Mathematicians to hold annual conference at Hopkins

Mathematicians from around the world will meet at Homewood on Tuesday, March 16, for the start of a six-day workshop and international conference, an annual event co-sponsored by the Mathematics Department and the Japan-U.S. Mathematics Institute. This year's conference will focus on minimal surfaces, geometric analysis and symplectic geometry.

The JAMI program was inaugurated in 1988 to promote friendly relations between the United States and Japan, and to strengthen the time-honored bond between the Hopkins Mathematics Department and the Japanese mathematical community. As in years past, top international mathematicians and JHU faculty members will meet to discuss recent developments in these related and very active research areas.

For more details, contact the Mathematics Department at 410-516-4178 or by e-mail at jami@math.jhu.edu. The Web site is mathnt.mat.jhu.edu/JAMI98-99.

Indonesian presidential candidate to speak at SAIS

Amien Rais, a leading Indonesian presidential candidate, will speak at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies on Tuesday, March 9, at 6 p.m. Rais will address the current political and economic situation in Indonesia and the prospects for the upcoming presidential elections that will shape the future of Indonesian democracy.

As chairman of the National Mandate Party, Rais is considered a leading contender in the Indonesian general elections to be held on June 7. He is a prominent leader of the reformasi movement and former chairman of Muhammadiyah, the country's second largest Islamic organization, with more than 28 million members.

Rais received a bachelor's degree from the University of Notre Dame and a doctorate in political science from the University of Chicago.

The lecture, open to the public, will be held in the Kenney Auditorium, located on the first floor of the Nitze Building, 1740 Massachusetts Ave. N.W., Washington.

Daffodil Days coming to Homewood, Peabody, JHMI

Celebrate the arrival of spring by giving daffodils to your friends, neighbors and fellow workers--or treat yourself--during Daffodil Days, a fund-raiser sponsored by the American Cancer Society.

Bunches of fresh cut daffodils will be sold for $5 and potted mini daffodil bulbs $8.50 during the two-day annual event, which will be held Thursday and Friday, March 18 and 19, at the following locations and times.

At Homewood, you can find flowers at MSE Library quad level, from noon to 2 p.m., and at Levering and Gilman (the post office lobby), from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.; or you can order them by March 11 through hank@jhu.edu. At JHMI, Daffodil Days will be in the School of Public Health atrium, from noon to 1:30 p.m. At Peabody, orders must be placed in advance; contact ginpro@peabody.jhu.edu by March 11.