 |
To
Live Fully President Bill Gupton's Letter This has been a hard week for our host, Virginia Tech, and I express my fullest condolences to the families of those who were lost on April 16 at the place that helps makes our wonderful SUUSI experience possible. It’s been our host for 1990-1995 and 2000-the present time. I thought one way of expressing our sympathy for the victims and to express our thanks to Virginia Tech is to wear Hokie at Ingathering march. That’s right, we may actually be Wolverines, Wildcats, Yellow Jackets or Yahoos, but on this one day we are all Hokies. We are Hokies because we go to SUUSI. Wear something orange or maroon, such as a VT T-shirt or cap, or orange and maroon beads or ribbons, on that march to Burruss on July 15. Once again it's SUUSI time. This time the theme is "To Live Fully". This can mean several things. The symbol for this SUUSI is a tree. Here is a tree on Radford University's campus that I took in 1999 for a workshop called "Midlife Folk Tales". I took this picture because I felt it may symbolize my life to a certain extent, with its many branches indicating my interests and involvements. How full is your tree? Will it grow more? Maybe SUUSI can help it grow. SUUSI has a variety of workshops and nature experiences to offer. I am going to try out a few, such as dancing, hiking, exploring my dreams, investigating theories of everything, and so forth. There will be theme talks, Cabaret, Serendipity, worship services, community time, and ingathering. And in addition, I am going to give four workshops of my own. These are the four workshops I am giving this year: |
115 Mathematics
and Religion
Much has been written about the relationships between science and religion.
This workshop will explore the relationships
that mathematics and religion have with each other, including infinity, concepts
and paradoxes of God, Newcomb’s paradox,
analogies of religion with areas of mathematics and stories of some mathematicians
who ventured into religion.
Jim Blowers has a PhD in mathematics from Northwestern University, has been
interested in religious aspects of mathematics
most of his life, and has presented this workshop at his church.
Limit 30 $10 M 10 am-noon Preferred 14+
NOTES: This year, the workshop will be more interactive. Certainly Gödel's argument that there is a God needs some discussion, and we will once again try Newcomb's Paradox, and discuss what religious implications Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem has.
146 Polyhedra
Origami
Decorate your Christmas tree with attractive polyhedron models woven from
paper without tape, paste or staples. These include cubes, dodecahedra, and
models with five-pointed stars. The weaving process is fun and the resulting
solid makes an attractive decoration.
Jim Blowers has a PhD in Mathematics from Northwestern University. At graduate
school and recent conferences, he discovered several ways of constructing
attractive polyhedra models out of paper without fasteners.
Limit 14. $12 Th 10 am-noon Preferred 14+
NOTES: This year I may show a different way of putting together polyhedra out of paper, one that I learned at a mathematics conference in 2005, called PhiZZ , which consists of making little pieces from squares and linking them together to form the polyhedron. I will also offer the weaving method that I have given in the past, to those who want to try that. In any case, the result of attending this workshop will be an attractive model.
133 Stories
of the Sky
The night sky has been a source of inspiration for the telling of stories.
This workshop will feature stories from Greek and Roman, Native American,
Australian Aborigine, Chinese, and Japanese mythology and will tell what these
stories mean, not
only about the stars, but also about ourselves.
Jim Blowers was President of the Richmond Astronomical Society in 2002. He
has experience and interest in astronomy
and telling stories that have been written about the sky.
Limit 30 $12 W 10 am-noon Preferred 17+
NOTES: This year you will get your own chance at creating your constellation out of stars in the sky. In past years, some participants have come up with their own SUUSI constellations and I will show some of these. Plus there will be the usual variety of constellation stories from the Micmac Bear Hunt and the Perseus/Andromeda soap opera to Brazilian and Wasco rope climbing and Japanese tournaments.
119 Sudoku
Limit 100
Sudoku - the latest craze. It’s in newspapers, magazines and department
stores. Jim will show you how to solve Sudoku puzzles, then show all the variants
that are available.
Jim Blowers received his PhD in Mathematics from Northwestern in 1972. He
enjoys Sudoku and would like to share it with others.
$12 F 10 am-noon Preferred 14+
NOTES: What a way to end SUUSI! Find out how to solve Sudoku puzzles. You can't escape it. It's in the newspaper. It's in magazines. It's on the Web. It is the never-ending search for solutions to 9x9 grids. You will find out about only-squares and -numbers, sets, Ariadne's threads, and maybe some windows and swordfish, as well as 16x16, circular, monster, and other types of Sudoku puzzles.