| The TarHelium |  |
| The TarHelium | |
| Volume 40, Issue 1 September 2009 |
 Editor
Judi Price,
M. Pasquinelli,
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
J. Hines, Chair
Marc ter Horst,
M. Pasquinelli,
J. T. Bursey,
|
The TarHelium is a publication of the North Carolina Section of the American Chemical Society.
-- for more information
FALL 2009 NC ACS LOCAL SECTION MEETING--Contributed by Marc ter Horst
5:00 pm - 8:30 pm NC Biotechnology Center 15 T.W. Alexander Drive Research Triangle Park, NC The Fall meeting will feature posters (with hors d'oeuves), Awards (Marcus Hobbs Service, NC ACS Distinguished Speaker), and other topics of interest to NC ACS members and chemists in our Local Section area. Draft Agenda:
Meeting registration is free! The 2009 Marcus Hobbs Award will be presented to Dr. Myra Halpin for her long term commitment to high school education and many years of service as chair and organizer of the local Chemistry Olympiad. The 2009 NC ACS Distinguished Speaker Award will be presented to Professor Al Crumbliss for contributions to inorganic and bioinorganic transition metal chemistry and meritorious service to the ACS at the local and national levels. A Call for Posters will be emailed to the NC ACS membership, local Universities, and other interested parties in the near future. Student and post-doc posters will be judged to compete for Cash Awards for the top three posters in each category. Contact Marc ter Horst at terhorst@unc.edu for more information.
Alvin Crumbliss - 2009 Distinguished Lecturer Awardee Alvin L. Crumbliss is currently the Bishop-MacDermott Family Professor of Chemistry and Dean of the Natural Sciences at Duke University. While at Duke he received the David and Janet Vaughn Brooks Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award, the Duke University Scholar/Teacher of the Year Award and the Dean's Distinguished Service Award. He received the Hobbs Award from the NC Section of the American Chemical Society in 2003. Al earned his A.B. from Knox College and received a Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award in 2005. He received his Ph.D. from Northwestern University, and was a Postdoctoral Associate at the University of Southern California. Al is the recipient of fellowships from the NIH and NATO, and held the French Academy of Sciences/Elf-Aquitaine Chemistry Chair in Strasbourg, France in 1995. He has lectured extensively in Europe and has held visiting faculty positions in Paris, Grenoble, Strasbourg and Oxford. Al is a bio-inorganic chemist with over 200 journals and monograph publications.
Iron Transport from Man to Microbe
Myra Halpin - 2009 MARCUS HOBBS AWARDEE Myra J. Halpin, Ph.D, Dean of Science, North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics Durham, North Carolina Dr. Halpin received her B.A. in Chemistry and Biology in 1968 at Shorter College in Rome Georgia. Her Master of Education was awarded in 1979 from Virginia State University in Petersburg, Va. and her Ph.D. in Science Education in 1991 from North Carolina State University. Dr. Halpin is currently Dean of Science at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics in Durham, NC where she previously taught Chemistry and Research for more than 20 years. Prior to this she taught college chemistry at St. Mary's College in Raleigh. She is a member of the NC ACS Local Section of the American Chemical Society, National Science Teacher's Association, North Carolina Science Teacher's Association, and Sigma Xi. Her Awards and Citations are:
Her publications include:
THE 5th ANNUAL EVENING OF CHEMISTRY DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM Cordially Invites You, Your Students, and Families to The 5th Annual Evening of Chemistry Demonstration Program
Tuesday, September 29, 2009 (Oct. 1 Rain Date)
On the front lawn of the French Family Science Center
Parking:
Volunteer to help out at the State Fair (October 15 - October 25, 2009). For more information and to sign up, please contact Bill Switzer at bill_switzer@ncsu.edu.
Click on the image below to go to the NC State Fair web page.
The Nominating Committee will be proposing a slate for these positions; this is a call for nominations "from the floor."
Any active member may nominate themselves or any other active member for any of the positions noted. Please: if you nominate another person, ensure that he/she is willing to be nominated and, if elected, serve in the position noted.
The duties of each of these positions can be found on our Section website at: http://membership.acs.org/N/Ncarolina/job_manual.html.
NOTE: These positions are for multiple year terms and the Chair-Elect for 2010 will be the Chair in 2011.
