Official Reports from the San Diego Meeting

Reports of Society Committees

BUDGET & FINANCE

The Society Committee on Budget & Finance met on Saturday, March 12, to review the society's 2004 financial performance. ACS ended 2004 with a net contribution from operations of $5.1 million, which is $3.6 million favorable to the approved budget. After including the results from the sale of the Belmont Conference Center, recorded as a discontinued operation, and income from the Member Insurance Program, the society's overall net contribution for 2004 was $4.4 million, which is $3.2 million favorable to the approved budget. In addition, the society ended the year in full compliance with the board-established financial guidelines. The committee received a presentation on the calculation of the fully escalated dues rate for 2006 and subsequently voted to recommend to council that the dues for 2006 be set at the fully escalated rate of $127. The committee also received two informational presentations: The finance staff reported on a project currently under way to review indirect costs, and the chair of the Board Oversight Group on Leadership Development offered a progress report on the group's efforts to design a long-term integrated plan for society-wide leadership development.--Judith L. Benham, chair

EDUCATION

The Society Committee on Education (SOCED) received updates from ACS President William F. Carroll on his initiatives focused on Enterprise 2015 and on high school chemistry teachers, and from President-Elect E. Ann Nalley on the role of education in addressing her themes of volunteerism and communication. In response to Enterprise 2015, the committee held extensive discussions to consider where our students will come from in 2015. SOCED organized a presidential symposium on "Teaching High School Chemistry as a Second Career," which highlighted the experiences of teachers who successfully made the transition from other careers. A symposium on "Exploring the Molecular Vision: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Curricular Reform" engaged leaders in other disciplines in SOCED's continuing efforts to re-envision chemical education.

SOCED received an update from the Committee on Professional Training on the planned revisions to the "Undergraduate Professional Education in Chemistry" guidelines, as well as an update from the Office of Legislative & Government Affairs on issues related to federal science education policy. SOCED will draft a society policy statement supporting the teaching of evolution and will develop an expanded statement on priorities within the National Science Foundation's Education & Human Resources Directorate. SOCED endorsed a pilot program that will foster high school chemistry clubs.--Joseph A. Heppert, chair

Board Committee Reports

STANDING COMMITTEES

GRANTS & AWARDS

The ACS Board Committee on Grants & Awards (G&A) met in March at the San Diego national meeting. Acting under delegated authority, G&A voted to fund ACS-PRF grants totaling $7.7 million. The committee received an update from Stanley Pine on the activities of the Subcommittee on Award Reviews. The committee also agreed to pilot a program to recognize award sponsors who renew their commitments for an additional five years. A task force, consisting of E. Ann Nalley and Howard Peters, was created to review PRF Green Chemistry Institute policies related to future distributions.

Contact David Schutt at d_schutt@acs.org for more information about the ACS PRF Program or Martha Lester at m_lester@acs.org for more information concerning the ACS National Awards Program.--C. Gordon McCarty, chair

PROFESSIONAL & MEMBER RELATIONS

The Committee on Professional & Member Relations' (P&MR) foci for 2005 are strategic input, inclusiveness, and membership. The chair reported on recent activities, including two interim meetings--one on Jan. 26 and a conference call on Feb. 7. Committee discussion and action centered on its foci and a request by the board to develop metrics for the board goals on multidisciplinarity/removing barriers.

Strategic Input. The chair of P&MR solicited input on metrics from committee members and others in attendance for the goals of ensuring that ACS is more welcoming of multidisciplinary areas ("welcoming") and lowering or removing barriers that prevent ACS from being the home for multidisciplinary areas ("barriers").

Priorities chosen as metrics for the welcoming goal are to understand how the multidisciplinary and alliance strategies interact, reinforce, and complement each other.

For the barriers goal, the priorities chosen as metrics are to establish a task force or group to examine and, if necessary, revise technical division formation, allotment, and reimbursement guidelines; initiate a process to recommend any bylaw changes for this area; and collaborate with appropriate governance groups to examine and, if necessary, revise current ACS membership requirements and dues categories.

The committee voted to recommend to the ACS Board of Directors that it incorporate provisions into the ACS Cosponsorship Guidelines that streamline the process for repeated requests and put in place a procedure for ACS to initiate requests to other organizations.

Under delegated authority, the committee voted to approve the request for nominal cosponsorship for the International Conference of Computational Methods in Sciences & Engineering (ICCMSE) 2005, to be held in Loutraki, Korinthos, Greece, Oct. 21-26.

The committee heard a progress report from Stanley Pine, chair of the Board Oversight Group on Leadership Development. The group has completed a study targeted to industrial management in relation to ACS volunteer leadership programs and a benchmarking study of comparable nonprofit leadership development programs.

Inclusiveness. P&MR members received an executive summary status report from the ACS Board-Presidential Task Force on the Multidisciplinarity of Chemistry. The task force has a website at membership.acs.org/m/multidiscipline. To position ACS as a rich source for multidisciplinary programming, nanoscience and biotechnology were highlighted and developed as themes in the national meeting program.

As a strategy to invest in diversity, P&MR is identifying ambassadors/liaisons to the African American, Native American, Hispanic/Latino, gay and lesbian, Asian, and the chemists with disabilities communities. The charge is to strengthen personal relationships to work together with these groups in partnership for our mutual benefit. The committee will work closely with the appropriate entities within the society.

Multidisciplinarity was the theme for the P&MR Communication breakfast, which was attended by technical division leaders and the chairs of the standing and elected committees.

