The Capital Chemist is now available on-line, beginning with the 2005 Special Edition for the ACS National Meeting in Washington, DC . It is in PDF format and requires Adobe Reader to view or print the file. The size of each PDF file will be listed with the link.


PDF documents may be read and printed with a free copy of the current version of Adobe Acrobat Reader. This application can be installed as a web browser plug-in so the the PDF file can be viewed in the browser, or it can be used as a stand-alone application if you prefer to download the PDF files. Acrobat Reader version 5 or later is recommended.

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• 2008 May Capital Chemist (PDF file, 1.6 Mb)
• 2008 April Capital Chemist (PDF file, 1.5 Mb)
• 2008 March Capital Chemist (PDF file, 1.7 Mb)
• 2008 February Capital Chemist (PDF file, 1.8 Mb)
• 2008 January Capital Chemist (PDF file, 1.8 Mb)
• 2007 December Capital Chemist (PDF file, 2.8 Mb)
• 2007 November Capital Chemist (PDF file, 2.2 Mb)
• 2007 October Capital Chemist (PDF file, 2.3 Mb)
• 2007 September Capital Chemist (PDF file, 2.0 Mb)
• 2007 May Capital Chemist (PDF file, 1.5 Mb)
• 2007 April Capital Chemist (PDF file, 1.7 Mb)
• 2007 March Capital Chemist (PDF file, 2.9 Mb)
• 2007 February Capital Chemist (PDF file, 1.9 Mb)
• 2007 January Capital Chemist (PDF file, 1.6 Mb)
• 2006 December Capital Chemist (PDF file, 2.0 Mb)
• 2006 November Capital Chemist (PDF file, 1.5 Mb)
• 2006 October Capital Chemist (PDF file, 2.3 Mb)
• 2006 September Capital Chemist (PDF file, 1.6 Mb)
• 2006 May Capital Chemist (PDF file, 1.0 Mb)
• 2006 April Capital Chemist (PDF file, 730 Kb)
• 2006 March Capital Chemist (PDF file, 1.79 Mb)
• 2006 February Capital Chemist (PDF file, 743 Kb)
• 2006 January Capital Chemist (PDF file, 1.74 Mb)
• 2005 December Capital Chemist (PDF file, 1.85 Mb)
• 2005 November Capital Chemist (PDF file, 465 Kb)
• 2005 October Capital Chemist (PDF file, 850 Kb)
• 2005 August/September Capital Chemist (large PDF file, 5.9 MB)
  Special Issue for the American Chemical Society, 230^th National Meeting & Exposition, Washington, DC, August 28 - September 01, 2005 (Information)

From Computer to your Mailbox
The Journey of The Capital Chemist, CSW's Official Newsletter

By Molly Whalen (Editor) and Ron Liesemer (Business Manager)

The Capital Chemist is in its 57^th year of production, and is currently mailed to almost 4,200 members of the Chemical Society of Washington from such locales as Stafford County, VA to Brookeville, MD. In addition, since as an ACS member you may choose your local section, one you live in, one you work in, or if you choose, the one you have emotional ties to, we thus mail to even Kansas City, Missouri and Anaheim, California to reach our local section members. CSW is one of the largest local sections of the ACS, and encompasses all of DC, plus parts of Maryland & Northern Virginia.

Submissions for the The Capital Chemist are due the 1st of the month. The editor compiles the articles, writing some and editing others, does the layout and arranges the advertisements. A draft copy is completed by the 10^th, which is then proofed by members of the Publications Committee, reviewed by CSW's ad manager for the advertisement layout, and then sent electronically to Duke Printing for production. This process usually takes 2-3 days. Duke Printing, a family owned print and mailing center in Rockville, Maryland, has printed The Capital Chemist for over 20 years. They prepare the final copy of the newsletter for the press by: 1-day proofing, 1-day for any layout changes necessary, 3-days printing, 2-days addressing which consists of applying addresses, bundling, getting to post office and mailing. So, within 7 working days, the 4200 newsletter copies are at the post office, in average by the 20^th of the month (or sooner!) Since Duke Printing is in Rockville, they deliver all the newsletter copies to the Shady Grove Post Office for distribution.

Our publication enjoys the lowest postage rate for non-profits, and is mailed via bulk-rate - saving your CSW dollars. Postage is determined by the weight of the publication and the percentage of advertising. Currently we're running about 17 cents per copy, but it can vary by a couple cents. Duke Printing needs to prepare the 4200 copies in a manner that the postal service accepts for bulk rate - the newsletters must be bundled by zip code. The Capital Chemist is sent to zip codes encompassing numbers from 20001 to 22315, literally thousands of different zip codes, so thousands of bundles! Informal surveys of members find that many receive their The Capital Chemist by the 22^nd-25^th of the month (2-5 days delivery time). Some are later - this is dependent on how your own postal office treats bulk mail - and how fast they work bulk mail through their system to your mailbox. Interestingly, we find that most DC and VA addresses receive the newsletter in the average 2-5 days delivery time, but some MD addresses receive the newsletter as late as 2 weeks past the date the Post Office at Shady Grove has them in their system. Unfortunately, this is beyond CSW's control. If it makes you feel better, the New England Section has the same problem in Massachusetts. If you are experiencing late delivery, you can discuss with your mail carrier how they handle bulk mail.

What else can you do to ensure timely delivery of your Capital Chemist? Check your mailing label - is your street address printed correctly? Does your zip code include the full 9-digits? Is your city listed correctly; if you have an apartment or unit number - is this listed clearly? If anything is amiss, remember that the American Chemical Society manages and provides the CSW with our mailing list - we receive our labels directly from the ACS and can make no changes to your member record. If you move or change your address - you need to notify the ACS, not CSW. You must contact ACS to update your member record - this can be easily done on the web, by email or by phone. Please know that it may take up to 6-8 weeks for the correct address labels to appear on your Capital Chemist and other ACS mailings.

Member change of address should be sent to ACS, PO Box 3337, Columbus, OH 43210; by phone: 800-333-9511; by e-mail: service@acs.org; or you can access the ACS online address & member record update form at: http://acswebapplications.acs.org/applications/addrupdate/addrchange.cfm
The Capital Chemist is produced nine months of the year (no issue is produced in the months of June, July and August). Printing, postage and fees total approximately $2500 for an average 8-page issue. Remember that The Capital Chemist is always on the web - often one week or more before it arrives in your mailbox, check it out at: www.csw-acs.org.

You may have noticed more advertising during the last year. That is by design to generate additional revenues to make the publication more interesting. Advertisers cover over 60% of the cost. Keep that in mind when selecting vendors. In the future, the CSW Publications Committee will be reviewing the size and look of The Capital Chemist including the use of photos (digital photos of chemists in action from the area are accepted!), and adding color to highlight the copy and make it more readable. We are exploring more articles and topics of human interest to area chemists. Profiles of members, highlights of spectacular member achievements and activities; events or activities of special interest to members will all be considered. Please send your suggestions, photos or articles to The Capital Chemist editor (csw@acs.org). All submissions are due by the 1^st of the month for the next month's issue. This is YOUR local section newsletter - we want to hear from you what you'd like to see!