- able. As such, the paper is completely accessible to undergraduates. The article closes with a number of intriguing open problems; we hope that this award will help call attention to them.
Students, faculty, and administrators were in attendance to offer their congratulations to Jim and Fred.
A number of students and faculty engaged in other talks at the Joint Meetings:
- Avoiding monochromatic equations in groups.
Ruth Haas, Karen Lovejoy, Loren Santana, Jennifer Tripp, Cloie Webster (1096-05-1288)
- Developing surfaces that are hulls of two circles in space.
Caitlyn Hannum, Christine Hoffman, Katherine Koch, Erin Linebarger, Joseph O'Rourke, Judy Wang (1096-05-1291)
- New work on generalized splines.
Nealy Bowden, Yue Cao, Sarah Hagen, Melanie King, Stephanie Reinders, Julianna Tymoczko (1096-14-1703)
- Conjectures and questions in graph reconfiguration.
Ruth Haas, (1096-05-1292)
- Generalized splines and Schubert calculus.
Julianna S Tymoczko (1096-05-2581)
- Big Data in the Intro Stats Class: Use of the Airline Delays Dataset to Expose Students to a Real-World, Complex Dataset.
Nicholas J. Horton (Amherst College), Benjamin S. Baumer, Hadley Wickham (Rice University and RStudio) (1096-D5-1770)
- openWAR: An Open Source System for Overall Player Performance in Major League Baseball.
Ben S Baumer, Shane T Jensen (The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania), Gregory J Matthews (University of Massachusetts) (1096-G5-1199)
- Families of Plane Cubic Curves with Nine-Pointic Contact at a Point.
Taylor C. Brysiewicz (Northern Illinois University), Leah Balay-Wilson (1096-14-1422)
- Fatou components of Chebyshev-like maps.
Joshua P Bowman (1096-37-1308)
- Projective Dimension of Hypergraphs.
Kuei-Nuan Lin, Paolo Mantero, UC-Riverside (1096-13-1317)
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- Maneka Puligandla and Kelly Zaccheo, Ability of Collaborative Social Networks to Complete A Directed Acyclic Task Graph, Statistics (in collaboration with Jize Zhang and Rallye Shen)
- Leah Balay-Wilson, Jasmine Osorio, Katherine Phillips, Trajectories on Homothety Surfaces, Topology
- Stephanie Reinders, Generalized Splines on Cycles, Algebra and Combinatorics (in colloboration with Madeleine Handschy and Julie Melnick)
- Tenzing Khendu ('13), Qingyang (Rallye) Shen ('13), and Michele Handy ('15)
- Dana Udwin ('14), Shreeya Rajanarayanan ('14), and Zhiting (Helen) He ('16)
- Jize Zhang ('14), Yidan Jin ('15), and Xi Jiang ('16)
- Monday:
- Samantha Oestreicher, 10:30 and 4 in 5B upper level
- Wednesday:
- sarah-marie belcastro 3, 33B upper level
- Caren Diefenderfer 3, 7A upper level
- Taylor McNeill 10:45, 12 mezzanine
- Josh Bowman 3:45, 14B mezzanine
- Joan Hutchinson and Alice Dean 4:15, 16B mezzanine
- Julianna Tymoczko 4:45, 17A mezzanine
- Thursday:
- Paul Baginski 10:30 15A mezzanine
- Megan Sawyer 1:30, 33B upper level
- Kate Meyer, Madeline Handschy, Katey Phillips, Jennifer Sadler 2:30, 13 mezzanine
- Caren Diefenderfer 2:40 7A upper level
- Friday:
- Holly Timme 8:30, 5A upper level
- Kate Brenneman 9, 33C upper level
- Julianna Tymoczko 9, 15A mezzanine
- Ben Baumer 10:40 1A upper level
- Ruth Haas 1-2:20, 1A upper level
- Susan D'Agostino 1, 7A upper level
- Megan Heenehan and Karen Collins 6-7:15, foyer, mezzanine
- Jennifer Koonz 6-7:15, foyer, mezzanine
- Saturday:
- Daphne Gold and Maneka Puligandla 1, 8 upper level
- Alexis Sparko and Yu Jin 1:15, 30E upper level
- Tia Lyve and Jasmine Osorio 1:30 8 upper level
- Paul Baginski 1:30, 7B upper level
- Christine Stevens 1:45, 12 mezzanine
- Shalla Hanson and Kelly Zaccheo 2:30, 30E upper level
- Marjorie Senechal 5, 9 upper level
- Mirela Ciperani 5:30, 6F upper level
Tenure-track position in Statistics
The Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Smith College invites applications for a tenure-track position in statistics to begin in the fall of 2014. Hiring is at the level of assistant professor. Applicants with several years of experience may be given a shortened probationary period; exceptional candidates may be hired at a higher level, without tenure, with a short probationary period. Candidates must have a Ph.D. in statistics or biostatistics and must provide evidence of excellence in teaching and an active research program. Experience teaching applied and mathematical statistics is required; experience in statistical consulting is strongly preferred.
One of the nation's top liberal arts colleges and largest women's college, Smith College has a faculty of outstanding scholars who are also dedicated teachers. Faculty members interact with students in small classes, as advisors, and through student-faculty research projects. Tenure-track faculty members teach two courses each semester and enjoy a generous sabbatical policy. Located in Northampton, MA, Smith is an institutional member of the American Statistical Association and the Five-College Statistics Program, which supports a vibrant statistical community. If you have any questions about the position, please email Katherine Halvorsen at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Apply online at www.mathjobs.org/jobs with a letter of application, curriculum vitae, description of research, statement of teaching experience and philosophy, and at least three confidential letters of recommendation addressing both teaching and research. Applicants must also apply at https://secure.interfolio.com/apply/21955 but should not submit materials at this location.
Please note:
Applications will be reviewed as they are received and will be considered until the position is filled, with applications received by November 15th, 2013, guaranteed full consideration. Smith College is an equal opportunity employer encouraging excellence through diversity.
Kathryn Aloisio '13 to present at Joint Statistical Meetings
Recent graduate Kathryn Aloisio '13 will present a SPEED talk at the Joint Statistical Meetings in Montreal, Canada on August 7th. Kate's talk, entitled "Efficient Estimation of Partially Observed Clustered Data Using Multiple Imputation," will be accompanied by a poster and is co-authored by Nicholas Horton.
Nicholas Horton and Ben Baumer will also be giving talks at JSM, while Katherine Halvorsen is serving as chair of three council meetings.
WiMiN 2013 Conference
The annual Women in Mathematics in New England (WiMiN) conference will take place on Saturday, September 21 at Smith College. The two plenary speakers are Trachette Jackson (University of Michigan) and Susan Loepp (Williams College). The conference also features short talks by students, a panel discussion on being a graduate student. For updated information, check the conference website.
Students give talks at Hudson River Undergraduate Mathematics Conference
On April 6th, students and faculty from all over the east coast converged on Williamstown, MA, for the 20th Hudson River Undergraduate Mathematics Conference, hosted by Williams College. A keynote address was offered by Manjul Bhargava of Princeton University. Hundreds of undergradutes gave talks on a wide range of topics touching upon many fields of pure and applied mathematics, and statistics.
Three groups of Smith students who are participating in MTH301, the department's undergraduate research seminar led by Julianna Tymoczko, gave talks:
A picture of the full contingent of attendees, including faculty members Joshua Bowman and Ben Baumer, appears below.
Photo courtesy of Shuang (Vanessa) Wu
Statistics students inducted into national honor society
As commencement nears, a number of Smith College statistics students have been inducted into Mu Sigma Rho, the national honorary society. Inductees during the International Year of Statistics include Kathryn Aloisio, Linh Dinh, Isabela Pal, Qingyang (Rallye) Shen, Haomin Yan, Linnea Yeazel and Zoe Zadworny. Our congratulations to these students for their accomplishments.
