April 3, 2003

Contact: Gloria Prothe, Department of Mathematics, (785) 864-3651.

Math Awareness Month activities include competitions for area students, lectures

LAWRENCE -- More than 150 elementary, junior high and high school students from area schools will be on the University of Kansas campus to participate in Mathematics Awareness Month activities.

Each year, the KU Department of Mathematics organizes competitions and workshops for the students in conjunction with the national Mathematics Awareness Month. This year's national theme is "Mathematics and Art."

The math competitions begin at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 5, in 405 Snow Hall. Prizes will be awarded to the top students in each category during the mathematics department's honors banquet on Tuesday, April 22.

Workshops for fifth- and sixth-graders from East Heights and New York elementary schools will demonstrate to students how math is used in art and everyday life. Math undergraduate and graduate students will give interactive presentations on how Picasso used math to draw in the fourth dimension -- attempting to portray all sides of an object at once -- and they will use a graphing calculator to map the function of speed, among other activities.

Along with activities and contests for children, the math department also schedules a number of guest speakers and workshops throughout the month for the KU community. The public is invited to participate in the activities.

Among the speakers the math department will bring to campus:

 • Brian Rosen, technical director, Pixar Animation Studios, will speak at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 10, in 330 Strong Hall. Rosen has worked on several hit movies, including "Toy Story," "A Bug's Life," "Toy Story II," "Monsters Inc." and the upcoming feature "Finding Nemo."

 • Reza Sarhangi, associate professor of mathematics, Towson University in Maryland, will speak at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 16, in 120 Snow Hall. He will discuss designs that are generated based on regular polygons. These designs can be used to study groups and the arts of other cultures.

 • Scott Murphy, assistant professor of music and dance, and Christopher Johnson, associate professor of music and dance, will give a combined talk at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 8, in 306 Snow Hall. They will discuss how mathematics is used to enrich music.

 • Deron McGee, associate professor of music and dance, and Kip Haaheim, assistant professor of music and dance, will speak to the stochastic adaptive control class at 9:30 a.m. Friday, April 18, in 306 Snow Hall. They will discuss their interdisciplinary research using the correlation between music and the way the brain functions in the treatment of epilepsy.

For more information on all of the Math Awareness Month 2003 events at KU, contact Gloria Prothe at the Department of Mathematics, (785) 864-3651.