WSS NEWS

News about activities of the Washington Statistical Society
A Chapter of the American Statistical Association

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September 1999

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Contents:

• Letter from the President
• The WSS 1998-99 Year In Review
• Congratulations
• Fall Herriot Award
• Morris Hansen Lecture
• WSS Audit
• 1999 FCSM Research Conference - November 15-17, 1999
• Epidemiology Seminars (George Washington University)
• Employment Opportunities
• Courses
• Seminars
• Area Meetings and Courses (Adobe Acrobat PDF file)
• Note From The WSS NEWS Editor
• WSS People

Letter from the President

Thanks to the efforts of last year's president, Dwight Brock, and his Board, WSS is in good shape financially and organizationally. With its unique position in the heart of a very large statistical community, WSS has been able to draw on local resources to present a variety of programs throughout the year. This is greatly augmented by the proximity and support of Federal statistical agencies which have generously provided support in the way of meeting rooms and professional release time for their employees. WSS is often able to capitalize on its proximity to the Federal statistical community by sponsoring seminars by important statistical talent when they are in the area to work with one of the statistical agencies. This has allowed WSS to present a truly impressive series of talks throughout the year. This year will be no exception with some very energetic program chairs with great ideas for talks. I look forward to an exciting year.

An area of emphasis this year will be programs involving students from elementary school through university levels. WSS is currently active in quantitative literacy in local elementary and secondary schools. I am making an expansion of this program a priority for this year. We will need lots of volunteers for that effort so I hope all of our members consider whether they can afford to spend an occasional afternoon working with an area school on statistics. In addition, we will be encouraging more schools to enter the Curtis Jacobs competition for secondary school statistics projects. And, of course, our involvement in science fairs has been strong for several years. Two years ago, the WSS started an effort to involve local college students in Board activities. This year I expect that we will see the results of those initial efforts in increasing involvement by students with programs and activities tailored to their needs and interests.

Before I close, I want to congratulate the newly elected Board members: Cynthia Clark, president elect; Ginny DeWolf, Methodology Program chair; Linda Atkinson and Glenn White, representatives at large; and Tom Mule, secretary.

Volunteer organizations only survive and grow as they meet the needs of their members. It is very important for such organizations that they continue to reach out to their members and also to consider the needs of potential members. Please help us by contributing your time if possible and definitely your ideas. We welcome suggestions for programs, short courses, and other activities. Getting involved is also a great way to network with your colleagues in the statistical community. Call me or another member of the Board if you are interested or have ideas. My number is 202-327-6773 and my email address is mary.batcher@ey.com.

Mary Batcher
President, WSS

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The WSS 1998-99 Year In Review

Program

The 8th Annual Morris Hansen Memorial Lecture was presented by J.N.K. Rao of Carleton University on the topic "Some Current Trends in Sample Survey Theory and Methods." Robert M. Groves introduced the speaker and James M. Lepkowski and Robert E. Fay were the discussants.

There were two Presidential Invited Addresses during the year. The first was a special visit to WSS by the 1998 President of the ASA, David Moore, who spoke on "Statistical Literacy and Statistical Competence in the 21st Century." The second was a presentation by Stephen Fienberg, from Carnegie Mellon University and President of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, and Margo Anderson, from the University of Wisconsin. Their presentation was entitled "To Sample or not to Sample, why is that the Question for Census 2000?" Ed Spar was the discussant.

The Quantitative Literacy program continued its conduct of workshops for Girl Scouts in the National Capital Area, including a return visit and demonstration at a large gathering of Girl Scouts at the National Air and Space Museum in the spring. WSS members also continued the long-standing tradition of providing judges at five regional science fairs this year.

The WSS News editors continued their excellent work in putting together and distributing the newsletter monthly, both as paper copies and via e-mail. The Employment column editor also continued the excellent work of providing information for potential matches among employers and persons seeking employment throughout the year.

Social Events

The 1999 Annual Dinner was held at the Hyatt Hotel Arlington-Rosslyn. The keynote speaker was Paul D. Minton, from Virginia Commonwealth University, who treated the audience with his "Hitchiker's Guide to Famous Statisticians in the 1950's." The musically accomplished Professor Minton ended his presentation with a brief tribute to Bayesian statistics in song!

Board Activities

The financial position of the Society has remained stable, and a decision was made not to increase dues in the coming year.

Awards

The 1999 WSS Presidents' Awards were presented to Wendy Rotz and Michael P, Cohen for their participation in a wide variety of WSS activities over a long period of time.

The Curtis Jacobs Memorial Prize for excellence in applying survey research methods to a school project was presented to Kristyn Martyn and Robin Lim for their project "Bioethics and Ovum Donation." They are students at Lake Braddock Secondary School in Burke, VA, and their adviser was Terry French.

The WSS Outstanding Graduate Student Awards went to Fang Fang, Catholic University; Ru Sun, George Mason University; Jennifer Guarino, JPSM , University of Maryland; Binbing Yu, George Washington University.

Science Fair Awards were made to a large number of elementary, junior high and high school students at five regional science fairs in the Washington area, for excellence in application of statistical methods in their research projects. Prizes were made available through a generous donation by the Gallup Organization.

Election Results

• President-elect: Cynthia Clark
• Representatives-at-large: Linda Atkinson, Glen White vMethodology Section Chair: Virginia deWolf
• Secretary: Tom Mule

A Word of Thanks

Dwight Brock
Past President, WSS

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Congratulations

A round of applause goes to the following individuals who were recently elected Fellows of the American Statistical Society (ASA). This honor goes to:

Technology

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Fall Herriot Award

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Morris Hansen Lecture

Find out about previous Morris Hansen Lectures by visiting http://www.scs.gmu.edu/~wss/hansen/.

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WSS Audit

^* For the Treasury money market fund, the reported number is the market value on April 30, 1999.

Michael P. Cohen, WSS Auditor

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1999 FCSM Research Conference
November 15-17, 1999

Registration and other information may be obtained from: Ruth Detlefsen, Bureau of the Census Bureau, Room 2641-3, Washington, D.C. 20233; Phone: 301-457-2665, Fax: 301-457-1343, and E-mail: fcsm@ccmail.census.gov. Additional information and periodic updates concerning the conference may be found on web site http://www.bts.gov/fcsm.

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Epidemiology Seminars

Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
School of Public Health and Health Services
The George Washington University

• August 23, 1999
  Steven S. Coughlin, PhD
  Division of Cancer Prevention and Control
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  Predictors of Mortality from Pancreatic Cancer in a Large Cohort of United States Adults

• August 30, 1999
  Elena M. Andresen, PhD
  Department of Community Health
  Saint Louis University School of Public Health
  Selecting an Outcomes Research Measure for Older Adults: An Example of Health-Related Quality-of-Life Tools

• September 13, 1999
  Tamara Lasky, PhD
  Center for Health Policy and Health Services Research
  University of Maryland, Baltimore
  The Guillian-Barre Syndrome and the 1992 and 1993-1994 Influenza Vaccines

• October 4, 1999
  Germaine M. Buck, PhD
  Department of Social and Preventive Medicine
  School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, SUNY at Buffalo
  Title forthcoming

Time and location: All four seminars will be held from 4:00 to 5:30 PM in Ross Hall 116A. Directions: Ross Hall is located at 2300 I St. NW, Washington DC, immediately adjacent to the Foggy Bottom Metro station. Parking is available on 22nd Street between H and I.

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Note From The WSS NEWS Editor

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WSS People

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First posted September 3, 1999
Last modified September 7, 1999

Webmaster: Dan Jacobs, Maryland Sea Grant