Mathematics in Stone and Bronze
Sculptor and mathematician Helaman Ferguson gave a joint lecture with Claire Ferguson (Ada Comstock '00, author and artist) on April 12, 2013 about his sculpture "Aperiodic Penrose Alpha" first installed at Smith College in 1995, as well as his most recent piece, the 24-foot high, 65-ton Umbilic Torus SC installed at Stonybrook University in October 2013. Claire and Helaman Ferguson received the AMS-MAA-SIAM Joint Policy Board for Mathematics Communications Award 2002, "... who together have dazzled the mathematical community and a far wider public with exquisite sculptures embodying mathematical ideas along with artful and accessible essays and lectures elucidating the mathematical concepts." More info about Helaman Ferguson's work can be found here.
The granite sculpture "Aperiodic Penrose Alpha" was created by the noted mathematician/sculptor Helaman Ferguson in collaboration with Marjorie Senechal, Louise Wolff Kahn Professor Emerita in Mathematics and History of Science and Technology. The sculpture stands on a base of Penrose tiles; part of a remarkable pattern that never exactly repeats. That's the "aperiodic Penrose" part; the "alpha" in the title means that this was the first of Ferguson's many sculptures combining a tiling and its associated torus, which encodes the tiling's scaling properties. (For more on Penrose tilings and their remarkable properties, see Senechal's book Quasicrystals and Geometry).
Information Performance
Mark Hansen, a New York-based statistician and artist who now directs the David and Helen Gurley Brown Institute for Media Innovation at Columbia University spoke at Smith College on Tuesday, March 12th about the intersection of data science and art. Far from virtual, inert quantities, data exert real forces in the physical world. They are incendiaries wielding the power of once-secret diplomatic cables; mores initiated with the invention of a privacy setting; and physical laws shaping the built environment with the quiet, persistent action of zoning regulations. Data rarely act in isolation, gaining power through combination, joining forces and moving into new terrain. Their presence is thought to guarantee transparency, their absence is seen as suspicious, and restrictions on their movement appear to be temporary, at best. Mark took a broad view of data (and companion ideas like "algorithm," "model" and "visualization") and explore their use in creative practices. He presented a selection of work from his artistic collaborations over the last decade -- From a permanent display in the lobby of the New York Times building and a new work for the 9/11 Memorial Museum in New York City; to a performance designed as part of the New York Public Library's centennial celebration last June. He tied these artworks to a larger movement in which data and data processing are seeping into almost every academic discipline on campus. Mark's talk culminated with a proposal to aggregate the data practices from science, the humanities, and even art and design under a single umbrella -- Data science.
Sol LeWitt's Installation
Join us on Thursday, Feb 28 at 4 p.m. in Burton Hall for a talk on the recently completed installation of the So LeWitt's Wall Drawing #139, Grid and arcs from the midpoints of four sides (1972). Full details from the Smith College Museum of Arts can be found here
On January 7-19, 2013, Sol LeWitt's Wall Drawing #139, Grid and arcs from the midpoints of four sides (1972), will be permanently installed in Burton Hall, home to the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. The drawing was contributed by an anonymous donor from the class of 1947 to the Smith College Museum of Art. Roland Lusk, a representative from LeWitt's studio, will perform the installation assisted by Clara Bauman (2013), Mingjia Chen (2015) and Clara Rosebrock (2016), through the MathStudio.
A leader in the development of conceptual art in the U.S., LeWitt emphasized the idea behind a work of art over its execution. The artist created many works that consists of detailed instructions that could be completed by anyone and at any time or place. "Instructions for LeWitt's wall drawings seem precise and rational, but their execution is often irrational, so that any beauty or aesthetic value that comes out of it is incidental," says Aprile Gallant, curator of prints, drawings, and photographs at the Smith College Museum of Arts. "At the same time, these simple systems create interesting anomalies as their instructions are interpreted by the people who follow them. These intersections between the rational and spontaneous are an essential component of the work."
The art was also previously installed and exhibited at the Smith College Museum of Art in 2008.
This installation was made possible by the Ann Weinbaum Solomon, class of 1959 Fund, the Office of the Provost, and the Ellen Borie Fund. See more...
Math Modeling
After 96 hours of challenge and excitement, three teams of Smith students successfully completed the Mathematical Contest in Modeling (MCM), an annual international competition for undergraduates. Dana Udwin was subsequently interviewed on a local radio station, 93.9 The River, to discuss Smith students participation. Recording of the interview is available here
The 2013 MCM took place on Jan. 31-Feb. 4, 2013. This year problems deals with (A) designing the ultimate brownie pan, or (B) identifying the optimal fresh water distribution strategy. The three teams are:
Senechal's book featured on NPR
A January 13th episode of the popular NPR news program All Things Considered featured an interview with Louise Wolff Kahn Professor Emerita Marjorie Senechal about her book I Died for Beauty: Dorothy Wrinch and the Cultures of Science. The title subject was a path-breaking mathematician, while the title itself was borrowed from a poem by Emily Dickinson.
Full audio of the interview is available here.
Smith Math Talks at 2013 Joint Mathematics Meetings
Here is a list of talks presented by Smith students, faculty and alumnae at the 2013 AMS-MAA Joint Mathematics Meetings to be held in San Diego from January 9th-12th.
Centripetal Run
Aki Sasamoto, a New York-based Japanese artist who works in dance, sculpture and perforamce continues
her successful collaborations with Smith Mathematician Pau Atela
Sasamoto specializes in movement that is centered on installations of everyday objects arranged into sculptural environments. Her newest work incorporates a pendulum mechanism created by the mathematician Pau Atela. This work
was featured in the New York Times.
Aki previously visited Smith along with a group of artists and
mathematicians. See
Tammy Baldwin '84 elected to U.S. Senate
Tammy Baldwin '84 won her race to become the next U.S. senator from Wisconsin. The broadcasters always mention the fact that she is the first openly gay candidate to be elected to the Senate. That may be significant, but more importantly, she is the first Smith math major to be elected to the Senate.
Now that the barrier has been broken, we're sure there will be many more.
Tammy had previously served as the Representative from Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district since 1999. She delivered the 131st commencement address at Smith in 2009.
Two faculty members named to inaugural class of American Mathematical Society Fellows
Smith College faculty members Ileana Streinu and Marjorie Senechal were recently recognized for their outstanding contributions to mathematics and named among scientists from around the world to the 2013 prestigious inaugural class of American Mathematical Society (AMS) Fellows. Streinu, Charles N. Clark Professor of Computer Science as well as Professor of Mathematics and Statistics, and Senechal, Louise Wolff Kahn Professor Emerita in Mathematics and History of Science and Technology, are among the 1,119 Fellows who represent more than 600 institutions.
In 2010, Streinu received a prestigious award for mathematical research addressing a longstanding fundamental problem in geometry, with applications in robotics and computational biology. The David P. Robbins Prize from the American Mathematical Society (AMS) is awarded just every three years for a paper that reports on novel research in algebra, combinatorics or discrete mathematics. Streinu was honored for her algorithmic solution of the "carpenter's rule problem," which asks whether any polygonal chain-a connected series of line segments-can be continuously straightened out in a way that avoids self-intersections.
In addition, Streinu was the inaugural director of the Four College Biomathematics Consortium aimed at training the next generation of scientists in the rapidly emerging field of biomathematics and created in 2011 by a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation.
Senechal is the recipient of the prestigious Carl B. Allendoerfer Award of the Mathematical Association of America and in the Millia Davenport Publication Award of the Costume Society of America. She is formerly the director of Smith's Louise W. and Edmund J. Kahn Liberal Arts Institute that supports collaborative research among Smith faculty, students and visiting scholars without regard to the traditional boundaries of departments, programs and academic divisions. Senechal's books include Shaping Space, Crystalline Symmetries, Quasicrystals and Geometry, Long Life to Your Children! A Portrait of High Albania," and American Silk. She recently completed a biography of former Smith College physics professor Dorothy Wrinch. See more...)
