By Kathryn Kozak, VP of the SW Region
I have enjoyed being the Vice President of the Southwest Region of AMATYC for these last five and a half years. I have especially enjoyed attending ArizMATYC conferences and continuing to be involved in ArizMATYC. I know the next Vice President of the Southwest Region will represent the region very well.
The election for AMATYC officers is completed and the new board will start on January 1, 2018. For the Southwest region April Ström from Scottsdale Community College in Scottsdale, AZ, is the new vice president. I extremely appreciate the members of AMATYC electing me as the President-elect of AMATYC. I look forward to serving AMATYC in this new position.
I hope that you are planning to attend the Annual AMATYC Conference in San Diego, AC, November 9 to 12. In addition to the great conference sessions, the exhibits, and the opportunities for networking with colleagues around the country, you will also be there for the unveiling of the new standards document called AMATYC IMPACT. I look forward to seeing you at the conference.
Lastly, I want to thank you all for having the faith in me to elect me for 3 terms as the Vice President. I am honored.
November 19-22 will be a great time in New Orleans. The AMATYC Annual Conference is being held in this exciting city during this time. This year there will be three themed sessions, one focused one statistics, another focused on teacher preparation, and the last one on precalculus, calculus, and beyond. Themed sessions are hosted by committees, and involve six, 15-minute sessions focusing on the theme of the themed session. The will also be a round table discussion on placement and assessment ideas. In addition, there is a research session on Thursday night, where you can see the latest research in two-year college mathematics education. The committees have been working very hard to make these sessions the best they can be. Please consider becoming involved in a committee so that you can be involved in the focus of the committees, and AMATYC, in the future. Each committee meets on Friday, November 20 from 4:15-5:45.
Block out your calendars, the Fall ArizMATYC Conference is set for Friday, October 9 at Mesa Community College. Full details may be found on the 
Over the past few years, several alternative pathways to college level math have been explored across the country. These pathways differ from the usual pre/beginning/intermediate pathways that traditionally prepare students for college algebra. Instead, they aim to prepare students for a course like college math.
In December of 2014, Sony released the movie The Interview online after threats to theaters cancelled the debut in theaters. As originally reported in Wall Street Journal, the sales figures reported in January contained an interesting math problem appropriate for algebra students.