Todd Miller 319-659-4476 (PH)

tmiller@cornell-iowa.edu

February 2001

For the latest information about upcoming events, visit our website at http://membership.acs.org/I/ILIA/

Thursday, February 15^th , 2001

Our next meeting is Wednesday, March 14, 2001 at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, IA

ChemKid is a childcare program for IL-IA section members coordinated through chem clubs at colleges hosting the monthly section meeting. The program is designed to try to give parents a "night-out" with ACS. Volunteers from these student groups would look after school age (1^st - 8^th grades) children of ACS members who attend the monthly meeting. Childcare activities would include storytime, an activity and a snack. Storytime would consist of readings from Grimm’s Fairytales or other classics found in the Childcraft children’s encyclopedia series. The activity would be a science activity; such as, dissolving an M&M candy in soda pop or making "jiggle-jelly". The kids would be treated to a snack of cookies and milk or fruit to reward them for their participation.

To take advantage of the program, parents would sign a release form detailing the program activities and stating their willingness to enroll their children in the activities.

• ACS Scholars Programs Over 100 scholarships of $2500 each are to be awarded to African-American, Hispanic and Native American undergraduate students and high school seniors who intend to pursue careers in chemistry, chemical engineering, materials science or environmental science. Application deadline is Feburary 15, 2001. Call ACS at 1800-227-5558 (ext. 6250) or email scholars@acs.org for more information. Contact Randall Wanke at 309-794-3473 or chwanke@augustana.edu for an application or download an application form at http://www.acs.org/affairs/scholars/html.
• Kiser Scholarship The Illinois-Iowa Section of the ACS is pleased to announce the Kiser Scholarship, which will award $500 to eligible high school seniors who intend to continue in chemistry. Application deadline is April 1, 2001. For more information, contact Mr. Rich Craddick at (319) 264 – 4367 or rich_craddick@kentfeeds.com

State Capitol Day is an opportunity for ACS members from Illinois to meet with state policymakers. This is a chance to build relationships and introduce the resources and expertise of ACS members to Illinois’ officials. The event will focus on state government affairs and will provide participants with an opportunity to learn more about the ACS Office of Legislative and Government Affairs and ways they can become involved in government relations. The afternoon will focus solely Illinois’ K-12 science education policies.

For more information, the IL-IA Section contact is Sally Rigeman, Augustana College Chemistry, 639 Thirty-eighth Street, Rock Island, IL 61201-2296, (309) 794-3469, email chrigeman@augustana.edu. Nationally, contact Debora J. Fillinich, Office of Legislative and Government Affairs, American Chemical Society, 1155 Sixteenth Street N.W., Washington, DC 20036, (800) 227-5558 ext. 4476, email d_fillinich@acs.org. Currently, no Iowa State Capitol Day is planned.

A call goes out to IL-IA section members who typically attend the Great Lakes Regional Meeting (GLRM) and would like to have a larger impact on this annual meeting The GLRM is typically held in early June of each year, at various locations. The 2001 meeting will be June 11-13 in Grand Rapids, MI. For more information on ACS Regional Meetings and Steering Committees, go to http://www.acs.org/meetings/regional/index.html. This Committee meets once annually, at the GLRM.

As GLRM Steering Committee Representative, your responsibilities include the following:

• Attend the annual GLRM Steering Committee meeting, held at the GLRM, and submit a brief (one page) written report of highlights of this meeting to the IL-IA section Executive Committee upon your return
• Represent the interests of the Section, to the best of your ability
• Submit items, such as upcoming GLRM meeting announcements, to the section Secretary for inclusion in the section newsletter
• Plan for a three-year commitment to this position

There is opportunity for additional involvement by taking a more active role, but that is at your discretion.

Support from the local Section includes reimbursement for the cost of Advance Registration for the meeting (typically about $75) if you desire this. The Section cannot pay for your travel expenses for this trip.

If you would like to serve as the Section's representative or you have any questions, contact Lisa Fields, (319) 264-6039, lmfields@muscanet.com

The 2001 Chemistry Olympiad for our section will be held at Clinton Community College on Saturday, March 31, 2001.  The annual Chemistry Olympiad aims to stimulate interest and achievement among high school students. As part of the Olympiad program, professional chemists are available to talk to students and their teachers, to explore developments in the world of chemistry and encourage career planning in fields that utilize chemistry. The Olympiad also provides an opportunity for high school chemistry teachers to share ideas with one another and with college chemistry professors. Our goal is to have 125 students from 12 high schools and their teachers participating. Section members can help the Olympiad by helping to Ways for members of the section to help are:

• Financial support from industry and business.
• Laboratory equipment for high school laboratories.
• Ideas on how we can help high school chemistry teachers.
• Help in promoting the event and attracting more schools to participate.

For more information contact:

The 39^th Annual National Engineers Week Banquet, sponsored by the Quad City

Engineering and Science Council (QCESC) is set for Friday evening, February 23 at Jumer's Castle Lodge, Mozart Room, in Bettendorf, IA. The general public and students are welcome to attend this event. Multi-media presentations will be given by Dr. Richard Kron, Director of Yerkes Observatory and Head, Experimental Astrophysics Group at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, on "The Sloan Digital Sky Survey - Mapping the Universe," and by Dr. Curtis Struck, Professor of Physics at Iowa State University, on "Colliding Galaxies - What Exactly Happens and How HST Has Helped Figure It Out." Cost is $20 if paid by Feb. 16 or $30 for late payment. For reservation information and other details, see the QCESC web site at http://www.qcesc.org or call Matthew Benson at (309) 756-1280.