Streamlines conference

Greetings,

We hope that this message finds you handling the rush of the end of the semester with energy and grace.

We also hope that you are finding time, in the midst of all of the busyness, to begin planning your trip to Dubuque to attend the 7^th annual Streamlines conference.  The attached flyer contains information about deadlines, our webpage (which contains past programs) and such.

The keynote speaker is William Mayo, a former CEO for Caterpillar, Inc.  He’ll speak to us about the necessity of the skills that a liberal arts education brings and how those skills translate to employment in “the real world.” 

This year we are trying something a bit different.  In addition to the long list of possible topics for presentations (see attached flyer), we also are inviting papers for a special topics panel.  The theme is "Eastwood's Unforgiven and the Modern Western." We look forward to the variety of perspectives that such a topics panel offers.

The conference is on Saturday, November 15; however, we have also planned an event for Friday evening.  It will be on University of Dubuque’s campus, and we’ll share details about that event in August/September.

Finally, we wanted you to know that lodging plans have been finalized, and that information soon will be available on the Streamlines website (http://www.clarke.edu/page.aspx?id=15680).  A block of rooms has been reserved at Hampton Inn for Friday, November 14 and Saturday, November 15, 2014.  Single and double occupancy are available for a flat rate of $91.00; this price includes free hot breakfast between 6 -10 am.  Reservations must be made by November 3.  You should call 563.690.2005 and ask for the Streamlines block of rooms.

We wish you well as the summer months quickly approach, and we look forward to seeing you in the fall!

Upper Midwest Regional Honors Conference 2015

We are excited to host next year’s conference at Minnesota State University, Mankato. The conference dates are March 26 – 28, 2015. The conference theme is “Confluence and Conflict,” reflecting Mankato’s unique geography and history. Located at the confluence of the Blue Earth and Minnesota Rivers, Mankato has a long history of peoples coming together to exchange goods, resources, and ideas. The nineteenth century witnessed a series of treaties and conflicts between settlers and the Dakota which eventually erupted into the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862. Minnesota State Mankato faculty members Dr. Shannon Fisher (Director of the Water Resources Center) and Dr. Gewn Westerman (English and Humanities) will give public lectures on the regional river systems and Dakota culture and history, respectively.

Mankato is centrally located within the Upper Midwest Region, with easy access to major interstates and state highways. The city is 78 miles southwest of the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Please see the attached document for more information regarding hotels and other logistics.

We hope that you will join us for the 2015 UMRHC!