WIMIN 2013 Conference
The Center for Women in Mathematics and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics hosted WIMIN12 (the Women in Mathematics in the Northeast) on Saturday, September 22. The annual conference is open to all, particularly students working on a research project. This year, the conference was attended by over 120 registered participants and featured 31 student talks, a Graduate School panel, along with two plenary talks by Christine Heitsch (Georgia Tech) and Annalisa Crannell (Franklin and Marshall). The Center for Women in Mathematics is an NSF funded project to provide intensive training in mathematics for women at the advanced undergraduate level. The Center offers two programs open to visiting students: the junior program and the postbaccalaureate program.
Ruth Haas named chaired professor
The Smith College Board of Trustees recently conferred chaired professorships on
three Smith faculty members, including Ruth Haas, professor of mathematics and statistics and
Achilles Professor.
Professor Haas received her undergraduate degree from Swarthmore College and a doctorate from Cornell University. She arrived at Smith in 1989 and was promoted to professor in 2002. Her research is both algebraic and combinatorial, and spans both theoretical and applied topics, including combinatorics, splines, commutative and computer algebras and operations research.
She was instrumental in the establishment and organization of the Smith Center for Women and Mathematics, which was recently recognized by the American Mathematical Society as a program that does an outstanding job of encouraging women and members of underrepresented minority groups to pursue studies in the mathematical sciences.
See more...
Monthly Problem Contest winner off to MathFest in Wisconsin
Haomin Yan '14 is the winner of the department's monthly problem contest for 2011-12. As the winner, Haomin will travel to the MathFest conference in Madison, WI this summer with all expenses covered by the department. There she will represent Smith in the national problem solving competition organized by the American Society for the Communication of Mathematics. MathFest is the annual summer meeting of the Mathematical Association of America. It includes many activities which are accessible and fun for undergraduates.
Nicholas Horton named Fellow of the ASA
Nicholas Horton was named a Fellow of the American Statistical for his outstanding contributions to statistical education; for excellence in the development of applications to medical research; and for exemplary leadership and service to the profession and to ASA. Given annually, the honorary title of Fellow recognizes full members of established reputation who have made outstanding contributions to an aspect of statistical work. The recipients were recognized for their outstanding professional contributions to and leadership in the field of statistical science. The Fellows will receive their certificates at a ceremony on Tuesday evening, July 31, at the annual Joint Statistical Meetings, to be held this year in San Diego, California. See more...)
Mathematics and statistics students inducted into honor societies
As commencement nears, a number of students in mathematics and statistics have been inducted into two national honorary societies. Research work by Kathryn Aloisio, Pamela L. Clark, Linh Dinh, Raquel Arlene Blossom Federick, Daphne A. Gold, Shalla D. Hanson, Micaela Y. Harris, Carolyn K. Hotchkiss, Weici Hu, Kirin M. Khan, Kristina M. Martin, Arielle McCoy, Colleen McGaughey, Katherine J. Meyer, Samantha A. Monastra, Sajala Pandey, Tia Pilaroscia, Shira M. Polster, Alison M. Pryor, Alexis M. Sparko, Julie L. Woods, Zoe Zadworny and Yuting Zhao led to their inclusion in Sigma Xi. Excellent work in statistics led to membership in Mu Sigma Rho for Sarah Anoke, Guangye Cao and Wenyue Yang. Our congratulations go to all of these students.
Data deluge: Mathematics Awareness Month
Massive amounts of data are collected every day, often from services we use regularly, but never think about. Scientific data comes in massive amounts from sensor networks, astronomical instruments, biometric devices, etc., and needs to be sorted out and understood.
The question of how statistics and related approaches are used to
address these questions is the
theme for Mathematics Awareness Month, April 2012.
See more...
Logician to the rescue: instant reply for presidential debates
Advocacy and debate are healthy dynamics of democracy. Argument is needed, but argument as practiced in our public forums is often dangerously irrational. Watching the presidential debates,
Smith Mathematics and Statistics Professor Jim Henle came to the conclusion that these arguments are sorely in need of regulation.
See more...
Smith students present research at the Joint Mathematics Meetings
Several students had the opportunity to present their research at the 2012 Joint Mathematics Meetings, held from January 4-7 in Boston, Massachusetts. Several post-baccalaureate students gave talks, including The Rainbow Domination Number of a Graph by Micaela Harris, Kristina Martin, Shira Polster, and Julie Woods (faculty advisor Ruth Haas), and Folded Ribbon Knots in the Plane by Eleanor Conley, Emily Meehan, and Rebecca Terry (faculty advisor Elizabeth Denne). Arielle McCoy, Cal Hotchkiss, Alison Pryor, and Kirin Khan discussed The Life and Death of a Geodesic (faculty advisor Jim Henle), and Samantha Monastra, Pamela Clark, and Jessica Grant presented research on the Periodic Rigidity of Protein Crystal Structures (faculty advisor Ileana Streinu). Undergraduates participated as well, with Thealexa Becker presenting collaborative work on Virus Dynamics in Star Graphs (faculty advisor Steven Miller), and undergraduate Weici Hu discussing "Statistical methods accounting for the missing observations in confounding variables and comparison of their efficiency based on simulation study" in a poster session (#306) (faculty advisor Nicholas Horton).
Katherine Halvorsen named Mosteller Statistician of the year
Smith Mathematics and Statistics Professor Katherine Halvorsen
was recently
named the Mosteller Statistician of the year by the Boston Chapter of the
American Statistical Association for exceptional contributions to the field
of statistics and outstanding service to the statistical community.
Individuals from academia, industry, and government who have been actively associated with the Boston Chapter are considered for the award.
See more...
Alumna career profile: applying math to public health
Smith Mathematics and Statistics graduate Mariel Finucane '05 was recently
profiled in Science Careers (from the journal Science). She
reported wanting a career that would "have a positive impact in the world".
She's found a way to do that, combining work at the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre
at the University of Cape Town, teaching in the Marshall Islands, and
graduate and postdoctoral study at the Harvard School of Public Health.
See more...
Alumna book: Number sense and number nonsense
Smith Mathematics graduate Nancy Krasa '69 recently published
Number Sense and Number Nonsense: Understanding the Challenges of Learning Math,
which addresses the question of
how children learn math, and why do some children struggle with it? This
straightforward, reader-friendly book for education professionals and invaluable multidisciplinary resource for researchers helps better understand how kids learn.
See more...
Smith Center for Women in Mathematics given national honor
The American Mathematical Society (AMS) is honoring the Smith College Center for Women in Mathematics as a program that does an outstanding job of encouraging women and members of underrepresented minority groups to pursue studies in the mathematical sciences. The other honoree for 2011 is the Department of Mathematics at North Carolina State University. "The programs recognized this year are truly remarkable," said Susan Loepp of Williams College, who served as chair of the selection committee. "Students in these programs receive extraordinary and individualized mentoring in a supportive, yet demanding atmosphere. The number of women and underrepresented minorities who are inspired to continue in mathematics because of these two programs is impressive." Read more about the Award... Read more from the AMS...
James Henle named chaired professor
The Smith College Board of Trustees recently conferred chaired professorships on
three Smith faculty members, including James Henle, professor of mathematics and statistics and
Myra M. Sampson Professor.
Professor Henle received an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and a doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He arrived at Smith in 1976 and was promoted to professor in 1988. He has published on set theory, calculus, logic, the logic of infinities, mathematics pedagogy and puzzles.
He teaches Linear Algebra and Valid and Invalid Reasoning: What Follows from What? He has served on several major committees, including the
Committee on Tenure and Promotion and the Committee on Academic Priorities.
