Editor’s Letter—Vol. 35, No. 4
Dear CHANCE Colleagues,
This issue of CHANCE contains a wide variety of topics that I hope you’ll enjoy.
The hotly debated “Monty Hall” problem, based on the game show “Let’s Make a Deal,” has been a solved problem for decades. It is a straightforward exercise to simulate the problem, showing the optimal choice a contestant should make. However, the correct choice seems to defy logic. In “Monty Hall and ‘the Leibniz Illusion,'” Steven Tijms takes a fresh look at the problem, explaining the illusion that deceived so many.
“Quantum entanglement” is a physical phenomenon that refers to a connection between subatomic particles, where the state of one particle directly affects the state of another, even when separated by a large distance. In the article “Random Entanglement,” Mike Orkin ponders a seemingly similar connection between random events.
Through an interview by Sam Behseta, we learn more about a member of the CHANCE team: Hal Stern. Hal served as executive editor of CHANCE magazine (1999–2001), but his involvement with CHANCE dates back to 1991 with terms as associate editor and editor of the sports column, through today as current advisory editor. Hal is a vice provost for academic planning and Chancellor’s Professor in the Department of Statistics at the University of California, Irvine. In addition to a long list of accolades, he was honored this year with an ASA Founder’s Award.
Turning to editorials and columns: Sinjini Mitra reflects on experience in teaching statistics and data science to business students. In the “O Privacy, Where Art Thou?” column, Fang Liu provides an informative list of Q&As about differential privacy. Mary Gray dives into insurance and risk calculation in “Odds of Justice,” asking the question: Is there such a thing as good discrimination? In “Beyond the Boxscore,” Richard De Veaux, Anna Plantinga, and Elizabeth Upton investigate the fairness of age handicaps in the yearly Dipsea Race. In “Book Reviews,” Christian Robert shares his impressions of two books: Bayes Rules! by Alicia Johnson, Miles Ott, and Mine Dogucu, and Amy’s Luck by David Hand.
Lastly, my term as executive editor of CHANCE comes to an end with this issue. I am happy to welcome Wendy Martinez as the next executive editor. The position has been a wonderful learning experience and I have enjoyed the opportunity to meet many exceptional people. Publishing each issue is a team effort and I appreciate the dedication of the CHANCE editors and our partners at the ASA and Taylor & Francis. I am grateful for the contributions of numerous article authors. And I am grateful for you, the subscriber. Thanks for reading!
Amanda Peterson-Plunkett