At last year’s Harry Potter trivia, we placed sixth out of roughly 20 teams. Many of the questions were simple enough, but some were so specific that even 50 read-throughs of the Harry Potter series (books 1-7) were not sufficient preparation.

This year, we sought trivia revenge as the rechristened team “Snitch, Please”.

The first half was smooth-sailing, but we hit some bumpy waters when we hit the half-time question (name 5 of the 7 departments in the Ministry of Magic). We tied for third place going into this question, but only managed to correctly get 3 departments. We dropped a few places as a result.

The second half went better than expected. After clutch answers from Caitlin and Akira, we climbed back to third place until the final question was announced and all answers were submitted.

Then came the moment of truth.

The announcer asked “Snitch, Please” and another team to answer a tiebreaker question. What did this mean? Were we tied for third place? Were we, dare we even consider it, tied for first?

We tried to push these thoughts aside when the tiebreaker question was announced, and focused on answering the question (how many chapters were in the Prisoner of Azkaban?).

The two team submitted their answers. We guessed 33. The other team guessed 32. There turned out to be 22 chapters in book three, which meant the other team won the tiebreaker.

It was then announced that the tiebreaker was indeed for first place, meaning team “Snitch, Please” placed second over 20+ teams.

Though we missed first place by a tiebreaker, we were happy to have placed in the top three and to have improved from last year.

But most of all, we were glad to live in a city (and a bar — shout out to Claddagh’s Irish Pub in German Village) that offers such niche entertainment and community.

Until next year,

“Snitch, Please”

Hello. My name is Akira, and I am a rugby addict.

I wasn’t always like this, you know. I just wanted to try something new, see what it was like.

Two years ago, I went to my first rugby practice. They called themselves the Columbus Coyotes.

It was all so different from anything I had done before. The raw energy. The inclusivity. The adrenaline of taking down a 300lb guy with your bare hands.

Never having played a contact sport before, I was in way over my head. But I loved it. I kept coming back for more.

Now, two years later, I’m a regular member of the team, serve on the executive board, and became certified to coach under USA Rugby.

Now, I’m in for life.

Starting from this particular piece, we will exhibit students’ extracurricular life in Columbus here via the departmental student blog. If you wish to make a contribution and show your life outside the academic settings to others, please don’t hesitate to contact me (zhou.779@osu.edu) or Zaynab (diallo.66@osu.edu).

Look forward to emails from many of you!

We initiate from contributions from Achal and Min Ho. Many thanks to both of you for sharing!

Achal’s comes first: 

My name is Achal Awasthi, and I am in the MAS program in the department. I play amateur soccer for a club called AUFC that plays in the Columbus Premier Soccer League. We play each Sunday at Easton Soccer Fields, Columbus. It’s the most professional amateur soccer league in the state of Ohio.

Below is a contribution from Min Ho Cho: 

Hi everyone! I am Min Ho Cho, a third-year Ph.D. student in Statistics.

Today, I wish to introduce my favorite sport, soccer. Because I have been playing soccer since I was very young, I cannot even imagine my life without this sport. I have also continued to play soccer in Columbus, Ohio as soon as I arrived here in summer 2015. I play every Saturday morning usually in the Lincoln field or some parks near campus, but sometimes in the Adventure Recreation Center (ARC) when it rains or snows. I am a defensive midfielder on my team, Korean Student Soccer Club (KSSC) at OSU.

On November 4^th Saturday, we joined the competition called 2017 Korean Buckeye Tournament. Among many Korean teams of big universities near OSU such as UM, MSU, Purdue U, IU, and CWRU, our team got the 4^th place. Even though we did not win the champion, every member did our best and played so hard. Especially when we won a come-from-behind victory in only a few minutes left in the last game, everyone including coaches and managers ran into the field and became one team! It was such a drama and I will never forget the moment.

Besides soccer, I also like to play baseball, basketball and other sports. Last year, some faculty members and students used to play pickup soccer and basketball in the ARC. If there is a chance to do again, I would love to join you! Thank you all and have a good time to study and enjoy our healthy life here at OSU!

Zaynab Diallo (right) and Chenxi Zhou (left)

Zaynab Diallo 

Hello everyone,

My name is Zaynab Diallo, and I am from Dakar, Senegal. I am a second year Ph.D. student in Statistics, and this year I have the honor to serve as one of the co-Presidents for 2017-2018 academic year. Before coming to The Ohio State University, I lived in Iowa for 5 years and graduated from Iowa State University with a B.S in Mathematics and Statistics.

