Congrats to a Messiah Alum

Alex Lentz

Congrats to Alex Lentz on his chance to fulfill his dream of playing professional baseball. Here is a tidbit from the York Dispatch:

The York Revolution became a bit more “political” this week.

Of the 42 hopefuls who participated in York’s open tryout on Saturday, 24-year-old Alex Lentz is the only one who earned an invitation to the team’s spring training.

Revs’ baseball operations manager Andrew Ball confirmed the catcher’s invitation on Monday night.

Alex was a political science major at Messiah, which you can read more about Alex here. I had the privilege of getting to know Alex in high school since his family attended our church at that time. Great kid, and couldn’t be happier for him. All the best!

We’ve Got Great Alumni

Here is the latest example of our great alumni in the Department of Information and Mathematical Sciences here at Messiah College. In the controversial rankings of 4th through 8th grade teachers in New York City, class of 2005 alumna Kelly (Toolan) Hudson is listed as the 10th best mathematics teacher in the city. She’s also the second 8th grade teacher listed. Like all rankings, the methodology is fair to discuss. The methods seemed to be an attempt to model the benefit a teacher gave their students on standardized testing. Other variables were controlled for. While I’m not a fan of basing everything on standardized tests, I do think that this methodology does not take away from the honor that this ranking bestows. Congratulations, Kelly!

Recognition for Messiah College

Once again, Messiah College is making the news for good things going on on campus. This time the men’s soccer team is being recognized as one of the most dominating men’s sports programs in the country. Admittedly, I’m not sure “hercampus.com” is the most prestigious of recognitions out there, but I’ll take good press where we can get it! (though there generally isn’t a shortage) Here is the blurb about Messiah:

7. Messiah Falcons Soccer

NCAA Div. III Champions: 2000, 2002, 2004-2006, 2008-2010

Following a frantic purchase of 30 men’s soccer socks (they had forgotten to pack their game socks for the tournament!), the Falcons upped the dramatic ante on the field as well.  During the 2010 title match, sophomore Dan Squire scored with less than five minutes remaining in regulation to tie.  A minute and a half into the game’s extension, senior midfielder Geoff Pezon blasted a low, hard goal to end it for good. Messiah seized a thrilling 2-1 victory against Lynchburg College and the program’s eighth national title.

(btw, Geoff Pezon was a student of mine in Calc II, and a pretty smart engineering major)

The Mathematics of the Game SET

The Cover Image for the Game SET

SET is an extremely addictive, fast-paced card game found in toy stores nationwide. Although children often beat adults, the game has a rich mathematical structure linking it to the combinatorics of finite affine and projective spaces and the theory of error-correcting codes. Last year an unexpected connection to Fourier analysis was used to settle a basic question directly related to the game of SET, and many related questions remain open.

So begins a recent paper on the elegant mathematics of the card game SET. For those of us who enjoy card games that require logic and quick thinking, rather than simply luch, and the mathematical beauty and surprising interconnectedness of different mathematical fields, this paper is interesting. Warning: you need a certain level of algebraic understanding to follow the paper (having had an algebraic structures course beyond “linear algebra” in college will help). The paper starts out by giving the background of the development of the game, and how it is played. Then the authors turn to problems of algebraic interest regarding the game and show how to answer some of these questions.

Personally, I love the game. I was introduced while visiting my graduate alma mater (Virginia Tech) by a former student here at Messiah College who was in graduate school at Tech. She introduced my wife and I to the game, and I fell in love. For those familiar with the game SET, or would like to try it out, it is available online here.

Statistics and Empathy

An Image of an Unknown Text

A former student of mine here at Messiah College was tagged in this image by a friend of his. This led to an interesting comments area discussion of the portion of the text that is clear enough to read. Here it is in print, in case you can’t make it out:

The researchers theorized that thinking about statistics shifts people into a more analytical frame of mind. When people think analytically, they’re less likely to think emotionally. And the researchers believed it was people’s emotional response to Rokia’s plight that led them to act.

I have no idea what the source for this text is. I have no idea who Rokia is. The issue that this brings up, for me, is twofold. One: what evidence does the author have to support this claim? I wonder if that is in the rest of this quote, or a footnote somewhere in the text. (none is apparent in the discernible portion of the video) Two: is the claimed effect temporary while contemplating or shortly after, or is the effect more long-term? It isn’t clear whether they mean to imply that if you are thinking about statistics (or maybe any type of analytical thought) when something happens, you are less likely to think emotionally. Or perhaps they mean to imply that people who regularly think analytically are less likely to think emotionally at any time.

Are any of my readers familiar with this passage or have any leads as to its source? I’d love to see what the author is really trying to say!

