UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI LOCAL

SECTION

October, 2000

Volume 4, Number2

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OUR LOCAL SECTION WEB SITE

This newsletter, along with lots of other information about the local section is online:

http://www.chem.missouri.edu/acslocal/acslocal.htm

The first meeting of the academic year will be Thursday, October 12 at 7:30 in room 126 Physics on the University of Missouri campus. The speaker will be Dr. Joe A. Vinson from The University of Scranton. The title of his talk is A Scientific Look at Marijuana. The abstract is below.

A SCIENTIFIC LOOK AT MARIJUANA

Marijuana remains the most commonly abused illegal drug in the United States. Unfortunately, we are only now beginning to know something about this drug. In this talk, we will cover in layman's terms the history of marijuana and the nature of the plant and the chemicals contained in it. We will look at what happens to marijuana when it is smoked and what happens to the body when marijuana is present. We will look in detail at both the acute and chronic effects of marijuana on human health. Recent research on the use of marijuana as a beneficial drug will also be highlighted. Ample time will be given for discussion after the presentation.

NOVEMBER MEETING

The November meeting will be on Wednesday, November 8. The speaker will be Dr. Joel Harris from the University of Utah. The title of his talk will be New Methods to Probe Reaction Kinetics. Further information will be provided in the November newsletter.

NATIONAL CHEMISTRY WEEK

National chemistry week is November 5 - 11, 2000. The University Chemistry Club and Dr. Steve Keller are planning some activities.

ELECTIONS

Election of new officers is coming soon. Nominations for the 2001 Chair-Elect position are being solicited. This is a two year position, one year as chair-elect and one as chair. Please feel free to nominate yourself for the position if you are interested. Contact Don Riederer (RiedererD@missouri) or Ingolf Gruen (GruenI@missouri.edu).
 
 

We are currently in the process of updating our section by-laws and are considering changing the name of our local section. Our present name, "The University of Missouri Section of the American Chemical Society", does not reflect the diverse nature of our membership which includes all ACS members within our geographic section. A suggested name is the "Mid-Missouri Section of the American Chemical Society". Other suggestions are welcome.
 
 

Report on the meeting of the ACS Council in Washington, DC, August 23, 2000

The main topic of discussion in Washington this year was that the weather was very nice, in stark contrast to everyone's expectations of a heat and humidity fest. Beyond the weather, there was a considerable amount of controversy that surfaced this meeting stemming from a petition that appeared on the Council agenda authorizing an increase in the membership of the Council standing committees. (FYI, the standing committees of Council are Meetings and Expositions, Membership Affairs, Divisional Activities, Economic and Professional Affairs, Local Section Activities, and Constitution and Bylaws. The maximum voting membership of each of these committees currently is capped at fifteen, unless otherwise authorized by special vote of the Council. Only elected councilors may serve on these committees. These are by no means the only ACS committees!) The change would permit a maximum of twenty-four voting members on these committees. What made the petition especially controversial was a request for urgent action, meaning that the normal consideration process would be bypassed and that a three-fourths vote of Council would be required to take up the issue. Part of the (unwritten) rationale for the urgency in this matter is that some councilors believe that they have been systematically excluded from committee participation by some unspecified "establishment" and that the incoming President, Attila Pavlath, will rectify the situation if he has many empty committee seats to fill. (He must make committee appointments prior to the time that the Council would normally vote on the petition.) Aside from the question of urgency, the underlying argument for the change in the size of the committees is that there are councilors who want to participate actively in committee service, but there are not enough committee positions for them to fill. Personally, I do not find that argument to provide sufficient justification, given that in my experience committee productivity has an inverse dependence on the size of the committee. When this issue finally came to the floor of Council, the President-Elect (Pavlath) immediately moved to table the motion for urgent action by that time it was clear that the motion for urgent action would be defeated anyway. The petition therefore will be handled in the usual train of business at the next Council meeting (in San Diego). What can I say? You had to have been there to appreciate the uproar that this petition caused.

Let's see what else happened?

1. We will be voting this fall on our region's representative to the Board of Directors. The incumbent is Ann Nalley, who will be opposed by Ted Brown in the election. The Board of Directors hold the real power in the Society, so please take your opportunity to vote seriously.

2. President Daryle Busch reported on an alliance between the ACS and the Green Chemistry Institute. This appears to be a buy-out of sorts, since it involves $2 million in ACS funds over a five-year period. The Director of the Institute will become an ACS staff member.

3. President-Elect Pavlath reported that he is pushing a project whereby the membership can be polled over the internet.

4. Board Chair Hank Whalen mentioned in his report that the Chemical Manufacturers Association has changed its name to the American Chemistry Council, apparently because "chemistry" has better vibes with the public than does "chemical" and perhaps to hide the fact that it is an industry advocacy group.

5. The Governing Board for Publishing reported that it has recommended a strengthening of all the ACS web sites. Publication activities are expected to contribute $7 million to the programs and reserves of the Society in 2000.

6. The Committee on Committees (I'm not kidding, that really is the name of the committee) reported that it is seeking input on the creation of a body of some type that would be concerned with ethics in the chemical profession.

7. The Committee on Publications has been assigned the duties previously assumed by the Committee on Copyrights, which was discharged.

8. The Committee on Technician Activities has been renamed the Committee on Technical Affairs.

9. The Committee on Nominations and Elections is investigating how to implement electronic balloting in national ACS elections.

10. To avoid confusion with the "regions" represented in the various Regional Meetings, the areas that are established for the purposes of representation on the Board of Directors have been renamed "districts", and our Regional Director will become our District Director. (We are, by the way, in District V.)