People often ask me why Statistics of all the majors in the world? Just last week, I requested my STAT 1350 students to write a statistics related question on a piece of paper and bring it to recitation as part of their midterm preparation. The goal was to get them to think about the material and figure out how they would formulate a question from a concept they do not understand. One student decided to ask me instead why I choose Statistics (my fault for not being specific enough on the nature of the questions). Even though I didn’t respond to the question for the interest of time, it made me laugh and also brought back memories.

I fell in love with Statistics after I took a course in Mathematical Statistics at Iowa State University during my junior year while I was hunting for math-related majors. I think at that particular point of time, I wanted something more tangible than Math. I also wanted a major that was less broad and that would lend me a good job. Statistics will get me the latter (eventually), but I was so wrong about the breadth.

As far as the research area is concerned, I am still at the exploration stage. Two courses that I really enjoyed were Applied Regression (STAT 6950) and Applied Bayesian Analysis (STAT 6570) because there was a final project involved in both of them, and they allowed me to apply what I was learning in theory.

One of the things I love the most about being in this program is being a TA and working in the tutor room. The interactions with the students keep me motivated. Even though recitations feel like a monologue sometimes, I am witnessing students’ growth every day. My hope is to teach one day, so being a TA in the department is a very good opportunity. One thing that I like less is grading. 🙁

Outside of the department, I like going to the movies and watching Senegalese dramas on YouTube. I also hope to start reading novels again and take Taekwondo classes by the end of the year.

I know I have been all over the place throughout this post, but I want to end with this:

This year I have taken one step out of my comfort zone to become one of the co-Presidents alongside Chenxi. I am always open to talk to any student on how to enhance their graduate school experience in the department. My office is Room 404 in the Math Building (MA) and my email is diallo.66@osu.edu.

Thank you all for your attention. 🙂

Chenxi Zhou

Hi everyone, my name is Chenxi Zhou, and I am a third year Ph.D. student in statistics. Originally I came from Zhengzhou, Henan Province in China. I came to the United States in 2011 for my undergraduate studies at OSU and majored in both mathematics and economics in the honors program.

In terms of research, I am broadly interested in statistical learning, high-dimensional statistics, and optimization in statistics. Currently, I am working and reading with Dr. Vincent Vu on some interesting problems. Also, I am attending the Statistical Learning and Data Mining Reading Group and serving as the student coordinator. If you are also in this reading group, with probability equal to 1, you will see me there and receive emails from me.

As a graduate student, one responsibility is teaching. I love teaching and communicating with other people. I am teaching two sections of STAT 4202 recitation this semester.

When I am not doing statistics, I am keen on swimming, jogging and muscle building, one corollary of which is that you can see me at RPAC very frequently. Besides that, I also enjoy trying food of different countries, and Columbus is such a big city that you can find all kinds of food you can think of. I especially love Chinese Szechuan food which is famous for being very spicy. I am also a big fan of Japanese food (ramen and sashimi in particular), Korean barbeque and Indian and Thai curry. If you want restaurant recommendations of these food, feel free to contact me!

Now my office is Cockins Hall 305E, at the opposite side of our computing lab. If you have any question, please do not hesitate to stop by my office or email me at zhou.779@osu.edu. Wish everyone a great semester!

Recently, several graduate students in the department have expressed interest in giving back to the community through volunteer work. Last Saturday, we kicked off the first department-wide service event at LifeCare Alliance.

LifeCare Alliance is an organization that serves older members of the Columbus community, and also operates the Meals-on-Wheels program in Columbus. Staff and volunteers at their distribution center pack and deliver meals to people’s homes, seven days a week. On Saturday, the theme of our work was apples: we were in the prep kitchen packing apples and applesauce into bags for individual households. By the end of the afternoon, everyone was a pro at counting to ten and stacking boxes. We also cleaned out delivery bags and prepared them for the next day’s deliveries.

We plan to continue to have regular opportunities for both students and faculty in our department to get involved, both with this organization and others. Check your email to learn about future events, and let the co-presidents know if you have ideas of new organizations we could reach out to and potentially work with in the future.