UMHC Tentative Schedule

Time	Room	Name/Last	Title of Presentation
April 24 at  3:00 PM			Registration
April 24 at  5:30 PM			Opening Remarks & Greetings
April 24 at  6:00 PM			Banquet
April 24 at  7:00 PM			Speaker
April 24 at  8:00 PM			Student Fun
April 24 at  8:00 PM			Faculty Reception
April 25 at 8:00 AM			Opening Remarks
April 25 at 8:15 AM			State Caucuses
April 25 at 9:15 AM	1	Hana Spangler	Spectators, Satyrs, and Frogs: The Role of the Chorus in Ancient Greek Drama
	2	Collin Heer	Cu/Zn Superoxide Dismutase: Form and Function
	3	Morgan Marushin	The Seeds of Our Future
	4	Srijita Kar	Psychological Manipulation
	5	Megan Hondl	The Honors College Student Council
	6	Tim Nichols	What About Love? A mult-disiplinary examination of one of the most powerful forces in human life
April 25 at 9:45 AM	1	Josh Sylvester	Nuclear Weapons Testing Program on the Marshall Islands
	2	Melinda Svejda	Himalayan Newts: Exploration and Rescue
	3	Joe Christensen	Faith in a Seed
	4	Katherine LaFleur	Start to Finish:  How the Eugenics Movement Led to the Nazi final Solution
	6	Josh Laskowski	Honors Living and Learning Community Service Contract
April 25 at 10:15 AM	2	Nicole Wennen	The Seeds of Change: Going Green
	3	Travis VanOverbeke	Random Number Generation: Seeded or Seedless
	4	Michael Rohm	Community Mobilization in Rwanda
	5	Tim Nichols	A Home of Our Own: Bringing Honors Hall at SDSU to Life
April 25 at 10:45 AM	1	Deborah Admire	Separation of the Sophists
	2	Noah Holzman	Engineering Chemistry: Fabricating a Photochemical Reactor
	3	Nick Arens	Not Every Function has an Elementary Antiderivative
	4	Katie Sam	Explaining the Difference in Financial Literacy Among College Students: Gender Effect or Family Background?
	5	Tim Nichols	Making Meaning in Honors
	6	Toril Sanford	Designing an Honors Teaching Manual
April 25 at 11:15 AM	1	Francisco Martinez	Cinema's Buried Thoughts
	2	Kuo-Liang Chang	Factors affected Household's Fruit and Vegetable Consumption: A Survey Study in Northern Great Plain Region
	4	Antoinette Lyte-Evans	The Little Things that Matter
	6	Tim Nichols	Factors Influencing Honors Student Recruitment and Retention at SDSU
April 25 at 11:45 AM	1	Megan Feuchtenberger	How Aristotle’s Beliefs Influenced His Scientific Endeavors
	2	John Craig	Humans vs. Nature: Who is the Enemy?
	3	Jordan Ulmer	A Brief Survey of Mathematical Paradoxes
	4	Jennifer O'Konek	The Seeds of Success
	5	Barbara Kleinjan	The Connections and Disconnections of Social Media: How the Virtual World Impacts Relationship Development among Honors Students
	6	Bill Knox	After Honors: Staying in the Game
April 25 at 12:30 PM			Lunch
April 25 at 1:30 PM	1	Andrew Tubbs	The tonal asociations and their functions with in Franz Schubert's Die Schöner Müllerin
	2	Jessica Hulzebos	Turning America's Failing Crop Around
	3	Joellyn Sheehy	Self-Interest and Human Trafficking
	4	Madeline Hentges	Replanting the Seeds of Blame
	5	Hanna Larsen	Becoming an Honors Servant Leader
	6	Casey Goodmund	Reaping the harvest of Honors Contracts: the Learning Portfolio and Option B
April 25 at 2:00 PM	1	Jessie Eckroad	Truffula Trees and Camas Seeds: An Analysis of Two Nature Narratives
	2	Eric Revis
	3	Allison Rucinski	Coming Out: Is it Still Relevant?
	4	Lindsey Simmons	Adventures in Evolutionary Psychology
April 25 at 2:30 PM	1	Ellen Ahlness	Janteloven and Social Conformity in Thorbørn Egner’s Literature
	2	Katelyn Kippes	Down syndrome: The Effects of Knowing on Prenatal Testing and Abortion Decisions
	5	Suzanne Carter	Nurturing the Growth of Honors: Iowa Honors Outreach
	6	Chris Chambers	The Human SupraOrganism
April 25 at 3:00 PM			Poster Session
April 25 at 4:30 PM			UMHC Executive Meeting
April 25 at 5:00 PM			Pizza Dinner
April 25 at 5:00 PM			Faculty Dinner
April 25 at 7:00 PM			Ph.D. The Movie
April 25 at 8:30 PM			Ph.D. Panel Disucssion
April 26 at 9:00 AM	1	Megan Verhagen	Representation of Feminism in Antigone and The Mahabharata
	2	Aditi Patel	Precision Biopsy Leads to More Accurate Detection of Prostate Cancer in Comparison to Conventional Biopsy
	3	Rachel Trueblood	Sowing Seeds of Gender in Children's Minds
	4	Kelsey Stern	The Seeds of Aggression
	5	Ginny Walters	Fellowship Advising within Honors
	6	Kate Lysinger	The Female Condition: A Millennial Girl's Guide to Navigating a Patriarchal Society
April 26 at 9:30 AM	1	Barbara Kleinjan	SDSU Honors Speech Readers' Theatre: From Creation to Live Performance
	2	Brittney Anderson	Seeds of Change: Re-conceptualizing Obesity as a Disease
	3	Angela Wieland	A Worm in Disney's Apple
	4	Kyla Larsen	Social Success!
	6	Caleb Miller	The Psychology of Disagreement
April 26 at 10:00 AM	2	Riley Taubert	Statistical Analysis of the Effect of Antiviral Treatments on HIV Patient RNA and CD4 T Cell Levels
	3	Owen Shay	An Inter-State Vision: the People Who Built America’s Super Highways
	5	Tim Nichols	Honors-Led Common Read Engages Students, Builds Community
	6	Ben Stout	Using "A Sand County Almanac" to Develop Ecological Understanding and Land Value
April 26 at 10:30 AM			UMHC Annual Business Meeting
April 26 at 10:30 AM			Closing Remarks

2014 UMHC Motel Information

The Wartburg Scholars Program has arranged for special housing prices at several motels in Waverly.  We have 4 motels in town, but recommend the ones we have reserved room blocks with.

Super Eight Motel 

• Phone #: 319-352-0888
• Room Rate: $79.88 per night for up to two people. Add $10.00 per room if 3-4 people will be sharing room.
• The room block will be held for thirty days prior to event (March 24).
• Check-Out = 11:00 am
• They serve a continental breakfast from 6:00-9:00 am

There are also more hotels in Cedar Falls, but they are significantly less convenient.  We have not contacted these establishments, but have heard good things about them.  They are about 20 minutes south of Waverly.

• The Blackhawk Hotel - historic hotel.  Great for faculty.
• Country Inns and Suites - direct shot on the highway.

