Date: Tue, 13 Jul 1999 18:03:23 -0400 (EDT)
From: Stacey Bearden  stacey@mathforum.org
To: All Dr. Math Doctors
Subject: Dr. Math in June


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Ask Dr. Math Newsletter
June, 1999
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Welcome to July.  I hope the Americans among us had a fabulous Independence 
Day, and that everyone is enjoying the summer.  As summer has arrived, we 
have a bit less volume in triage - a welcome reprieve, because summer is a 
great chance to catch up, and perhaps a chance to give a little more 
attention to each student. Have fun!

A big welcome to Dr. Dwayne, our newest math doctor, and hearty 
congratulations to our newly tenured docs:
Dr. Ameis
Dr. Budrow
Dr. FWG
Dr. Jeff
Dr. Kimberly

A few more docs are well on their way... stay tuned!

And now for those stats:

***************************
3298 -- incoming questions
1611 -- answered questions
48.8 -- percent answered
***************************

Well, I'd said let's try to  make 35%, and wowee, we certainly went a 
little beyond! Of course, we didn't really answer more questions - 
we're just receiving less volume due to the summer months.  But we're 
still doing really well, because I would imagine some of our docs are on 
summer vacation, too.  Let's keep up these fabulous numbers during the 
summer.

And now, the quickly becoming famous.....Tip of the Month!

**************************
June Tip:  Don't forget the archives. When a general or very common 
question comes in, it may need no more than a friendly point to a few 
URL's in the Dr. Math archives.  Take a look for some of the best ones; 
the more familiar you are with our archives, the less writing some of 
your responses make take, and the more questions you can answer. And you 
can always supplement your own written response with a link to another in 
the archives; sometimes a different perspective helps.  The archives are 
continuously being updated by our archiving staff, so do take a look. 
(You may find something that you yourself wrote...)
*************************

Speaking of which, our archive news is:

104 new question-and-answer entries were added to the tables of
contents during June of 1999.

And now some thank you notes...

===============+++++=========+=========+++++===============

for Dr. Pat:
Thank you Dr. Math, I got 90% on my test!

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
for Dr. Jaffee:
Thank you.  That's exactly what I was looking for!  I wish I had paid
attention back in high school geometry.  Somehow it didn't seem useful 
at the time and didn't realize I'd be programming computer graphics 
stuff 10 years later.  Thanks!
   
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
for Dr. Rob:
Thanks for the help with the polar equations.  The advice you gave me
helped tremendously. I really appreciate you taking out time in your
schedule to help a senior finish his last project for calculus in high
school.  Thanks again and maybe you'll hear from me again when I am at
GW. 
  
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
for Dr. Peterson:
Thank you so much for the two strategies. They were both very helpful 
in writing up my assignment. I was glad to receive a response so 
quickly. It is thanks to those teachers who still care about a higher 
level of thinking, that I can continue to have a desire to learn better 
methods of probing young students' own thinking  when I graduate.  
Again thank you!  

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
for Dr. Arthur:
Thank you very much. Now I do understand it.  I really appreciate it.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
for Dr. Jeremiah:
Thank you for showing the method. You have showed it very clearly and
with the step too. I'm very grateful for your help. It just took me
a few minutes to understand your method, whereas it took two days to
understand my teacher's. I was just hoping that you can be my lecturer!
Anyway thanks again!

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
for Dr. Floor:
Thanks sooooooo much! You've helped me more than ever.  What a cool
service this is.  Thanks again! 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
for Dr. Rick:
Thank you so much for responding. I figured out how YOU figured it out. 
I wasn't anticipating that problem being such a PROBLEM! I appreciate 
your helping me out. Thank you.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
for Dr. Anthony:
Thank you for both of your answers! After digesting all the information 
(it took a while), I figured out exactly what you were trying to tell 
me. Thanks again.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
for Dr. Pete:
Thanks, Dr. Pete! Your answers are so good, and understandable! I will
be working on what you proposed at the bottom, and get back to you on 
it asap.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
for Dr. Jerry:
Thank you very much for your help. Your explanation was exactly what 
I was looking for. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
and a couple for everybody:

I would just like to say thanks for all the help you've given to kids
and teenagers etc. I think it is great that you have it in your heart
to solve their problems (so to speak). Any way, i'd still just like to
say good on you and keep up the good work. Peace (Yeah Baby).  

I don't know about the rest of you that post here, but I have come to
the conclusion that the Dr.'s that keep this site going are geniuses.
Today is the first day that I've seen this site, and I dearly wish
that I had found it when I was in high school. A friend asked me some
insanely difficult problem, and I found the answer here. Wow. And I
understood too! Imagine that! Not only that, but I ACCIDENTALLY found
out something I never understood in high school. You guys are awesome. 
Thanks for doing what you are.  

===============+++++=========+=========+++++===============

That's it for me, but check your mail in the next few days:  
Drs. White, Sorelle, Mike, Pat, Sarah, Wilkinson, Kate, Nick, Scott, 
Kimberly, and Terrel also received thank you notes, out of the _55_ 
that were received this month.  Way to go!

This is a long one, so I'm off with a "Have a Great July!"

Dr. Stacey
Doctor Math Administrator
The Math Forum