To submit your nomination, email Sol Levine at naturpix@mindspring.com not later than October 1, 2009.
The Southeastern Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society
SERMACS 2012NC ACS will be hosting the Southeastern Regional Meeting of the ACS (SERMACS) in November 2012. The Planning Committee meets on the SECOND WEDNESDAY of each month in person at GlaxoSmithKline in RTP and online via WebEx (for those who want to attend remotely).Volunteers are needed for the following positions:
If you are interested in joining the organizing committee, please contact Charlie Goss at charles.a.goss@gsk.com Thank you!! Current Planning Committee Members are listed in the table below.
NC ACS 2009 UNDERGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP AWARD WINNERS--Contributed by Keith Levine The North Carolina Section of the ACS (NC ACS) is pleased to announce three recipients for the 2009 NC ACS undergraduate scholarship awards: Nabil Kleinhenz, Yongho Park, and Mays Ali.
Once again, congratulations to each of this year's winners! For additional information about the NC ACS scholarship, please contact Keith Levine (levine@rti.org) or look in future issues of this newsletter.
2009 POLYED AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN POLYMER EDUCATION FOR MIDDLE LEVEL AND HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERSWe are now accepting applications for the 2009 Excellence in Polymer Education Award. This national award recognizes innovative and successful contributions to the integration of polymer chemistry into pre-college curricula. The winner must be currently teaching high school (grades 10-12) or middle school (grades 5-9) in a public or private school in the United States. POLYED is sponsored jointly by the Polymer Chemistry, and the Polymeric Materials: Science & Engineering Divisions of the American Chemical Society.The national awardee receives a plaque, and a $1000 honorarium. The award will be presented by an ACS member at the winner's school in the spring of 2010. The awardee also receives an expense paid trip to the Spring NSTA National Conference and will be paired with a Polymer Ambassador during the days in attendance. The application form may be downloaded from the POLYED web site: www.polyed.org. The deadline for applications is December 15, 2009. If you have questions, contact Mary Harris mharris@jburroughs.org.
LOCAL SECTION PARTICIPATION IN 2009 CLEAR CHANNEL HEALTH AND WELLNESS EXPO--Contributed by Bill Switzer
On the weekend of May 30 and 31, the NC Section participated in the 2009 Clear Channel Health and Wellness Expo in the Jim Graham Building at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds.
We expanded upon the demonstrations of piston driven engines over what we did last year at the State Fair. We also did several stage shows in an area set up for entertainment.
 
Many thanks to our volunteers: Darrell Coleman, Keith Dawes, Lyn Franscisco, Jane Gault, David Houck, Sol Levine, Kathryn MacLeod, and Bill Switzer. Special thanks to Darrell Coleman for uploading pictures taken at the event. The pictures may be viewed at: http://membership.acs.org/N/NCarolina/gif_files/Health%20and%20Wellness%20Expo%202009/Health%20and%20Wellness%20Expo%202009/index.html
National Chemistry Week2009 Theme: "Chemistry-It's Elemental"(October 18 - 24, 2009) National Chemistry Week (NCW) is a community-based annual event that unites ACS local sections, businesses, schools, and individuals in communicating the importance of chemistry to our quality of life. Watch the NC Museum of Life and Sciences website (http://www.ncmls.org/visit/events) for more information on National Chemistry Week activities.
CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS!!!!!!
Local Students Participate in the 2009 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair
-- Contributed by Eleanor Hass
 Nine students selected at the NC Science and Engineering State Fair in March and two students from the Charlotte/Mecklenberg Regional Fair presented their research projects at the 2009 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Reno, NV on May 11-15. 1569 students in grades 9 through 12 from 56 countries presented 1,123 projects.