He was instrumental in establishing the Smith Center for Women and Mathematics, which was recently recognized by the American Mathematical Society as a program that does an outstanding job of encouraging women and members of underrepresented minority groups to pursue studies in the mathematical sciences.
See more...
Burton Hall construction update
Burton Hall, home of the Mathematics and Statistics department and part of the college's Clark Science Center cluster, is receiving major renovations this summer. The project includes replacement of the building's numerous windows and roof, and reconstructed corridors, as well as structural upgrades. Read more and see pictures...
Sarah Costrell runner up in History of Mathematics writing contest
Smith student Sarah Costrell was named a runner up in the Mathematical
Association of America's History of Mathematics special interest group student writing contest. Sarah's essay
discussed the Quadrivium of Isidore of Seville.
Read more...
Five Alumnae to Complete Math PhDs at Top Schools. Is It a Story?!"Congratulations!" announced the email from alumna Marian Schaap Weinberg, Class of 1941, of Sleepy Hollow, N.Y. Weinberg was responding to the recent honor awarded to the Smith College Center for Women in Mathematics. In April, the American Mathematical Society lauded the center for its success encouraging women to pursue studies in the mathematical sciences. Weinberg went on to explain that she was "one of exactly 12 math majors…considered somewhat of an oddity" when she was at Smith. After receiving her degree, Weinberg taught high school math and later became involved in computer programming, which makes her "still somewhat of an oddity," she wrote. Read the full article...
Congrats to graduates!
The department is happy to celebrate our graduates' success, and invites students and their families to a reception in the Mathematics and Statistics Forum (Burton 3rd floor) on Saturday, May 14th from 3:30-5:00pm.
Statistics faculty awards and election results
Smith statisticians Katherine Halvorsen and Nicholas Horton were recently elected to national office of the American Statistical Association (ASA). Katherine will serve as the chair of the Council of Sections Governing Board, while Nick will become a member of the Board of Directors. Nick was also the recipient of the Boston Chapter of the ASA Chapter Service Award, for his extensive service on behalf of the chapter, which proudly serves members in Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Rhode Island.
Mathematics and statistics students inducted into honor societies
As commencement nears, a number of students in mathematics and statistics have been inducted into two national honorary societies. Research work by Sarah Anoke, Shivani Aryal, Sarah Costrell, Eleanor Conley, Elizabeth Cowdery, Lily Du, Margaret Ewing, Chi Gao, Ella Hartenian, Yang Li, Jessica Lord, Samantha Lowe, Emily Meehan, Micaela Mendlow, Emily Merrill, Viktoria Pardey, Allison Reed-Harris, Jayna Resman, Rebecca Terry, Ma Thida, Samantha Torquato, Stephanie Wang, Cora Waterman and Hazel Won led to their inclusion in Sigma Xi. Excellent work in statistics led to membership in Mu Sigma Rho for Kathryn Aloisio, Shivani Aryal, Elizabeth Do, Emily Morgan Dodwell, Chi Gao, Kathryn (Molly) Johnson, Elizabeth Jung, Kathryn Elizabeth Lynch, Margaret Kemunto Nyamumbo Ma Thida, and Zoe Zadworny.
Smith senior scholar athlete honored
Mathematics major Kathryn (Molly) Johnson was recently honored along with 14 other Smith College Senior Scholar Athletes for maintaining outstanding academic performance while competing for three or more years at the varsity level. In addition, Molly was the Crew winner of the Marly Pineda Pioneer Team award. This recognition is given to those Smith athletes who exemplify dedication, passion, selflessness, sportsmanship, and the spirit of a champion. All honorees are known for their positive attitude, their commitment toward making everyone around them feel welcomed and supported, and their "never ever" give up spirit that makes them special and a champion in life. Crew coach Karen Klinger (SC '87) writes
Molly Johnson is our heart. She impacts the team on every level possible. A leader thru example, cheerleader and task master, athlete and coach, entertainer and confidant. Always asking more of herself than others, she also expects everyone to perform and dedicate themselves to the team.
Mathematics and Statistics graduate successfully defends her thesis and publishes in the Lancet
Mariel Finucane (Smith College class of 2005) recently
defended her doctoral dissertation (entitled
Bayesian methods for global health monitoring) in the Department
of Biostatistics at the Harvard School
of Public Health. Mariel also recently was the first author of a paper
The Lancet entitled National, regional, and global trends in body-mass index since 1980: systematic analysis of health examination surveys and epidemiological studies with 960 country-years and 9.1 million participants. Mariel will be starting a postdoctoral research position
in the Department of Global Health and Population at the Harvard School of
Public Health.
See more...
Student off to MathFest
Congratulations to Jay Griffiths, this year's winner of the monthly
math problem contest. As winner of the contest Jay will get to attend
the MathFest conference this summer in Lexington, Kentucky
and will represent Smith at the national
problem solving contest.
MathFest is the annual summer meeting of the Mathematical Association of America is the premier summertime event in mathematics. The meeting offers a substantial mathematical program that is fascinating, informative, and productive. In keeping with the less formal summer season there are also many opportunities to enjoy mathematics and to have fun with it.
See more...
Assessment of Quantitative Skills
Smith Mathematics and Statistics students and faculty have been working with the Spinelli Quantitative Skills Center
to assess the quantitative skills of graduating seniors. This Q-team arose
to better understand whether students have the appropriate skills needed to succeed
in the outside world.
See more...
Jennifer Wise '10 part of Research Experiences for Graduate Students presentations
Smith Math graduate Jennifer Wise's work on Edge-Antipodal Colorings of Hypergraphs (with Hannah Kolb and Oliver Pechenik) was featured in the Fall 2010
summer Research Experiences for Graduate Students showcase at the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This project was part of an NSF funded
effort called Mentoring Through Critical Transition Points.
See more...
Statistical methods paper published with student first author
A paper entitled The use and abuse of multiple outcomes in randomized controlled depression trials derived from Kristin Tyler's
special studies project was recently published in the
journal Contemporary Clinical Trials. Kristin (Mathematics
and Statistics graduate from the class of 2008),
was the first author of the paper, along with
Sharon-Lise Normand of Harvard University
Nicholas Horton.
The paper concerns itself with the appropriate analysis of multiplicity
in study design and interpretation.
See more...
Students present research at Joint Mathematics Meetings in New Orleans
Four groups of Smith students presented their research at the 2011 Joint
Mathematics Meetings in New Orleans, as well as part of the Smith Mathematics
and Statistics lunch
talk series in December. Emily Hale-Sills, Emily Merrill and Samantha Lowe
spoke on Bell ringing and domination, Sarah Costrell, Margaret Ewing, Jessica Lord and Viktoria Pardey described their work on
Groups and change ringing, Elizabeth Cowdery, Allison Reed-Harris, Jayna Resman and Michelle Winerip talked about the Geometry and dynamics
or an ecological arms race, while Yonit Bousany, Lily Du and Stefanie Wang
presented their work on Experiments in monotone kinetic visibility.
Michelle Snider ('04) completes PhD in Mathematics
Smith Mathematics graduate Michelle Snider successfully completed her Cornell University PhD thesis entitled Affine Patches on Positroid Varieties and Affine Pipe Dreams. The objects of interest in her thesis are positroid varieties in the Grassmannian, which are indexed by juggling patterns. Congrats to her and best wishes for the future! Read the thesis... Read more about Michelle...
Nicholas Horton recipient of the Sherrerd Prize for distinguished teaching
Nicholas Horton, Department of Mathematics and Statistics was one of three members of the Smith faculty awarded the Kathleen Compton Sherrerd '54 and John J. F. Sherrerd Prize for Distinguished Teaching. Emeritus Mathematics and Statistics emeritus faculty member David Cohen received the award in 2004. Watch the video... Read about the winners...
