By Warren Hioki

When NSC math professor, Jason Lee, asks his students to square a sequence of double-digit numbers or multiply triple-digit numbers in their head and they respond with a correct answer in lightning speed, it’s no surprise to him.  How about asking any of his students to compute what day of the week you were born on, even if you’re 100 years old, they are most certain to baffle your mind with another correct answer!  Is this a gimmick?  Are there hidden calculators or microcomputers secretively being accessed?  Try monitoring the bursts of electroencephalographic (EEG) brain activity among Professor Lee’s students and you will have partially satisfied your amazement.  Attend one of his “Mathemagics” workshops, and you will be fully satisfied.  The atmosphere Professor Lee has successfully fostered in his workshop is simply electrifying!  His students radiate with energy, passion, excitement, and eagerness to engage themselves in learning new skills and exercise them in a fun-filled atmosphere. 

Mathematics is just another language for explaining and interpreting the behavior of natural phenomena that surrounds us.  Despite its usefulness, many mathematicians believe that the rules we are taught, particularly in elementary and high school, often elude us because they are not presented in the most effective manner.  Perhaps this is one of the many reasons why so many of us cringe at the thought of fulfilling our math requirement.  However, math can, in fact, be fun –and Professor Lee’s students are a testament to this paradox. 

So what is Mathemagics?  Chalk it up to another one of Professor Lee’s brilliant ideas to get NSC students interested in the beauty, the fun, and practicality of math.  How did it all begin?  While venturing through the book store, Professor Lee happened to stumbled across a book entitled, “Secrets of Mental Math: The Mathematician’s Guide to Lightning Calculations and Amazing Math Tricks,” by Arthur Benjamin and Michael Shermer.  It was not exactly the title that caught his attention, but one of the authors: Arthur Benjamin, another young and brilliant mathematician.  Dr. Arthur Benjamin Chairs the Math Department at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, CA.; and he happens to be one of Professor Lee’s competitors in national backgammon tournaments. His book is a fascinating collection of mental math skills designed to baffle you and your friends.  Why not incorporate these skills into a workshop for our NSC students?  That’s exactly what Professor Lee did, and gave it the captivating title of “Mathemagics”. 

Dr. Jason Lee’s biography can be found on NSC’s website.  He is a nationally ranked backgammon player who grew up as a “West Coast boy,” living no farther than 10 miles from the Pacific Ocean for most of his life. After grade school in Humboldt County, California and high school in San Francisco, he migrated yet further south, landing in San Luis Obispo, where he received his undergraduate degree in mathematics. San Luis Obispo still felt too far north, but the allure of the coast was too great, so Jason just kept on going south, this time to La Jolla -- where he attended graduate school at U.C. San Diego. After receiving his Ph.D. in mathematics, some shocking news arrived -- he was needed back east. So, Jason packed his bags and left the coast, now to his current locale, in Henderson, Nevada, where he works for Nevada State College as a mathematics professor. Badly skewed by years of living on the far west coast, Jason mistakenly believes that Henderson is part of the USA Midwest. So far, Dr. Lee has cultivated a love for mathematics, baseball, and backgammon. He watches every San Francisco Giants game he can, and enters regional backgammon tournaments -- playing at the championship level. His latest love is with his purebred beagles named Max and Olaf, who both watch Giants games with him.

Professor Lee regularly teaches NSC’s core mathematics classes such as Algebra, Precalculus/Trigonometry, and Calculus 1, 2 & 3.  He has also taught a plethora of other math classes, including differential equations, discrete mathematics, number theory, abstract algebra, numerical methods, real analysis, and computer science.  Professor Lee’s Mathemagics workshop meets every Tuesday and Thursday from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in the Dawson building, room 106.  It is open to all students who want to nurture their interest and talent in mathematics, meet other students, and share in the excitement and fun of math.  Dr. Lee’s Mathemagics worksheets and exercises can be found at: http://web.nsc.nevada.edu/~jlee/Mathemagics/

Mathemagics student testimonials:

Paula Fama:  “Dr. Lee is amazing!  I attend his Mathemagics workshop so I can learn to calculate numbers in my head, instead of a calculator.  His tricks will help me, not only as a pre-Nursing major, but when I’m in a hospital working as a nurse.  I will need to be making some quick conversion calculations in my head for patients.  Currently, I’m a freshman and working towards my BSN degree and eventually my Masters degree so I can become a Nurse Practitioner.  Dr. Lee is also my MATH 124 professor and he teaches us lots of tricks.”    

Zhiqi Feng:  “I attend Dr. Lee’s workshop to learn math from a different perspective –speed that is.  He has a totally different approach to math.  I’m a 3rd year Biology student.  Eventually I will go to medical school because I want to become a surgeon.  I’m so thankful for him teaching me this new method.  He’s the greatest!” 

Jami Kessler:  “As a Math major, I want to tune up on my math skills and woo my friends with quick mental calculations.  My GPA is 4.0 and I plan on attending Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and eventually Cal Tech, as a math major.  Dr. Lee is my idol!  He is not only a great professor, but a great friend who has always been there for me through thick and thin.” 

For more information on Nevada State College, call (702) 990-2000 or visit nsc.nevada.edu.