Copyright 2000 Newspaper Publishing PLC The Independent (London) August 27, 2000, Sunday SECTION: SPORT; Pg. 27 LENGTH: 145 words HEADLINE: LETTER: THE JOY OF MATHS BYLINE: R. Brown BODY: IT IS UNTRUE to say, as Geoff Poole does (Letters, 13 August), that university maths courses have not changed in 30 years. It depends where you go. Prospective students should look for courses in which a project is a requirement for the final assessment; where the project does allow for a "maths in context" flavour when desired; and in which the evaluation of mathematical method is seen as a part of the whole course. Such considerations are also essential for prospective teachers. Those of us who are working on raising public awareness of mathematics believe it is essential to popularise it. It is an essential component of high-technology because it allows for precision and hence deduction and calculation. This kind of rigour may not be easy, but it makes those who can do it very employable. R BROWN University of Wales Bangor, Gwynedd