WiMin and Smath conferences a success
The Center for Women in Mathematics and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics hosted two successful conferences in September. Events included the SMath conference on Saturday the 25th and the Women in Mathematics in New England undergraduate conference on Sunday the 26th. The Center for Women in Mathematics is an NSF funded project to provide intensive training in mathematics for women at the advanced undergraduate level. The Center offers two programs open to visiting students: the junior program and the postbaccalaureate program.
Summer statistics project at the Energy Information Administration
Tanya Hakim '12 spent her summer in Washington, DC, interning at the Energy Information Administration through the Joint Program in Survey Methodology (JPSM) Junior Fellows Program. Hakim's project focused on improving the quality of data collected in several of the EIA's surveys to power plants by studying the current edit system in place and brainstorming new edits to add to the system. The program, run by the University of Maryland–College Park, places undergraduate students at various federal statistical agencies in the DC area (i.e. Census Bureau, Bureau of Economic Analysis) to tackle projects related to survey methodology (a branch of statistics focusing on the mathematics behind surveys). The program offers those accepted into the Junior Fellows Program further opportunities to learn more about the growing field of survey methodology through weekly seminars and visits to the federal statistical agencies that host interns. See more...
Biomathematical sciences concentration
The new Biomathematical Sciences Concentration allows students to integrate the study of mathematics, statistics, computer science and engineering with biology, biochemistry and neuroscience. In addition to the gateway course, the electives and the capstone, the concentration includes two hands-on research experiences in labs that use the tools of the mathematical and computer sciences to parse the meaning of biological phenomena. See more...
Praxis project modeling access to greenways and multi-use trails
Ma Thida completed a summer Praxis project to determine how far people walk and bicycle to rail trails and multi-use trails. This project, which utilized her skills in applied statistics, was undertaken in conjunction with the City of Northampton Office of Planning and Development and the Friends of Northampton Trails and Greenways. It will help understand usage patterns and plan a network of rail trail and multi-use trails that serves the community. Thida created a framework to approach the problem, then suggested a model of usage and a summary that will be included in the City's Open Space, Recreation, and Multi-Use Plan. The Praxis program provides each Smith sophomore or junior access to a one-time $2,000 stipend that ensures she can afford to participate in a summer internship that draws on her academic background and builds on her career goals.
Math and Stats projects included in Celebrating Collaborations proceedings
Celebrating Collaborations is Smith College's annual showcase of student research and performance. The event highlights students' intellectual achievements and their collaborative efforts with faculty in a variety of departmental, program and interdisciplinary projects. Eight Mathematics and Statistics students presentations from this spring's Celebrating Collaborations are now available in the proceedings of the research festival. A total of 205 presentations were part of the 2010 event, These includes posters on the following topics:
- Convergence to Rhombic Tiling in Phyllotaxis: An Exploration in the Dynamical Systems of Plant Formation
- How Many Guards? Exponential Domination in Graphs
- Experimental Design and Analysis of the Cobra Laser
- Composite Outcomes in Clinical Trials: Guidelines for Investigation
- Improving the Performance of Survival Models with Missing Predictors: Making the Best Use of Available Information
- Does Participation in the Smith Summer Research Fellows Program Encourage Pursuit of Advanced Degrees in the Sciences?
- Traversing the Northampton Countryside
- A Graph Theoretical Approach to Supersymmetry
Math and Art creations
Students in the Art/Math Studio Presidential Seminar (PRS309) this past semester combined two distinct but related areas of study: studio art and mathematics. They created a series of 3 dimensional models dealing directly with aspects of mathematics. Instructors Pau Atela, professor in the Mathematics and Statistics Department and John Gibson (Studio Art) supervised intensive work that students created, through reading, oral presentations and critiques, written assignments and creation of their final project. The course is scheduled to be offered again in the spring of 2011.
Professor named Bike Advocate of the Year
Nick Horton, associate professor of mathematics and statistics, and founder and president of the Friends of Northampton Trails and Greenways, accepted an award for 2010 Bike Advocate of the Year on the morning of Wednesday, May 19. The award is given annually by Mass Bike (Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition), a statewide bicycle advocacy group. Horton's group collected more than $10,000 as a donation to support the Rail Trail bike path network in and around Northampton. He received his award during Mass Bike's annual Bike Commute Breakfast on the Northampton courthouse lawn. See more...
Mathematics and statistics students inducted into honor societies
As commencement nears, a number of students in mathematics and statistics have been inducted into two national honorary societies. Research work by Rebecca Benhart, Zehui Chen, Priscah Cheruiyot, Heidi Goodson, Diana Jaunzeikare, Mary Karker, Lei Lei, Shannon McDonough, Sylvia Naples, Marissa Neal, Cyla O'Connor, Portia Parker, Gillian Riggs, Emma Schlatter, Leona Sparaco, Amanda Tapia, Nicole Vitale, Rebbecca Wilson, Jennifer Wise, and Xiao Ting Zhao led to their inclusion in Sigma Xi. Excellent work in statistics led to membership in Mu Sigma Rho for Zehui Chen, Caroline Indge, Marissa Neal, Thida Ma, Cyla O'Connor, Portia Parker, Isabel Sheng, Amanda Tapia, and Hong Yang.
Undergrads with research experience more likely to earn an advanced degree
Smith sophomore Tanya Hakim found summer research fellows had nearly twice the odds of completing an advanced degree relative to those students who did not participate in the program, after accounting for baseline differences in SAT scores and admissions ratings. The results will be presented at the Celebrating Collaborations poster session on Saturday, April 17th, along with a number of other Mathematics and Statistics students and faculty research projects. Tanya worked on this project with Associate Professor Nicholas Horton and Cate Rowen, director of the Office of Institutional Research and Educational Assessment. See more...
CoNE conference (celebrating the inspirations of Michael O. Albertson
A gathering of more than 80 people from all over the world came to Smith March 26-28th to attend the CoNE conference. This was a celebration of the inspirations of Michael O. Albertson. Talks by Mike's collaborators (many of whome are Smith graduates who have excelled in their mathematical careers) included Distinguishing numbers and wreaths, To the moon and beyond, and Vertex identifying sets. See more...
Mathematics and Statistics help Smith College lead peers in NSF funding
In the past 10 years Smith College has won more National Science Foundation (NSF) research funding — over $14 million — than any other select liberal arts college in the nation. The largest single NSF award to Smith during the past decade was dedicated to the education of undergraduate and graduate students. In 2006, Smith received $1.5 million for the establishment of the Center for Women in Mathematics, which runs two programs aimed at increasing the number of women at the top of the field. See more...
Visiting artist
Pau Atela, professor in the
Mathematics and Statistics Department hosted a visit by Aki Sasamoto, a New York-based
Japanese artist who works in dance, sculpture, and performance. Her works, involving
installation, sound, and sculpturally altered found objects, investigate the bizarre
emotions behind daily activities, the role of metaphor in art and the body as an instrument
for storytelling. Aki previously visited Smith along with a group of artists and
mathematicians who collaborated on the MathStudio X= project. See
Math Change Ringers continue to ring
The Smith Change Ringers (organized by Mathematics and Statistics faculty members Elizabeth Denne and Michael Bush) have continued to make wonderful sounds in the last year. During Fall 2009 the group rang at several Smith college events including Mountain Day and the dedication of Ford Hall (see the Youtube video) and traveled to Boston to ring at the Old North Church and the Church of the Advent. During Spring 2010 they will ring on Rally Day and as part of the Commencement Weekend activities. Change ringing involves a group of people ringing sequences of permutations on bells in an organized manner according to certain rules. On tower bells each person controls a single bell and the challenge is in maintaining a good rhythm and keeping track of where your bell is relative to others in the sequence. The group is always interested in recruiting new members. See more...
