Western New York Section
American Chemical Society
Double Bond
Editorial:
Greetings, and Happy Spring! It's already mid-April, and Education Night and the Schoellkopf Award Dinner are almost here! Again we gather together as we do every Spring to honor the accomplishments of students, teachers, and chemists after many years of hard work and smart thinking.
Details of Education Night are within this edition, and advance notice of the Schoellkopf is below. Details for the Schoellkopf Award dinner will be in the May issue.
Dave Nalewajek wrote an excellent summary of the discussions at the Councilor's Meeting at the National meeting, which is within this issue.
Please send your healing thoughts and wishes to our Assistant Editor, Patty Shelley, who has fallen ill recently. We wish her a speedy and complete recovery. She is doing better and fighting with her usual energetic spirit.
Your editor,
Joanna Christopher
(716) 695-3750
The 2005 Western New York Distinguished High School Science Teacher of the Year Award and the Chemistry Olympiad Awards will be presented on:
Tuesday, May 3, 2005
Fairdale Banquet Center
672 Wehrle Drive (intersection of Wehrle and S. Forest Rd.)
Cheektowaga, NY
632-1221
5:30 PM Cash Bar
6:30 PM Buffet Dinner
7:15 Chemistry Olympiad and Distinguished High School Science Teacher Awards
8:15 PM Dr. Herbert Hauptman, Nobel Laureate, Speaker
For reservations please call 888-2340 by April 28, 2005.
Jane Gilbride of Starpoint Central High School in Lockport, NY is the recipient of the 2005 Distinguished High School Science Teacher Award. An inspiring teacher to her Earth Science students, Ms. Gilbride is also the recipient of 11 educational grants, including two Eisenhower Math & Science Grants. She has been named to "Who's Who of American Teachers".
Ms. Gilbride was selected to participate in the National Science Foundation Curriculum Project SEPUP (Science Education Public Understanding Program) and has incorporated several of those modules into Starpoint's Earth Science curriculum. She is a member of the Regents Earth Science Teachers of WNY and the District Education Team.
Her community outreach includes mentoring with the United Way Youth Volunteers, Astronomy Club, and the National Junior Honor Society at Starpoint.
Perhaps Ms. Gilbride's most notable achievement is the design and installation of the "Hauptman Crystal Garden" in the Math and Science courtyard at Starpoint Central High School. This display depicts the accomplishments of Nobel Laureate Herbert Hauptman through a series of five three-dimensional metal sculptures.
The highest praise the education committee received with her nomination documents was written by one of her former students: "Her enthusiastic, innovative, 'hands-on' teaching style and knowledge of the material made learning fun. I looked forward to learning about science, something I never thought would interest me." This is truly the mark of anexceptional teacher!
WNY Chemistry Olympiad Winners in 2005:
| Student |
High School |
Teacher |
James Iarocci
Jerry Richard
Landon Durak
Rob Halm
Daniel Zuch
Laura Posner
Jonathan Cohan
David Farhi
Michael Allen |
Kenmore West
Orchard Park Central
Amherst Central
Amherst Central
North Tonawanda
Williamsville North
Williamsville East
Nichols
Oakfield-Alabama |
Marilyn Drnewich
Dr. Robert Rominger
Dennis Bauer
Dennis Bauer
Arthur Harack
Colleen Fryling
David Fabio
George Mayer
Robert Meek |
College Winners:
Canisius College:
Chemistry - Elizabeth Wierchowski
Biochemistry - Caitlin Bower
University at Buffalo:
Chemistry - Todd Doran
Medicinal Chemistry - Joseph Steblein
Biochemistry - Rohit Gupta
Chemical Engineering - Brian Peer
Buffalo State College:
Thomas Robilatto
Niagara University:
Brooke Switala
Congratulations!!!!
The members of the WNY ACS give our heartfelt thanks to the Education Committee Members (Ron Spohn, Ed Kisailius, Luis Colon, and Joanna Christopher) and especially to Mariusz Kozik for the Chemistry Olympiad.
SCHOELLKOPF AWARD
The 2005 Jacob F. Schoellkopf Award medal will be presented to:
Professor Jim D. Atwood
May 17, 2005
Glen Oak Country Club
711 Smith Road
East Amherst, NY
Details will be in the May issue of the Double Bond.
Report from the Councilor's meeting submitted by Dave Nalewajek:
SUMMARY OF GOVERNANCE ACTIONS/REPORTS
AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
229th ACS National Meeting
San Diego, CA
March 13-17, 2005
ACTIONS OF THE COUNCIL
Election Results
• The Committee on Nominations and Elections presented to the Council the following nominees for selection as candidates for President-Elect, 2006: Pat N. Confalone, Catherine T. Hunt, John W. Kozarich, and Cynthia A. Maryanoff. By written ballot the Council selected Catherine T. Hunt and John W. Kozarich as candidates for 2006 President-Elect. They join George E. Heinze, who was certified as a petition candidate for 2006 President-Elect.
