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September 2013

Contents:


Newly Elected To 2013 WSS Board

The Washington Statistical Society was privileged to have an exceptional slate of candidates who volunteered their services and stood for election to the WSS Board this year. We would like to thank each of the candidates for volunteering despite the many other responsibilities they have. We would like to congratulate the members who were elected based on the votes of the membership. They will join with the remaining members of the Board beginning this summer.

Congratulations to the newly-elected Board members!

President
Diane Herz

Methodology
Mike Fleming

Representatives-at-Large
Jaki McCarthy, Steve Paben

Secretary
Andy Keller

– Jonaki Bose
Past-President, Chair of the Nomination Committee

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2012-2013 WSS Annual Report

August 2013

The 2012-13 year was an active one for the WSS on several fronts. The Society continues to be active in a wide variety of areas. A large number of volunteers contribute to the Society's efforts, and this year saw several members step forward to make major contributions in new ways. The continuing challenges for the Society appear to be the role of WSS in organizing an promoting seminars in the age of remote access; how best to communicate effectively with members; and the strategy for developing effective short courses, again in an environment of webinars and other opportunities for remote access. Membership numbers remain strong, with approximately 1000 members.

Constitutional Changes

In September the WSS membership voted to amend the constitution two ways. The first amendment removed the ASA District 2 Vice-Chair as an ex-officio voting member of the WSS board. This change was appropriate now that District 2 encompasses more than just the Washington area (the current District 2 Vice-Chair is from Kentucky and is not a WSS member). The second amendment added a voting position of Communications Officer. This position was added in recognition of the fact that WSS is a large society that needs to contact its members in various ways for a variety of reasons. A serious commitment to coordinating these communications is required, and the creation of the Communications Officer position was seen as a way to meet this need. The Board appointed Phil Kalina to fill this position until June 2014, at which time the full membership will elect the Communications Officer, to serve a two-year term. The Board is grateful to Jonaki Bose, who organized the referendum, and to the several current and former board members who contributed to the process of introducing these changes.

Connie Citro Connie Citro delivers the WSS President's Invited Lecture at the Bureau of Labor Statistics on May 22, 2013.

Awards

The 2012 Roger Herriot Award, co-sponsored by WSS, and the ASA's Government and Social Statistics Sections, was awarded to Paul Biemer of RTI International. On October 23 Dr. Biemer Presented a seminar at the BLS Conference Center on the topic "Issues in the Evaluation of Data Quality for Business Surveys". The award is intended to recognize individuals who develop unique and innovative approaches to the solution of statistical problems in federal data collection programs.

2013 Roger Herriot Award for Innovation in Federal Statistics was awarded to The 1973 Current Population Survey (CPS)-Internal Revenue Service (IRS)-Social Security Administration (SSA) Exact Match Study, a joint undertaking of the SSA and the Census Bureau. A seminar associated with this ward will be held during the second half of 2013.

The 2012 Hansen Lecture was presented on October 9 by Kenneth Prewitt of Columbia University, under the title "Thank you Morris et al., for Westat et al." The discussants were Margo Anderson, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Dan Gaylin, NORC at the University of Chicago. As usual the seminar took place at the USDA Auditorium. The Hansen Lecture is supported by Westat and the USDA.

John C. Haltiwanger, Distinguished University Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland, and Maurine Haver, President and founder of Haver Analytics Inc., were selected to receive the 2013 Julius Shiskin Memorial Award for Economic Statistics. The award recognizes unusually original and important contributions in the development of economic statistics or in the use of statistics in interpreting the economy. Both Professor Haltiwanger and Ms. Haver are recognized for initiatives to educate users and producers of key federal economic statistics. The Award is cosponsored by the WSS, the National Association for Business Economics, and the Business and Economics Statistics Section of the ASA.

The 2013 Gertrude Cox Award was presented to Frauke Kreuter of the University of Maryland at College Park. On June 25th Dr. Kreuter gave a seminar on the topic "Big Data in Survey Research: AnalyzingProcessInformation(Paradata)".TheCoxAwardissponsoredbyWSS and RTI International, with RTI International providing financial support. The award recognizes a statistician in early to mid-career who has made significant contributions to one or more of the areas of applied statistics in which Gertrude Cox worked: survey methodology, experimental design, biostatistics, and statistical computing.

The WSS Board again voted to contribute towards the Jeanne Griffith Mentoring Award, which is was established to encourage the mentoring of younger staff in the Federal Statistical System. The Government Statistics Section (GSS) of the American Statistical Association manages the award. In the coming year the WSS Board will consider whether to cosponsor this award on an ongoing basis.

