Wouldn't you know it? Just mention Mu Alpha Theta and the math lovers multiply by the square root.
The story below about Stan's brothers winning top honors for high school math genius brought a quick response from an older member of the prestigious Jefferson High School math organization. (Coincidentally, she also belonged to an even more exclusive club: she attended the same country school that Steve and Virg did, albeit a few years earlier.
-- click on b & w photo. Lorlee's in the back row, Virg and Steve are sitting together on the far left. Lorlee remembers that Mrs. Barsness was tough on memorizing the tables of twelve. She's standing in the back by the piano with all the missing ivories, where she'd bang out "Stoodla Pumpa" and other bohemian favorites each morning.)Anyway, Lorlee claims to have held the Mu Alpha Theta crown for two years in a row, a couple of years before Virg did. And she still has the hardware. Today she emailed her digital proof along with a hint as to how she won. She says you got to not only know what you know, but you got to know what you don't know. Hmm. Always a good philosophy.
By the way, have you got any proof of prowess besides your brother's say-so, Virg? Or did you pawn it.
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Lorlee, a frequent contributor here, writes:
Attached is a photo of my Mu Alpha Theta pin and the pin I won for scoring the most points in that math test. As I recall, you only got points for correct answers and they subtracted for wrong answers so you could go in the hole. I was savvy enough to only answer the ones I knew and ended up winning -- I think both years.