• The Committee on Nominations and Elections announced the results of the election of nominees for candidates to represent District III and District VI on the Board of Directors for the term 2006-2008. Nominees for District III included: Catherine C. Fenselau, Edward J. Grabowski, Madeleine M. Joullié, and Willie E. May. Nominees for District VI included Bonnie A. Charpentier, Janan M. Hayes, Clayton H. Heathcock, and Stanley H. Pine. By written ballot the Council selected Catherine C. Fenselau and Madeleine M. Joullié as District III candidates; and as District VI candidates, Bonnie A. Charpentier and Stanley H. Pine. Ballots will be mailed on or before October 10 to all members in District III and District IV for election of a Director for each District.
Candidates for Directors-at-Large
• The Committee on Nominations and Elections announced the selection of the following candidates for Directors- at-Large for a 2006-2008 term: James D. Burke, Edwin A. Chandross, C. Gordon McCarty, and Frankie Wood-Black. The election of two Directors-at-Large will be conducted in the fall, with ballots mailed to the Council on or before October 10.
Committee Review
• As part of a regular review, the Council VOTED to continue the Committee on Project SEED. The Committee on Project SEED oversees the Society’s summer educational experience program for disadvantaged youth.
Proposal for a Committee on Ethics
• The Committee on Committees presented to Council a proposal for establishing a Committee on Ethics as an Other Committee of the Council. The charge of this committee would be as follows: To coordinate the ethics-related activities of the Society, serve as an educational resource and clearinghouse, but not as an adjudication body, for ACS members seeking guidance on ethics issues; raise awareness of ethics issues through meeting programming and columns/editorials; review recognition opportunities for acknowledging ethical behavior; and to develop and oversee such other ethics-related activities as will serve ACS members and promote the Society’s standards of ethical conduct within the profession of chemistry and its related disciplines. After defeating a motion to assign the proposed duties of the committee to the Committee on Economic and Professional Affairs, the Council VOTED to establish a Committee on Ethics as an Other Committee of the Council.
Registration Report
• As of March 15, 2005, the ACS spring national meeting had attracted 15,385 registrants as follows: Regular attendees 8,372; Students 4,160; Exhibitors 1,624; Exposition only 628; and Guests 601.
Member Statistics
• Membership in the American Chemical Society was 158,127 as of year-end 2004. Compared to the previous year, this represents less than a 1% decrease. In 2004, more than 13,000 new members were added to the rolls.
Petition for Consideration
• The Committee on Nominations and Elections withdrew a petition on election procedures. The committee plans to offer additional changes to the Society’s election procedures and introduce a new petition at the fall national meeting.
Special Discussion Item
• A special discussion item was put on the Council agenda for this meeting. ACS President William F. Carroll presented an overview of Chemistry Enterprise 2015, posing the question, “Where will our students come from in the next ten years, and where will they go?” Councilors then participated in a lively discussion of this issue. The issue was framed as follows: Currently the U.S. has a strong university system and U.S. graduate education in science is widely recognized as the best in the world, but problems loom on the horizon. In addition, a variety of factors in the nation’s academic infrastructure are likely to produce change in the training and careers of new chemists. The discussion at Council intensified awareness of this issue and possibilities for solutions.
2006 Member Dues
• The Council VOTED to set the member dues for 2006 at the fully escalated rate of $127.
ACTIONS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The Special Temporary Assessment
• In December 2002, the Board of Directors enacted a special temporary assessment to cover the costs of increased funding for divisions and local sections, as stipulated in the Petition for Division and Local Section Funding, which was subsequently approved by the ACS Council, Board, and membership in March 2003. The Board accepted the temporary assessment with the understanding that it would be reviewed each year to determine whether it could be reduced. The Board reviewed the temporary assessment for 2006 and, in light of the Society’s strong financial performance, VOTED to reduce it to $5, rather than proceeding with the scheduled $6 assessment.
The Society’s Current Finances and Financial Future
• The Committee on Budget and Finance reported that the Society ended 2004 with a net contribution from operations of $5,099,000 on revenues of $419,200,000 and expenses of $414,700,000. This was $3,628,000 favorable to the approved budget. After including the results of the Belmont Conference Center, recorded as a discontinued operation, and the Member Insurance Program, the Society’s overall net contribution for 2004 was $4,465,000, which was $3,229,000 favorable to the approved budget.
• The Board reviewed and VOTED to accept several recommendations from the recent Financial Planning Conference held January 2005. The purpose of this conference was to provide a comprehensive assessment of the Society’s financial position; to review the appropriateness and adequacy of the Society’s current financial guidelines; and to assess the Society’s changing risk profile and the potential implications on major ACS funding sources over the next three years.
