Annual Meeting of the Southwestern Section   Mathematical Association of America El Paso, Texas April 1-2, 2005  8:30 am - 5:00 pm both days The UTEP Mathematical Sciences Department is pleased to host the MAA Southwest Sectional Conference, April 1-2, 2005, at the Union-East Building, 3rd floor at the University of Texas at El Paso. The conference will be running sessions on a wide range of topics: content mathematics, undergraduate mathematics education, and preK-12 mathematics education of pre-service teachers, as well as technology use in mathematics classrooms. You will have the wonderful opportunity to network with mathematicians, mathematics educators from Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, and El Paso area high school teachers.

Generous support provided by  the El Paso Math/Science Partnership Prizes for Graduate and Undergraduate Talks The best Graduate Presentation and best Undergraduate Presentation will receive the latest version of Mathematica, courtesy of Wolfram Inc. Car Rentals Ground Transportation Directions from the Airport to UTEP CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS Invited Talks: Two Research Traditions Separated by a Common Subject: Mathematics and Mathematics Education, Annie and John Selden, New Mexico State University. Friday, 10:00 a.m., Tomas Rivera Conference Center. "There are no proofs in mathematics education." While this is true, claims are made in mathematics education research and evidence is provided for them. In this talk, we will explore the nature of such research, the kinds of claims and evidence, and what such research might have to offer teachers of mathematics, especially at the undergraduate level. Along the way, we will point out differences between the ways research is done in the two fields. Why Things Go Quasi in Higher Dimensions, Bruce Palka, University of Texas at Austin, and editor of the American Mathematical Monthly. Saturday, 8:30 a.m., Tomas Rivera Conference Center. The talk will discuss Liouville's 1850 theorem to the effect that there is a general paucity of conformal mappings in Euclidean spaces of dimensions three and higher { say, in comparison with the situation in the plane, where the Riemann mapping theorem ensures a wealth of conformal mappings. Special sessions How to engage students in mathematics, organized by Deborah Hughes Hallett, University of Arizona. Friday, 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. and 3:45 p.m. - 5:15 p.m., Barry room. This session will address a problem we all face: finding ways to capture students' interest and attention | an essential prerequisite to successful learning. The session will bring together MAA distinguished teaching award winners to share ideas and techniques. Comments and discussion from the audience are welcomed! Bioinformatics, organized by Ming-Ying Leung, University of Texas at El Paso. Friday, 3:45 p.m. - 5:15 p.m., Elkins room. The session will conclude with a 10 minute open discussion, led by Dr. Ming-Ying Leung on bioinformatics in general. A sample of mathematics-centered educational and outreach activities at New Mexico State University, organized by Josefina Alvarez, New Mexico State University. Saturday, 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m., 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m., 3:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m., Elkins room. Mathematics motivated by computations: case studies, organized by Vladik Kreinovich, University of Texas at El Paso. Saturday, 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m., Wiggins room.  Banquet, Friday, April 1:    Entertainments:  Dr. Larry Lesser, Mathematical Songwriter.  Some of Lesser's Greatest Hits include "American Pi". Audience participation is encouraged.  For more information, or to preview Lesser's work, visit http://www.math.utep.edu/Faculty/lesser/Mathemusician.html. "Count Her In!” a play about female mathematicians' lives, performed by high school students. Director: Sherry Lowell-Lewis.