Streinu honored for groundbreaking mathematical research
Smith College Professor Ileana Streinu received a prestigious award for mathematical research addressing a longstanding fundamental problem in geometry, with applications in robotics and computational biology. Streinu was honored for her algorithmic solution of the "carpenter's rule problem," which asks whether any polygonal chain (connected series of line segments) can be continuously straightened out in a way that avoids self-intersections. In Streinu's explanation, the polygon edges are taken as rigid, but the vertices are joints that allow rotation, turning a mathematical object into a simplified model of a robotic arm. While the carpenter's rule is confined to two dimensions, robots--like humans--are three-dimensional. They may get entangled in space, but, as the carpenter's rule result shows, the two-dimensional ones cannot. See more...


text:
A new book profiling 35 major American inventors includes a chapter on Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory scientist and inventor Ashok Gadgil. Inventing Modern America: From the Microwave to the Mouse was released December 1, 2001 by MIT Press of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Gadgil is the inventor of UV Waterworks, a device that disinfects drinking water inexpensively and energy-efficiently using ultraviolet light.
Read more about Ashok Gadgil and Inventing Modern America: From the Microwave to the Mouse.

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Well, it is 2013 — Happy New Year. I hope all of you had a great time with your family and friends through this holiday season. I enjoyed the relaxation of not going anywhere and just staying home.
As we all know, with the New Year comes talk about some resolutions.
I thought I would put a different twist on my column today and talk about some of the services dentistry has to offer that people might shy away from and write a small note as to why you shouldn't worry so much about them.
Maybe after reading this, you will make some new resolutions.
If you currently subscribe or have subscribed in the past to the Citrus Chronicle, then simply find your account number on your mailing label and enter it below.
Click the question mark below to see where your account ID appears on your mailing label.
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Product Page
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text:
a place for zinesters - writers and readers
I'm creating works which are going to a ZINE that I'm putting together at the end of 2014.
May need some inspiration for extra ideas of putting it together. May make a blog of reviewing ZINES at the end of 2014 as well. I will feature your website or name as feature of thanks in my ZINE if you offer free ones.
Email - email@example.com
And I will message back my address.
I'll try get back to everyone at the end of the year for those who have mailed me a zine, I will mail back mine with a few other stuff :)
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The whole refuge system at Fern is a joke. They got the idiot Brad bales to go for this mOst soil management bullshit so they don't have to plant corn anymore. When I was a kid the whole refuge was in crops and the refuge often held the better part of 30,000 ducks when they did counts.
This held a crap ton of ducks in our end of the valley. The north side was also heavily planted in corn and flooded.
The whole thing started to slide down hill when they started hunting it. Further slid when they stopped planting good amounts of corn.
Then they started the stand by system and always having 14 blinds or 12 or whatever the hell number it is hunting it 3 days a week.
all those moist soil mud holes enabled people to shoot teal and spoon bills and that upped the bird count to more killed birds then ever but ZERO quality unless you have one of a choice few blinds. Wayne points out how many birds are killed and thinks he is a hero. The dept is providing opportunity and that us all they care about. They don't give two shits if you shoot good birds or if the refuge holds birds in our end of the valley. They provide a wet hole for all kinds of other birds and wildlife with our money and provide us with crap duck hunting.
The whole situation is so sad it makes me want to VOMIT.
I used to kill 150 Mallards a season on the East side of the road ( royal/fisher butte) and that was when the hunting over there was nothing compared to the refuge hunts! Now you would be lucky to kill anything. Jeff


text:
Justin Bieber's SUV Crashes After Paparazzo Chase
Trouble seems to follow him everywhere he goes, and Justin Bieber was involved in a car crash in Los Angeles on Tuesday (June 24).
The "All That Matters" singer was riding in a Cadillac Escalade when paparazzi began pursuing him around 2PM.
And when a his vehicle tried to speed past a parking structure near Mastro's Steak House, a BMW SUV collided with the passenger side door. Immediately, Bieber hopped out of his ride and into another before speeding off.
An insider told press, "Justin was only a passenger, not the driver, and he was not hurt. He is doing just fine."


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a place for zinesters - writers and readers
What a career Mickey Rooney had.
I was able to meet him one time when I worked at Doubleday books.
He was in Dallas at the North Park Mall. I was doing an errand, and he walked by with a tall woman. They were both eating ice cream cones. I said, "Hi Mr. Rooney!" He replied, "Hiya kid, Hiya" and kept walking. Fun!
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Mao lies in prominence as much as in state
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Even in death, the Chinese leader has a role to fill for the ruling regime, writes Anne Summers.
I have never seen the point of Madame Tussauds, all those creepy wax replicas of famous personages supposedly looking lifelike. And there's even less point when the waxed ones are not just still alive but annoyingly ubiquitous as in the case of the Beckhams.
Every bit of media these days constantly carries their image and it is not too difficult to have a sighting. (I had the dubious pleasure of sharing a lift with Posh and her over-the-top entourage in Shanghai a few weeks ago.)
So the last thing we need is a fake nativity scene with the real David and Victoria as wax models of the long dead Joseph and Mary. I don't find it offensive so much as redundant.
If you want weird and lifelike, don't settle for wax copies - go for actual embalmed bodies and that means, of course, the former communist dictators V.I. Lenin, Ho Chi Minh and Mao Zedong, all of whom lie resplendent in mausoleums in the countries they once presided over.
I recently completed the trifecta of viewing these grand old men of Marxism-Leninism. (I didn't bother with North Korea's Kim il-Sung, who died in 1994, since he has nothing like the star power of the other three.)
It was quite an experience. Not just because the bodies were all so eerily familiar - all of them are iconic 20th-century figures - although I found them rather less lifelike than any wax replica, but because of the way visits to these bodies epitomise the countries they formerly presided over.
It seems you can tell a lot about a country by the way it handles its embalmed dictators.
Take Lenin. The day in May this year when I visited the Russian revolutionary's mausoleum in Moscow's Red Square, there was no queue, no waiting and no problem about lingering over the somewhat disconcerting sight of what is supposed to be the actual body of a man who died in 1924.
Perhaps not surprisingly, Lenin is no longer popular in Russia. There are still statues of him everywhere and he has not suffered the same ignominy as Stalin, whose embalmed body was removed - after eight years of lying next to Lenin's (they are pictured right as they used to be seen) - during the Destalinisation program of 1961, but he is not treated with any reverence.
Everyone is far more worried about Vladimir Putin's despotic intentions to worry too much about dead dictators.
Ho Chi Minh's body in Hanoi, by contrast, is still a desirable attraction for tourists and local Vietnamese school children.
Ramrod-stiff young soldiers guard the waxen remains with its wispy beard, and the whole visit is premised on veneration and respect.
The crowds are big and made to move briskly. There is no photo-taking, no stopping, and definitely no signs of disrespect such as wearing shorts or tank tops.
A visit to Mao's body in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, on the other hand, is more retail than reverential. It says a lot about the ruling communist regime that recent criticisms of the macabre spectacle have led to an official crackdown on dissent.
In October I stood in line with hundreds of Chinese, most of them seemingly unsophisticated visitors from rural areas, as we shuffled our way towards the stairs that lead to where the Chinese leader has lain since his death in 1976.
While we waited, we were exhorted by a guard to buy flowers for the Great Helmsman. About half our number broke ranks to go the stall, conveniently located alongside the queue. As we got closer, the same guard yelled at us again. "You are getting in for free," he shouted, "at least buy the commemorative book."
Most of us complied.
Once inside, the flowers were deposited on a table, ready to be ferried back for resale, and we were divided into four lines and conveyed at a fair clip past Mao's body. Astonishingly, several people actually kowtowed.
It is such scenes that have disgusted the independent Chinese writer Yu Jie and five other intellectuals who earlier this year asked publicly that Chinese authorities remove Mao's corpse before the 2008 Olympics. "The time has come for this absurd devotion to finish," the intellectuals wrote. They wanted Beijing to be seen as a "civilised city, one worthy of hosting the Olympic Games".