WSS President's Awards were presented at the Annual Dinner on June 25th to Darryl Creel, Dan Liao, and Dan Jacobs, in recognition of their unique service to WSS.

WSS presented awards at the annual dinner to five outstanding graduate students in statistics attending area universities.

Seminars and Conferences

In addition to the award's seminars discussed above, sixteen seminars were sponsored by the WSS during the year. Seminars were generally held at the BLS conference center, and most were videocast to remote sites. Slides from most presentations are available on the WSS web site.

This year the President's Invited Seminar was delivered by Connie Citro, Executive Director of the Committee on National Statistics. The talk was given at on May 22nd at the BLS Conference Center, on the topic "From Multiple Modes for Surveys to Multiple Sources for Estimates".

The other fifteen seminars were sponsored by various WSS sections, as follows:

  • Methodology 7
  • Public Health and Biostatistics 3
  • Agriculture and Natural Resources 2
  • Human Rights 2
  • Defense and National Security 1

As was the case last summer, WSS has worked with DC-AAPOR to co-sponsor a Summer Conference Review/Preview, bringing to a Washington audience a sample of talks from 2013 AAPOR and JSM conferences. This year the conference will be held at the BLS Conference Center on July 30th and 31st.

Some members have expressed concern that WSS is not sponsoring as many seminars in recent years as in the past. However, this must be considered in the context of the wide variety of seminar options available for statisticians in the Washington area, with many being available via remote access. An indication of this can be seen by reviewing the selection of seminars listed on the WSS web site (http://washstat.org/sem2013.html). In some cases potential speakers decline to give a WSS seminar, citing the fact that they have already given multiple presentations on the topic in question at a variety of venues. Nevertheless WSS does need to be vigilant in ensuring that it continues to strive to meet the needs of its members to receive information about new developments in the statistics field.

Quantitative Literacy

Once again excellent entries were received for the Curtis Jacobs Award, The Poster Competition and the Science Fair Competition. These competitions require a lot of volunteer effort from WSS members, and the Board is very grateful to those who coordinated these events and those who participated. Dhuly Chowdhury took on the role of Quantitative Literacy Chair this year, and her efforts are much appreciated. Tom Krenzke and Barnali Das took on the leadership roles for the Curtis Jacobs Award and Poster Competition respectively.

Short Courses

No short courses were conducted during 2012-13. However, two courses are currently planned for October 2013.

Social Activities

This year Frank Yoon took over responsibility as lead coordinator of social events, and the Board is very appreciative of all his efforts, and willingness to quickly take charge of his new role. The holiday party was again held at Clyde's in Chevy Chase, on December 12th, with good attendance and a great spirit of camaraderie.

The 2013 annual dinner was held at the Hilton Garden Inn in Washington DC, on June 25th, following the Cox Lecture. The arrangements for the past two years, whereby the Cox Lecture is given in a suitable auditorium, immediately followed by the WSS Annual Dinner at a restaurant within walking distance, appears to have been effective in meeting the goal of providing a suitable venue for each function, while keeping them as strongly linked activities in the WSS calendar. The challenge to continuing this approach would appear to be that of finding suitable yet affordable restaurants in convenient locations.

Membership Survey

On the initiative of Representative-at-large Mel Kollander, the Board undertook a survey of members, specifically concerning their views regarding the WSS Newsletter, Respondents generally were satisfied with the content, timing, and delivery of the Newsletter, and no major changes are envisaged as a result of the survey. Members did provide some useful suggestions and helpful insights, which will be used to enhance the newsletter, and communications more generally, in the future. However, with a 25 percent response rate to the survey, there remains a question as to whether we are doing all that is possible to meet the needs of our substantial membership. Many thanks to Westat for technically supporting the on-line survey, and of course to our newsletter editor Colleen Choi whose dedicated efforts enable us to produce a newsletter that members appear to be largely satisfied with.

Finances

WSS continues to have a healthy financial status. Although no short courses were held during the year, which often generate income (although they also represent WSSs greatest financial risks), there were no unexpected expenses, and our co-sponsorship of the new summer conference generated a modest profit. Consequently the WSS account balance at the end of the fiscal year was similar to that at the start of the year.

Acknowledgements

Many people contributed to the success of WSS this year. Some of them are mentioned in this report, but it would be a mistake to think that they necessarily made greater contributions than others. It is not possible here to properly recognize everyone who contributed. WSS continues to thrive only because many members are willing to devote time and effort to its activities.

