Archive

Author Archive

Awarded: 2011-12 UNM Math & Stat Outstanding Undergraduate Instructor

May 11th, 2012

I’m grateful to my students who voted for me as UNM Math & Stat Outstanding Undergraduate Instructor for 2011-12.  I was tied for UNM Math & Stat Outstanding Graduate Instructor, as well.  I work hard to give my students the best experience, to give them time before and after class to ask questions, to respond promptly to their email, and to reach them where they are and pull them up or show them how to keep climbing.

I keep adding to my Teaching Dossier, reflecting on my experience and accomplishments.

Statistics

Contra dance: Las Cruces Stomp

May 10th, 2012

Las Cruces Stomp
Erik Erhardt
Type: Contra
Formation: Duple-Improper
Level: Easy

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dance

Contra dance: Fair trade

May 10th, 2012

Fair trade
Erik Erhardt & Cora McCold
Type: Contra
Formation: Duple-Improper
Progression: Double
Level: Int

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dance

Contra dance: Lucia’s square through

May 10th, 2012

Lucia’s square through
Erik Erhardt
Type: Contra
Formation: Becket-CW
Level: Int

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dance

Contra dance: Precket for Kara, #1

May 10th, 2012

Precket for Kara, #1
Erik Erhardt
Type: Contra
Formation: Duple-Proper
Level: Int

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dance

Contra dance: Stars on van Vliet Street

May 10th, 2012

Stars on van Vliet Street
Erik Erhardt
Type: Contra
Formation: Duple-Improper
Level: Easy-Int

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dance

Contra dance: Salute to Richard Wilson, spirals

May 10th, 2012

Salute to Richard Wilson, spirals
Erik Erhardt
Type: Contra
Formation: Duple-Improper
Level: Easy-Int

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dance

Workshop: NSF, Science: Becoming the Messenger

April 18th, 2012

A crowd-sourced article about communicating our science written as part of today’s workshop. I made the image in 45 seconds.

Research

Dance: 2012 spring newsletter for Friends of the Guiding Star Grange

April 3rd, 2012

I was touched to be invited by Val LaBelle to write the article below appearing in the 2012 Spring newsletter for the Friends of the Guiding Star Grange. It was almost 15 years ago that I became a dancer on the Guiding Star’s floor.

Old-time contra dancing, tradition and modernity in New Mexico
by Erik Erhardt, a New England transplant

At first glance, walking into a contra dance in New Mexico will have the look and feel of dances we experience all over the country: groups people in brightly colored clothing laughingly catching up since the last dance, a table with a small cashbox and dance fliers, a stage with musicians and technicians preparing the sound, and a buzz of anticipation for a fun evening of dance (and sometimes song). But if you’re from New England, as I am, you’ll start to notice little differences reflecting the culture, music, and style of the southwest. Cue harp strumming as we go back in time…

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dance, Fun

Mega Millions $540M jackpot, or How to NOT LOSE at the lottery

March 30th, 2012

I quickly prepared the fun slides below for a short interview with KOAT Channel 7 on the Mega Millions $540M jackpot (estimated at $640 at 3:30pm on the day of the drawing), since it is greatly surpassing the previous record of $390 million.

A ticket’s probability of winning the jackpot is roughly the ratio of the length of one of your fingers to the diameter of the earth, so unchangeably near 0 (0.00000000569). It is interesting for the jackpot to be large enough that the expected value is a few times larger than the cost of a ticket, which makes it a sensible time to buy from an expected value point-of-view. In fact, now’s a good time to purchase EVERY ticket combination — hurry, and hope you don’t have to split it with another winner!
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Statistics