Academics > Majors and Areas of Study > Mathematics and Computer Science > Past Commendations > 2000



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2000
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January 2000 Big Saturday for the Putnam Team On December 4, 1999, Thiel students were invited to participate in the nationwide Putnam Exam sponsored by the Mathematical Association of America. The exam consisted of twelve challenging mathematics problems to be worked on over a six-hour time period. The work was demanding as well as frustrating, but everyone had a good time. The 1999 team pictured above consists of; front row: Jeff Garlock, Mike Harpst, and Ben Blasco; in the back row: Tiffany Goble, team mentor Dr. Nichols, Katrina Park, and Donna Corbin. Top

February 2000 Congratulations to December Grads Three more students from the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science completed their degrees at the Winter Commencement on December 19, 1999. Jason Martsolf (left) graduated Cum Laude and has since completed all the tests for certification to teaching mathematics at the secondary level in Pennsylvania. He is "subbing" for now, but is looking forward to a full time teaching position starting in September. Michael Morneweck (center) graduated Magna Cum Laude with Departmental Honors. His certification and employment status is virtually the same as Jason's. Todd Foulk (right) received his degree in Computer Science and is now working as a programmer analyst. We commend these graduates for their hard work and perseverance, and wish them success in the future. Top

March 2000 Great Job on Actuarial Exam Yoonsun Choi passed SOA Exam 100 with a perfect 10! This exam, sponsored by the Society of Actuaries, is the first step in becoming an actuary. Yoonsun comes to us as an exchange student from Ewha University in Seoul, Korea. Her goal is to work in the insurance industry or attend graduate school in Actuarial Science after her graduation from Ewha in March, 2001. An actuary is a professional who applies mathematical models to financial problems. To become an actuary one must pass a grueling series of 9 tests which most people take over a period of 5 to 10 years. Just passing one of these tests on the first try is hard enough, getting a 10 on the first try is almost unheard of. In May, Yoonsun will be taking the next exam in the series, and we wish her well. Top

April 2000 Goodbye, Dr. Tetsuro Kojima Writing this commendation is somewhat bittersweet, as we are saying goodbye to a friend. Dr. Kojima is best known as an excellent teacher with an exceptionally good rapport with his students. When he is in his office, you can count on at least one or two students there seeking his help. Of particular importance has been his mentoring of actuarial studies students in preparation for the actuarial exams. One of his students earned a 10 on Exam 100. (See March 2000 Commendation above.) During his two years with us, Tetsuro has contributed greatly to the department. Most notable are his various suggestions for improvements in the Actuarial Studies Major. In particular, he introduced and important new course, Theory of Interest. And to top it all off, he organized a sumo wrestling tournament. Top

May 2000 Congratulations Scholarship Winners! We in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science have the privilege each year of choosing two students to receive scholarships. The George and Magdalene Skegas Scholarship for Mathematics was established by Karolyn Skegas Krial '43 in memory of her parents. The winner of this $1490 award for 2000-2001 is junior Kara McDowell (on the left in the above photo), a mathematics major and accounting minor. The Nathan Warren Harter and Besse Roseberry Harter Scholarship was established as a memorial to Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Harter to encourage Thiel students in the study of mathematics or Latin. The amount of this scholarship varies from year to year depending on the prevailing interest rates, but this year an award of $286 was made to junior Amber Cochran (center in the above photo), who is working on an actuarial studies and a business administration major, a mathematics minor, and the AA degree in accounting. Each year the Science Division awards the Irene Wintersteen Memorial Science Scholarship to a rising junior or senior woman science major. This year the $3378 award was split three ways. The recipients are Kara McDowell who is already mentioned above, Tiffany Goble (on the right in the above photo) a double major in mathematics and chemistry, and a biology major Mishelle Beercheck (not pictured). We commend these students for their hard work and congratulate them for their success as scholars of mathematics and other sciences. Top

June 2000 Congratulations Graduates! This month we commend our majors who graduated on May 14, 2000. They include Christina Arnold (top row left), Comp Sci and MIS; Lindsay Ault (top row center), Math; Tina Banjan (top row right), MIS; Jennifer Celender (second row left), MIS; Amber Corp (second row center), MIS; Brandie Earich (second row right), Math; April Isaac (third row left), Math; Rafael Juliano (third row center), Comp Sci; Michelle Porada (third row right), Math; Shelley Pulliam (bottom row left), Math; Steven Spaulding (bottom row center), MIS; and Charles Stevenson (bottom row right), Math. Other accomplishments by these students include: Christina graduated Summa Cum Laude and receive Departmental Honors in Computer Science and Management Information Systems. Michelle Porada graduated Magna Cum Laude. Jennifer Celender and Charles Stevenson graduated Cum Laude. Besides their MIS degrees, Tina Banja, Jennifer Celender, and Amber Corp also completed majors in Business Administration; Tina and Jennifer did so with departmental honors in that department. Lindsay Ault topped off her math degree by completing the requirements for secondary teaching certification; and April Isaac rounded out her math program with AA degrees in accounting and in management information systems. NOTE: Photos (except Tina) courtesy of Chappell Graduation Images Aardvark Studios. Click on an individual picture to enlarge it. Top

