2019: Fall Contest: A Milestone Math Quiz

I notice that this year (2019) most of us in the class of ’71 will turn 70, while most members of the class of ’70 will turn 71. Last year (2018) the class of ’70 turned 70, and next year (2020) the class of ’71 will turn 71. I call these examples “milestone” years.

Your Challenge:

Answer the questions below.

For the purpose of this contest, assume the members of each class turned 22 the year they graduated, even though the reality is more varied. (This means the class of ’22 will have its “milestone” year the same year it graduates.)

Image

Anyone who answers correctly will be entered to win an Amherst T-shirt.

1. Why is it that even though we graduated in consecutive years (’70 and ’71), these two “milestone” years (2018 and 2020) are two years apart?
2. How does a similar explanation apply to the “milestone” years for the classes of ’82 and ’87, which graduated five years apart?
3. Which class will celebrate its “milestone” year in the same year as its 50th reunion?

Turton was the winner of the Spring 2019 “Campus Close-Up” contest. A physics major at Amherst, he is a retired mathematics teacher.

Diana (Accurso) Garbera ’85 is the randomly selected winner of our “Challenge Both Classy and Noteworthy,” in which Assistant Editor Katherine Duke ’05 offered a scavenger hunt through the Summer 2019 class notes. “What fun!” wrote Garbera. “Great to read all the class news so thoroughly!” wrote another entrant. Consider this inspiration to flip back and read the current issue’s class notes from start to finish.

1. A ’56 alum and a ’61 alum each quote the same joke about aging. How does that joke go?
   

   “If I had known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself,” from Bruce Jones ’56 and Bob Weiner ’61

2. Births of twins are announced in the notes from three consecutive classes. Which class years are these?
   

   2001, 2002 and 2003

3. The following:
   
   1. Which two class secretaries, who graduated 35 years apart, are father and son?
      

      Hank Tulgan ’54 and Bruce Tulgan ’89

   2. Which two class secretaries, who graduated 28 years apart, are father and daughter?
      

      Mike Giaimo ’83 and Cara Giaimo ’11