I have enjoyed great support from Past President Jonaki Bose, who has been so much more than a source of knowledge and guidance about past activities, and President-Elect Nancy Bates, who has been so much more than a 'President-in-waiting'. The effect of Jonaki's coming loss from the WSS Board is fortunately mitigated by Nancy's enthusiasm and perceptiveness. It has been a pleasure to work with both of them.

I thank the members of the WSS for their support over the past year, and look forward to another year of service on the Board.

– Keith Rust President 2012-2013

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WSS Hosts Short Course
Introduction To R

October 15, 2013, 9:00am — 4:30pm
Bureau of Labor Statistics Conference Center, Washington DC

This course introduces R to those who are interested in using R for their statistical analysis and have little or no prior experience using R. R is open-source software that is widely used in the statistical community. It provides a flexible platform for both analysts who prefer performing analysis with pre-packaged functions and those who wish to develop their own routines. Because of its open-source nature and flexibility, many R&D and academic researchers have been developing R packages and functions for state of the art statistical methods. R is also highly customizable for producing visual presentations.

The course will cover four introductory subjects: R basic operations, data manipulation, univariate statistics and simple graphics. The goal of the course is to provide sufficient fundamental knowledge to start using R and enable users to further advance their knowledge of R from various sources as desired.

The format of the course will include lecture and hands-on opportunities. Participants are encouraged to bring their own laptops with R installed (http://www.r-project.org/).

Who Should Attend: This course is designed for those who are interested in using R for their statistical analysis with little or no prior experience using R.

About the Instructor: Cha-Chi Fan is a Mathematical Statistician from the US Energy Information Administration. Her work has focused on dynamic system modeling and simulation, uncertainty and risk assessments, and spatial methods.

Course Schedule:

9:00-10:30 R Basic Operations
10:30-10:45 Break
10:45-12:15 Data Manipulation
12:15-1:15 Lunch (provided)
1:15-2:45 Univariate Statistics
2:45-3:00 Break
3:00-4:30 Simple Graphics
Registration Fee Online (by October 8th) At the Door
Full-time students (limited to 8) $40 $50
WSS members $150 $170
All other registrants $200 $220

Register for this course online at URL: https://www.123signup.com/register?id=dqffn

Course Contact: Brian Meekins, meekins.brian@bls.gov

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WSS On The Move!
WSS Members Serve as Expert Judges on Science Fair Circuit

During the peak of the spring semester, members of the Washington Statistical Society (WSS) served as expert judges in five regional science fairs which occur in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. The WSS annually participates in these regional science fairs as part of its quantitative literacy and community service programs. During the fairs, WSS representatives also promoted the Curtis Jacobs Award for Outstanding Statistics Project. The award was established in 1991 to honor the memory of Mr. Jacobs, who served as a chief statistician at the US Bureau of Labor Statistics on many major Federal economic statistics programs, including the Consumer Price Index.

Many of the judges recounted their high school careers, recalling that statistics courses were at best a lecture or two in a math class. In current days, many high school students even have the opportunity to take Advanced Placement statistics courses from qualified teachers. The diversity of the projects which made some use of statistical ideas and the truly high sophistication of some science projects exemplified the dramatic change that has taken place over the past. Even projects conducted by junior high school students demonstrated the increasing knowledge of statistical uncertainty at an early level. They exercised an awareness and understanding of statistical uncertainty in their study designs and analyses, through concepts such as standard deviation, model estimation, and statistical reporting.

Mike Messner of the Environmental Protection Agency served as head judge for the science fair coordinated by the Montgomery County schools, having done so for many years. He gave his impression of the students who dedicate countless hours and energy to their scientific efforts: "These kids are awesome."

For example, in the Northern Virginia Regional Science and Engineering Fair, the first place winner Margaret Doyle (Yorktown High School) applied a probit model to assess the efficacy of sweet potato extracts as an inexpensive mosquito larvicide. She had collected a sample of 2,000 larvae and measured the lethal dose of extracts from different parts of the plant. The second place winner, Christopher Gerlach (T.C. Williams High School) addressed a meteorological issue. Christopher had collected weather data from multiple sources and fitted models to determine which forecasting method had the highest predictive ability. He used the R statistical software to estimate models and develop attractive plots in an exuberant display that was nearly 6 feet tall.

