Department Tutoring
Math 156/157/186
VH 1436 7-9pm Monday-Thursday
Math 192/194
VH 1216 6:30-9pm Sunday-Thursday
Math 198/263/264
VH 1204 7-9pm Monday-Thursday
Stat 190
VH 1236 6:30-8:30pm Sunday-Thursday
Current Students
Truman State Mathematics and Computer Science Student Newsletter
April 1-14, 2008
Upcoming Events:
There will be an MCS colloquium on Tuesday, April 1 at 3:30pm in VH 1236. Dr. David Garth will present Undergraduate Research, the Fibonacci Numbers, and the Wythoff Array. Cookies and refreshments!
KME & MAA Relay for Life bake sale is going on this week, so don't forget to buy some snacks to support a good cause!
KME/MAA are sponsoring a bowling fundraiser for Michael Miller: Saturday, April 5 at 3pm at Leisure World. Bring your friends! Teams of 3 may participate; cost is $12 per person (this includes two games and shoes).
KME Meeting: Wednesday, April 9 at 6pm, VH 1204.
KME Induction is Friday, April 11. Room TBA.
Integration Bee: Saturday, April 12 at 11am, VH 1010. No advance registration required; just show up Saturday morning and compete for prizes!
MAA will meet Wednesday, April 2 at 6pm in VH 1204. We will talk about the fundraiser and Relay for Life.
Announcements:
Congratulations to Austin Abrams for receiving honorable mention in the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship competition!
New course offering for fall: STAT 380: Topics: Biostatistics
Biostatistics is a rapidly growing field within statistics, with specialists working for pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, environmental non-profits, and a variety of other industries. Completion of this class will prepare you for a variety of graduate school opportunities or for many popular jobs in industry.
This course is for those who are interested in statistical methodology in life and health sciences. Applications are primarily drawn from the life and health sciences, including epidemiology, pharmacology (drug trials), ecology, and genetics. It will count for the Statistical Methods minor as well as BS requirements for many majors.
Instructor: Hyun-Joo Kim
When: Fall 2008, TR 1:30-2:50
Prerequisite: Stat 190 or fulfillment of the Essential Skill in statistics.
The course will present the fundamental concepts, terminology, and techniques of biostatistics including an introduction to clinical trials, linear regression, analysis of variance, sample size and power, nonparametric methods, categorical data analysis, logistic regression, longitudinal (repeated measures) data analysis, and survival analysis. Although the course includes some material from other 300-level statistics classes, students primarily interested in these topics should take STAT 375, STAT 378, or STAT 376.
Submissions for the next newsletter are due by 9am on Monday, April 13. Please email all submissions to Dana Vazzana at dvazzana@truman.edu .
Problem of the Fortnight:
Problem: With a two-pan balance, how many weights are needed to weigh objects of every integral weight from 1 to n kilograms?
Solutions should be submitted to Dr. Martin Erickson by Friday, April 10 (note the new deadline).
No student submitted a correct solution to last week's problem. Dr. Erickson's solution is below:
Problem: The Fibonacci numbers are defined by the recurrence formula F_0=0, F_1=1, F_n=F_{n-1}+F_{n-2}, for n >= 2. Find a linear recurrence relation for the sequence of cubes of the Fibonacci numbers: 0, 1, 1, 8, 27, 125, ….
Solution:
It is easy to show by induction that the following recurrence relation holds:
F_n^3=3F_{n-1}^3+6F_{n-2}^3-3F_{n-3}^3-F_{n-4}^3, n >= 4.
To find the recurrence relation, just put variables for the coefficients of the Fibonacci numbers on the right and solve for the variables with four data points (corresponding to n=4,5,6,7).