ASA Member News Archive
ASA Member News January 2010
Welcome to the January edition of ASA Member News, the ASA's monthly e-newsletter.
STATbit
Did you know Vancouver is host to an international fireworks competition, music festival, and Chinatown festival during or surrounding JSM 2010?
In Amstat News
AMSTAT NEWS LAUNCHES NEW ONLINE PRESENCE
Amstat News is now available online in an easier-to-read, interactive format. Gone is the isolated and static PDF of the printed magazine. In its place is a fully HTML version that takes advantage of what the Internet offers today.
Articles from every issue going forward will be collected on the site, creating a comprehensive archive that chronicles the ASA and its members. These articles can be searched in a variety of ways. For instance, clicking on the familiar departments such as Section News, Chapter News, and People News will bring up all the articles in those departments that have been collected. Alternatively, a keyword search will bring up all articles pertaining to that word across departments.
Visitors to Amstat News online can also leave comments about an article, prompting discussion among colleagues about what is important to them.
Last, Amstat News readers can follow the magazine on Twitter at @AmstatNews. This will help them stay in the loop when a new issue is made live.
Upcoming Deadlines
AERA STATISTICS INSTITUTE FOR FACULTY – Deadline: January 20, 2010
With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the AERA Grants Program announces the new AERA Statistics Institute for Faculty. The institute’s goal is to help develop a critical mass of U.S. education researchers using large-scale federal data sets, especially those sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics, NSF, and other federal agencies. The AERA Statistics Institute for Faculty will be held July 22–24, 2010, at Stanford University. This training is geared toward faculty members at U.S. postsecondary institutions who teach quantitative research methods courses at the graduate level and who seek to integrate the analysis of large-scale federal education data sets into the curriculum.
JSM 2010 CALL FOR ABSTRACTS – Deadline: February 1, 2010
Don’t miss your chance to participate! Abstract submissions for the 2010 Joint Statistical Meetings are being accepted for contributed papers and posters and topic-contributed papers, posters, and panel sessions. As a courtesy to participants, the ASA is no longer requiring JSM pre-registration in order to submit an abstract.
MATHEMATICA SUMMER FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM – Deadline: March 12, 2010
Mathematica’s summer fellowship program provides students enrolled in a master’s or PhD program in public policy or a social science an opportunity to build their research skills in a nonacademic environment. Summer fellows pursue independent research on a policy issue of relevance to the economic and social problems of minority groups and individuals with disabilities. Fellows receive a stipend of $6,000 for full participation ($2,000 per month), plus $500 toward project-related expenses.
ELLIS R. OTT SCHOLARSHIP – Deadline: April 1, 2010
The Statistics Division of the American Society for Quality has $5,000 scholarships to support students who are enrolled in, or are accepted into, a master’s degree or higher program with a concentration in applied statistics and/or quality management. Forms will be accepted until April 1. For more information, contact Lynne Hare.
Events Outlook
NEW ASA WEBINARS
Issues in Implementing Smooth Dose-Response Functions in Bayesian Adaptive Designs – January 21, 2010
The Biopharmaceutical Section is sponsoring the webinar “Issues in Implementing Smooth Dose-Response Functions in Bayesian Adaptive Designs,” to be presented by Andrew Grieve on Thursday, January 21.
The Psychology of Survey Response – February 9, 2010
The Survey Research Methods Section is sponsoring the webinar “The Psychology of Survey Response,” to be presented by Roger Tourangeau on Tuesday, February 9.
How to Avoid Some Common Graphical Mistakes – February 11, 2010
The Section on Statistical Graphics and the Committee on Outreach Education is sponsoring the webinar “How to Avoid Some Common Graphical Mistakes,” to be presented by Naomi Robbins on Thursday, February 11.
Knowledge Discovery with Support Vector Machines – March 26, 2010
The Chicago Chapter of the ASA is sponsoring the workshop “Knowledge Discovery with Support Vector Machines,” to be presented by Lutz Hamel at the Gleacher Center in Chicago, Illinois, on Friday, March 26.
2010 RADIATION AND HEALTH CONFERENCE – Annapolis, Maryland – June 13–16, 2010
The 2010 Radiation and Health Conference, with the theme “Radiation Exposures in Medicine: Biological and Public Health Significance,” will be held at the Westin in Annapolis, Maryland. It will provide a forum for bringing together leading internationally known scientists and new investigators working in the biophysical, biological, biostatistical, and public health aspects of radiation epidemiology.