Margaret received a check for $100, Christopher received the book Statistics by McLave and Sincich (Pearson Education 2012), and both received a subscription to Chance magazine. The WSS gratefully acknowledges contributions from Cengage Learning, Pearson Education, the SAS Institute, and an anonymous donor for their donated prizes.

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WSS On The Move!
Winners of Awards in Recognition of Excellence in Investigation or Use of Statistical Methods in a Science Fair Project

Northern Virginia Regional Science and Engineering Fair – March 2, 2013

  1. Margaret Doyle, Yorktown, 10th grade
  2. Christopher Gerlach, T.C. Williams, 12th grade
  3. Matthew Lowen, Yorktown, 12th grade
    Emma Beall, Yorktown, 12th grade

Prince George's Area Science Fair – March 9, 2013

  1. Susan Ojo, Eleanor Roosevelt, 12th grade
  2. John Bielec
    Dimitri Morake
  3. Hunter Whaples

Fairfax County Regional Science and Engineering Fair – March 16, 2013

  1. Andrea Li, Thomas Jefferson
  2. Team:
    Eduard Danalache, Thomas Jefferson
    Hanna Carolina Hatanpaa, Thomas Jefferson
    Emily Rogers, Thomas Jefferson

Science Montgomery - March 16, 2013

  1. Pushkar Aggarwal, Poolesville H.S.
  2. Lucia Jiang, Takoma Park Middle School
  3. Noah Kim, Takoma Park Middle School
    Kisha Thakur, Thomas Wootton H.S.

DC Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics Fair – March 23, 2013

  1. Emma Johnson, School Without Walls 12 School
  2. Lauryn Mitchell, School Without Walls 12 School
  3. Alexander Morales-Sanz, School Without Walls 12 School
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WSS On The Move!
Washington Statistical Society Science Fair Judges 2013 and Curtis Jacobs Award Representatives

Lee Abramson, Jeff Bailey, Promod Chandhok, Dhuly Chowdhury, Mike Fay, Mike Fleming, Whitney Kirzinger, Laura Lee Johnson, Tom Krenzke, Jurate Landwehr, Daniel Lee, Ruey-Pyng Lu, Mike Messner, Mark Otto, Arnie Reznek, John Rogers, Scott Rumburg, Glenn White, Matt Williams, Frank Yoon, Audra Zakeski

WSS members (from left to right) Jurate Landwehr, Danny Lee, and Lee Abramson judging projects at the DC STEM Fair WSS members (from left to right) Jurate Landwehr, Danny Lee, and Lee Abramson judging projects at the DC STEM Fair. Return to top
Diane Herz

WSS Member In The Spotlight
Meet WSS President-Elect Diane Herz

1. Where do you work and what do you do?
I work in the Washington, DC, office of Mathematica Policy Research, where I have multiple roles. I'm a vice president at Mathematica, contributing to planning on several levels-- corporate-wide, for the Survey and Information Services division, and for the survey research department. I also have a corporate position as "area leader" for the U.S. Departments of Labor (DOL) and Homeland Security. In this role, I'm responsible for leading business development and ensuring high quality project delivery to those clients. My days are full of variety-- planning, leading projects, providing quality assurance (QA) on other projects, meeting with clients and business partners, making bid decisions and writing proposals for new work, recruiting talented staff, and attending industry conferences.

2. What attracted you to your current position?
About five years ago, a former colleague who was working at Mathematica contacted me to see whether I might be interested in joining the company's management team. She described an organization that was at an exciting transition point: it had a new president (Paul Decker), was growing across divisions, and was specifically deepening its expertise in survey methodology. It needed help recruiting talented staff, matching staff skills to project work, and expanding its survey research capabilities and business. This was an opportunity for me to stretch in the two areas in which I was most interested in growing: staff development and entrepreneurship. I thought it would be fascinating to learn how to run a business. I also felt aligned with Mathematica's mission--conducting evidence- based research to improve public well-being--and was impressed with the range of policy areas in which they worked: in labor, education, health, nutrition, early childhood development--both domestically and internationally.

3. Finish this sentence: "I joined WSS to..."
...for a variety of reasons. Over the years, I've attended WSS workshops on many subjects. As a rule, WSS has been well- considered and well-organized, offering expertise and new research on important topics. At first, I thought the organization was largely for statisticians, but I quickly grew to appreciate the integration of multiple disciplines in addition to statistics: survey methods, economics, psychology, and information technology.

