News and Activities - Mathematics Department




  • Math & Physics Colloquium

    In between writing a set of graduate level analysis notes, racing up and down Mt. Si and suffering altitude sickness on the slopes of Mt. Rainier, Larry Susanka, has organized a Math & Physics Colloquium of scientific talks by and for BCC faculty and students.

    Larry S. kicked-off the colloquium in the winter of 2003, regaling us with the joys of tensor analysis for weeks. Subsequent, less ambitious (but no less informative and entertaining) presentations have treated topics from eveyday phenomena like music and day-length to more esoteric subjects such as cosmology, proteogenomics and the philosophy of science.

    In the best of all worlds, the Math & Physics Colloquium would convene every Thursday afternoon at 2:30. Realistically, it meets whenever one of us gets inspired or has an arm twisted hard enough by Larry. To see a schedule for this quarter, as well as a list of past presentations, click here. If you would like to make a presentation, contact Larry Susanka with your proposal (lsusanka@bcc.ctc.edu).

    Faculty and students are welcome.



  • Student Mathematics League


    Math instructor, Pete Bloomsburg, caters to BCC mathletes.


    For a number of years BCC students have participated in a mathematics competition sponsored by AMATYC (American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges). At nearly one hundred fifty schools across the country, 20-question, multiple-choice, pre-calculus-level exams are given each year. (Initially, there were three rounds of exams per year. Starting in 2002-2003, the number was reduced to two per year, one in the fall and one in the winter.) Year-end rankings are determined by summing each school's top five scores from each round. One key to achieving good team scores is encouraging lots of students to compete. BCC typically ranks among the national leaders in number-of-students-participating. We have frequently finished first in Washington state and among the top ten in the U.S.



    brain food served to BCC mathletes


    For more details check with your math instructor, or contact Jennifer Laveglia (Math League coordinator), Larry Curnutt or Dale Hoffman. Their offices are all in L200. Or you may send e-mail inquiries by clicking on one of their names.

    Click old AMATYC exams to see samples of exams from 1996. Click Fall, 2004 or Spring, 2005to see recent exams. (These recent exam links are to pdf files. When you click on them, they will be downloaded to your computer. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open them.) You may also obtain paper copies of old exams in L200.




    Recent Results

    2004-2005
    Again BCC finished 1st in the Northwest Region, 2nd place in the nation!
    George Lin led all BCC scorers, placing first in the northwest and tenth in the nation with 65 points.


    2003-2004
    Again BCC finished 1st in the state, ?th place in the nation.
    ??, led all BCC scorers.


    2002-2003
    Again BCC finished 1st in the state, good enough for ?th place in the nation.
    The rotating state championship plaque now resides permanently in BCC's trophy case.
    Joel Nishimura, led all BCC scorers and ?th place in Washington state.


    2001-2002
    BCC placed 1st in the state and 13th in the nation. 396 students participated -- still the 2nd highest number in Washington.
    Quintak Lee and Thomas Dickens placed seventh and ninth, respectively, in Washington state.


    2000-2001
    BCC placed 1st in the state and 4th in the nation. 427 mathletes competed in the three rounds, 2nd highest number of participants in Washington.
    Andy Assareh had the 24th best total score in the nation.


    1999-2000
    BCC placed 1st in state, 5th in the nation, and had the 4th best average participation in the country. Our team score on the round three test was the best round three team score in the nation! 144 schools nation-wide participated in all 3 rounds of the competition.
    William Yip placed third in Washington state and thirteenth nationally.


    1998-1999
    BCC swept all three rounds in the Northwest Region to place 4th in Nation (our highest ranking ever).
    Wendy Yip placed fourth in Washington state and twentieth in the nation.


    1997-1998
    BCC finished second in the state, eleventh nationally. An average of 131 BCC students took each exam, the highest average participation in the country.
    Peter Liang's total for the three rounds was 93.5 points -- best ever by a BCC student. Peter was the highest individual scorer in Washington state and second highest in the entire country.


    1996-1997
    BCC recaptured the state championship and finished seventh in the national rankings. 325 BCC students competed in '96-'97, the second highest turn-out in the nation.


    1995-1996
    BCC dropped to second place in Washington state, behind Clark College.


    1994-1995
    BCC placed first in Washington state.