Hi! I am a 5th year student in the Statistics PhD program.  I grew up in Urbana, IL.  Before coming to Ohio State I got a B.A. in Business with a Spanish concentration from the University of Dallas.  After graduation, I stayed in Dallas for a bit and served on an AmeriCorps team for a summer and then worked as an office manager at an ESL school.  I started school here in 2012 and might finish this December, or the following spring.

My adviser is Mario Peruggia and we are working on choosing priors for Bayesian mixture models.  Mixtures are really useful, but not very well-behaved, so choosing priors can be tricky.  In the course of writing my thesis, I plan to apply some of our ideas to a model for human trafficking data. I’ve also done some research on missing data methodology and modeling response times with a professor of psychology.  It’s been very cool to get to work on such a variety of projects during my short time here.

I am currently a TA for the online section of STAT 1450.  We have more students this semester than ever before, and some are even outside of the US this semester.  I’ve worked with the online course for awhile now, and it’s been really interesting to see how students learn in this setting.  We touch base briefly each week with them through office hours, and I’m usually impressed by how much they have learned independently since I “saw” them last.  Earlier in my time at OSU, I also lectured for 1430 and TAed for 1350.

When I’m not studying in Cockins Hall, some of my favorite things to do in Columbus include:

• Plays at the OSU theater department
• “Wake and Shake,” an early morning dance party at Wild Goose Creative
• Free magic shows at P3 magic theater
• Volunteer events through Columbus Gives Back
• Getting coffee at Stauf’s in Grandview
• Red White and Boom (fireworks) on the 4th of July

I also love to throw themed parties, attend weddings, and watch Gilmore Girls on Netflix.  I travel to North Carolina and Georgia often to see my family.   (I have two older sisters and am expecting my third niece in March! ) Next on my list of places to visit is New Orleans.

If there’s one thing graduate students love, it is asserting their dominance in the intellectual arena. Thankfully, Columbus offers a variety of trivia competitions to satiate this need. Different styles of trivia include, but are not limited to, standard bar trivia (timed discussion with point wagering), buzzer style (think Jeopardy), as well as specialty theme nights at various establishments throughout the city. Often, there can even be financial incentive in addition to all-important bragging rights!

In a tribute to Cockins Hall namesake Edith Cockins, Team Hurricane Edith came in 3rd place out of 10 at Trivia Night this week, earning a $10 Hampton’s on King gift card in the process. Statistics graduate students Justin Strait, Corey Smith, Deborah Kunkel, Matt Wascher, Andy McCarthy, and Nate Onnen, as well as program alumnus Jason Benedict answered questions ranging in topic from pop culture and celebrities to state nicknames and world geography.

Out of the 18 questions in the regular round, the team answered 16 correctly. If you can answer either of the following two questions (answers listed below), the team could have used you on Sunday:

1. What famous actress was engaged to Brad Pitt, then later had a relationship with Ben Affleck?
2. What is the only element on the periodic table besides Mercury that is a liquid at STP (Standard Temperature and Pressure)?

The team’s diverse mix of interests and backgrounds creates a good base of knowledge from which to answer questions. Jason has a bachelor’s degree in biology, and along with veterinarian girlfriend Jenn (photo credit) and dog Brodie, provides most of the scientific knowledge. Nate’s love of television and movies consistently provides a boost, while Deborah is responsible for the geography questions. Team captain Corey also answers a wide array of pop culture questions (as well as the first ice hockey question in trivia history), and Matt’s history knowledge was worth a solid chunk of points. Andy stays in his proverbial trivia lane, answering only sports questions.

Former Stats Department president Justin fills in almost all the gaps, including the most impressive answer of the night: What famous French boulevard cuts through the center of Paris? The team quickly discarded its first instinct, the Boulevard of Broken Dreams (shout out, Green Day), and Justin came through with The Avenue des Champs–Élysées. The team discusses all questions as a group, but rarely uses the entire allotted three minutes to submit the answer card.

Answers to Trivia Questions:

Continue reading →

Andy McCarthy

Hometown: Middletown, OH
Age: 23

Degree Program: Master’s of Applied Statistics (M.A.S.)
Bachelor’s Degree: B.S. in Aerospace Engineering
Alma Mater: University of Notre Dame

Favorite Drink: Including alcoholic beverages, my favorite drink is chocolate milk, and nothing else is even close. You can drink it with breakfast, lunch, or dinner, it’s a great recovery drink, there are no negatives.

