Author: Donnie Sewell

It may not be the cherry tree of President George Washington yore, but a tulip poplar on the campus of the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts can claim a presidential lineage.

On March 21, 1994, the Hot Springs Parks and Recreation Department planted a two-year old tulip poplar tree in recognition of Arbor Day on the lawn in front of ASMSA’s Administration Building. The tree is a descendant of a tulip poplar planted in 1785 by Washington himself at Mount Vernon, Washington’s estate in Virginia.

ASMSA’s tree was one of 60 seedlings sent to Washington namesake locations and other presidential sites from 1983 to 1998. ASMSA’s campus is known as Clinton Presidential Park. Of those seedlings, only 12 have survived.

Some of the other tulip poplars still living include trees at the site of President Reagan’s boyhood home in Dixon, Ill.; the President Lincoln home in Springfield, Ill.; President Truman’s boyhood home in Missouri; and the Carter Center in Atlanta, Ga., among others.

To commemorate the tree, ASMSA and the Hot Springs Parks and Recreation Department will hold a presidential tree historical marker presentation at 3 p.m. on Feb. 17. The parks department will place a historical marker with the tree, which is located in front of the ASMSA Administration Building at 200 Whittington Ave.

A reception in the Administration Building Boardroom will follow the marker presentation.

Editor's Note: Thursday's Science and Arts Cafe at the Superior Bath House featuring Underground Railroad historian Anthony Cohen has been postponed until 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20. Winter weather along the East Coast did not permit him to make it here for the original Feb. 13 date. Dr. Brian Monson, chair of ASMSA's Science Department, will present a Science and Arts Cafe Lecture titled "Radiation and Nuclear Power: Myths and Facts" on Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. at the bath house.

Anthony Cohen, a noted Underground Railroad historian, will open the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts’ Science and Arts Café series on Feb. 20.

Cohen will present a lecture titled “Unshackling History:  Recreating Experiences from American Slavery.” He will speak at 7 p.m. at the Superior Bathhouse Brewery at 329 Central Ave. in downtown Hot Springs. His appearance is sponsored through a grant from the Wagner Foundation. He will also speak at a student assembly at the school the next day.

Bob Gregory has been named the Dean of Academic Affairs at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts.

Director Corey Alderdice recently announced Gregory’s permanent appointment after a national search was conducted to fill the position. Gregory had been serving as interim dean since the spring 2013 semester.

What’s the probability of rolling a certain number on a six-sided die?

If you said one in six, you’d be correct — that is unless you’re using Denise Gregory’s special die. Then the odds rise to about 100 percent since the same number is on every side. But don’t let anyone know, at least not until she has tricked the participants in “The Mathematics of Games Shows” class at one of ASMSA’s weekend Science and Engineering Institutes to give the wrong answer.

When Seth Shumate (’02) first saw the results of his simulation for a new approach to a silicon solar cell in February of this year, he thought something was wrong. What he saw must have been a mistake.
So he did what any good scientist does — he ran another simulation.
“I thought the system was malfunctioning so I took it to another machine, which does a more detailed sort of test, and it was real there, too,” Shumate said with a smile growing across his face. “Then we did it again — over and over and over. It was exciting to see, but I was really skeptical. I thought maybe one of the other grad students had turned up the lamp to give it too much simulated sunlight.”

The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts dedicated the Meade Digital Arts Lab on Feb. 19 in honor of Dr. Benjamin Meade and Jane Hunt Meade of Little Rock.

The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts will offer a Science Café lecture series in May beginning this week.

During a Residence Life Office staff meeting at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts last year, DeKevious Wilson listened as his fellow staff members spoke about the upcoming 2012 prom.

The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts Quiz Bowl team will compete for the Class 7A state title in the annual Arkansas Governor’s Academic Competition on April 20.