The Board’s Committees and Task Forces
• The Board received a screened list of candidates from the Committee on Grants and Awards for the 2006 Priestley Medal and the Volunteer Service Award. The Board will announce the two winners at its June meeting.
• The Board, through its Committee on Professional and Member Relations (P&MR), reviewed the approval process for recurring meeting cosponsorship requests and VOTED to streamline and simplify the process. The Board also VOTED to authorize P&MR to approve requests where ACS seeks the cosponsorship of other organizations.
• The ACS/AIChE governance-to-governance task force and the ACS/AIChE Joint Membership task force have concluded formal discussions and have agreed on several points. At this meeting, the Board VOTED to discharge both task forces with thanks.
The Society’s Staff
• The Board received a report from the Executive Director/CEO and several of her direct reports on the status of the Society’s website project, special issues associated with Chemical Abstracts Service and the Publications Divisions, the Green Chemistry Institute, and the activities of the General Counsel. The Board also reviewed and approved several recommendations from the Committee on Executive Compensation relative to compensation for the Society’s executive staff. The compensation of the Society’s executive staff receives regular review from the Board.
The Society’s Publications
• The Board VOTED to approve the appointment of an editor for a new Society journal, ACS Chemical Biology. ACS Chemical Biology is scheduled to debut in 2006.
ACS Governance Review
• The Board of Directors VOTED to support the creation of a Joint Board-Council Policy Committee Task Force on Governance Review with the charge to conduct a review of the Society’s governance structure and Constitution and Bylaws to ensure that the Society has a governing framework to enable it to best fulfill its mission, meet member needs, and remain a world-class organization.
Any questions can be directed to me at David.Nalewajek@honeywell.com
David Nalewajek
WNY Councilor
The Element of the Month
Americium
Vital Statistics:
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Atomic Number:
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95
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Period:
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7
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Atomic Symbol:
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Am
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Group:
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IIIb
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Atomic Weight:
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243 (most stable isotope)
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Series:
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Actinides
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Density:
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13.67 g/c at 20 deg. C
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Americium is the fourth transuranic element to be discovered. It was discovered by G. T. Seaborg, R. A. James, L. O. Morgan, and A. Ghiorso in 1944, in Chicago, Illinois, United States of America. It is a man-made silvery white metallic radioactive rare earth element, named after America (analogous to the naming of Europium). It is a strong alpha particle (two protons and two neutrons) and gamma ray (high energy electromagnetic radiation) emitter. It is produced by bombarding plutonium-239 with neutrons. Americium's most stable isotope, americium-243, has a half-life of about 7,370 years. It decays into neptunium-239 through alpha decay. Am-241 has a half life of 432.2 years, and is used in ion chamber smoke detectors, as a glass thickness gauge, and as a portable source of gamma radiation.
For more information see http://www.radiochemistry.org and http://www.gu.edu.au/school/eng/mmt/RadDec.html
(Referring to a glass of water) I mixed this myself. Two parts H, one part O. I don't trust anybody!
--Steven Wright
Organic chemistry is the chemistry of carbon compounds. Biochemistry is the study of carbon compounds that crawl.
--Mike Adams
It is disconcerting to reflect on the number of students we have flunked in chemistry for not knowing what we later found to be untrue.
--quoted in Robert L. Weber, Science With a Smile (1992)
There is a single light of science, and to brighten it anywhere is to brighten it everywhere.
--Isaac Asimov
The great tragedy of science -- the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact.
--Thomas Huxley
The scientific theory I like best is that the rings of Saturn are composed entirely of lost airline luggage.
--Mark Russell
New ideas pass through three periods:
*It can't be done.
*It probably can be done, but it's not worth doing.
*I knew it was a good idea all along!
--Arthur C. Clarke
Science is not a sacred cow. Science is a horse. Don't worship it. Feed it.
--Aubrey Eben
Until we meet again. Keep the shiney side up. Keep the rubber side down. Live long and prosper!
Officers & Staff
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Member @ Large North
Jason F. Khayat
PerfectFit Glove Co.
(716) 668-2000 X 272
KHAYAT02JF@AOL.COM
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Member @ Large South
OPEN
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ISSUE COPY DEADLINE: FIRST OF MONTH PRIOR TO PUBLICATION
The Western New York Section of the American Chemical Society and its editors assume no responsibility for the statements and opinions advanced by the contributors. Views expressed in the editorials are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Western New York Section of the American Chemical Society. All materials to appear in the next issue of the Double Bond must be received by the Editor, in care of the Chemistry Department, Canisius College, 2001 Main Street, Buffalo, New York 14208, by the FIRST day of the month. Notice for change of address should be sent to the editor.
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