SERMON 2000 will be held at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg VA. The dates for the meeting are Saturday April 15 and Sunday April 16, 2000. As a prelude to the conference, the Mathematics Departmental Colloquium speaker will be Carl Pomerance; his talk will be at 4 PM on Friday April 14.
SERMON is a small, although growing, friendly meeting of number theorists and combinatorialists from the southeast. Faculty, graduate and undergraduate students are all invited to attend. There will be partial support for a limited number of students travelling to SERMON; funding will be provided by the Number Theory Foundation and the Virginia Tech Department of Mathematics.
There will be an open house at Bud Brown's on Friday from about 6 to 10 PM, and a buffet supper Saturday evening from 6:30 to 10 PM at the same place. His address and phone number are 305 Eheart Street SW, (540) 552-9563; for directions, click here.
******* FIVE GOOD REASONS FOR ATTENDING SERMON 2000
1. Scintillating mathematical conversations.
2. Gorgeous surroundings. Blacksburg is located in the mountains of Southwestern Virginia (elevation: 2100') between the Blue Ridge and the front ridge of the Alleghenies. Great for hiking and other outdoor activities...especially in mid-April, when we have:
3. Great weather. Spring wildflowers, the trees have leafed out, the sun is shining, the temp is usually 70s (daytime) to 50s (nighttime)...what's not to like?
4. Jo Brown's cooking.
5. A conference with only number theorists and combinatorialists, well known to be the most agreeable sort of mathematicians!(return to top)
******* IMPORTANT MESSAGE: The Chef of these proceedings (Jo Brown) has asked me (Bud Brown) for a head count of the number of people who'll be at the Friday open house, or the Saturday supper, or both. This is so that we'll be able to provide plentiful provender for one and all, and so that I won't be neck-high in guacamole dip for the rest of the semester. That being the case, I need an approximate indication of the size of these gatherings. SO, IF YOU'RE EVEN TENTATIVELY PLANNING TO BE AT SERMON, LET ME KNOW AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!
...pretty please?
We now return to the regularly scheduled announcement. (return to top)
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TO GIVE A TALK: If you wish to give a talk, send an email to (brown@math.vt.edu) with a tentative title and any kind of travel restrictions so that we may put together a schedule.(return to top)
ABSTRACTS: You may submit an abstract for SERMON 2000 at the website http://at.yorku.ca/cgi-bin/amca/submit/caef-01
You may view submitted abstracts at the website http://at.yorku.ca/cgi-bin/amca/caef-01
The automated abstract submission system works quite nicely. If you have problems, however, please let us know. Also, we are happy to accept abstracts via email: send them to me, Bud Brown, at brown@math.vt.edu.(return to top)
MOTELS: Here is a list of local motels, with phone numbers. They are listed in order of their closeness to the Virginia Tech campus (where we'll have the talks). Unfortunately, due to a number of other events being held in Blacksburg that weekend, none of these are within walking distance of campus, so they'll all require a car. The blocked out rooms will be held until mid-March.
Red Carpet Inn, 1615 S Main Street, Blacksburg (about 1.5 miles to campus): single or double, $39 + tax per night; 10 rooms blocked for SERMON 2000, April 14 and 15; 540-552-4011.
Ramada Limited, 3503 Holiday Ln, Blacksburg (about 2.5 miles to campus); single or double, $64.95 + tax per night; 30 rooms blocked for SERMON 2000, April 14 and 15; 540-951-1330.
Comfort Inn, 3705 S. Main Street, Blacksburg (about 2.5 miles to campus); single $60 + tax per night, double $65 + tax per night; First come, first serve -- say you are with Sermon 2000 and request corporate rate; 540-951-1500.
Microtel Inn and Suites, 135 Ponderosa Drive, Christiansburg (about 4 miles to campus); single or double, $53.95 + tax per night; 10 rooms blocked for SERMON 2000, April 14 and 15; 540-381-0500.
Super 8 Motel West, 55 Laurel St NE, Christiansburg (about 4 miles to campus); single or double $50 +tax per night; 10 rooms blocked for SERMON 2000, April 14 and 15; 540-382-5813.(return to top)
DIRECTIONS: Blacksburg is in Southwestern Virginia, on U.S. 460, about ten miles from Exit 118 of Interstate 81. The CAMPUS GUIDE is a very useful website which includes directions on how to get to the campus, a variety of maps, accomodation and dining info, and other goodies.
During the day, the conference events will be held in McBryde Hall. All talks will be held in 321 McBryde, and coffee/tea breaks and general discussions will be in the Math Department Commons Room, 455 McBryde. The clickable buildings campus map will lead you to a picture of McBryde Hall.
The simplest way to find McBryde Hall is to take the Prices Fork exit off US 460 Bypass around Blacksburg. At that exit, head in the direction of Blacksburg/Virginia Tech. Turn right at the third traffic light (that's Stanger Street on the map---it's also known as Toms Creek Road). The first large building on the right is the New Engineering Building (NEB); then, there's a smallish house called Price House, and McBryde Hall is next. Park in any of the lots in that area: there's one between Price House and the NEB, one across Stanger St. from the NEB, and several others on either side of Stanger St.
Parking on the weekends does not require a parking permit, but if you park on campus before 5 PM on Friday afternoon, you'll need one. Let me know if you'll need a parking pass, and I'll determine the best way to get it to you.
Directions to Bud's place: The Friday night open house and Saturday evening buffet supper will be held at Bud Brown's house, 305 W. Eheart St, Blacksburg VA 24060 (click here and enter the address as printed above to find a fairly detailed map of Bud's place. It's only off by half a block.) His phone number is (540) 552-9563.
If you will be at Carl's talk on Friday, we'll have maps for you. If you'll be arriving later, come into Blacksburg on US 460 Business Route (if you're driving in on US 460 from I-81, the Business Route is the right fork at the 460 Blacksburg Bypass; the left fork is the Bypass itself). The business route becomes South Main Street. Once you're on 460 Business/South Main, the sixth traffic light is Airport Road. Four streets after Airport is Eheart. Turn left. After the second stop sign, Eheart dead-ends; 305 is the next-to-last house on the left. It's a short block, and you can park on Preston Avenue (the previous cross-street).
WHAT ELSE? Keep in touch! Please let us know if:
* you plan to attend this meeting
* you want to talk at SERMON 2000
* you need or can give a ride to the meeting
* you want off this list
* you have a friend who belongs on this list
Hope to see you in April!
Bud Brown
Peter Fletcher