16th Annual Sonia Kovalevsky High School Mathematics Day (SK Day) to be Held Thursday

Dr. Denise Reid has dedicated her professional career to dependent variables and partial derivatives as a professor in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science. Having waded through algebraic study alongside mostly men, Reid understands the importance of gender diversification in the field. Since 1996, the mother of three has organized a campus event to encourage high school girls to pursue their mathematical inclinations.

“I have always enjoyed math. It was challenging, and I like a challenge. I declared myself a math major my first quarter of college and just knew that I wanted to become a mathematics professor,” Reid said. “So few women continue on in math. Hopefully, this event encourages them to continue their study of math by showing them that it can be fun and by providing them with some positive role models.”

Thursday, April 14, will mark the 16th Annual Sonia Kovalevsky High School Mathematics Day (SK Day), named in honor of the first woman to earn a doctorate in mathematics. Read more >

Phi Mu's Kappa Beta chapter of Valdosta State University will host "Matches for Miracles" Tennis Tournament at 8 a.m. on Saturday, April 16, at the VSU Tennis Courts. All of the proceeds from the tournament will support the Children's Miracle Network, an organization dedicated to raising funds and awareness to improve medical facilities and
healthcare for sick and injured children.

People of all ages are invited to sign up for men's doubles, women's doubles, and/or mixed doubles. Each match will be best two out of three sets with the third set consisting of a tie-breaker until the final round. Each team will be guaranteed at least 2 matches. If you win your first match, you go to the winner's bracket and finish out in single elimination play. If you lose your first match, you go in to the loser's bracket and finish out in single elimination play. The winning team will receive a prize.

Checks for the entry fee of $40 per team should be made out to Children's Miracle Network. Phi Mu has set a goal to raise $17,000 for its philanthropy. For more information or to sign up, e-mail Lacey Hansen or call her at 229-563-3677.

The VSU Connection will feature a series of briefs to introduce you to the leaders of VSU's Council on Staff Affairs — an organization dedicated to advancing the university mission and promoting the welfare of university staff.

Ronald Butler: Finance and Administration

Ronald Butler, assistant manager of campus mail services, aspires to live by the credo — "Don't complain unless you have a suggestion to fix the problem." The father of three joined COSA to be a part of the solution.

"I want to have a say in what happens here at VSU," said the COSA publicity chair, who has worked at VSU for nearly 10 years. "Since I have been on COSA, I have seen a great deal of interest and support from the president’s and vice president's offices. I always enjoy attending the COSA meetings to hear first-hand what the president has to say about the campus and the things he is hearing from the Board of Regents."

Also the parking and appeals chair, Butler said he enjoys serving on the employee of the semester and staff appreciation committees. He is eager to continue to promote the essential role COSA plays on campus.

"I want to see COSA do more to increase the morale here at VSU and to encourage increased participation of the staff in the functions across campus," said Butler, who retired from the U.S. Air Force. "Part of my job as publicity chair is to get the word out, but the staff has the responsibility of speaking to COSA about what they feel is important and relevant."

Butler has been married for 20 years to Wendy Butler, a senior secretary in the Department of OASIS Center for Advising and Freshman Year Experience. The couple has three daughters: 18-year-old Tameka, who is a freshman at VSU; Shelby, 16, a junior at Lowndes County High School; and 7-year-old Rachel, a second-grader at Moulton Branch Elementary.

Read more about COSA's mission and activities ONLINE.

Apr 12, 1945: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the longest serving president in American history, dies of a cerebral hemorrhage three months into his fourth term.

Apr 12, 1961: Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin becomes the first human being to travel into space.

Apr 13, 1970: Disaster strikes 200,000 miles from Earth when oxygen tank No. 2 blows up on Apollo 13, the third manned lunar landing mission.

Apr 15, 1865: Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, dies from a bullet wound inflicted the night before by John Wilkes Booth, an actor and Confederate sympathizer.

Apr 15, 1912: At 2:20 a.m., the British ocean liner Titanic, carrying more than 2,000 passangers, sinks into the North Atlantic Ocean about 400 miles south of Newfoundland.

Apr 17, 1790: American statesman, printer, scientist, and writer Benjamin Franklin dies in Philadelphia at age 84.

Apr 18, 1945: Journalist Ernie Pyle, America's most popular war correspondent, is killed by Japanese machine-gun fire on the island of Ie Shima in the Pacific.

Apr 18, 1983: Suicide bomber kills 63 people, including himself and 17 Americans, at the U.S. embassy in Beirut, Lebanon.

Source: www.history.com/this-day-in-history/