Pop Quiz

Ok, this one should be easy. What is wrong with the following quote from a blurb in yesterday’s USA Today?

The Class of 2011 logged the lowest SAT reading scores ever, while the combined reading and math scores hit their lowest point in 16 years, the College Board said today. Just over 40% of the high school seniors met benchmarks for college success.

The mean reading score on the 800-point test was 497, a three-point drop over 2010 and one of the biggest annual declines in two decades. In 2005, the mean reading score — half scoring above and half below — was 508.

Read the rest of the analysis here, and answer my quiz question in the comments! Perhaps I can think of a prize for the winner!

 

Perspective on Witnessing

I found this post about a conversation that Perry Noble had with a Muslim to be very interesting and thought provoking. Here’s a taste of his thought process:

I will honestly have to say that my conversation with Abdul was one of the best things about my London trip.  I am convinced now more than ever that all of the religions of the world do NOT basically teach the same thing…and that the GOSPEL of Jesus Christ has GOT to be preached to everyone everywhere…but it has to be done so through people actually loving, caring for and respecting the people that HE has called us to reach…because…

…NO ONE has ever converted to Christianity because of our arrogance…but rather because of what Jesus said for us to be all about in John 13:34-35.

This is so true. Rather than approaching each encounter attempting to convince, maybe we should just try to listen to where people are, and get them to think about the claims of Christ. Christ was attractive to those he encountered, especially those who weren’t the religiously correct folks. An interesting read, to be sure.

_______________

(HT: Dave Moran)

My New Favorite Poem

My friend Melanie Howard posted a link to this poem on her facebook page. I clicked it because she usually posts good things, and so I would give it a try. The poem brought a huge smile to my face! I think I may need to print this an post it on the door of my office to head off the proverbial “did I miss anything?” question after a student oversleeps, or has something better to do than attend class. So I don’t get into copyright trouble, I’ll include the opening and closing stanzas. Just click the link above for the whole thing. (On a side note, the idea of a poem a day for the 180 days of school seems like a pretty cool thing.)

Did I Miss Anything?

Tom Wayman

Nothing. When we realized you weren’t here
we sat with our hands folded on our desks
in silence, for the full two hours

…

Everything. Contained in this classroom
is a microcosm of human experience
assembled for you to query and examine and ponder
This is not the only place such an opportunity has been
gatheredbut it was one place

And you weren’t here

Make a Difference, and Enjoy It!

Wanted to follow up on my post from a few weeks back about my friend, and former student, Dave Moran. I got a request from him to share an opportunity to enjoy his music, and make a difference in the lives of victims of human trafficking. Here’s his message:

Hey there friends,

I wanted to give you all an update on my latest project. I got into the studio a few weeks ago to begin recording my new album, When Beautiful Cries.  Once it is finished, all of the money from the sale of the CD will go to support various organizations in the fight against human trafficking.  I would call it about 85% done at this point.  I hope to have it out early 2011 (if not before).  If you would like to donate to this project (because there are still costs), there is still time!   Message me to find out how.

Also, and this is where I’m going to ask you to do something else, I have decided that from now until the end of 2010, all sales from my first CD, Captured, will go directly to an organization that is directly involved in helping girls who have been affected by human trafficking and abusive relationships.  The Hope House (www.hopehousenc.com) is an organization here in NC that provides a place for girls to go to get away from their bad situation.  What I’m asking of you is that change your status for today to spread the word about this.  Direct people to go to www.noisetrade.com/davemoran where they can download a copy of the CD in exchange for their email address and zipcode (and that’s it).  They can choose how much they want to pay for the album, and all of the money that will go directly to The Hope House.  Please take a moment to update your status (and get the music yourself if you haven’t already) to get involved in the fight against the horrors of human trafficking.

Thanks,
Dave

A Quick Commercial …

Found out yesterday that it is possible to get a free copy of the CD by my former statistics student, and amazing musician, Dave Moran. Here’s my suggestion for you:

• Check out his music at davemoran.net
• Go to Noise Trade and download his album in MP3 form, for free! You will be asked for your email and zip code. This will help Dave know where his fans are!
• If you don’t feel comfortable giving out that information, you can also download the album for $8.99 on Amazon. I paid $10 for my copy, but I actually got it on CD. I guess I paid extra to have to put it on my computer myself and keep track of the CD. It is nice to just stick it in the van on repeat.
• If you would rather have the CD in your hand, you can buy it from cdbaby for $10, or you can email Dave via his website.

Dave writes great lyrics, and the music never gets in the way, but instead really brings out the beauty and poetry of his message. On the side (i.e., for his full-time job), he’s also a pretty good actuary. Check him out!