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California Mathematics Council Community Colleges

California Mathematics Council Community Colleges

California Mathematics Council Community Colleges

Spring 2015 Conference at Lake Tahoe, Apr 17-18

The 19th Annual Spring Recreational Conference was held in Stateline, NV on April 17-18 at the MontBleu Hotel and Spa.

Friday Keynote Speaker: Michael McGinnis, Santa Rosa Junior College
Perplexus Puzzle

Michael McGinnis will reveal his 35-year odyssey in the conceptualizing and development of his award-winning 3-dimensional labyrinth games known as Perplexus. What does it take to make an abstract idea a physical reality? When is it important to let others in on your secrets, and to rely on them to find success?

Michael McGinnis is number 11 of 12 siblings, with 8 older sisters and three brothers, whereas his sisters have four brothers. Michael has ~14% more sisters than the girls do. He is an instructor of sculpture and design at Santa Rosa Junior College, and a practicing artist and exhibit designer.

Saturday Keynote Speaker: Frank Farris, Santa Clara University
Creating Symmetry Wallpaper Waves

You create symmetry whenever you choose to graph a sine curve. The surprise is that every symmetric pattern can be created, or at least approximated, by similar choices. Some know this as a maxim: "Everything is a superposition of waves." In this talk, I'll explain how rosettes, friezes, and wallpaper patterns can be constructed by superimposing waves. Combined with a dash of complex variables, this approach leads to a style of mathematical art that constructs patterns from photographs. The "before" and "after" images show an example of something that can be appreciated either for its use of groups, function spaces, and eigenvalues of the Laplacian - or appreciated simply as art.

Before After

Frank A. Farris served as Editor of Mathematics Magazine from 2001–2005, and again in 2008. He studied at Pomona College and then received the Ph.D. from M.I.T. in 1981. He has taught at Santa Clara University since 1984, after serving as Tamarkin Assistant Professor at Brown University. In Fall 2011, Farris visited Carleton College as Benedict Distinguished Visiting Professor. He has received the David E. Logothetti Teaching Award from SCU and the Trevor Evans Award from the MAA.

Saturday Student Speaker: JoeAnna McDonald, Sacramento City College
Elliptic Curves

This lecture would explain how to add points on an elliptic curve using both an algebraic and graphical approaches. This discussion would also include an exploration of patterns that occur when working with elliptic curves and modulos and prime numbers. If time allows, the applications of elliptic curves to cryptography may be discussed.

Other Events

Please join us for the CMC3 Foundation Gala in Room 1707 immediately after the Friday Keynote Talk. There is a $20 suggested donation which will support student scholarships

Schedule of the Saturday Concurrent Sessions

Presentations provided can be found below.

Room/Session Session 1
9:00 am - 10:00 am
Session 2
10:30 am - 11:30 am
Session 3
2:30 pm - 3:30 pm
Session 4
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Metro A Beal’s Conjecture vs. "Positive Zero", Fight
Angela Moore
Presentation Paper
Euler’s Multiple Solutions to a Diophantine Problem
Chris Goff
Presentation
Gems from the Student Math League Contest
Steve Blasberg
You Go First. No, You Go First!
Chuck Barnett
Presentation I II
Metro B McDonald’s Happy Meal Toys- The Real Cost of Trying to Collect Them All
James Lee
Presentation
Hypocycloids, Hypotrochoids and Polar Curves
Tuyetdong Phan-Yamada and Ely Gwin
Presentation I II
No Session
No Session
Metro C Using Desmos Graphing Calculator to Integrate Math Concepts and Arts
Linda Hoang
Presentation
Teaching Statistics with Wo/man’s Best Friend
Lori Maloney
Presentation
Increasing Mathematics Awareness
Mark Webster
The Linear Systems Problem Electrified
Jeff Anderson
Presentation

Future CMC3 Conferences

Information about future conferences is available. For conference information, contact the Conference Chair. For registration information contact the Membership Chair