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Summer 2004

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Washington Statistical Society
Curtis Jacobs Memorial Prize for Outstanding Survey Statistics Project, 2004

On Thursday, June 3, the Washington Statistical Society (WSS) held the judging of its annual Curtis Jacobs Memorial Prize for Washington, D.C. area high school and middle school participants. The total number of entries from this year was increased dramatically from last year. There were total 81 entries from various schools. Judges selected two winners (tied) at the end. The prize of the final winner included a $200 saving bond and a certificate to the winning team, a plaque to the advisor teacher, and a one-year free American Statistical Association membership to the school. The winner and the teacher were also invited to the WSS annual dinner. Additional to the final winners, judges also selected 3 honorable mentions, who received a certificate each.

The winners (tied) from high school are:

  • Larry Tran & Nick Raithel
    Title: Have you heard the news?
    Advisor: Ricki Cohn
    School: Walter Johnson High School
  • Justin Forsyth
    Title: Making sense of teen depression, suicide tendencies, and religious affiliation.
    Advisor: Marvana Bennett
    School: Oakton High School

The honorable mentions are:

  • Isabelle Rivest
    Title: What's in a name?
    Advisor: Marvana Bennett
    School: Oakton High School
  • Lindsay Rau
    Title: Risky business: the role of statistics in the job of an actuary
    Advisor: Ken Mckusick
    School: Reservoir High School
  • Lidiya Shutaya
    Title: The gender gap: does sex matter?
    Advisor: Marvana Bennett
    School: Oakton High School
  • Erin M. Rubin
    Title: Oakton's most necessary invention
    Advisor: Marvana Bennett
    School: Oakton High School

The winner team from middle school is vacant this year.

The Curtis Jacob Award committee would like to thank the following people who volunteered to judge the entries. Their help are greatly appreciated! They are:

  • Carolyn Carroll
    Stat Tech Inc., and Coordinator, WSS Quantitative Literacy
  • Mirta Galesic
    JPSM, University of Maryland, College Park
  • Robin Gentry
    Project Leader, Arbitron
  • Sunghee Lee
    JPSM, University of Maryland, College Park
  • Amy Luo
    QUEST, Ernst & Young LLP
  • Wendy Rotz
    QUEST, Ernst & Young LLP and Chair, WSS Methodology
  • Elisha Smith
    Mathematica Policy Research
  • Jinhee Yang
    QUEST, Ernst & Young LLP
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2005 CDC and ATSDR Symposium on Statistical Methods

Statistics and Public Health Policy
March 1-2, 2005

Call for Abstracts

Statisticians, epidemiologists, and all others interested in the application of statistics to public and environmental health are invited to participate in the Tenth Biennial Symposium on Statistical Methods, sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention & Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (CDC & ATSDR) and the Washington Statistical Society (WSS) Chapter of the American Statistical Association (ASA), to be held at the Bethesda Marriott in Bethesda, MD. The theme for the 2005 Symposium is "Statistics and Public Health Policy." A short course on a related topic will be offered on February 28, 2005 in conjunction with the Symposium.

The Symposium will include invited talks and contributed papers. Authors are encouraged to submit abstracts for contributed papers related to one of the following session topics:

  • Using observational data to develop public health policy
  • Using interventions trials to develop public health policy
  • Evaluating causation
  • Bioterrorism, biometrics, and security

Abstracts will be considered for either an oral or poster presentation and must be postmarked by no later than September 30, 2004. Authors of accepted presentations will be notified by November 1, 2004. (All accepted papers will be considered for publication in a dedicated issue of Statistics in Medicine.) For more information, please visit the Symposium website at http://www.cdc.gov/od/ads/sag/ or contact:

Harvey Lipman
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
4770 Buford Hwy NE (MS G-23)
Atlanta, GA 30341-3717
(770) 488-8113
hlipman@cdc.gov Return to top

Mid-Atlantic Regional Probability & Statistics Day

November 13, 2004

This year's Mid-Atlantic Regional Probability and Statistics Day will be held Saturday, 13 November 2004, at the Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory, located approximately midway between Baltimore, MD and Washington, DC. This informal meeting provides an opportunity for professionals in academia, government, business and industry to meet and communicate recent findings and discuss common interests. Informal talks on all aspects of probability and statistics are invited, including discussions of preliminary and on-going work. Participation by graduate students is also encouraged.

For more information, contact:

Joseph D. Warfield
The Johns Hopkins Universit
Applied Physics Laboratory, Room 24-E135
Laurel, MD&nbps; 20723-6099
phone: (240) 228-5580/Washington and (443) 778-5580/Baltimore
e-mail: joseph.warfield@jhuapl.edu
fax: (240) 228-8240 Return to top

Federal Committee On Statistical Methodology Statistical Policy Seminar

Achieving Statistical Quality in a Diverse and Changing Environment
December 15-16, 2004

The Seventh in a Series of Seminars Hosted by COPAFS (The Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics)

Participants will Include Statistician, Economists, and Managers, as well as Others in the Broader Statistical Community who Share an Interest in the Quality of Federal Data

Support Provided by:

  • Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
  • Bureau of Economic Analysis
  • Bureau of Labor Statistics
  • Bureau of Transportation Statistics
  • Energy Information Administration
  • Environmental Protection Agency
  • National Agricultural Statistics Service
  • National Center for Education Statistics
  • National Center for Health Statistics
  • Social Security Administration
  • Statistics of Income Division of the Internal Revenue Service
  • U.S. Census Bureau

Topics:

  • Standards for Statistical Surveys
  • Agency Initiatives to Monitor Survey Quality
  • Recent Advances in Measuring Quality Assurance
  • Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act: Where Are We and Where Are We Going?
  • Integrated Survey Designs: Analytical Enhancements Achieved Through Linkage of Surveys, Administrative and Secondary Data
  • Telephone Surveys in a Changing Environment
  • Incentives in Government Surveys: Practices and Perspectives
  • Web Surveys: A Research Agenda For a Changing Environment
  • Advisory Panels: Seeking user Feedback to Improve the Quality of Statistical Programs
  • Researcher Access to Confidential and Micro Data From Home Institutions
  • Data Mining: Policy Implications and Applications
  • Tools, Policy, and Procedures for Survey Improvement

Keynote Address: Richard Kulka, Research Triangle Institute

Location: The Holiday Inn Select, 8120 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda, Maryland

Cost: $150.00 per person

For Further Information, Contact the COPAFS Office at:
Phone: 703-836-0404, Fax: 703-684-3410 and Email: copafs@aol.com

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Note From The WSS NEWS Editor

Items for publication in the September 2004 WSS NEWS should be submitted no later than July 27, 2004. E-mail items to Michael Feil at michael.feil@usda.gov.

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Click here to see the WSS Board Listing (pdf)
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