  • BCC Mathematics on the Web

    There are lots of things mathematical on the World-Wide Web. We have identified a couple of dozen mathematical web sites that might be useful and/or interesting to BCC students and listed pointers to them. You can get to this list by clicking here or returning to the Math Homepage and clicking the Math on the Web button.

    Several of these web sites were created at BCC, by BCC folks, with BCC students in mind.



  • Part-timer Writes for Fun (and Profit?)

    Part-time mathematics instructor, Cal Clawson, has always enjoyed writing. Although he was trained in mathematics and philosophy (University of Utah) and spent one career applying a branch of mathematics, called operations research, in the field of law enforcement, he continued to write and publish short stories and articles.

    Several years ago Clawson decided to try something new that would combine his life-long passions for mathematics and writing. So he relocated his family in Issaquah, began teaching mathematics at BCC and South Seattle Community College, and he began writing books about mathematics for laymen. Conquering Math Phobia, published by John Wiley & Sons, appeared in 1991; The Mathematical Traveler, published by Plenum, came out in 1994.

    Clawson's book, Mathematical Mysteries: the Beauty and Magic of Numbers (Plenum, 1996), was selected for a prestigious Outstanding Acadademic Book of 1997 award by Choices, a publication of the Association of College and Research Libraries. Reviewers of Mathematical Mysteries say that "Many of the dazzling beauties of higher mathematics are just as accessible to an ordinary untrained spectator as are similar wonders of great literature, visual art, and music. This well-kept secret is finally blown wide open in Calvin Clawson's latest book." and "Clawson fills his book with interesting stories about the beauty and practical use of mathematics....[He] gives mathematics a heart."

    Clawson's latest book, Mathematical Sorcery: Revealing the Secrets of Numbers (Plenum, 1999), appeared on bookstore shelves in May, 1999. According to reviewers, "Mathematical Sorcery is as entertaining as it is informative, full of infectious good humor and delight in the subject. Another dimension is added to mathematics -- the historical, human scale of the brilliant thinkers who have expanded the frontiers of knowledge about the strange but satisfying mathematical architecture that represents our universe."

    At spring 2000's Washington Community College Mathematics Retreat Clawson talked about "Publishing Mathematical Trade Books" -- recollections of an author; the absurdity and randomness of writing and publishing a non-fiction book; the writing process; the connecting idea or theme; how to prepare a book proposal; what to include and what to leave out; the marketing process; finding an agent or publisher; reviewing the book contract; royalty advances and deadlines; the book production cycle; reviews, sales and shelf life.



  • Awards

    There is no Nobel Prize for mathematics. Mathematics' international equivalent is the Fields Medal, which is awarded every four years to (traditionally young -- under 40 year-old) mathematicians for deep work of broad impact already accomplished and for the promise of more to come. In addition to super-star status in the scientific community, Fields Medal recipients receive six-figure monetary gifts.

    Each June the BCC Mathematics Department celebrates outstanding student achievement in mathematics with two awards: the Lebon Prize and the Outstanding Calculus Student Award. To be eligible for the Lebon Prize, students must have completed at least two of Maths 208, 227 and 238. In addition to shining in the classroom, Lebon winners typically contribute in other ways to the vitality of the Mathematics Department, such as working as Math Lab tutors or competing for the AMATYC Math League team. Outstanding Calculus Students must have completed three of Maths 124, 125, 126 and 227. Recipients recieve certificates of recognition and a mathematical book.
    One former Lebon Prize winner went on to graduate school in mathematics and eventually joined the BCC mathematics faculty.)

    Students honored for 2002 - 2003 were:

    From the entire mathematics faculty, "Congratulations to all of the award recipients! And thanks for making us look so good."


    The mathematician's patterns, like the painter's or the poet's, must be beautiful; the ideas, like the colors or the words, must fit together in a harmonious way. Beauty is the first test: there is no permanent place in this world for ugly mathematics.
    G. H. Hardy

    The purpose of computation is insight, not numbers.
    Richard Hamming



  • Learning Outcomes for Mathematics Classes

    Learning outcomes for all of BCC's mathematics courses, from Math 070 through Math 238, can be found by clicking OUTCOMES.



  • Sample Final Exams for Algebra Courses

    You can find samples of final exams for Math 097, Math 098 and Math 099 by clicking on FINALS.





    • | Math Homepage | BCC Homepage | Snowflake graphic |