Saratoga Sampler

Saratogan does the math and earns scholarship

By Mary Ann Cook

MATH WHIZ: Saratogan Oaz Nir, 18, won a four-year scholarship to Duke University in Durham, N.C., to the tune of $27,000 per year. Nir has won renown for his math adroitness, having been a member of the U.S. International Math Team for two years in a row.

The U.S. team came in second this year, competing against 83 countries. Last year the team ended in third place. Only six members are chosen for the international team, winning a berth through a successive number of tests given at their high schools. Nir took the tests at his school, Monta Vista.

In the first round of testing, some 400,000 students participate. By the second round that number is down to 10,000. By the third, there are 250 math scholars competing. Out of that number, emerge the top six. There are six questions, and six hours are given to complete the test.

(What is it about the number six that seems to make it so significant to these math folks?) Contestants write proofs, usually about two pages long, to prove their answers, so writing ability is called for as well. "I always liked it," Nir says about the subject in which he obviously excels.

But he doesn't necessarily intend to make math his life work. He's thinking more in terms of psychology or philosophy as a major. His mother is Dalia Nir, director of the Physability program at the Southwest YMCA, and his father, Israel, is a nuclear engineer at General Electric.

Older sister Dani is a crisis worker at Eastfield Ming Quong, and brother Allon is a drama student at West Valley.

EVENING OF CELTIC MUSIC: Celtic music and dance from Wales and Ireland will waft from Montalvo Aug. 29 at 7 p.m. kicking off the six-day Festival of Wales 2001. Featured will be triple harpist Robin Huw Bowen playing that difficult instrument.

Other performers are the Welsh folk group Carreg Lafar, infusing ancient sounds with a fresh sensibility, and the dance group Parti Dawns Lan Y Mor. Irish singer Mary Black will perform traditional and contemporary works. The first minister of Wales, Rhodri Morgan, will attend the evening at Montalvo and issue the keynote address on Friday evening in San Jose.

Local folks instrumental in planning the event include Megan Jones Davidson, who is on the executive committee, and Howard and Sue Thomas. Howard is the festival chairman and on the executive committee. Others in on the planning are Ann and Gareth Williams. Megan and James Dawson have also donated money and time.

Further performances celebrating the Festival of Wales 2001 will be held at the Fairmont Hotel and the San Jose Civic Auditorium through Sept. 3. The Montalvo box office can be reached at 408.961.5858. For more Celtic news, call Sue Redmore at 831.464.8868.

NEW SHOWS: Figurative constructions by Saratogan Theresa Robinson are on display at Gallery House, 320 California Ave. in Palo Alto. This is a two-artist show running through Sept. 22. A reception for the artist will be held Sept. 7, 6-8 p.m. The other artist in the exhibit is J. Jones Sereno.

Watercolors by Kay Duffy are the featured artwork until Sept. 23 at Aegis Gallery in Saratoga. Duffy's work includes landscapes, flowers and abstract collages. An artist reception will be held Aug. 31, 5-7 p.m. Duffy's virtual gallery is at Kayduffywatercolors.com.

STAPLER SOUND TO MAUI: I'm just back from the southwest coast of Maui, which isn't a very unusual destination, I realize. But how I got there is off the beaten track. My generous-hearted daughter, Amy Thompson, won a Mystery Sound contest sponsored by radio station KARA last summer.

She spent all her winnings by taking her husband, three children and me to Hawaii, living the gilded life for a week of fine grazing and lazing--plus snorkeling, hiking and golfing. (And massages to counteract all that.) The unique part of the story is the sound Amy identified to win the contest: it was the noise a stapler makes when it changes function.

She's an eighth-grade teacher at Union Middle School, and one of her students had shown her how to move that metal plate to create a horizontal stapling action. She somehow pulled that esoterica out of the air to give the right answer, then spent the rest of the summer answering contests.

NEW MEMBERS: National Assistance League claims eight new provisionals. They are Eileen Barth, Helen Domire, Meryl Gordon, Joanne Knapp, Jean LaMar, Bette Loomis, Marilyn Monies and Teri Spice. Orientation sessions, led by Pat Ellis, will begin in September.

LEAGUE FOCUS: At the annual meeting of the League of Women Voters of Los Gatos-Saratoga, the League voted on a new name to include Campbell (subject to state and national approval). Action items for the coming year will be general housing and senior housing positions.

Energy, voting rights and education will be emphasized this year. And there will be a new study on the California Community College system, focusing on the state's role in finance and governance. Contact the league at 408.867.VOTE or on the web at www.lwv-lg-s-ms.org.

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