They proposed that, to abide with Chinese tradition, Mao's body be returned to his birthplace in Hunan and buried. Two nights ago Yu Jie was arrested as were other intellectuals, including the leader of the writers' organisation PEN and veteran Tiananmen dissident, Liu Xiaobo. They were questioned overnight in what seems to be a crackdown on dissidence by the regime of Chinese President Hu Jintao.
It is an alarming and unexpected development, but a clear sign of what Mao's body now represents to the regime.
During my visit, after we'd stared fleetingly at Mao's strangely orange body, we were shoved out into a bustling marketplace of Mao memorabilia.
Mao Zedong's mausoleum, selling T-shirts and trinkets, is a capitalist roader's delight. The contrast with the non-commercial austerity and gravity of visits to Lenin and Ho's crypts could not be greater.
The body of the founder of modern China is being harnessed by the regime for political control and commercial gain. Mao would be turning in his grave - if he had one.


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Internship Programs at the Secular Coalition for America
The Secular Coalition for America (SCA) seeks highly motivated undergraduate, graduate, or law students for unpaid internship positions in the spring, summer and fall semesters. SCA is a 501(c)(4) advocacy organization located in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to increase the visibility of and respect for nontheistic viewpoints in the United States, and to protect and strengthen the secular character of our government as the best guarantee of freedom for all.
As a small non-profit, this internship will provide ample opportunities to take on responsibility and produce work samples for addition to a portfolio. Interns work directly with SCA staff and have the opportunity to learn and assist in the four main departments of the office: lobbying and advocacy; research and outreach; development and fundraising; and communications through traditional and new media.
Internships for the Spring of 2017 are available. Contact Sarah Levin at [email protected] for more information.
Summer 2017 Internship Program
The internship is flexible, but generally will run from Monday, June 5, 2017 through Friday, August 18, 2017. Summer interns must be available a minimum of 24 hours per week between 10 am and 6 pm. Occasional weekend and evening hours may be expected. Transportation costs to and from Washington, D.C. will not be provided.
To apply for the Secular Coalition for America Summer 2017 Internship Program, please submit a resume and cover letter to [email protected] by Friday, May 5 2017. Students are encouraged to apply earlier, as positions may be filled prior to the May 5 deadline. Students applying for the Legislative Internship must also submit a writing sample.
Communications Intern
Excellent written and oral communication skills are required. Familiarity with Wordpress, the Adobe Suite, graphic design software or video editing are strongly preferred. Remote internships are available for exceptional candidates. Duties include but are not limited to:
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- Posting the SCA Morning Read to social media platforms
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State Chapter and Outreach Intern
The State Chapter Intern and Outreach will work directly with the SCA Legislative Associate, Sarah Levin. Duties include but are not limited to:
- Periodically checking and posting state and local news, primarily relevant legislation and court cases
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- Researching local and national secular community events
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Legislative Intern (Current Law Students Only)
The Secular Coalition for America is seeking a current law student to directly assist the the Secular Coalition's policy department. This internship is ideal for first or second year law students seeking substantive, hands-on experience in the field of public policy. Applicants for this position must submit a writing sample. Duties include but are not limited to:
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Operations and Development Intern
The Operations and Development Intern will work directly with the SCA Director of Operations, Austin Cooper. This internship is ideal for students interested in learning about the day-to-day inner workings of a non-profit organization and students of business and accounting seeking hands-on experience. Duties include but are not limited to:
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- Drafting year-end tax letters for donors
- Receive training to assist the Director of Operations in accounting for both (c)3 and (c)4 operations.
- Receive training to assist Director of Operations in database management, specifically CiviCRM
- Maintaining relationships with small and mid-level donor base
- Tracking progress of fundraising campaigns
How to Apply
To apply for the Secular Coalition for America Summer 2017 Internship Program, please submit a resume and cover letter to [email protected]. Applications will continue to be accepted until Friday, May 5, 2017 however positions may be filled and accepted candidates notified prior to that date.


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Τhe main objective
of the EMYNOS project is the design and implementation of a Next Generation
platform capable of accommodating rich-media emergency calls that combine
voice, text, and video, thus constituting a powerful tool for coordinating the communication
among citizens, call centers, and first responders.
The innovation project aims to bring a Smart City backend solution to market by testing and extending it within the two FIRE facilities FUESCO Playground in Germany (using the standard compliant OpenMTC framework) and the FIT IoT-Lab in France (using a wide range of programmable sensors).
4WARD - Architecture and Design for the Future Internet, Integrated Project (IP).
The 7th Framework Program project 4WARD addresses Architecture and Design for the Future Internet.
The 5G-ready Trial Platform is one of two projects of the Fraunhofer-Institutes FOKUS and HHI. It will provide 5G mobile and network technologies for the 5G Test Field Initiative of the Berlin senate for economics, technology and research.
Principal goal: Federating Japanese and European 5G Testbeds to Explore Relevant Standards and Align Views on 5G Mobile Network Infrastructure Supporting Dynamic Creation and Management of Network Slices for Different Mobile Services.
Large-Scale International IPv6 Pilot Network – 6NET is a three-year European project to demonstrate that continued growth of the Internet can be met using new IPv6 technology.
Within the AAES project, SQC develops a demonstration model which serves to deliver proof of the various options available for acceleration of development cycles in the automobile industry as well as to show their practical feasibility in real-life situations involving control of onboard electronics.
The key objective of the AD4 project is the enhancement of a 3D Virtual Reality system, called D3 (D-cube), for the real time visual representation and manipulation of data in the field of Air Traffic Management and Control, both in open space (enroute) as well as at Airport level.
AEGIS brings together the data, the network & the technologies to create a curated, semantically enhanced, interlinked & multilingual repository for public & personal safety-related big data.
Up to one hundred computers in a car ensure a safe drivability. Automotive manufacturers and suppliers work together in the development of such software systems. The BMW Group's Symphony Project integrates development data from various data sources at BMW into one data model and tests the consistency to ensure the eventual compatibility and necessary software quality of the individual components.
Ambient Networks – This European (FP6) Integrated Project is lead by Ericsson aiming to create scalable and affordable network solutions for mobile and wireless systems beyond 3G.
The integrated ANA Project aims at exploring novel ways of organizing and using networks beyond legacy Internet technology. The ultimate goal is to design and develop a novel network architecture that enables flexible, dynamic, and fully autonomic formation of network nodes as well as whole networks.


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Your Natural Cures For Diabetes
Thinking of your way of living could cause locating some easy preventing diabetes, all-natural remedies for diabetes mellitus, like modest workout as well as a healthy and balanced diet plan. Going for far better health and wellness could suggest making changes in the means you live your life, yet in the future the advantages will certainly exceed the prices. Transforming behaviors which could be hazardous is never ever very easy, yet it can be done. Many people could take advantage of including modest as well as routine workout to their life. Basic methods to begin working out consist of taking the pet for a stroll, making use of the staircases as opposed to the lift at the workplace, or having fun with your youngsters or grandchildren. By beginning little and also entering the practice of workout you could locate that you really feel far better and also might also intend to boost your health and fitness dosage.
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A few of the most basic all-natural treatments for diabetics issues remain in your hands. Taking control of your selections in food and also including some workout to your everyday regimen could lead you to avoid or regulating diabetic issues. It might be a battle in the beginning, however if you persist you can be healthier. Consuming a well balanced diet regimen reduced in hydrogenated fats and also greater in fresh fruit, veggies and also fiber could not seem as simple or fascinating as the lure of convenience foods, yet your body might really feel far better for the adjustment. Begin by making small modifications in some your routine foods by switching white bread for whole-grain as well as picking an item of fruit over a wonderful or salted treat. Taking little actions each time could make it simpler to include even more nourishing foods to your diet regimen.


