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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (April 17, 2002)
4----------------------- Feature----------------- WedNEsdAy, Appil 17, 2002 ThE Ç[ ac I<AMAS P rint Roll over, Euclid: there’s a ’new’ math on Earth Pi and Ice Cream lecture dishes out bite-si^ed math tidbits with a smile ALLISON GERFIN Copy Editor Non-Euclidean geometry sounded a bit dry. I didn’t even know there was such a species. But the first thing I discovered at the Pi and Ice Cream lecture on April 11 is students learn what is called Euclidean geometry—the stuff of high school and undergraduate math classes. This is not the whole world of geometry though. Dr. Karen Marrongelle, a profes sor at Portland State University with a Ph.D. in Mathematics Edu cation, unceasingly smiled with the love of math during her lunchtime lecture in Pauling on a rainy Thurs day. Her enthusiasm was charm ing and sunny. How could I not want to learn about non-Euclidean Geometry? The gist was this: Euclid came up with his “Elements of Geometry” in the 3rd century B.C. This re flected how the ancient Greeks viewed their world, and we have since been following his teachings to figure all flat-plane and solid objects. Like, if I walk in a straight line from Barlow to the cafeteria, and my ex-boyfriend is going from the gym to Pauling, will we inter sect? If so, where? And how far out of his way will he go to avoid me? In the late 17th century A.D., mathematicians finally started questioning Euclid’s theorems, and a couple of famous math guys fig ured out non-Euclidean, or spheri cal, geometry for a little something Euclid missed—the surface of a sphere, such as the Earth. Then we’ll fast forward to Albert " Like, if I walk in a straight line from Barlow to the cafeteria, and my ex-boyfriend is going from the gym to Pauling, will we intersect? If so, where? And how far out of his way will he go to avoid me?” Einstein: He couldn’t have devel oped his theory of relativity with out using spherical geometry, ac cording to Marrongelle. And it’s not just the physicists who love this stuff. Engineers and manufacturers rely on spherical geometry to design products and translate flat blueprints into round widgets—from hair dryers to nuclear reactors. It’s also used to find efficient flight paths for air planes or anything else following the Earth’s curvature. Mark Yannotta, a math instruc tor, added a point about spherical geometry that throws out conven tional wisdom: “Sometimes the closest distance between two points is not a straight line.” Roundness changes everything. While I might not need this infor mation on a day-to-day basis, it’s good to have this long-held mis conception corrected. Another mind-blower was that the sum of the three angles in a triangle doesn’t always add up to 180 degrees—something I would have died believing as mathemati cal gospel if I hadn’t attended. If you go from Portland to New York then to Cancun, you not only get jet lag but rack up more than the usual 180 in those turns. (I would tell you how many, but I haven’t quite figured it out yet.) I needed the ice cream after these shocks. Yannotta obtained a grant to start the Pi and Ice Cream series to help students connect mathemat ics to other studies and to life; pre vious speakers have discussed the history of math and the role of math in art. The Mathematics Depart ment has picked up sponsoring the series, and next year there will be two presentations. It was interesting and actually mostly understandable (my eyes glazed only briefly, I swear). Be tween Marrongelle’s enthusiasm and scoops of ice cream, it wasn’t nearly as dry as I expected. Micro-truck designer breaks competitor Carnegie Mellon’s 7 year winning streak SIIADRA BEESLEY Staff Writer For seven years, Carnegie Mellon, a Pennsylvania robotics college, held first place in the So ciety of Automotive Engineers Micro-Truck Baja Design compe tition. That was before Clackamas student Mark Neubauer showed up. In October 2000, the SAE held its annual Truck and Bus Show in Portland. Neubauer heard about the Micro-Truck design competi tion from a friend, and decided at the last minute to enter. When he left with the first place title and $700 prize, he decided he’d definitely be back in 2001. Micro-trucks are remote control cars, redesigned to be self-mobile. The creators of these machines equip the trucks with motors, bat teries and other self-contained controls. Competitors are required to conform to SAE specifications, but they are given a lot of freedom. Entries are judged mainly on per formance,, presentation and de sign. Although the contest does include a race, speed has little af fect on the overall score. Neubauer explained that design ing these small machines takes a lot of work and planning. “You really have to think out your vehicles. You can’t just throw something together and throw it out on a track,” he said. Neubauer has been studying electrical engi neering for two years. His skills and love for cars have helped him build vehicles that repeatedly out perform his opponents. The 2001 SAE competition was held Nov. 12-14, and Neubauer traveled to Chicago to defend his title. He was very excited to visit a place almost 1,500 miles away. It was his first trip outside the Pa cific time zone, and he was thrilled to see new sights. He also became the Baja Design champion for the second year in a row, once again preventing Carnegie Mellon from reclaiming the title. Carnegie Mellon and Clackamas were the only two schools that entered the competition last year. Neubauer was happy to secure his first-place position, but he! was dis appointed that more schools didn’t compete. The fact that this 14- year-old tradition may not have a future concerns Neubauer. He is encouraging the SAE to do more advertising and is looking for more Clackamas students who want to compete. Neubauer’s main goal now is to form a team of students to collabo rate on a micro-truck design for the competition this fall, which will be held in Detroit at the Cobo Center. Neubauer is eager to share this opportunity to build, design, and travel with other students who are studying engineering or manufac turing. Any students who would like to be a part of the team can e- mail Mark Neubauer at neubee 12@yahoo.com. About 40 students and faculty watched Dr. Karen Marrongelle of PSU use her Vis-a-Vis on a globe to clearly illustrate the esoteric business of non-Euclidean, or spherical, geometry. The nice doc explained how this math differs from what we usually learn. It's the third week, and you're already sick of school? It could i be worse! you could be assembling toasters in SaskatOOfl.\. A friendly tip from TldE CI ac I<AMAS P r INT/N WORK IN A HELPING PROFESSION. PREPARE FOR A CAREER, PREPARE FOR LIFE. » X ART THERAPY » MUSIC THERAPY COMMUNICATIONS » PSYCHOLOGY GERONTOLOGY PUBLIC RELATIONS MONTESSORI TEACHING RELIGIOUS STUDIES US Mews & World Report 2002_________________ lists Marylhurst University in its Best Universities Category, #1 in classes under 20 students and #1 in student/faculty ratio in the 15-state Western Region. Course scheduling options are designed for working adults. To meet with an advisor, e-mail studentinfo@iYiarylhurst.edu or call 503.699.6268 or 800.634.9982'x 6268. WWW.MARYLHURST.EDU MARYLHURST UNIVERSITY Accredited by the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges PHOTO COURTESY OF MARK NEUBAUER Carnegip Mellon students work on their vehicles at the 2001 SAE competition Nov. 12-14 in Chicago. 17600 PACIFIC HIGHWAY (HWY. 43) MARYLHURST, OREGON - JUST 10 MINUTES SOUTH OF PORTLAND Serving students since 1893