2010 FDA/INDUSTRY STATISTICS WORKSHOP – Washington, DC – September 20–22, 2010
The 2010 FDA/Industry Statistics Workshop will be held at the Grant Hyatt, Washington, DC. The workshop provides a forum for scientific exchange among statisticians from government, industry, and academia. To submit a proposal for an invited session or short course, please contact the workshop co-chairs Ivan Chan and Qian Grave.
EVENTS CALENDAR
Statistical events are happening around the country and the globe. View our Upcoming Events Calendar.
@amstat.org
ASA FELLOW NOMINATIONS
The ASA is pleased to announce that nominations for 2010 ASA Fellow will be submitted electronically.
Special Opportunities
JSM POSTERS NO LONGER ON THE SIDELINES
With two major changes, posters are sure to draw larger attendance at JSM 2010. Posters will be grouped by sponsoring section and located at the center of the exhibit hall. Submit a poster abstract.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR ASA MEMBERS TO PARTICIPATE IN NATIONAL LAB DAY
President Obama announced the establishment of National Lab Day, a nationwide movement to bring together stakeholders in communities of support where science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) professionals and teachers work together to provide high-quality, hands-on, discovery-based lab experiences for students. ASA is participating in this program and offers ways for members to become involved in their communities.
JOURNAL ALERTS
Did you know you can have the table of contents for any ASA journal emailed to you immediately after the issue publishes, regardless of whether you have a subscription? Simply go to click on the journal you’re interested in, and then click Sign up for eAlerts near the top of the page. It’s easy, and you’ll receive a list of the articles in each issue as it publishes, with links to each article.
ASA AWARDS AND SCHOLARSHIPS CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
The ASA honors distinguished statisticians each year with a variety of awards and scholarships.
2009 JSM PROCEEDINGS NOW AVAILABLE
The 2009 JSM Proceedings, a collection of papers and posters presented at the annual Joint Statistical Meetings, is available for purchase on CD-ROM at the ASA Store.
FREE ONLINE ACCESS TO STATISTICAL ANALYSIS AND DATA MINING
The ASA and Wiley-Interscience are excited to announce that ASA members now have a new benefit of membership—free online access to Statistical Analysis and Data Mining (SAM). SAM addresses the broad area of data analysis, including data mining algorithms, statistical approaches, and practical applications. ASA members can access SAM for free through December 31, 2010, by logging into ASA Members Only and selecting My Publications. Topics include problems involving massive and complex data sets, solutions using innovative data-mining algorithms and/or novel statistical approaches, and the objective evaluation of analyses and solutions. Beginning in 2011, online access will require a subscription and ASA members will enjoy a discounted rate.
U.S. CENSUS AT SCHOOL
The ASA will launch the U.S. version of CensusAtSchool - an international project that engages students in statistical inquiry and census-taking—this month. The CensusAtSchool project began in the United Kingdom in 2000 and now includes Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa. For more information about the U.S. CensusAtSchool pilot program, contact Martha Aliaga, ASA director of education.
2010 POSTER AND PROJECT COMPETITIONS
Introduce K–12 students to statistics through the 2010 poster and project competitions, directed by the ASA/NCTM Joint Committee on Curriculum in Statistics and Probability. The competitions offer opportunities for students to formulate questions, gather and display data, and draw conclusions from data. Posters (grades K–12) are due every year on April 1. Projects are due on April 1 for grades 4–6 and 7–9 and on May 30 for grades 10–12. Winners will be recognized with plaques, cash prizes, certificates, and calculators (donated by Texas Instruments) and their names will be published in Amstat News.
YOUNG INVESTIGATOR AWARD
The Statistics in Epidemiology Section invites applications from young investigators who will be presenting papers at the 2010 Joint Statistical Meetings in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, for the Young Investigator Award. To apply for the award, submit an abstract to the ASA by February 1 and the paper and a cover letter to Jaya Satagopan, section secretary/treasury, at by June 1. Include with your paper where you are a current student. If you are a recent graduate, include your year of graduation. Questions about the award should be sent to Ron Brookmeyer, section chair.
Feedback, comments, or suggestions are welcome please email asamail@amstat.org with your ideas.