*Concerns of Young Mathematicians* Volume 3, Issue 16 April 26, 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 Franklin Mendivil mendivil@math.gatech.edu , editor for the month of May. Next issue: Wednesday, 3 May. March Editor: Wendy Brunzie brunzie@turing.ucdavis.edu April Editor: Kevin Madigan madigan@math.nwu.edu May Editor: Franklin Mendivil mendivil@math.gatech.edu June Editor: Emil Volcheck Emil.Volcheck@risc.uni-linz.ac.at 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 Letters to the Editor 3 Let's Get the Ball Rolling 4 Closing Credits _______________________________________________________________ Item #1 Editor's notes This is my last week as editor, and, though it may not look it (due to the thinness of this issue), it has been a busy one. The letter to the editor sparked much discussion among the administrators of the YMN, and we hope it will spark more discussion in these pages. I had an interesting conversation with a colleague recently regarding the purpose of the YMN. He feels we should be organizing politically to lobby Congress for more funding for education and basic scientific research, and cease the hand wringing and discussion of PhD reduction. Though I have a definite opinion on PhD reduction (I am against actively doing this), I don't know where I stand on the other issues. What do you think? Where do you want this organization to go? Should we just be trying to cope with things as they are? Should we instead try to make significant changes? There is something to be said for organizing (look at how successful the medical, legal, and educational unions are, for example). There are also arguments against increased funding for mathematics and other disciplines which are perceived (by some Americans) as luxuries. On a lighter note...when I asked where I got the phrase "And so it goes", I was thinking of Linda Ellerbe. Many readers wrote and reminded me that the phrase "so it goes" appears throughout the great Kurt Vonnegut novel "Slaughterhouse Five". _______________________________________________________________ Item #2 Letters to the Editor Dear Editor, I would like to offer a few thoughts concerning the difficult situation of the job market, prompted by an e-mail exchange I had with the chair of the Personell Committee at Northwestern University. As many of us I am on the job market. For personal reasons I would like to find a job in the greater Chicago area. Not having heard from Northwestern concerning their advertised (AMS Notices Oct 94 pg 1066) Lecturer position I enquired about the status of their search process. I was told that the Department decided not to fill the position because they did not find a satisfactory candidate. This very much surprised me and honestly made me very angry. This is a temporary position ("one year renewable twice upon evidence of excellence in teaching") requiring "quality research" and "solid evidence of effective teaching", possibly substantiated by "tabulated student evaluation". They were not searching for an outstanding researcher in a specific field for a Tenure Track job. From the ad it looks like they wanted a very good teacher with serious research abilities. I find extremely hard to believe that NONE of us, still out there hoping for some miracle to happen on the job front, fit this description. I find extremely disturbing to see a school deciding not to fill a position of this type, given the situation of the job market. It is very sad to see good schools showing this much arrogance. Luckily not everywhere people are reacting this way. Oklahoma State is reducing the size of the graduate program and creating more post-doctoral positions, which is a much more intelligent response. I would appreciate comments on this matter. Cordially Gian Mario Besana Oklahoma State University besana@math.okstate.edu ------------- Below is a response from Professor Leonard Evens, a member of the faculty of the Department of Mathematics at Northwestern. Please bear in mind that the opinions below are Professor Evens', not those of the Department or University. ------------- The Northwestern mathematics department advertised a lectureship as described in the letter but set what it considered high standards both respect to teaching and research. We seriously considered five people, but all of them had tenure track offers or postdoctoral positions which they preferred. It is possible that we might well have been able to fill the position had we persevered, but we decided at this point to stop the search. In making that decision, there were a variety of considerations. Northwestern does in fact have a substantial number of one year visiting positions to offer, and we will be hiring several people next year on this basis. We are dissatisfied with this situation, and we have been trying to talk our administration into allowing us to make more multi-year non-tenured appointments. The lectureship position was one attempt at this which appears not to have worked as we had hoped it might. Instead, we are pursuing other approaches to this same end with our administrators. We hope in the future to be able to do better, which we think will be beneficial both for young mathematicians and for us. Leonard Evens Dept. of Mathematics, Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL 60208 _______________________________________________________________ Item #3 Let's Get the Ball Rolling: Orlando Meetings Hi, all! Although it may seem a tad early to think about next January's Joint Meetings in Orlando, advance planning and preparation are essential for the organized activities of the YMN. This piece is designed to be a "call to arms" so to speak, summoning ideas for the Meetings and volunteers to help see the activities through the Meetings. As our readership is nearing 1500 people, the YMN has and is continuing to make its presence felt in the mathematics community. As the annual Joint Meetings are well-attended, we would be remiss not to have various scheduled activities available so many more mathematicians can learn about the YMN and contribute to furthering its goals. The most recent "Notices" of the AMS has three features relating to the YMN, in particular an article (P. 554) discussing what the YMN is, how it functions, and its goals. At the end of the piece is a reference to organized sessions for mathematicians at the Orlando Meetings, and that's where our readers come in to play. As AMS deadlines for organizing sessions for January meetings come in September, I wanted to get this note out soliciting ideas for sessions and volunteers who will be in Orlando next year so we could get most of our plans made before the spring quarter/semester ends. Over the summer, many of us are less likely to be available to do the necessary planning, so, please give it some thought. If you would like to be involved in any way, please zip a YMN board member a note to that effect. Remember, the YMN can only continue to be successful as long as our membership stays involved. So, come on! Give us your ideas and support....we look forward to working with you! Regards, Kevin Charlwood e-mail: kec1@bradley.bradley.edu _______________________________________________________________ Item #4 Closing Credits 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 lcochran@fresno.edu Kevin Charlwood kec1@bradley.bradley.edu Neil Calkin calkin@math.gatech.edu Wendy Brunzie brunzie@mathfs.math.montana.edu Curtis Bennett cbennet@bgnet.bgsu.edu Frank Arlinghaus frank@math.ysu.edu Edward Aboufadel aboufade@sun.scsu.ctstateu.edu _______________________________________________________________ End of Journal -- Next week: The Discussion Continues