Description: The Actuary Vol. 22, No. 7. This article discusses the activities and goals of the Product Development Section which is in its sixth year.

Description: The Actuary Vol. 22, No. 7. This article discusses the activities and goals of the Product Development Section of the SOA. Future activities will include joint sessions with other sections since product development issues sometimes relate to financial reporting. reinsurance, investments and nontraditional marketing.

Description: Our 13 risk theory seminars, to introduce Part 5A candidates to the new material were strongly supported, and, according to 109 questionnaires since received, were popular. Prevailing opinions were that these sessions boosted attendees confidence in their ability to continue studying on their own, and their chances of passing the exam. From The Actuary VOL. 16, No. 6

Description: The author expresses an opinion opposing specialization within FSA examinations explaining that such activity should occur after achieving FSA.

Description: The rules for picking prizewinners among Actucrossword solvers were changed in September 1982: the time taken to submit a solution ceased to be counted, and winners were to be determined by fiscal year instead of monthly. This article announces the winners for the period September 1982 through June 1982 and welcomes comments from solvers of either Aclucrosswords or Actucrostics that would make them more fun or of greater interest.

Description: The author notes the decline in the study of compound interest and the effect of computers on the subject.

Description: The Education and Examination Committee recently awarded 30 Fellowship credits to Gordon Willmot for his paper entitled “A Queuing Theoretic Approach to the Analysis of the Claims Payment Process.” This marks the first such award under a new program approved unanimously by the Board of Governors in October 1987.

Description: 0ne of Hartford’s more neglected assets is its jai-alai “fronton”, or arena. Jai-alai is a fast-paced Basque sport, on which betting is legalized in several slates. Its scoring system presents a fascinating actuarial puzzle, in pursuit of which many area students have invested significant time, effort and computer expense. This article summarizes the rules of the game, the scoring system and poses the question as to whether a team's chances of winning can be analytically determined. Note: This is the first of two articles. The second is in the February 1984 issue.

Description: This article, the second of a two part series, examines the jai-alai results which would be expected if all teams had equal ability, and then contrasts these expected results with actual experience. The first part of this series was published in the November 1983 issue.