4. What was your first job?
My first job was for American Frozen Foods. I was 15, and one of my mother's friends offered it to me. I cold-called people to sell them large quantities of frozen meat and the refrigerators they would need to hold them. I was terrible at it--I was becoming a vegetarian at the time! But it was good; I learned how to identify my strengths and weaknesses and how to leave a job that didn't suit me.

5. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
I'm fascinated by the brain--specifically by the intersection of the hemispheres--how we combine and integrate creativity and logic, emotion and intellect. I'm interested in how we process time, why we sleep, and similar questions. If I were to pursue a different path, I'd probably pick a combination of neuroscience and art. I really like the paintings of Alex Grey. He brings together anatomy, neuroscience, and emotion. I'm also inspired by Jill Bolte Taylor, a neuroscientist who had a stroke, wrote about it in A Stroke of Insight, and is changing the medical treatment for stroke survivors.

6. If you could give your 18-year-old self one piece of advice, what would it be?
To trust the process of life and worry less. What I didn't realize at 18 is that, throughout our lives, we continuously develop new tools to address new challenges. The world is full of talented people--working together, we can solve our problems (even "big data").

7. If you could have any super power, what would it be and why?
Controlling the weather. We need this now.

8. What is your favorite vacation spot?
I love to travel. My favorite vacation spot would be the Okavango Delta in Botswana. I went on a water safari there, speeding around in a small boat with amazing birds, alligators, water buffalo, and hippos all around us. We were floating quietly when a herd of elephants crossed the river in front of us. A lone elephant on the other side came out to greet the group, touching each trunk individually and then leading them to the other side.

9. How do you like to spend your free time?
I like to travel toat least one faraway place each year. I also enjoy playing golf, boating at Assateague Island, and genealogy. 10. Have you had any great career mentors? If so, what made them great? Yes. I hesitate to name them at the risk of leaving someone out. The best mentors have been those that boldly face challenges, consistently demonstrate integrity, and never lose their sense of humor.

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Be Informed And Get Involved!
Latest News on International Year of Statistics

The Statistical Journal of the IAOS showcases eight top leaders—four women and four men-- from six different countries: United Kingdom, Canada, China, Haiti South Africa and the United States. These leaders are:

  • Ivan Fellegi, Statistics Canada, Canada
  • Jill Montaquila, Westat, United States
  • Denise Lievesley, King's College, United Kingdom
  • David Hemson, DTS, South Africa
  • Christy Chuang-Stein, Pfizer, China
  • Arthur Kennickell, Federal Reserve Board, United States
  • Jean Orelien, SciMetrika, Haiti
  • Mary Batcher, Ernest and Young, United States

All three US leaders are WSS members! This special issue is available to all statisticians at the following link: http://iospress.metapress.com/content/j82gg2jh57w1/?p=16c5b4a47fc94461a720b70d2fbc65ee& pi=0

All other news are available in the latest International Year of Statistics newsletter, http://www.statistics2013.org/files/2013/06/June-3-2013.pdf. Past newsletters can be reviewed at http://www.statistics2013.org/participant-newsletter-archive/.

– Donsig Jang
WSS Liaison for the International Year of Statistics

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Be Informed And Get Involved!
Volunteer Positions Still Sought for 2013-2014 Term

The Society currently has several critical vacancies for various WSS committees. I encourage you to read over the descriptions below and consider volunteering. I believe the involvement in WSS from a committee perspective will prove very rewarding. To volunteer, please contact Nancy Bates, WSS President 2013-2014 at: (nancy.a.bates@census.gov or 301 763-5248).

WSS webmaster
Dan Jacobs has been the WSS webmaster since the 90's. Understandably so, Dan has expressed a desire to step down. The Webmaster has long been a key role at WSS. The webmaster maintains the website and posts materials provided by officer and committees. The webmaster also develops, maintains, and runs the scripts that implement our annual and special elections.

The WSS webmaster should have knowledge of current web technologies and pay careful attention to detail. Ideally, he or she will be familiar with WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, or other content management systems so he or she can help decentralize website maintenance. The webmaster should also know php so she or he can implement, maintain, and improve the scripts we use for elections and other special purposes.

Social Committee Co-Chair
Since 2012, Frank Yu has been at the helm of the WSS Social Committee (and doing a terrific job). However, Frank could use a co-chair to ease some of his work. Social committee responsibilities include arranging for an annual holiday event, the annual awards dinner, and food for the Morris Hansen Lecture. If you enjoy event planning, please consider this position.

