Math Monday, Board Game Night, Shadow a Math Major

[Berkeley MUSA]

Hello,

Thank you to all who attended the Sperry lecture! We had a great turnout and I look forward to continuing the lecture series in future years. Dr. Lauter said she really enjoyed meeting all the students during tea and the discussion afterwards. Here are the weekly announcements:

Math Monday Seminar: Monday, March 5, 4pm (1015 Evans)

Note the change in time and location. This week's speaker is an undergraduate, Srivatsav Kunnawalkam, and the title is "The Maths Behind Fruit Ninja". Here is the abstract:

Hilbert, way back in 1900, knew about fruit ninja. Indeed he posed the problem, also known as Hilbert's 3rd problem: "Can you fruit ninja a fruit in the shape of a regular tetrahedron, into a fruit in the shape of a cube?". In this talk, we will attempt to solve this problem using a powerful tool known as linear algebra. We will then discuss about other such questions which involve finite decompositions and reassembling of subsets of $R^n$.

Board Game Night: Thursday, March 8, 6pm (1015 Evans)

Come join your math buddies for a classic board game night with cool, sick games such as Pandemic, Set, Codenames Pictures, Resistance, chess, and more. Snacks will be provided.

Shadow a Math Major Day: April 20

We're approaching one of our biggest events of the year. Shadow a Math Major Day was started only a couple years ago, but it's now a big deal in the math department, and it's personally one of my favorite events. You can find all the details about it below, and I seriously encourage you to volunteer if this interests you even a little bit. It's an amazing experience, and you can sign up with this form.

We are holding "Shadow a Math Major Day" on Friday, April 20! This is an excellent opportunity for prospective students to walk in the shoes of a Berkeley math major. Participants will be paired up with an undergraduate math student (you!) who will take them through an average day as a math student.

Your role will be to help prospective students do the following:

-Attend classes and gain exposure to higher level mathematics.

-Learn about the math major requirements and demands from the point of view of a student.

-Familiarize themselves with Evans Hall and other parts of campus.

-Have a good time!

Shadow a Math Major Day is perfect for answering wide-eyed students' questions, such as:

-What classes should I take (or avoid)?

-Who are the best (and worst) professors to take classes with?

-What opportunities are there for math majors?

-How do I get involved with research, internships, or studying math abroad?

-How much time should I spend on math? (Trivial)

-What do Berkeley math majors do for fun? (Nontrivial)

This year, we're trying some new things. Recall that Cal Day is Saturday, the day after Shadow a Math Major Day. We don't want prospective students to have to choose between attending either day because of the cost of a hotel, so we'd like to give participants the opportunity to stay overnight in volunteers' homes and see how Berkeley undergraduates live. This option is still up in the air, so don't feel like you're fully committing to the overnight stay just by filling out the form.

If you're interested in being shadowed, hosting students overnight, or just helping run the event, please fill out the before Friday, March 30. If you have any questions, please contact Aidan Backus (aidan...@berkeley.edu) or Joshua Lin (joshua...@berkeley.edu).

Best,

Ryan Shaw 

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To join our email list visit <https://groups.google.com/a/lists.berkeley.edu/forum/#!forum/musa> or send an empty email to <musa+su...@lists.berkeley.edu>. Alternatively, feel free to stop by 938 Evans Hall Monday through Friday from 10am to 4pm during the semester or visit our website at <http://musa.berkeley.edu> to find out about our events and how to get involved.