Instructor: John Perry
Office: Southern Hall, 310
Office Hours: TTh 10⋅30-11⋅30a, 2-3p
Office Phone: 601⋅266⋅4293
Email: john.perry@usm.edu
Instructor's web page: http://www.math.usm.edu/perry/
Class web page: http://www.math.usm.edu/perry/mat421sm11/
Class meeting time and location: 3-5⋅10p TTh, SH 303
Course Description: Induction, well-ordering, division algorithm, Euclidean algorithm, Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic, number theoretic functions and congruences.
Prerequisite: MAT 326 (Linear Algebra I) and MAT 340 (Discrete Mathematics). These prerequisites constitute necessary preparation for the course; if you lack either you are at a tremendous disadvantage.
Grading: The semester grade will be determined by a weighted average, according to the weights listed below.
| Tests (there will be at least two; the final includes an oral component) |
40% of total |
| Homework (these are always team assignments) |
40% of total |
| Reading quizzes | 20% of total |
Late Assignments: Any assignment turned in past the specified due date and time will receive a grade lowered by ten percent for each school day late.
Makeup work: I do not give makeup tests/quizzes/etc. without an excused absence. If you must miss class, then you must also produce documentation of the reason for your absence. If you were sick, you can show me the receipt from the hospital or doctor; if you had a sports event, you can show me the schedule; if someone died, you can show me an obituary notice; if the tire on your car blew out, you can show me the receipt from the mechanic.Homework: This summer I will try making all the homework assignments team assignments. I don't really care whether you divide the work among each other or you meet regularly and solve them as a team. Keep in mind, however, that each test is an individual effort.
Final Exam Date:Tuesday 2 August 2011, 11a-1⋅30p.
The exam has two parts: a written, in-class section and an oral section. You must schedule an appointment during the week prior to the exam in order to take the oral section.
Mobile phones are not merely useful for business, they are by now necessary. For personal use, however, they have become a curse on the human race. We lived for thousands of years without them and never once felt a pressing need to interrupt a class, worship service, or business meeting so as to remind someone of our undying love.
Imagine: lovers once waited days or even weeks before a letter arrived from one's beloved. They caressed the paper in their hands, breathed the aroma of a drop of perfume left on the page, glanced at the postmark, and anguished over why the Post Office took so long to deliver such a precious package. They waited days or even weeks to send and receive replies — and they only lived down the street from each other!
We once considered it a vice to answer quickly! After all, an intelligent answer requires one to think before speaking. By contrast, modernity considers a silent pause following a question to be a mark of ignorance, dishonesty, even mental deficiency. As the enemy of elegant speech and intelligent conversation, mobile phones, popular music, and television have contributed more to the decline of discretion, intimacy, and privacy than any common gossip, media outlet, or government surveillance program could hope to do.
Please, turn off your phone before entering the classroom. Text messaging, wearing an earpiece, etc. are prohibited and will lead to expulsion.
Note: The last day to drop a full-semester course without academic penalty is Friday, 24 June.
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ADA Syllabus Statement If a student has a disability that qualifies under the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) and requires accommodations, he/she should contact the Office for Disability Accommodations (ODA) for information on appropriate policies and procedures. Disabilities covered by ADA may include learning, psychiatric, physical disabilities, or chronic health disorders. Students can contact ODA if they are not certain whether a medical condition/disability qualifies.
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