Short Course Committee Members
Volunteers are sought to help research topics for new short courses and names of potential instructors. Committee members will help the Chair develop budgets and cost of conducting courses, arrange for locations, create course announcements, arrange for course materials, and facilitate class registration. Brian Meekins is currently the Short Course Committee Chair and would welcome committee members to help organize more WSS sponsored short courses.

To volunteer for any of the above, contact Nancy Bates (nancy.a.bates@census.gov, 301 763- 5248).

– Nancy Bates, WSS President

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Be Informed And Get Involved!
Washington Statistical Society's Spotlight on Members Program

The WSS Board of Directors has established a program to highlight members who have made or are making notable contributions to the work of their organization or their professional field of expertise. We know that WSS members are doing interesting work in the fields of statistics, survey methodology, and the social sciences. Through this program, we hope to spotlight the accomplishments of our fellow WSS members.

This is our first request for nominations, to be featured in an upcoming issue of WSS News. We are interested in featuring members at all levels of the employment spectrum including recent graduates, mid-career employees, and those seasoned veterans.

Please feel free to nominate more than one person or a team working together. You may also nominate yourself as well. The nominees must be members of the WSS and not currently affiliated with the Board.

Please provide us with the following information about your nominee or nominees.

  1. Your name, email address, and telephone number
  2. Name or names of nominee(s)
  3. Organizational affiliation
  4. Job title
  5. Their contact information including email address and telephone number
  6. A brief narrative describing the reasons for your nomination
  7. A photo of the nominee, although not required, would be great be greatly appreciated

Please submit your nominations or direct any questions to, John Finamore (jfinamore@nsf.gov), member of the WSS Board.

We look forward to hearing from you.

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Be Informed And Get Involved!
Join the WSS Meetup

The Washington Statistical Society has begun to use Meetup to help spread the word about WSS events. Members are invited to join at http://meetup.com/WashStat/ for benefits such as:

  • Notices and reminders of WSS events
  • Ability to indicate whether you will attend
  • Opportunity to offer suggestions and other feedback.

Users can specify their preferences for email and other features.

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Student Column

WSS on Campus

The Fall semester has started; DC Statistics students are attending their first week of classes. As WSS's Student Rep, I've had the opportunity to meet and talk with a good number of those students. It's been a great opportunity.

I have been in the Applied Statistics program at UDC now for a year. The University considers me a "non-traditional" student. My fellow students most likely consider me a "dinosaur". Going back to school mid-career gives me a unique perspective: I know what it's like to be a student, but as a manager I've also interviewed many potential employees. I know what it's like to worry about what will happen after graduation (well, I did undergrad at the Naval Academy, so I knew I had a job lined up--I just didn't know where). And I know what it's like to see a bright interviewee just out of college, terrified that they are blowing the interview—and how nice it is to offer that interviewee the job.

When I was in undergrad, I came across a paperback copy of a book written in 1969 by Andrew Tobias: Honor Grades on 15 Hours a Week with the intriguing subtitle, How to Keep Studies from Interfering with Your College Education. It was mostly comedy; I'm pretty sure that following his advice to the letter could seriously jeopardize your grades, honor or not. But one passage stood out for me: "College is more than library fines and lab notes and lecture notes and legible examinations. Just as much it is touchdowns, identity crises... karate clubs, choral societies, roommates, disputes about phone bills... making a mistake without losing a job, lying on the grass on a spring day thinking while the 'adult' world is indoors until rush hour." And then, "Don't let rush hour be foisted on you in college. It will come soon enough."

I know that in the current job environment, college may seem like a very serious thing. It is. Doing well in school is important, especially in a field as technical as ours. But I also know that college was a unique opportunity to find out who I was. It's a privilege for me to have an opportunity to resume that search now. Having sat through my share of rush hours, I can say with some authority: don't be in a rush to get there.

Lest you think that the Society made the mistake of appointing a Philosophy major to be the Student Rep, here is this month's Probs & Stats Brain Teaser:

Imagine you have two one-liter glasses. You can put any level of water you want into the first glass. Then you can put water into the second glass, up to the level of the first glass. Pour the contents of the second glass into the first glass. What is the probability that the first glass will overflow? Please email your answer to timothy.allen@udc.edu. Thanks!

– Tim Allen, WSS Student Representative

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Note From The WSS NEWS Editor

Items for publication in the October, 2013 issue of the WSS NEWS will be accepted until the 15th day of the preceding month.

Email items to wss.editor@gmail.com.

Please submit all materials in MS WORD or plain text.

Please do not submit your items in pdf or include them in the body of an email.

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Click here to see the WSS Board Listing (pdf)
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