July 2000 Congratulations Graduate Scholarship Winner This month we salute Nicole Volchko. Niki graduated in May with a political science major and a mathematics minor. She has been accepted into the Heinz School of Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. If that is not sufficiently impressive, she also won a substantial scholarship from CMU. We in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science are particularly proud of the fact that it was primarily Niki's strength in mathematics which earned her the scholarship. Congratulations, Niki, and good luck in your quest to become an urban planner and administrator. Top

August 2000 Welcome, Dr. Karl Oman Dr. Karl Oman will join the Thiel Department of Mathematics and Computer Science full time starting in the Fall 2000 term. Dr. Oman earned a bachelors degree in mathematics and a masters degree in applied mathematics from Michigan State University. He earned a masters degree in mathematics and a Ph.D. in mathematics from Wayne State University where he also won the Paul Weiss Award for outstanding achievement in the Ph.D. program. His dissertation thesis was on Powerful Numbers, the abc Conjecture, and Ramanujan-Nagell Equations. His research areas are in Elementary and Algebraic Number Theory. In addition to his academic background he brings to Thiel a wealth of teaching experience. Dr. Oman has taught mathematics at Oakland Community College, Wayne State University and, most recently, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. He won an Excellence in Teaching Award at Wayne State during his graduate program there. Besides his regular teaching duties Dr. Oman will be supervising our program in Actuarial Studies. Dr. Oman is particularly well suited for this task. He served as a Pension Actuary for the firm WatsonWyatt in Southfield, Michigan for five years. In addition, he is an Associate of the Society of Actuaries. Obtaining an Associate in the Society of Actuaries is no mean feat. A candidate must take and pass a series of challenging tests in order to obtain the Associate designation. Top

September 2000 Job Well Done at USX This month we recognize Thian Eng Tan. He is a computer science major who spent the spring 2000 term and the following summer completing a cooperative education experience in Pittsburgh at USX Engineers and Consultants, Inc. This organization is basically the information technology department of USX Corporation. Very few cooperative education students get to work in this department because of the critical nature of the applications produced. Eng spent much of his time working on updating Techweb. Techweb is an intranet site where authorized people can update personnel information and request needed services. In performing these updates Eng learned the importance of following a consistent set of rules in coding and the problems created when such rules are not followed. Documentation is also critical in such situations. In order to perform the needed updates Eng had to learn how to use or improve his knowledge of Visual Basic Script, Hypertext Markup Language, Java Script, Active Server Pages, Structured Query Language and Cascading Style Sheets. He became acutely aware of the problems created by the fact that there is no common standard followed by available browsers. In addition to learning about various programming languages, Eng learned a lot about the steel industry and its associated terminology. He gained some insight into how a team works together to develop an e-commerce project. We're glad Eng had such a productive and educational experience, and we welcome him back to Thiel. Top

October 2000 Bloom Makes Thiel's Web Pages Blossom Homer Bloom is the recipient of this month's commendation. Homer is a junior Management Information Systems major who had a cooperative education experience in Thiel's Computer Information Systems Department this summer. This was an opportunity for Homer to put into practice information and techniques learned in his computer courses. Equally important, he was able to learn much that cannot be taught in the classroom. Homer's primary job responsibility was to maintain Thiel's Web site--a huge undertaking! This involved learning to use Web development tools and augmenting his knowledge of HTML, Java and Visual Basic in order to perform daily updates to the many Web pages. He was able to handle any problem handed to him. In addition to handling the technical aspects of the job, Homer was also called upon to use his people skills as he worked with the various college constituencies. This meant dealing with a variety of people whose skills ranged from novice to expert. He demonstrated that he is both a competent developer and a people person. We are proud of Homer's excellent work this summer and wish him continued success both in and out of the classroom. Top

November 2000 Young Alumnus Award As part of the Homecoming 2000 festivities, Thiel presented its Young Alumnus Award to Kevin L. Barger. Kevin graduated from Thiel in 1993 with majors in Actuarial Studies and in Accounting. While a student at Thiel, Kevin participated in the Thiel Player, the Pep Band, the Thiel Choir, and a variety of other activities. He was also chosen for membership in Lambda Sigma, Alpha Chi, Les Lauriers, and Chi Eta Sigma honorary societies. He worked as a member of the resident life staff at Thiel and as organist for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. Kevin finished his tenure at Thiel by graduating valedictorian with a perfect 4.0 grade point average. Shortly after graduation Kevin went to work for Trigon Blue Cross Blue Shield, where he earned 5 promotions in six years, to his current position as a program manager. Kevin also continued his education and earned an MBA form Virginia Commonwealth University. We are very proud of Kevin's accomplishments, and proud also that graduates from this department have received the Young Alumnus Award two years in a row. (See Past Commendation November 1999.) Top

December 2000 ACM Programming Contest On November 10th and 11th a group of six students majoring in Computer Science and/or Management Information Systems left the hustle and bustle of on-campus activities to travel to Case Western Reserve University in order to participate in the ACM East Central Regional Programming Contest. Thiel A team was comprised of (top picture left to right) Homer Bloom, Thian Eng Tan and Scott Gerow. Thiel B team was comprised of (lower picture left to right) Dan Heckert, Philip Wise and Ivan Grimm. These two teams joined 100 other teams from colleges and universities throughout western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, eastern Ontario and Indiana. This year our students were challenged by the eight problems posed in the contest. However, the competition provided a learning-though somewhat frustrating-experience. At the end of the competition there were reports that some problems were close to being solved. In any case, we are proud that these students were willing to take a risk as well as give up some of their valuable time in order to represent Thiel College at this event. Top