Comfort Inn (Wartburg’s most-used motel)

• Phone#: 319-352-0399
• Room Rate: $109.95 (up to two guests) plus $10.00 for each additional guest
• The room block will be held for one month prior to event (March 24). 
• Check-In = 3:00 pm; Check-Out = 11:00 am
• They serve a hot breakfast (two flavors of waffles, eggs, sausage, etc.). They also have an indoor pool and sauna.

Call for Proposals

Wartburg College is hosting the Upper Midwest Regional Honors Conference this April 24-26, 2014.  This is your chance to talk about anything from a research project to a service learning experience.  Check out our web site and sign up to give a talk or a poster.  You can use the same poster that you print out for RICE Day.

Math Symposium at Simpson College

Midwest Undergraduate Mathematics Symposium

Friday and Saturday, April 11 and 12, 2014

Simpson College - Carver Science Center - Indianola, Iowa

You, your students, and your colleagues are invited to attend the 11th annual Midwest Undergraduate Mathematics Symposium (MUMS).  The purpose of MUMS is to promote, share, and celebrate student engagement in the mathematical sciences.  In addition to the contributed presentations, there will be two plenary talks and two panel discussions.  This year the plenary talks will be given by Dr. Jitka Stehnova from Mount Mercy University and Dr. Kathryn Leonard from California State University Channel Islands.

Undergraduate students and faculty are invited to present 10-15 minute talks or posters from any area of mathematics.  Possible topics for presentations include, but are not limited to:

·         results of class projects;
·         solutions to contest problems (Putnam Exam, modeling competitions, etc.);
·         results from undergraduate research projects (summer programs, capstone courses, etc.);
·         expository talks on interesting topics in mathematics;
·         papers on the history of mathematics;
·         mathematics education projects; and
·         independent work in mathematics, statistics, computer science, or related disciplines.

Abstracts are due by Friday, March 28.  Student travel stipends are available; they will be awarded in order received and as funding allows.

More detailed information can be found on the MUMS 2014 website (simpson.edu/math/mathematics-events/midwest-undergraduate-mathematics-symposium/) and in the attached call for presentations.  Have questions?  Contact the symposium directors, Dr. Heidi Berger (515-961-1837) and Dr. Bill Schellhorn (515-961-1321) at MUMS@simpson.edu.

Funding for MUMS 2014 is provided by NSF grant DMS-0846477 through the MAA Regional Undergraduate Mathematics Conferences program (maa.org/RUMC).  Additional funding is provided by the Simpson College Mathematics Department (simpson.edu/math).

We hope that you are able to attend!

Questions about Student Interdisciplinary Research Panels (SIRP) at NCHC in Denver

Friends & Colleagues:

Kate Bruce and I usually receive a number of questions around this time about submission procedures for the Student Interdisciplinary Research Panel strand, which will take place at next fall’s NCHC meeting in Denver. The deadline for proposals is Monday, March 3, so I thought I might cut a few of those questions off at the pass.

Students submitting SIRP proposals follow the same proposal guidelines as everyone else: they use the conference proposal website to enter their personal data and submit a 50-word description and 150-200 word abstract.  The only difference is that SIRP proposers follow up that initial submission with a completed copy of their research paper uploaded by April 8. The selection committee bases its decisions on those completed papers, all of which are read in full.

The SIRP procedures appear here: http://nchchonors.org/annual-conference/proposal-guidelines/#sirp

Samples of SIRP panels from previous conferences appear here: http://nchchonors.org/annual-conference/sample-sirp-panels/

The conference submission portal appears here: https://nchc.confex.com/nchc/2014/cfp.cgi

SIRP submitters will typically receive a decision on their submissions in late April/early May.  Please feel free to forward this note to your students who might enjoy discussing their research in Denver.

Cheers, Richard

Scholars Student Government

Now that Dr. Birgen is back from the National Conference, the next few blog posts will be items of interest to students.  The next one is:

Student Government Reborn

You may not have noticed, but the Scholars Student Council has been pretty ineffective this term.  I do not believe they have met and they certainly haven't planned anything for the Scholars Program.  I attended a presentation by some students who had recreated the Scholars Council at their university, Millikin.

Top Ten Tips

1. Have effective leadership
2. Act with purpose
3. Have structure in leadership
4. Think ahead
5. Never lead blind
6. Delegate responsibilities
7. Have regular meetings
8. Have accountability process
9. Host events
10. Engage members from the first year

They said one of the things they had changed that really helped is to have every person on the Council responsible for one and only one thing, all reporting to the Council President.  Their jobs were:

• President
• Vice President
• Secretary
• Treasurer
• Public Relations Director
• Programming Director
• Academic Director
• Transition/Recruitment Director

Additionally, they created by-laws for their council which we also don't have.  They placed emphasis on community building and providing serviced to enhance the honors experience.

