*Concerns of Young Mathematicians* Volume 3, Issue 6 Feb. 15, 1995 An electronically distributed digest for discussions of the issues of concern to mathematicians at the beginning of their careers. Please direct submissions and questions to Nancy Wilson nwilson@stmarys-ca.edu , editor for the month of February. Next issue: Wednesday, February 22nd. January Editor: Matt Hudelson hudelson@math.washington.edu February Editor: Nancy Wilson nwilson@stmarys-ca.edu March Editor: Wendy Brunzie brunzie@math.montana.edu To subscribe, contact Charles Yeomans at cyeomans@ms.uky.edu Back issues and other information are available via anonymous FTP to ftp.ms.uky.edu, in pub3/mailing.lists/ymn-list or connect to the YMN homepage on the WWW, the URL: http://math34.gatech.edu:8080/YMN/ymn.html The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of the administrative board or membership of the Young Mathematicians' Network. The editorial policy of this newsletter is to encourage discussion of issues and facilitate the dissemination of information relevant to the concerns of young mathematicians. Table of Contents Item # Title ------ ----- 1 Editor's Notes 2 News & Notes 3 Occupational Outlook Handbook 4 More Input on Math Talks 5 Project NExT 6 Closing Credits _______________________________________________________________ Item #1 Editor's Notes This week's issue is rather brief but made up of useful items. Do note that when sending letters to the editor/commentary, please they should be addressed as "Letter to the Editor" in the subject line of your e-mail. Thank you. Have an enjoyable President's Day. Nancy Wilson _______________________________________________________________ Item #2 News & Notes The 1994 issues of Concerns of Young Mathematicians (volume 2) are now indexed! The index is an excellent resource and is referenced by subject and author. To obtain the index, ftp to ftp.ms.uky.edu and change directory to /pub3/mailing.lists/ymn-list/newsletters/volume2 The file name is index.Z -------------------------------------------------- I would like to coordinate a roommate matching service for the South- eastern International Conference on Combinatorics, Graph Theory and Computing in Boca Raton, March 6--10, 1995. If you are interested in finding a roommate, please send e-mail to my address below. Barbara Nostrand nostrand@mathstat.yorku.ca _______________________________________________________________ Item #3 The Occupational Outlook Handbook The Occupational Outlook Handbook has information about all kinds of occupations and you can find it in just about every library. It is published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which also has many other publications such as Employment Projections for 1995: Data and Methods, Revised Seasonally Adjusted Labor Force Statistics, BLS Handbook of Methods, Geographic Profile of Employment and Unemployment, and Occupational Outlook Quarterly. They clearly take into account many factors in making their analyses, including fiscal policy, monetary policy, male and female resident populations, exports, imports, etc. (not to mention the obvious things like retirements and number of people entering any particular workforce). In addition, their methods and assumptions are published for the careful reader who wants to know what the analyses are based upon. If you're interested in more information than the library has, the Occupational Outlook Handbook lists the address Chief, Division of Occupational Outlook Bureau of Labor Statistics U.S. Department of Labor Washington DC 20212 As to mathematics, there is a section on "Mathematicians" which includes both pure and applied, and academic and nonacademic mathematicians. There is also a section on university faculty in general. On predictions from around 1986--87 for the present: Since I haven't read the mathematicians' report(s) of several years ago, I can't compare the Occupational Outlook Handbook's predictions with those. As far as I know, neither had their prediction on the mark. The Occupational Outlook Handbook did not predict a job crisis, but it did not predict improved job opportunities, either. It does mention a continuing "shortage" of PhDs in mathematics, but the careful reader goes to the more quantitative part of the section on "Job Outlook" to see that "Employment of mathematicians is expected to increase about as fast as the average for all occupations through the mid 1990s." At the beginning of the volume, there is also a guide to interpreting discussions on opportunities and competition for jobs, which reads If the statement reads... The demand for workers may be... Excellent opportunities Much greater than the supply Very good opportunities Greater than the supply Good or favorable opportunities About the same as the supply May face competition Less than the supply May face keen competition Much less than the supply In the section on mathematicians, the prediction is for "favorable employment opportunities." I won't try to summarize the current predictions, partly because I don't remember the details, and partly because it is the word-of-mouth method of information transmission that has already gotten a lot of people into difficult situations. Anyone who would like to know the current predictions of the Occupational Outlook Handbook would do best to go directly to the source, to the handbook at the library. That way, all the details, quantitative figures, methods, and