JAMES MALIN
STAFF WRITER

On Thursday March 14 (3.14), the math department came together to take part in the worldwide celebration of Pi Day.
Pi Day presented me with an excellent opportunity: A pie-eating competition. Math is hardly an area of expertise for me, pie-eating, however, is a different story. I stepped up to the long table, assessing my competition. “You’ve got this,” I told myself.

We were informed of the rules of the contest: hands were to be tied behind backs and the first three to finish their pie advance to the finals. I steamrollered the first round, eliminating all in my path.

Onto the finals.

The final was a piece of cake, pun intended, I finished the pie in two bites.

As a prize for my success I got to pie a math teacher of my choice in the face. I chose my current Geometry teacher, Neil Basu. Payback for a year of C’s.
Amidst my 15 minutes of fame I managed to gather some information.

3 pounds for a ‘Pi Day’ T-Shirt
1 joke: “Pi Day gives me the opportunity to PIoneer new cartoons!” courtesy of Math Teacher Ray Blanch.
4 students who won the right to pie a math teacher: James Malin, Hayden Nadler (’14), Clayton Sasaki (’14) and Asher Bohmer (’13).
1 student won the pie eating contest. It was me. Of course.
5 math teachers’ thoughts on Pi Day:
Tony Bracht: “Pi Day is a fun excuse to celebrate math.”
Frank Sousa: “It means I get to eat a lot of pie.”
Julie Bevad: “It’s just an exciting way to celebrate math.”
Joey Sinreich: “It connects current mathematic students with 5,000 years of mathematical tradition.”
Mark Barsoum: “Remember when you were really young and had a favorite number? One that was definitely your absolute favorite that you would sound off about forever? It’s like that again-except you have five trillion of them for the price of one.”

james_malin@asl.org