Favorite Movie: I like a lot of action movies, such as the Jason Bourne series, but if I was headed to a deserted island with one movie for the rest of my life, I’m taking Hoosiers, starring Gene Hackman. Rudy would definitely make the final round of cuts, but doesn’t quite overtake the magic of Hoosiers for me.

First Job: Cashier and “cook” at The Beach Waterpark in Mason, OH. I was in charge of frying french fries, placing trays of burgers in the oven, and scrubbing grease off the floors. I learned nothing about cooking, as evidenced by the chicken, pasta, and peanut butter toast diet that has carried me through graduate school thus far.

Favorite Stats Class: I’d have to say STAT 6450, the applied regression class. It seems like in the real world, every problem is solved using some kind of regression analysis. The theory is not that complicated, and it’s extremely powerful.

Outside of class, I spend a lot of time exercising. I have a hard time concentrating if I don’t spend an hour or so every day doing something physical, whether that be running, lifting, or playing pickup basketball, etc. In that same vein, the television that I watch tends to be live sports, for the most part. I watch a large volume of NFL and college football in the fall, NBA and college basketball in the winter, playoff MLB baseball in October, and whatever else is on.

After graduation, which I anticipate will be this coming May, I haven’t yet decided what area of statistics interests me the most. A role in sports analytics would be an interesting path for me, but combining my engineering background with statistics could also be a viable option. This past summer, I worked for a consulting company called the Perduco Group, where my project involved modeling the intentional and unintentional effects of precision-guided munitions with a professor of Operations Research at the Air Force Institute of Technology.

I’m excited about my second and final year in Columbus, and want to do everything I can as Co-President to make sure we’re doing a good job of giving students opportunities to get involved in the department. If you have any suggestions, feel free to e-mail me at mccarthy.352@osu.edu.

Nate Onnen

Hometown: Loveland, OH
Age: 23

Degree Program: PhD in Statistics
Bachelors Degree: B.S. in Mathematics
Alma Mater: Union College

Favorite Drink: My favorite drink by far is Coca-Cola. I would have to say that it is probably my greatest vice. This year, I tried giving it up for the Lenten season, as I had heard many of my friends did it and gave up pop forever. However, after those 40 days were up, I broke my fast by pounding about 3 Cokes at Easter dinner.

Favorite Movie: I like to think of myself to be a huge “pop-culture” buff, so many might expect my favorite movie to fall somewhere in the top 20 movies of all time lists, but my fave flick is something much more mainstream: School of Rock. I would not recommend watching it with me; I have been known to quote entire scenes at a time.

First Job: The first job that I ever had was as a rides operator at Kings Island amusement park. I worked in Kiddie Land (Planet Snoopy for those in the know, 16-time Golden Ticket award for best children’s amusement park, but I digress). By far one of the most fun jobs I have ever had, as I got to spend time in the sun, having short 30-second conversations with folks, and making people smile.

Favorite Statistics Class: It has been a small sample size (yes I made that joke) but I really enjoyed STAT 6570. I had never seen Bayesian Analysis, but that way of thinking, combined with the heavy programming involved in the course was really exciting and interesting.

When I’m not in the classroom, I’d love to say I was working out as much as my compadre, but I HAVE seen more movies than him so I’ve got that going for me. I’m a retired collegiate XC and Track and Field runner, and took that retirement a little bit too seriously last year, but I am currently training for the Columbus Half Marathon which will take place next month. As previously mentioned, I love absorbing pop culture (esp. Survivor, Season 3 starts on Wednesday!), but I also have been know to play silly songs on the guitar from time to time.

My plan for the next couple of years are to continue my studies here at OSU. I am unsure what kind of statistics, or what kind of work I will be doing in the future, but I have always kept an open mind, and I know that the right opportunity will rear its head, and I will be more than ready to tackle it!

Last year was an amazing first year in this Statistics Department, and I am looking forward to many more. This department is like a family (we spend far too much time together to use any other phrase) and as a co-President, I hope to create many opportunities to strengthen this bond that we all share. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email me at onnen.2@osu.edu.

Sophie and I are happy to share our first two student profiles…this is a close look at two of our graduate students within the department.  If you would like to write and submit one for a future blog update, let one of us know and we’d be glad to include it!

Akira Horiguchi