Call for Papers for Spring Regional Meetings

Two regional meetings will take place this spring: the Central Regional Meeting and the joint Northwest/Rocky Mountain Regional Meeting. Abstracts for both opened on Jan. 14 and will close midnight Eastern Standard Time on April 9. All abstracts for these meetings will be posted in the Chemical Abstracts Service databases--an opportunity for international exposure for regional meeting authors.

The 36TH CENTRAL REGIONAL MEETING (CRM 2004), June 2­4, will be held at the Indiana University-Purdue University (IUPUI) Conference Center & Hotel on the Indianapolis campus. The conference center is within walking distance of downtown Indianapolis and its many restaurants, cultural and sports activities, and shopping venues. The theme of the meeting is "CRM & INDY: The Winning Formula in 2004." A local company, Ram Brewery, has made available a special "Alchemist's Ale" in honor of the meeting.

Submissions are requested in the areas of agrochemicals, analytical chemistry, biological chemistry, chemical education, computational chemistry, environmental chemistry, inorganic chemistry, medicinal chemistry, organic chemistry, and physical chemistry. Also, please specify a preference for oral or poster presentation.

The meeting will also feature select invited symposia, including "Computational Solutions to Alzheimer's Disease"; "Agronomy & Pest Management"; "Chemistry of Auto Racing"; "Insights for Teaching from Chemical Education Research on Teaching & Learning"; "Pharmaceutical & Drug Discovery"; "Molecular Electronics & Electronic Materials"; "Symposium Honoring the Contributions of Leo Paquette"; "Nanotechnology; Flavors & Fragrances"; "Forensic Chemistry/Science"; "Chemical Weapons Detection"; "Community Response to Chemical Accidents"; "Chemistry in Interstellar Space"; "Chemistry, Art & Archeology"; and "Where Do We Go Next with Docking and Scoring Methodologies?"

Some of the special events planned include an ACS presidential event on the opening day of the meeting; a seminar on nuclear chemistry in pharmaceuticals; and a number of workshops, including one by Procter & Gamble on analytical chemists.

Students will also find an extensive program, including a graduate school fair, a student poster session and mixer, and a Regional Industrial Innovation Award symposium where industrial chemists being honored for developing a product that is beneficial to the community will present their award-winning research. The ACS Office of Community Activities contest for high school chemistry students, Chemagination, will be part of this latter event.

Abstracts may be submitted online through the CRM 2004 website, http://membership.acs.org/c/cerm2004. Please visit the website for periodic updates on the program. For more information, contact the technical program chair, Robert Pribush, at rpribush@butler.edu.

CRM 2004 has reserved a block of rooms at the University Place Conference Center & Hotel. Attendees may register by phone at (800) 627-2700 (select option No. 1). The registration deadline is 5 PM on May 3.

The JOINT NORTHWEST/ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGIONAL MEETING (NORM/RM 2004), hosted by the Salt Lake Section, will be held at Utah State University, Logan, June 6­9. Logan is about one hour's drive north of Salt Lake City. The meeting will feature a number of technical symposia, a general poster session, and programs for K­12 and college teachers. Abstract submissions are sought from undergraduate and graduate students, as well as professional industrial and academic chemists in all areas of chemistry.

Symposium topics include "New Frontiers in Chemical Bonding in the 21st Century"; "Recent Advances in the Development & Synthesis of Bioactive Compounds"; "Environmental Spectroscopy"; "Novel Materials & Nanoscale Devices"; "Metalloenzymes"; "Advanced Methods for Monitoring Air Pollutants"; "High-Energy Materials"; "Analytical Chemistry at the Interface with Biology"; and "Remediation of Subsurface Chlorinated Solvent Contamination: Microbial & Plant-Based Approaches."

Robert J. Hamers, a multi-award-winning nanotechnology researcher from the University of Wisconsin, will be the keynote speaker on the evening of June 6. Hamers' address will be followed by an opening reception. For more information on Hamers, visit his University of Wisconsin website, http://www.chem.wisc.edu/main/people/faculty/hamers.html.

In addition to the technical presentations, NORM/RM 2004 plans to include a two-day program for high school and college chemical educators, as well as a session on developing job-searching skills. Special events include an awards banquet to honor the winners of the ACS Regional Industrial Innovation Award and a Women Chemists luncheon. A unique social event offers meeting attendees an opportunity to visit a local outdoor interactive Western history museum.

Submit abstracts online via the meeting website, http://www.chem.usu.edu/~alexandrova/ACS.php, and visit the website periodically for program updates.

For additional information, contact the program chair, Alex Boldyrev, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Utah State University, Logan, UT, 84322-0300; (435) 797-1630; e-mail: boldyrev@cc.usu.edu.