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Dr. Piroska Rozsa Fejes, Barrie, Ontario
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|Humana Reports Third Quarter 2011 Financial Results, Provides 2012 Financial Guidance
LOUISVILLE, Ky., Oct 31, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) today reported diluted earnings per common share (EPS) for the quarter ended September 30, 2011 (3Q11) of $2.67, compared to $2.32 per share for the quarter ended September 30, 2010 (3Q10). For the nine months ended September 30, 2011 (YTD11) the company reported $7.24 in EPS compared to $5.84 for the nine months ended September 30, 2010 (YTD10). Comparison of operating results for these periods is affected by the items noted below:
The company anticipates EPS of approximately $8.35 to $8.40 for the year ending December 31, 2011 (FY11) versus its previous estimate of $7.50 to $7.60. This increase in FY11 EPS guidance primarily reflects lower projected benefit expense ratios in the company's Retail and Employer Group Segments and higher average Medicare membership.
Looking ahead to the year ending December 31, 2012 (FY12), the company projects EPS to be in the range of $7.40 to $7.60, exclusive of any future share repurchases. The company has strengthened the value proposition to the Medicare beneficiaries it serves through stable premiums and benefits in its Medicare Advantage and stand-alone PDP offerings in FY12 through its usual Medicare bid margin reset. As a result of improving its Medicare value proposition membership gains in these Medicare offerings are anticipated to be strong in the coming year.
"Our favorable results in the third quarter and year to date reflect strong operating performance across multiple businesses," said Michael B. McCallister, Humana's chairman of the board and chief executive officer. "In Medicare, our clear focus on strong financial protection and higher quality coordinated health care for seniors represents a powerful value proposition, and continues to drive membership growth, now nearly 4.5 million people."
Consolidated Highlights
Revenues - 3Q11 consolidated revenues were $9.30 billion, an increase of 11 percent from $8.35 billion in 3Q10, with total premiums and services revenue also up 11 percent compared to the prior year's quarter. The year-over-year increase in premiums and services revenue primarily reflected an increase in the revenues in both the company's Retail and Health and Well-Being Services segments.
YTD11 consolidated revenues rose 10 percent to $27.78 billion from $25.32 billion in YTD10 with total premiums and services revenue also up 10 percent compared to the prior year's period, driven primarily by increases in the same segments as the third quarter year-over-year increase.
Benefit expenses - The 3Q11 consolidated benefit ratio (benefit expenses as a percent of premiums) of 80.7 percent decreased by 90 basis points from 81.6 percent for the prior year's quarter due primarily to a decline in the Retail segment benefit ratio as described below. The consolidated benefit ratio for YTD11 of 82.2 percent decreased by 20 basis points from the YTD10 consolidated benefit ratio of 82.4 percent primarily due to the declines in the benefit ratios for the Retail and Employer Group Segments.
Favorable prior-period medical claims reserve development impacted the consolidated benefit ratio year-over-year comparisons as follows:
Operating costs - The consolidated operating cost ratio (operating costs as a percent of total revenues less investment income) of 14.8 percent for 3Q11 compares to 12.1 percent in 3Q10 primarily reflecting the company's December 2010 acquisition of Concentra Inc. (Concentra) and increased expenses associated with the Medicare sales season for 2012 offerings which began a month earlier than in the prior year.
The YTD11 consolidated operating cost ratio of 13.9 percent increased 130 basis points from that for YTD10 of 12.6 percent primarily due to the same factors impacting the third quarter year-over-year comparison.
The write-down of certain DAC during the second quarter of 2010 impacted the consolidated year-over-year operating cost ratio comparisons as follows:
Retail Segment Highlights
Pretax results:
Premiums and services revenue:
Benefit expenses:
Operating costs:
Employer Group Segment Highlights
Pretax results:
Premiums and services revenue:
Benefit expenses:
Operating costs:
Health and Well-Being Services Segment Highlights
Pretax results:
Operating costs:
Balance Sheet
Cash Flows from Operations
The year over year decrease in the non-GAAP cash flows from operations is due to the negative effect on cash flows of changes in working capital accounts, partially offset by higher net income year over year.
Share Repurchase Program and Cash Dividend
(a) Actuarial standards require the use of assumptions based on moderately adverse experience, which generally results in favorable reserve development, or reserves that are considered redundant. When the Company recognizes a release of the redundancy, we disclose the amount that is not in the ordinary course of business.
(b) The Company has included certain financial measures that are not in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) in its summary of financial results within this earnings press release. The company believes that these non-GAAP measures, when presented in conjunction with comparable GAAP measures, are useful to both management and its investors in analyzing the company's ongoing business and operating performance. Internally, management uses these non-GAAP financial measures as indicators of business performance, as well as for operational planning and decision making purposes. Non-GAAP financial measures should be considered in addition to, but not as a substitute for, or superior to, financial measures prepared in accordance with GAAP.
(c) During the second quarter of 2010, the company recognized an impairment of deferred acquisition cost (DAC) assets associated with its Individual Major Medical line of business of $147.5 million. The related DAC included amounts associated with commissions, underwriting and other policy issuance costs. Given then impending changes to this business associated with health insurance reform, a substantial portion of the DAC was determined to be not recoverable from future income.
(d) The company provides a full range of insured specialty products including dental, vision and other supplemental health and financial protection products. Members included in these products may not be unique to each product since members have the ability to enroll in multiple products. Other supplemental benefits include life, disability, and fixed benefit products including cancer and critical illness policies.
(e) Generally, when the first day of a month falls on a weekend or holiday, with the exception of January 1 (New Year's Day), the company receives this payment at the end of the previous month. Therefore the year-to-date 2011 period included ten monthly Medicare payments compared to only nine monthly Medicare payments during the 2010 period.
Conference Call & Virtual Slide Presentation
Humana will host a conference call, as well as a virtual slide presentation, at 9:00 a.m. eastern time today to discuss its financial results for the quarter and the company's expectations for future earnings. A live virtual presentation (audio with slides) may be accessed via Humana's Investor Relations page at http://www.humana.com. The company suggests web participants sign on at least 15 minutes in advance of the call. The company also suggests web participants visit the site well in advance of the call to run a system test and to download any free software needed to view the presentation.
All parties interested in the audio-only portion of the conference call are invited to dial 888-625-7430. No password is required. The company suggests participants dial in at least ten minutes in advance of the call. For those unable to participate in the live event, the virtual presentation archive may be accessed via the Historical Webcasts & Presentations section of the Investor Relations page at http://www.humana.com.
Cautionary Statement
This news release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in investor presentations, press releases, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, and in oral statements made by or with the approval of one of Humana's executive officers, the words or phrases like "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "likely will result," "estimates," "projects" or variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, including, among other things, information set forth in the "Risk Factors" section of the company's SEC filings, a summary of which includes but is not limited to the following:
In making forward-looking statements, Humana is not undertaking to address or update them in future filings or communications regarding its business or results. In light of these risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, the forward-looking events discussed herein may or may not occur. There also may be other risks that the company is unable to predict at this time. Any of these risks and uncertainties may cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements.
Humana advises investors to read the following documents as filed by the company with the SEC for further discussion both of the risks it faces and its historical performance:
About Humana
Humana Inc., headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, is a leading health care company that offers a wide range of insurance products and health and wellness services that incorporate an integrated approach to lifelong well-being. By leveraging the strengths of its core businesses, Humana believes it can better explore opportunities for existing and emerging adjacencies in health care that can further enhance wellness opportunities for the millions of people across the nation with whom the company has relationships.
More information regarding Humana is available to investors via the Investor Relations page of the company's web site at http://www.humana.com, including copies of:
SOURCE: Humana Inc.
Humana Inc.
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