Idaho Society of Professional Engineers
Friday Update - 12/09/05
The next edition of the ISPE Friday Update will be 01/06/06. Happy
Holidays!
UPCOMING EVENTS:
• December 12, 2005 –
ISPE Northern Chapter
Monthly Meeting - Ironhorse Restaurant, 407 E. Sherman Ave, Coeur d'Alene,
ID, 667-7314 – 5:30 PM
• January 17, 2006 –
ISPE Southwest Chapter
Noon Meeting - 12:00 Noon - Washington Group International Training Room -
Tamarack Resort – Nick Stover
• January 20 - 23, 2006 - NSPE
Winter Meeting - Washington DC
• February 4, 2006 – ISPE
Northern Chapter (Lewiston) MATHCOUNTS Competition
• February 4, 2006 – ISPE
Southeast Chapter MATHCOUNTS Competition
• February 11, 2006 – ISPE
Southwest Chapter MATHCOUNTS Competition
• February 14, 2006 – ISPE
Northern Chapter (Coeur d'Alene) MATHCOUNTS Competition
• March 11, 2006 – State
MATHCOUNTS Competition – Boise State University - Boise
• March 16 - 17, 2006 - ISPE
Annual Meeting - Boise, ID
• July 6 - 11, 2006 - NSPE Summer
Meeting - Boston, MA
NSPE PEPP YEAC (Young Engineers Advisory Council) Project
The NSPE PEPP YEAC (Young Engineers Advisory Council) is working on a project
this year involving Professional Engineers in elected office. At this point,
they are searching for current or recent federal, state and local elected
officials with the PE license. The project will involve a brief questionnaire
for any elected official willing to participate, as well as possible interviews
for interested state and federal officials.
If you know of a locally elected official who is a professional engineer, please
send their name and government position/title, and any other information you may
have-address, phone, fax, email address. Responses can be directed to Andrew
P. Vecellio, P.E.,
andrew.vecellio@bartwest.com.
The YEAC consists of approximately 10-20 members from all state who serve on an
annual basis (this year they have 12 members) that work together to complete
projects to enhance the professional development of young engineers. Since 2001,
YEAC has produced a manual each year that is available to state and local
chapters through NSPE. The published manuals to date include the following:
- Guide to Enhancing Professional Development from College Student to Company
Principal
- Mentoring Guidelines for Small, Medium and Large Size Firms
- Strategies for Member Retention and Attraction
- A How-to Manual for Seminars, Socials and Ceremonies
Your help is greatly appreciated.
Managing and Leading: 52 Lessons Learned for Engineers
What’s the difference between managing and leading? This is only one of the
questions answered in this collection of 52 essays outlining the best principles
for engineers to improve their managing and leadership skills. Also addressed:
goal formulation and achievement, courage, asking and listening, presenting
papers, coaching, power of the subconscious mind, delegation, teamwork, project
management, marketing, style, and effecting change. Get on the right track for
2006!
Members $44.00; Nonmember $55.00.
Thinking about a career change? Seeking talented engineers at your company? The
NSPE Job Board is home to nationwide position openings—find the job you want or
hire the engineer you need! Members receive discounts on all postings!
MATHCOUNTS PROBLEM OF THE WEEK
Can you solve this MATHCOUNTS problem? The answer will appear in next week's
edition of the Friday Update!
Shop Til You Drop
The day after Thanksgiving was given the name of Black Friday since it was
believed to be the day when many store owners finally started making a profit
for the year – or were finally "in the black." It’s often the day that is
thought to be the first shopping day of the holiday season, and sales that day
are watched closely in order to predict what consumers’ tendencies will be
throughout the season. In one study, 82% of merchants responding to a survey
said sales during the Thanksgiving weekend grew or stayed even from last year’s
Thanksgiving weekend. The remaining merchants reported lower sales. If there
were 28 respondents for the survey, how many respondents reported that sales
decreased from last year? Express your answer to the nearest whole number.
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During the 2005 Thanksgiving weekend, consumers spent $5 billion more than they
spent during last year’s Thanksgiving weekend. This was an increase of 22%. How
much did consumers spend this year during the Thanksgiving weekend?
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Though Black Friday is thought to be the busiest day of the year, the truth
really depends on how we measure "busy." It seems to be true that this day has
the greatest number of shoppers than any other day of the year, but it usually
ranks about 5th when we measure "busy" by the amount of money spent. For the
last 10 years, the day when consumers spent the most money is the Saturday
before December 25 (assuming it’s not December 24). December 25, 2005 is on a
Sunday. Assuming the spending trend continues, what will be the date of the
busiest shopping day in 2010? (Don’t peek at a 2010 calendar!!)
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Going hand-in-hand with Black Friday is the concept of Cyber Monday. This is the
Monday after Thanksgiving and is supposedly the busiest on-line shopping day of
the year. This concept is relatively new, and there is speculation by some that
it was invented to encourage on-line shopping rather than as a result of
previous on-line spending trends. On Cyber Monday 2004, Visa card users only
spent 4/5 of the amount of money they spent on Cyber Monday 2005. In other
words, they spent x% more this year. What is the value of x?
Answer to last week’s MATHCOUNTS problem:
According to Noah’s pay schedule, he is paid exactly twice each month, which
results in 24 paychecks for the year. Since he would like to make his donations
in equal amounts each paycheck, we need to determine the result when $15,000 is
divided equally among 24 paychecks. This is $15,000 / 24 = $625 each paycheck.
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We know that we have rows of squares for our calendar, and there are seven
squares in each row. The situation we are concerned with is one where the timing
of the days of the month lead us to needing six rows of these seven squares.
Let’s consider that there will be at least one day in the first row, then there
will be 28 days in the next four rows, and then we are requiring there to be at
least one day in the sixth row. If we put only one day in the first row (the
month then starts on a Saturday), there would be two days to put into the sixth
row. If we put two days in the first row (the month starts on a Friday), then
there would only be one day remaining for the sixth row. If we put three days in
the first row (the month starts on a Thursday), then those three days combined
with the next four rows of 28 days completes our 31-day month and there are no
days left for the sixth row. This means that for a 31-day month, we will have
this problematic need for a sixth row if the month starts on a Saturday or
Friday. (Note: Calendars generally do not add this sixth row. Instead, the
square for the Sunday in the fifth row – and the Monday if needed – is divided
in half and shares the 24th and 31st or the 23rd and 30th.)
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We are told that Carter must read one book every five days for the remaining 35
days of 2005 to fulfill his resolution. This tells us that 365 – 35 = 330 days
of 2005 have already passed, and it tells us he needs to read 35 ¸ 5 = 7 more
books. We were also told that his goal was to read 52 ¸ 2 = 26 books during
2005. He already must have read 26 – 7 = 19 books during the first 330 days of
2005. This is an average of one book every 330 ¸ 19 = 17 days, to the nearest
whole number.
If you want to see last week's problem again, click
http://www.mathcounts.org/webarticles/anmviewer.asp?a=764&z=104
Idaho Society of Professional Engineers
PO Box 170239
Boise, ID 83717-0239
208-426-0636
Fax: 208-426-0639
E-Mail: ispe@rmci.net
Web Site: www.Idahospe.org
Idaho
Society of Professional Engineers
