On March 15, hoards of pi lovers crowded MC halls at 1:59pm to claim their free pie for (π+0.01) Day. There was pi merchandise, pi digit battles, high-pi’s all around, and as I write this article, I stand in the middle of it all (possibly participating). The smell of pie overpowered the smell of pi lovers crowding around tables of caramel apple, pecan, key lime, mincemeat, rhubarb, chocolate, lemon meringue, raspberry crumble, and other deliciously free slices of pie.
Free pie is UW MathSoc’s traditional way to celebrate the transcendental phenomenon of pi, aka 3.14, or for you pi-hards, 3.141592653589793…I’ll stop. The 0.01 correction factor is because the real Pi Day, March 14, fell on a Sunday this year. MathSoc bought 100 pies, sectioned into 8, giving out 800 slices in total, each with an area of ⅛πr2 and a crust length of ¼πr. They vanished in a short period of time, so I can’t imagine how unreal (or not) the highly anticipated 2015 Pi Day (3/14/15) will be.
Although there was no official EngSoc Pi Day event this year, I’m sure we all celebrated in the pi-vacy of our own homes. But does that make accepting free pie from math students uncool? Don’t be irrational- it’s quite the opposite, a complete 180o ( π rad). Pies aren’t for squares; they’re about coming full circle and loving everyone. I took my role as an unofficial self-appointed Engineering-Math Ambassador so seriously that I lined up twice.
I wasn’t the only engineer in line; everyone knows where to find free food. “Mmm, this pie transcends my expectations!” exclaimed Kevin Joseph, a nano student and pi-hard fan of key lime pie. “The pied piper called me here,” explained Michael Leung, a fellow classmate. “Mmm*pi*mgh*chew*mnghhn,” added an onlooker.
I’ve now exhausted my bank of pi puns, so until the next Pi Day rolls around, keep it real. (p.s. article word count: 314)
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