11. The Committee on Budget and Finance reported that core Society operations are expected to contribute a net $8.5 million to reserves in 2000 ($4.2 million favorable to budget), with the total contribution to reserves of $7 million from all operations. Capital expenditures are expected to be $39.8 million, a figure which is on target with the budget. The new data center being constructed in Columbus, OH is on time and on budget. This center will include new data processing equipment for the Society and Chemical Abstracts. The committee approved a request for $35.6 thousand to develop a set of guidelines for a Master of Science in Molecular Science degree program that would be aimed at in-service high school teachers; it approved $40 thousand in funding for non-competitive programming grants for regional meetings as a step towards improving the programming at these meetings; it approved $216 thousand in requests for additional Minority Affairs programming and activities; it approved $200 thousand for science materials for second- and third-world countries; and it approved a request for $143 thousand to increase the staff involved with the ACS web presence.

12. The Committee on Science seems to be searching for its appropriate role (Steve Yates, who serves on this committee, indicated the same to me privately.)

13. The Committee on Meetings and Expositions reported a total attendance in Washington (as of Tuesday afternoon) of about 13,400. Space in the exposition was sold out (again). You can decide if this is something to look forward to or not, but Indianapolis has been added to the list of cities eligible to host national meetings. On-line registration for the San Diego meeting will include a provision for post-deadline registration. The committee has developed a policy on recording national meeting presentations, but the details were not presented. Finally, Council endorsed (after some discussion) the 2001 national meeting registration fees determined using the formula that was approved last year.

14. I hope that this news does not break anyone's heart, but Council approved a request to dissolve the Division of Fertilizer and Soil Chemistry. (The request was made by that division, so I guess it was suicide, really.)

15. The Committee on Economic and Professional Affairs reported that ChemCensus 2000 indicated that (a) jobs are more plentiful and (b) salaries are up. Current unemployment in the profession stands at 2.0%; the median salary is $70K. Later this year a web-based salary comparison site will be available, so that one will be able to type in a job title and location and retrieve an estimated salary figure. (This information will be based on salaries reported by ACS members.) By mid-2001 the ACS also plans to have an on-line employment service available that would compete with Monster.com. The committee reported that there were 1056 candidates, more than 1000 jobs, and over 2800 interviews at the Employment Clearing House.

16. There is a draft of new ACS Academic Professional Guidelines available for comment. If you would like to see this draft, I would be happy to share it with you.

17. The Committee on Local Section Activities reported that the speaker service is recruiting new participants, especially individuals willing to speak on non-technical topics. The theme for National Chemistry Week was also announced. It will be "Kitchen Chemistry" and will involve a food drive "Chemists Reacting to Hunger".

18. The Committee on Chemical Safety has developed and is ready to distribute safety guidelines for National Chemistry Week activities. In addition, it has revised a policy statement concerning contact lens wear in laboratories, although the details were not revealed

19. The Committee on Chemistry and Public Affairs, along with President Busch, is urging participation in the Society's web-based Legislative Action Network. Many of you probably received a mailing about this initiative.

20. The Committee on Professional Training announced that it's booklet on preparing for a career in industry is available at the CPT web site. In addition, the annual report of chemistry graduates will soon be available on-line.

That probably tells you more than you really wanted to know. I would be happy to discuss any of these items and share the Council agenda book with the members of the local section. Let me know if you have any questions.
 
 

The John Bauman Travel Award enables one or more undergraduate students in the region of the MU-ACS local section to attend a regional or national chemical conference of the American Chemical Society (or sponsored in part by the ACS). The total amount available is $800. Individual awards are generally in the range of $300 - $400.

To apply for the John Bauman Travel Award, the undergraduate student should submit to the chair of the MU-Local section (Professor Don Riederer, MU, Department of Chemistry, Columbia, MO 65211) the following items:

A cover letter stating the amount and intended use of the funds requested

A brief presentation of the applicant’s research history

Resume and Transcripts

Abstract of Presentation

Letter of support by the research advisor (in sealed envelope)

The most important criteria for selection concern the novelty and the quality of the research. Preference will be given to students seeking funds to travel to national meetings. Preference will be given to students giving oral presentations (considerations will be given to the fact that oral presentation is not an option in certain divisions). Previous activities at the local or regional level will be considered a plus.

Applications must be received by November 1, 2000. The recipient(s) of the award(s) will be determined by November 15. The selection will be made by the officers of the MU-Local section.

The award(s) is(are) made each academic year. The applicant may request funds as reimbursement of the costs of attending a conference in the winter semester (e.g. ACS Spring Meeting) or the applicant may request funds for an event planned for the Fall Semester (e.g. ACS Fall Meeting, ACS Regional Meeting).

For details, contact Professor Don Riederer (573)-882-1735; email: RiedererD@missouri.edu
 
 

2000 Local Section Officers

Chair:

Dr. Donald E. Riederer
Department of Chemistry, 125 Chemistry Building, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211
(573)882-1735

FAX: (573)882-2754

email: RiedererD@missouri.edu

Chair-elect:

Ingolf Gruen
Department of Food Science, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211

GruenI@missouri.edu

Secretary-Treasurer

Dr. Jack Tanner
Department of Chemistry, 125 Chemistry Building, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211
(573)882-6895

FAX: (573)882-2754

email:TannerJJ@missouri.edu

Councilor:

Dr. John Adams
Department of Chemistry, 125 Chemistry Building, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211
(573)882-3245

FAX: (573)882-2754

email: Adamsje@missouri.edu

Alternate Councilor:

Dr. Richard Thompson
Department of Chemistry, 125 Chemistry Building, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211
(573)882-7356

FAX: (573)882-2754

email: Thompsonr@missouri.edu

Newsletter Editor:

Dr. Robert Williams
Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Lincoln University, 820 Chestnut, Jefferson City, MO 65102
(573)681-5131 or 5120

FAX: (573)681-5944

email: williamr@lincolnu.edu