especially the assumptions, are available to the reader. Jan Holly _______________________________________________________________ Item #4 More Input on Math Talks Nicholas Higham's book Handbook of Writing for the Mathematical Sciences, SIAM 1993, contains a chapter on "Writing a Talk" that would be further reading on the subject of giving talks. Mark J. Encarnacion mark.encarnacion@risc.uni-linz.ac.at ----------------------------------------------------- Prepare good introductory and concluding segments for your talk. Rehearse these a few extra times. These are the most important pieces of the talk, so it is especially important that these be well thought out and smoothly presented. For a 12-minute talk, the introduction should last 3 or 4 minutes, and the conclusion for 1; for a 60-minute talk, these portions should be twice that long. Plan for these portions so that they help the audience to understand the talk that you give in between, but also so that somebody who has to leave after the introduction, or who only arrives in time for the conclusion, will still have a good idea of what you talked about. Although the traditional conclusion to a talk appears to be, "And it seems I'm out of time," I do not consider this an appropriate way to finish a talk. It is not that difficult to do better. Cary Timar cctimar@empress.com Note: Additional comments can be sent to either the authors of the article, Curtis Bennett cbennet@falcon.bgsu.edu and Frank Sottile sottile@math.toronto.edu , or to this month's editor. _______________________________________________________________ Item #5 Project NExT: New Jobs, New Responsibilities, New Ideas Project NExT (New Experiences in Teaching) is a program for new or recent PhDs in the mathematical sciences who are interested in improving the teaching and learning of undergraduate graduate mathematics. Faculty who are just beginning or just completing their first year of full-time teaching at the college/ university level are invited to apply to become Project NExT fellows. The first event for the 1995--96 fellows will be a workshop, August 3--5, 1995, just prior to theJoint Summer Meetings (the MathFest) in Burlington, Vermont. At this workshop, fellows will explore and discuss issues of special relevance to beginning faculty, including: * calculus and pre-calculus reform * alternative methods of teaching and assessment * using technology in the classroom * lessons from pedagogical research * the faculty member as teacher and scholar. The fellows will also have an opportunity to meet and interact with the first group of fellows who began the program in August 1994. Invited speakers include Kenneth Ross (University of Oregon and MAA president), Joseph Gallian (University of Minnesota-Duluth), Sharon Ross (DeKalb College), and Abdulalim Shabazz (Clark Atlanta University). Following the workshop, Project NExT fellows will attend the the MathFest, August 6--8, 1995, participating in all the opportunities of that meeting, and choose among special short courses on issues in teaching and learning collegiate mathematics, including the pedagogical uses of graphing calculators and computers. During the following year, Project NExT fellows will participate in: * a network that links Project NExT fellows with one another and with distinguished teachers of mathematics * special events at the Joint Mathematics Meetings in Orlando in January 1996 * a workshop in the summer of 1996. Support: Sixty Project NExT fellows will be selected for the 1995--96 year. Funding for room and board at the workshop in Vermont and for the short courses at the 1995 athFest will be provided by a grant from the Exxon Education Foundation. Institutions employing the Project NExT fellows are expected to provide financial assistance. Limited funds are available to assist those institutions that are unable to afford full or partial support. Completed applications are due on April 28, 1995. Applicants will be notified by June 1, 1995. For application materials or additional information, contact James R.C. Leitzel Dept of Math & Statistics University of Nebraska-Lincoln P.O. Box 880323 Lincoln NE 68588-0323 (402) 472-7232 jimleitz@unlinfo.unl.edu or T. Christine Stevens Dept of Math & Computer Science Saint Louis University 221 N Grand Blvd Saint Louis MO 63103 (314) 977-2444 stevensc@sluvca.slu.edu Project NExT is sponsored by the MAA with support from the Exxon Education Foundation. _______________________________________________________________ Item #6 Closing Credits The Young Mathematicians' Network is administered by Charles Yeomans cyeomans@ms.uky.edu Mark Winstead mwwinst@gcr.com Nancy Wilson nwilson@stmarys-ca.edu Emil Volcheck Emil.Volcheck@risc.uni-linz.ac.at Frank Sottile sottile@math.toronto.edu Vic Perera vicum@math.ohio-state.edu Franklin Mendivil mendivil@math.gatech.edu Kevin Madigan madigan@math.nwu.edu Leigh Lunsford lunsford@math.uah.edu Steve Kennedy skennedy@mathcs.carleton.edu Matt Hudelson hudelson@math.washington.edu Silvia Heubach silvi@cinenet.net Bob Dobrow dobrow@cam.nist.gov Lyle Cochran address change pending Kevin Charlwood kec1@bradley.bradley.edu Neil Calkin calkin@math.gatech.edu Wendy Brunzie brunzie@math.montana.edu Curtis Bennett cbennet@bgnet.bgsu.edu Frank Arlinghaus frank@math.ysu.edu Edward Aboufadel aboufade@scus1.ctstateu.edu _______________________________________________________________ End of Journal---Next week: The Discussion Continues