CSUB Math Club strives to help all
By Lydia Reyes
Staff Writer
benakittie@yahoo.com
Lydia Reyes/The Runner Math Club hosts a ping pong tournament along with other activities in the Student Lounge.
On Oct. 31 the Student Lounge on campus was full of laughter and a sense of community during a table-tennis tournament sponsored by the CSUB Math Club.
“The ping pong tournament was something to reach out to all students on campus, not necessarily just the math majors,” said Vianey Leos, president of the Math Club.
“Most of us work in the tutoring center, this was something fun to do,” said 22-year-old Tiana Ring.
Lydia Reyes/The Runner
Ping pong, foosball, and other games were played at the tournament held on Oct. 31.
Other games such as Truth or Dare Jenga decorated the tables, as well as festive sweet Halloween treats and beverages. A few students also played foosball while others sat on the red couches, conversing, adding to the casual atmosphere. Leos, a 22-year-old senior, wanted to get more involved with the math department and the club has helped her to do so. She has several ideas for future activities that will help promote the club further.
“The math students study very hard, but they also like to organize social events,” said Dr. Charles Lam.
Lam and Dr. David Gove are the club’s advisers and big supporters of the students. Lam is also the adviser for the math-tutoring center and is currently doing research with five students on three different projects.
One of Lam’s hopes is that the CSUB Math Club will help more students become student leaders and be a helpful experience for graduate students and future high school teachers.
“Normally at a high school you have a good high school teacher who motivates their students to further their education i.e. college. At CSUB, you have Lam, a brilliant professor, who not only knows math, he knows how to reach the student at a different level,” said Ricardo Martinez.
Martinez is a 23-year-old teaching at McFarland High School. The ultimate goal of the CSUB Math Club is to socially bring students and other members of its department together to form a sense of community. It not only aids the students’ social needs, but it accommodates them academically as well. The CSUB Math Club provides study guides and free study nights for upper division levels of math such as Calculus I and Calculus II. Food and free coffee are provided and members volunteer their hours in an intensive four-hour study guide or study night to help prepare students for their midterms.
A meeting is set up every three weeks of the quarter. The first meeting is started with a mini-presentation and followed by a 10-minute update of upcoming events.
“I think the nice thing about Math Club is that we do something more interesting, it’s more than just crunching numbers,” said Club Treasurer, Ashley Mabee.
Last meeting Mabee made a playful presentation about how to pick up on men and women by applying game theory. Game theory is how there are certain outcomes when certain strategies are applied that result in the greatest possible outcomes.
“We thought it would be interesting. It’s also mathematically relevant, but it’s something that people don’t see necessarily too often on a different side of mathematics,” said Leos.
Next quarter, Gove plans to make a presentation on how to apply mathematics to dating. It will demonstrate how to better one’s chance in getting the girl or the guy. A second ping pong tournament will also be planned. Also, thanks to Mabee, study guides will be issued to students taking general education requirement course, Math 140. The club supports and reaches out to all students at CSUB to the best of their abilities. If you are interested in becoming a member or in knowing more about the club in general, please contact Vianey Leos at Vianeyleos@gmail.com or contact Gove or Lam.