The highlight of the week, the Intel ISEF Grand Awards, presented on May 15, are valued at nearly $1 million in scholarships, tuition grants and scientific field trips. Our North Carolina students were very successful, receiving the following awards:
LOCAL STUDENT PARTICIPATES IN SUMMER STUDY CAMP-- Contributed by Myra Halpin
NC ACS Local Section sponsors the Chemistry Olympiad for the students in our area. Each year approximately one hundred and fifty letters are sent to the high schools in our section with an invitation to compete in the first stage of the competition.  This first stage is a multiple choice chemistry test. The top fifteen students are invited to take the National Exam at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics in Durham, NC. This national exam has three parts: multiple choice, free response, and a lab portion. Akhil Jariwala, former student from Raleigh Charter and a junior at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, scored as one of the top twenty students in the nation and was invited to a ten day summer campus at the Air Force Academy. At the study camp the four students to represent the United States in the Chemistry Olympics in Cambridge, England were selected. Akhil is already studying for next year in hopes of making the Olympics traveling team. Akhil is the second student from the area in the last two years to be selected to attend the camp. Last year, Vivek Bhattacharya from Enloe High School represented our section at the study camp.
YOUNG N.C. SCIENTISTS LAUNCH ONTO INTERNATIONAL STAGE
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. - March 13, 2009 -- Fueled by insatiable curiosities and months of hard work, four North Carolina high school students will jet off to China on March 17 where they will compete in the Beijing Youth Science Creation Competition. Students were chosen to present their science projects in the international exhibit after winning top honors at the North Carolina International Science Challenge (NCISC), a statewide high school science competition that is a collaborative project of the North Carolina Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education Center (SMT Center) and the North Carolina Grassroots Science Museums Collaborative (GSMC). They include:
Ms. Weaver and Mr. Young are students in the NC Project SEED program.
During their seven-day trip to Beijing, the students will interact with young scientists from other countries, and partake in sightseeing stops including a visit to the Great Wall of China.
 Nancy Sung, a senior program officer with the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, judged the most recent NCISC, and helped whittle down the list of contenders. "I was very impressed," Sung said of the students' work. "The level of depth was amazing to see, at this age. They'd clearly made a huge commitment not only in terms of their time, but in terms of the mental space they'd given their projects." Sung said the winners were selected based upon whether they understood the science and their articulation of their understanding and the project. Judges also looked for students harboring natural curiosity, she said.
This is the fourth year that Dr. Nolan will lead the N.C. delegation to China. He notes that the Beijing Association for Science and Technology organizes the BYSCC and invites about 10 foreign countries to compete, as a way to honor the students.
Contacts:
Lisa Rhoades
Ken Cutler
NCSSM REACHES OUT TO UNDERREPRRESENTED STUDENTS THROUGH LABS FOR LEARNING.
A four-year preparatory program for rising 7th through 10th graders, Labs for Learning is designed to reach young students from severely underrepresented ethnic groups in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. In Summer 2008, twenty-four 7th grade students from the six districts-Bertie County, Halifax County, Hertford County, Northampton County, Warren County, and Weldon City-that form the Roanoke River Valley Educational Consortium participated in a week-long residential program at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (NCSSM). The enriched curriculum included high interest science, math, and language arts experiences, as well as career counseling and field trips to area university research and corporate labs and museums. This cohort of students also came together several times through the academic year-both in person at a central location in the region as well as by videoconference-for technology training, guest lectures, and additional hands-on learning activities directed by NCSSM instructors. In Summer 2009, the initial cohort will come back to NCSSM for two weeks in its second year of related STEM activities and instruction. And they will be joined by a new cohort of twenty-four rising 7th graders for its one-week launch into the program. Goals for the Labs for Learning initiative are:
LOCAL SECTION DISCUSSION GROUPS!!
Information on the NC ACS Local Section Discussion Groups can be found at the following web link:Discussion groups include:
   
Check them out and consider joining a discussion group.
SEMINAR SCHEDULES FOR THE LOCAL UNIVERSITIESDuke University Department of Chemistry Seminar Schedule:
Duke University Department of Biochemistry Seminar Schedule:
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Department of Chemistry Seminar Schedule:
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics Seminar Schedule:
North Carolina State University Department of Chemistry Seminar Schedule:
North Carolina State University Department of Biochemistry Seminar Schedule:
SCIENCE CAFÉ WEB LINKS
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY FOR THE NC ACS LOCAL SECTION The NC ACS Executive Committee (EC) seeks a marketing/advertising director to assist the EC in various activities. This is a volunteer position, as are all roles in the EC.
