UNL Math Day Nov. 10 to draw students from across Nebraska

The 16th annual University of Nebraska-Lincoln Math Day will be Nov. 10 at the Nebraska Union, 1400 R St. Opening ceremonies will begin at 8 a.m. at the Lied Center for the Performing Arts, 301 N. 12th St.

Last year, Math Day involved 1,303 students from 103 Nebraska high schools. Schools more than 150 miles from Lincoln receive financial assistance to attend. The purpose of the event is to stimulate interest in mathematics among Nebraska high school students, encourage them to pursue mathematics or mathematics-based science careers, and recognize mathematical ability by awarding scholarships, certificates and trophies.

Math Day consists of one individual and two team competitions, information about majors and departments, career information and recreational mathematical activities.

All students start with a multiple choice, preliminary exam called PROBE I (Problems Requiring Original and Brilliant Effort). The top three males and females will receive trophies. The first team competition winners are determined by adding top scores in PROBE I based on a school's size. The top 50 individuals move on to take PROBE II. The top 10 students in the PROBE II competition are awarded four-year scholarships to UNL worth a total of $34,000, sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences, the Department of Mathematics and the Gallup Organization.

The second team competition result a double-elimination tournament pitting three-member teams against each other in College Bowl-type competition. The team competitions are divided into smallest, small, medium and large school categories with trophies given to the top two teams in each category.

All the questions assume only two years' high school algebra and one year of geometry. However, the answers to PROBE II questions require exceptional creativity and originality.

For information about specific times and locations of events, contact Lori Mueller, (402) 472-4319 or Gordon Woodward (402) 472-7239, e-mail mathday@math.unl.edu, or visit www.math.unl.edu/pi/outreach/mathday on the World Wide Web.

CONTACTS: Lori Mueller, Administrative Technician, Mathematics, (402) 472-4319; and
Gordon Woodward, Professor, Mathematics, (402) 472-7239