Northern California Undergraduate Mathematics Conference

April 19, 2008

Schedule (tentative – times may vary slightly)

Time 8:30	Registration – Darwin Hall Lobby
9:20	Welcome – Darwin Hall 103
	Darwin Hall 103	Darwin Hall 107
9:30	Pollution Problem: A Mathematical Study Nicole Albers, Sonoma State University	Counting Cantor Dust James Shikashio, Sonoma State University
9:50	Is the Wine Worth It? David Lofte, Sonoma State University	Security Using PGP Michael King, Joseph Muller, Sonoma State University
10:10	Connected Components in Random Graphs Damien Mondragon, University of the Pacific	Hash Functions and their Applications Dylan Field, Tech High School/Sonoma State University
10:25	10 Minute Break
10:35	Causal Sets and Quantum Gravity Paul Craciunolu, San Jose State University	The Distinguishing Chromatic Number Mark Ferrando, Sonoma State University
10:55	Impossible Postages: Investigating a Stamp Problem Alicia Dibble, San Francisco State University	Evolutionary Games on Graphs Brendan Foley, University of San Francisco
11:10	10 Minute Break
11:20	Career Panel Discussion Darwin Hall 103
12:10	Lunch – Darwin Hall Lobby
	Darwin Hall 103	Darwin Hall 107
1:10	Statistical Analysis of Valley Fever Data in Kern County Jose Fuentes, Jose Ochoa, CSU Bakersfield	Assessing the Variability of Digital Watermarking with Bootstrapping – Part 1 Christopher Gutierrez, CSU Bakersfield
1:30	The Random Subdivision of Triangles Stephen Pessagno, Santa Clara University	Assessing the Variability of Digital Watermarking with Bootstrapping – Part 2 Max Valedo, CSU Bakersfield

1:50

What the Heck Is Base 2i?

Mitchell Oster, Yuko Oyama, San Francisco State University

Divisibility Tricks

Leanna Lofte, Sonoma State University

2:05

10 minute break

2:15

Towards A Simple Non-Equilibrium Harmonic Model of the American Economy

Teresa Jacobson, California State University - Chico

Professional Development and its Impact on Student Math Test Scores

Anna Espitallier, Patrick Midgley, Sonoma State University

2:35

The Lady and the Tiger

Trang Nguyen, Evergreen Valley College

HIV Testing in the Bay Area: Confidential vs. Anonymous

Evan Wu, UC Berkeley

3:00

Darwin Hall 103 – Keynote Talk

Speaker:	Juan C. Meza, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Title:	The Role of Mathematics in Amplifying Science Research
Abstract:	What do recent headlines in climate modeling, materials science, biology, and astrophysics have in common? These are just a few examples from the field of computational sciences, which is now recognized as the "third pillar" of science along with theory and experimentation. While these results are due in part to the tremendous growth in computational power, the more interesting story is the role of mathematics and the development of improved algorithms in the modeling and simulation of physical processes. In this talk, I will discuss several areas where mathematics has had a profound impact on science, and how mathematics has "amplified" the scientific research.

CONFERENCE SUPPORT: The Northern California Undergraduate Mathematics Conference is partially funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation and is administered through the Mathematical Association of America (through DMS-0241090) and by the Associated Students Inc. of Sonoma State University.