From their suggestions, I think the two things we can do yet this term is for the council to start meeting and to assign a job to every person on the council.  Your council members this year are Abbigail Mueller (assisting Andra while student teaching), Aditi Patel, Alexia Brewster, Andra Peeler, Benjamin Bogard, Bob King, Ella Newell, Kelsey Miner, Levi Endelman, Zach Schulz (stepping in for Alexia during Wartburg West).  The eight jobs I would propose, but of course are subject to change by the council are:

• President
• Vice President
• Secretary/Treasurer
• Service Director
• Public Relations Director
• Programming/Special Events Director
• Academic Director
• Transition/Recruitment Director

Partners in the Parks

Now that Dr. Birgen is back from the National Conference, the next few blog posts will be items of interest to students.  The first is:

Partners in the Park

This is a collaboration between the National Park Service and the National Collegiate Honors Council, of which Wartburg is a member.  Students travel to a National Park for a week and study the location using the techniques of City as Text.  The costs are quite reasonable and the education is priceless.  This year there is a new opportunity to participate the day after Christmas in Florida in the Everglades.

Proposed Projects for 2014
1. Black Canyon of the Gunnison, CO (Aug 2-9)
2. Buffalo National River, AR (May 12-18)
3. Everglades Nat. Park, FL (Dec 26-Jan 1 2013)
4. Glacier National Park, MT (Aug 11-16)
5. GC-Parashant Nat, Mon, AZ (May 26-31)
6. Olympic National Park, WA (Aug 5-11) 
7. Sequoia National Park, CA (Aug 5-10)
8. Shenandoah Nat. Park, VA (May 18-23) 

NCUR 2014: Call for Student Abstracts!

Abstract Submission Portal —Now Open!

Submission Period: September 30-December 6, 2013

The Council on Undergraduate Research and University of Kentucky, the NCUR 2014 host, invite undergraduate students to submit abstracts for posters, oral presentations, and creative and performing arts presentations.  NCUR is a multidisciplinary conference for bright, motivated, and talented students, who come from all types of institutions including research universities, community colleges, comprehensive universities, and private liberal arts colleges.  This conference is an opportunity for students to present research to peers, receive feedback from faculty from other institutions, network with graduate school representatives, and hear from inspiring plenary speakers.

For more information, visit: http://www.cur.org/ncur_2014

Questions?

ncur2014@uky.edu

859-257-0049

The NCUR office is staffed Monday-Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm (Eastern Time).

              

2014 Conference Planning - Post 1

As you may know, we are hosting the Upper Midwest Honors Council Conference in April 2014.  Since we don't want to re-invent the wheel, here are conference programs from the last few years:

• 2013 - College of St. Scholastica - Duluth, MN - 2013 Conference Program
• 2012 - Clark University - Dubuque, IA - 2012 Conference Program
• 2011 - University of North Dakota - Grand Forks, ND - 2011 Conference Program
• 2010 - South Dakota State University - Brookings, SD - 2010 Conference Program
• 2009 - Southwest Minnesota State University - Marshall, MN - 2009 Basic Information - 2009 Conference Program
• 2008 - University of Wisconsin-Stout - Menomonie, WI
• 2007 - Dickinson State University - Dickinson, ND

NCUWM 2014 | University of Nebraska-Lincoln

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Department of Mathematics would like to be sure you know that registration for the 2014 Nebraska Conference for Undergraduate Women in Mathematics opens online on Oct. 2 for presenters and Oct. 9 for non-presenters. Registration fills up quickly so interested students should sign up early.

Registration will be open at: http://www.math.unl.edu/~ncuwm/ncuwm_registration/

At NCUWM, undergraduate women in the mathematical sciences meet other women with similar interests and share their research experiences. The conference is January 31-February 2, 2014, hosted by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and held at the Embassy Suites in downtown Lincoln. It brings together outstanding undergraduate female mathematicians from across the country and is open to undergraduate female mathematicians at all stages of their careers. Those who have already done research will be given an opportunity to present their results as either a talk or a poster. Indeed, the main program of the conference is presentations by undergraduate women on their own research. Two leading mathematicians, Cynthia A. Phillips and Gigliola Staffilani, will give plenary addresses.

You are welcome to print and post the attached poster. If you have any questions, contact our event coordinator at stephanie.vendetti@unl.edu.

Thank you,

Christine Kelley

Glenn Ledder

Co-Chairs, NCUWM Organizing Committee

UNL Department of Mathematics

203 Avery Hall | University of Nebraska-Lincoln | Lincoln, NE  68588-0130

nebraskamath@unl.edu | http://scimath.unl.edu | 402-472-3731

Sent on behalf of Dr. Kelley and Dr. Ledder by Lindsay Augustyn, Communications Director

Visit the Nebraska Conference for Undergraduate Women in Mathematics website
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