2008 Woodie Awards
PI Day 2007
Amanda Hipwell
Issue date: 4/16/07 Section: News
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Founded in 1931, Kappa Mu Epsilon "promotes the interest of Mathematics among undergraduate students." The society has spanned across colleges and universities in thirty-four states, and it is comprised of one hundred eighteen chapters and approximately sixty-one thousand members.
Moderated by Sister Marcella Louise Wallowicz, Kappa Mu Epsilon currently holds eight students from Holy Family; senior Patrick Heasley is the president.
To qualify for this Honor Society, students must complete both Calculus I and II, as well as maintain at least a 3.0 grade point average. Students must also cooperate in a service project. In the past, the members of the society have held a mathlete competition for several high schools near the University, including Father Judge, Archbishop Ryan, Holy Ghost Prep, and Nazareth Academy.
This year, the Pi Day festivities occurred during lunchtime in the Campus Center dining commons. Seven brave young men took part in the first event - a pie eating contest. Contestants were not allowed to use their hands or let their plates come off the counter. Sophomore Chris Ehly was the first to finish, devouring his cherry pie in about ten minutes. "I felt a little anxious before [the contest]," Ehly admitted, "but after the final people were gathered, I knew I could take them all on." He received a special certificate that declared him the winner, a Holy Family calculator, and ten dollars cash for winning. All the other participants simply walked away feeling sick to their stomaches.
The second event, in which five students participated, was reciting the digits of Pi from memory. Sophomore Ruby Bhatti had started practicing for the competition earlier that day. She repeatedly wrote the digits of Pi in their proper order as well as recited the numbers out loud to her friend. Bhatti won the Pi competition by reciting a total of fifty-one digits correctly and received a certificate and a calculator.
Sister Wallowicz concluded the competition by stating, "Ruby has to defend her title next year - same time, same place, same day." Maybe next year Bhatti will try and take on the world record of reciting 42,000 digits of Pi from memory.