ESP Biography



BETH SCHAFFER, Why bother? Why not?




Major: 18

College/Employer: Not available.

Year of Graduation: Not available.

Picture of Beth Schaffer

Brief Biographical Sketch:

Beth Schaffer enjoys climbing tall trees and long walks on the beach.



Past Classes

  (Clicking a class title will bring you to the course's section of the corresponding course catalog)

X3325: Explore MIT in Spark! 2010 (Mar. 13, 2010)
This is not your average campus tour! We’ll explore the winding basements, the towering Green Building and some of the wackier elements of the architecture around MIT. I’ll be taking you on a tour of a lot of the stranger places around campus as well as some of the prettiest sights. Be prepared to walk!


X2749: Explore MIT in Splash! 2009 (Nov. 21 - 22, 2009)
This is not your average campus tour! We’ll explore the winding basements, the towering Green Building and some of the wackier elements of the architecture around MIT. I’ll be taking you on a tour of a lot of the stranger places around campus as well as some of the prettiest sights. Be prepared to walk!


X2283: Explore MIT in Spark! Spring 2009 (Mar. 07, 2009)
This is not your average campus tour! We’ll explore the winding basements, the towering Green Building and some of the wackier elements of the architecture around MIT. I’ll be taking you on a tour of a lot of the stranger places around campus as well as some of the prettiest sights. Be prepared to walk!


H1914: Explore MIT in Splash! 2008 (Nov. 22 - 23, 2008)
This is not your average campus tour! We’ll explore the winding basements, the towering Green Building and some of the wackier elements of the architecture around MIT. I’ll be taking you on a tour of a lot of the stranger places around campus as well as some of the prettiest sights. Be prepared to walk!


S2000: Voting systems and why they fail in Splash! 2008 (Nov. 22 - 23, 2008)
The electoral college isn't the best way to go about it, but neither is plurality, necessarily. We'll be taking a look at a variety of voting systems: Condorcet, Borda count, instant-runoff, approval voting, just to name a few. We'll examine real situations where they have been instituted, and hypothetical examples where they could be instituted while keeping in mind certain basic characteristics that we want the system to maintain:Independence of irrelevant alternatives,transitivity criterion, unanimity criterion, non-dictatorship. Finally, we'll prove Arrow's impossibility theorem that shows that no voting system can meet our basic requirements! While this is a mathematically deep subject, we'll be keeping the math relatively simple and clear for the purposes of this class.


M1304: Triangles, Angles, and Ratios in Spark! Spring 2008 (Mar. 08, 2008)
Given a polygon, or few, a couple of side lengths, an angle here or there, can you find x? We'll look at how to take advantage of similar triangles and isosceles triangles, and when and how to find the "missing line".


H1305: Explore MIT in Spark! Spring 2008 (Mar. 08, 2008)
This is not your average campus tour! We'll explore the winding basements, the towering Green Building and some of the wackier elements of the architecture around MIT. I'll be taking you on a tour of a lot of the stranger places around campus as well as some of the prettiest sights. Be prepared to walk!


M1349: Mathematical Problem Solving in Spark! Spring 2008 (Mar. 08, 2008)
Work individually and in groups on challenging math problems. We'll look at AMC, HMMT, ARML, etc. problems. Don't worry if you don't think you're very good or even if you've never heard of those acronyms. Most of the class will be spent problem solving, as opposed to taking formal lessons. Come prepared to learn, discover, and have fun!


M1348: Mathematical Problem Solving in HSSP Spring 2008 (Mar. 15, 2008)
Work individually and in groups on challenging math problems. We'll look at AMC, HMMT, ARML, etc. problems. Don't worry if you don't think you're very good or even if you've never heard of those acronyms. Most of the class will be spent problem solving, as opposed to taking formal lessons. Come prepared to learn, discover, and have fun!


2008 Presidential Election in SPLASHONWHEELS (2008)
Do you feel a little lost about what has been going on this election cycle? Want to know who's running, ...


Triangles, Angles, and Ratios in SPLASHONWHEELS (2008)
Given a polygon, or few, a couple of side lengths, an angle here or there, can you find x? We'll ...


Starvation, Extermination, and Infestation: a Realistic History in HSSP (2008)
Over time, life has been significantly awful for a lot of people: catastrophes, depressions, genocide oppression, illegal immigration, drug trades, ...


AP Economics in DELVE (2008)
In this class, students will learn the foundations of economic theory. This class will cover material for both the AP ...


Make Your Own Ice Cream in SPLASH (2007)
What kind of ice cream do you like? Vanilla, strawberry chocolate chip, butterscotch banana, some other crazy concoction? Learn how ...


Manipulation for fun and profit in SPLASH (2007)
Social engineering, seduction, intimidation.....


Number Tricks in SPLASH (2007)
...divisibility rules, mental multiplication, the postage trick, factorials, sums of series...


Pulling the all-nighter in SPLASH (2007)
Learn strategies for pulling your 1st, 5th, or $$n$$th all-nighter. Coffee and Red Bull are not your only choices! Find ...


Triangles, Angles, and Ratios in SPLASH (2007)
Learn tricks to find the side lengths and angles of triangles in all sorts of situations!


Wading through the bias in SPLASH (2007)
Interested in world events? Want to be able to hold your own in intelligent topical debate? Just want to be ...


Wading through the bias in SPLASH (2007)
Interested in world events? Want to be able to hold your own in intelligent topical debate? Just want to be ...