Marketing efforts will be useful to the NC ACS in improving the visibility of the NC ACS in the local community and in increasing attendance at NC ACS events. Specific NC ACS activities for which the NC ACS seeks marketing expertise include, but are not limited to:
These events currently include a major meeting that features a Distinguished Lecture and Award; and one or more smaller meetings typically including dinner, cocktails and an entertaining speaker. Several times each year, the NC ACS electronically publishes a newsletter, "The TarHelium", to its membership. Advertising efforts, including sales of ad space in the TarHelium, will assist NC ACS in raising funds for its activities. The EC holds monthly meetings to address NC ACS business, which the marketing/advertising director will be encouraged to attend. Anyone having an interest in this position is invited to contact Jay Brown, 2008 NC ACS Chair, to discuss this volunteer opportunity.
DOES ACS HAVE YOUR CURRENT CONTACT INFORMATION?It is extremely important to keep ACS informed of your current contact information. If you have had a change in your address, phone number, or email address, please contact ACS to update your information. In addition to your old and new contact information, include your membership ID, which is the 8-digit number in the upper left hand corner of the C&E News address label when you correspond with ACS.
Postal mail:
Telephone:
E-mail:
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY - TARHELIUM EDITORThe NC ACS Local Section is seeking a highly motivated individual to serve as the next TarHelium editor. The current TarHelium editor will be retiring in the Spring, 2010 at the completion of Issue 4, Volume 40.Interested persons are asked to contact Nicolle Tulve at tulve.nicolle@epa.gov or (919)541-1077 to discuss this very rewarding opportunity! Thank you.
POSITION OPEN FOR MANUFACTURERS' REPRESENTATIVEAre you a good sales person? Entrepreneurial personality with some chemical background? Then a Manufacturers' Representative is what you should be. We are a chemical specialties company, with experience in excess of 50 years, selling to cosmetics - toiletry - soap - household and industrial chemical product companies. Presently over 50 different industries use our products.Customer list furnished - excellent commissions. Semi-retired to retired as well as the new and upcoming entrepreneurs are invited to join us. Contact Kathleen@hoganff.com Hogan Flavors and Fragrances for additional information. Our website is www.hoganff.com.
We are interested in re-invigorating the YCC. If you are interested in helping, please email an Executive Committee member. Thank you!
NC ACS LOCAL SECTION EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETINGSThe NC ACS Local Section Executive Committee meets on the first Wednesday of every month. Fall meeting dates are: September 2nd, October 7th, November 4th, and December 2nd. Meetings are held at the Hamner Institute in the Research Triangle Park at 4:30 pm. All members are welcome and encouraged to attend! Get to know your Executive Committee! Get involved! Volunteer!Address:
Directions:
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Updated: August 26, 2009
Abstract:
Nabil Kleinhenz (UNC-CH) was awarded the first scholarship named in honor of Dr. Ernest Eliel, who was a W.R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Chemistry at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and was a central figure in the field of stereochemistry. Nabil's research project will explore a new approach to make low bandgap polymers, which could eventually lead to highly efficient polymer solar cells. Nabil is working under the direction of research advisor, Dr. Wei You.
Yongho Park (Duke University) was awarded the first scholarship named to honor Mr. Howie James, a former employee of the Waters Corporation who provided long standing support and commitment to the Triangle Chromatography Discussion Group (TCDG). Yongho's research will focus on the synthesis of natural products with interesting biological properties. Yongho's research efforts at Duke University are conducted under the direction of his advisor, Dr. Jiyong Hong. 
We did activities similar to those done at the State Fair in the fall. We had a large table where we made butterflies from coffee filters and demonstrated properties associated with the states of matter.
Special Awards were presented on Thursday, May 14, by over 60 scientific, professional and educational organizations and included scholarships, summer internships, book and equipment grants, and scientific field trips. 
Traveling with the students will be Dr. Fran Nolan, executive director of GSMC; J.B. Buxton, SMT Center board member; Melissa Bartlett, member of the North Carolina State Board of Education; Karen Giroux, director of research and collections at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Science; Ira Trollinger, superintendent of McDowell County Schools, and Robin Bergeron, director of Health Education, Guilford County Schools. 
In today's world, advances in science and mathematics constantly threaten to eclipse our educational system's ability to keep pace in the classroom. Often it is African-American, American Indian, and Hispanic students-ethnic groups that already are severely underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields-that are most at risk of being left even further behind. In North Carolina, this problem is particularly acute in the state's northeastern region.
