*Concerns of Young Mathematicians* Volume 2 Issue 9 March 9, 1994 An electronically distributed digest for discussions of the issues of concern to mathematicians at the beginning of their careers. PLEASE FORWARD TO ANY POTENTIALLY INTERESTED INDIVIDUALS Please, direct submissions and questions to Matthew Hudelson hudelson@math.washington.edu , editor for the month of March. Next issue: March 16 To subscribe: Send mail to Charles Yeomans at cyeomans@s.ms.uky.edu Back issues and other information are available via anonymous FTP to ftp.ms.uky.edu, in pub3/mailing.lists/ymn-list. Table of Contents Item # Title ------ ----- 1 Editor's Notes 2 Review: A MANUAL FOR AUTHORS OF MATHEMATICAL PAPERS By Mark Winstead 3 Mathematicians Losing Numbers By Ed Aboufadel 4 Letter to the Editor: Married Couple Considers Working in the Same Department By Bruce Torrence 5 Closing Credits _______________________________________________________________ Item #1 Editor's Notes: Greetings again from the March editor for the *Concerns of Young Mathematicians*. I want to apologize for any delays in getting the last issue out to everyone. This week's submissions included one written as a letter to me. This led me to include a section devoted to Letters to the Editor in this issue, and in issues to come. I believe this will serve as the best forum for readers' opinions and requests for information from other readers. Also, when you send in a submission, please include "CoYM Article" or "CoYM Letter" somewhere in the subject line. This way, I can quickly identify the CoYM submissions from the rest of my e-mail. Many thanks, Matthew Hudelson, March Editor for CoYM hudelson@math.washington.edu _______________________________________________________________ Item #2 Review: A MANUAL FOR AUTHORS OF MATHEMATICAL PAPERS By Mark Winstead winstead@euclid.ucsd.edu Available in the raw AMStex form from the e-math.ams.org, in the directory /ams/author-info/guidelines, in the file auth-man.tex. Little so far has appeared on these pages about how to prepare papers for submission, but really, there is much information out there on the subject, it really is a matter of finding it. "A Manual for Authors ..." is a well prepared, if slightly dated, account of how to organize and write a mathematical paper. While some of us might disagree with its advocation of brevity, our complaints are really about the lack of simple exposition in mathematics. Articles in journals reports results, they are not meant to introduce us to new subjects. The major points of "Manual" are that 1) the computer allow us to use different notation and requires us to do so on occasion, and 2) how to organize our presentation. What works well on the chalkboard or in handwritten notes do not always work well when printed. Also we should realize that the more difficult we authors make it for publishers to adapt our manuscripts to their journals, the more it costs the publishers to print their journals, and ultimately they pass on that cost. Most of "Manual" is spent on the subject of picking efficient notation and efficient and effective presentation of mathematics. Other topics discussed are proper choice of titles, writing abstracts and/or introductions, when to do detail and when not to, formality vs informality, the use of indices, the use of diagrams and illustrations, acceptable abbreviations for journal titles, the form of a typewritten manuscript, and how to submit electronically to AMS journals. It also contains a useful table of suggested alternatives to our standard chalkboard notation, alternatives which never work on the chalkboard, i.e. use of boldface, etc. Overall, I think that "Manual" is to be recommended to the novice, and to many others who shall remain nameless :) . Personally, I only stumbled across these days ago, and all it did was echo the same things my advisor has told me (Thanks, Nick). Probably the best way to learn to write a paper is to co-author one with someone who is known for writing well before bad habits or style set in. Failing this, "Manual" makes for a reasonable substitute, even if it thinks that we still use typewriters (an ancient machine for the preparing of documents; the hardware forerunner of word processing software). _______________________________________________________________ Item #3 Mathematicians Losing Numbers By Ed Aboufadel aboufade@scus1.ctstateu.edu From the 18 Feb 1994 issue of Science magazine, p. 923: Faced with a continuing shortage of jobs for mathematics Ph.D.'s, the American Mathematics [sic] Society (AMS) last week issued a statement chewing out university math departments for exacerbating the problem by hiring part-time faculty. Unemployment rates for new mathematics Ph.D.'s have shot up from an average of 5% during the 1980s to 12.4% in 1993, according to the latest AMS survey. And cash-strapped universities have been increasingly hiring Ph.D.'s as part-timers, by the course, or for short appointments. The survey found that 53% of new doctorates with jobs in academia were not eligible for tenure, and more than a third of those held posts lasting no more than a year. "Unemployment is almost at an all-time high," says Salah Baouendi of the University of California, San Diego, who chairs the AMS committee on profession. [sic] "We know there are money pressures, but we'd like to see more understanding and caring by math departments." At UC Irvine, math department chairman Peter Li is one who has been forced by budget cuts and increasing enrollments to hire more 1- and 2-year faculty. "We just can't afford enough [full-time] faculty," he says, noting in the department's defense that the short-termers are paid properly and are allowed time for research. The real problem for young Ph.D.'s, he says, is the recent influx of mathematicians from China and Eastern Europe who are willing to accept low wages. This tends to depress salaries, he says, forcing mathematicians to be "slave laborers." The AMS calls on mathematics departments to: == Warn graduate students about "realities of the job market" and "encourage them to prepare" for non-academic jobs. == Avoid 1-year appointments, which force people to "begin again searching for a job almost immediately after settling in." == Avoid "the systematic hiring of unemployed Ph.D.'s part-time at substandard salaries." Such a practice is "reprehensible and exploitive ... [and] demeans the profession," says the AMS. [My comments: Concerning Dr. Li's comments, while I would agree that the influx of mathematicians from China and Eastern Europe has exacerbated the job problem in the U.S., these days nearly all of us are willing to accept low wages -- we're just happy to have a job! Also, the complete text of the resolution was published in the March 1994 issue of the Notices.] Edward Aboufadel Southern Connecticut State University _______________________________________________________________ Item #4 (Letter to the Editor) Married Couple Considers Working in the Same Department By Bruce Torrence btorrenc@rmc.edu Editor, I am half of a math couple - my wife and I each hold a Ph.D and are currently employed by different academic institutions. We are considering the possibility of working at the same institution. I am gathering information on the policies of colleges and universities with regard to employment of couples in the same department. I seek 1. any references to articles or written material on this subject. 2. information regarding specific policies of various institutions with regard the hiring of couples in a single department. 3. the names of institutions that support (or do not support) the hiring of couples in the same department. 4. comments of anyone who has an opinion that stems from experience. I'm interested in hearing from individuals who know couples and from couples themselves. I'm also interested in hearing the musings of those who have dealt with this issue while serving on a hiring committee. Issues that seem to be relevant to such a hiring practice include the "problem" of how to deal with the situation in which one member of the couple is department chair. Another seems to be the perception that tenure decisions for each member of the couple may not be made independently. I can be reached at btorrenc@rmc.edu . Bruce Torrence btorrenc@rmc.edu Dept. of Mathematics (804) 752-7331 Randolph-Macon College Ashland, VA 23005 _______________________________________________________________ Item #5 Closing Credits The Young Mathematicians' Network is administered by: Charles Yeomans cyeomans@s.ms.uky.edu Mark Winstead winstead@euclid.ucsd.edu Vic Perera vperera@silver.ucs.indiana.edu Franklin Mendivil mendivil@math.gatech.edu Stephen Kennedy kennedy@stolaf.edu Kalin Godev kalin@math.psu.edu Neil Calkin calkin@math.gatech.edu Curtis Bennett cbennet@andy.bgsu.edu Jeff Adams adams@bright.uoregon.edu Edward Aboufadel aboufade@scus1.ctstateu.edu Frank Arlinghaus frank@math.ysu.edu Matt Hudelson hudelson@math.washington.edu ____________________________________________________________________________ End of Journal