Membership. P&MR reviewed statistics on visits to its websites: B.S./M.S. (rank 137/6,800; 7,675 site visits), Résumé preparation presentation (rank 472/6,800; 920 site visits), and P&MR Committee (rank 892/6,800; 308 site visits).

The B.S./M.S. site was recognized by the Internet Scout Project sponsored by the Andrew Mellon Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and the University of Wisconsin. The electronic presentation on résumé preparation has allowed more than 900 members to access this service.

P&MR encourages the technical divisions to identify bloggers for on-site national meeting updates. Electronic tools such as blogs, RSSs, wikis, and podcasts are open to exploration for timely, contemporary communication with and service to constituent groups.

The committee heard a report on the impact of the recently approved CANSPAM legislation and regulations that became effective March 28.--Anne T. O'Brien, chair

PUBLIC AFFAIRS & PUBLIC RELATIONS

The Committee on Public Affairs & Public Relations discussed and refined board goals related to public policy. Members agreed that work is needed to continue on establishing metrics to measure progress on specific policy outcomes and ACS member participation in public affairs activities.

The committee received a staff update on federal government initiatives and ACS activities related to electronic publishing. The report covered both the National Institutes of Health (NIH) regulation facilitating "open" access to published scientific results and the proposed PubChem program that would compete directly with the society's Chemical Abstracts Service. Staff reviewed the ongoing public policy and legal strategies and upcoming NIH interactions.

The committee viewed two products presented by the Office of Communication:

• ◾ A tape of a live news interview from that morning featuring ACS President-Elect E. Ann Nalley talking about chemistry and the meeting's Festival de Química program
• ◾ A video highlighting ACS leaders discussing the San Diego meeting and previewing the 2004 ACS annual report to be available on meeting hotel guest channels.

The Office of Legislative & Government Affairs (OLGA) updated the committee on activities related to the ACS Science and the Congress project, including a March 11 Capitol Hill briefing concerning science and technology in the intelligence community. The briefing was covered by CNN. Staff also provided updates on education policy activities and ACS leadership on the green chemistry legislation introduced that morning in the U.S. House of Representatives.

OLGA then provided a preview of the April 5­6 Legislative Summit, which will focus on National Science Foundation and Department of Energy funding as well as on the green chemistry bill. The committee also reviewed the process by which it had recently approved nine new policy statements, including eight annual science and technology funding statements and a joint ACS/American Institute of Chemical Engineers energy science and technology policy.--Diane G. Schmidt, chair

OTHER COMMITTEES

CHEMICAL ABSTRACTS SERVICE (JOINT WITH COUNCIL)

The Committee on Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) met in executive session on March 11 and in open session jointly with the Joint Board-Council Committee on Publications and the Division of Chemical Information on March 14.

The committee heard from CAS management on a range of issues, including a report on database improvements (the Russian Patent Office has been added to CAS core patent coverage in CA and CAplus), Web developments, and product enhancements.

SciFinder Scholar is now in use at more than 1,000 academic institutions worldwide, and Science IP, the CAS Search Service, recorded growth in 2004. Beginning in March, the CAS Registry will be enhanced with 5 million experimental property data tags.

The group then held a wide-ranging discussion related to industry trends as well as open access and other government initiatives.--Andrea Twiss-Brooks, chair

CHEMICAL SAFETY (JOINT WITH COUNCIL)

The task force of the former Committee on Chemical Safety-Committee on Environmental Improvement (CCS-CEI) Laboratory Environmental Health & Safety is now the CCS Task Force on Laboratory Environmental Health & Safety. Its publications and the other CCS publications can be found at chemistry.org/committees/ccs. CCS members are pursuing information on chemical health and safety practices for academic laboratories engaged in emerging technologies, such as nanotechnology and biotechnology. A new "Nanotechnology Safety" resource link is on the CCS site. ACS members and other professionals are encouraged to link their work sites to the CCS site.

"Safety in Academic Chemistry Laboratories, Vol. 2," (SACL) has been reprinted with an orange cover. Efforts to polish and eventually publish a Spanish translation of SACL on the Web are under way. CCS members are examining integration of green chemistry concepts into future editions of SACL and other CCS publications.

The third edition of the "Chemical Safety Manual for Small Businesses" is in the final review process. Two documents, "A Checklist for Small Chemical Plant & Academic Facility Security Managers To Deal with Terrorism and Vulnerability Issues" and "High School Student Laboratory Code of Conduct," are being prepared.

During the past year, the committee reviewed several experiments for use in laboratory courses and in chemistry outreach activities. Committee members continue to serve on task forces jointly with various ACS committees.

CCS will cosponsor the Presidential Symposium on Chemical Plant Security to be held on Monday, Aug. 29, at the ACS national meeting in Washington, D.C.--Alan A. Hazari, chair

CHEMISTS WITH DISABILITIES

In preparation for the 25th anniversary celebration that will take place at the 2005 fall national meeting, the committee selected Thomas J. Kucera as the first recipient of the Chemist with Disabilities (CWD) Lifetime Achievement Award. Kucera will be honored at the reception that will be held in Washington, D.C. Other major plans for the reception include a retrospective of resources produced by the committee and examples of assistive technology. Past members of the committee will be recognized, and invitations will be sent to agencies in the area that promote equal access and services to the community of those with disabilities.

Members engaged in discussion with representatives from the Committee on Economic & Professional Affairs (CEPA), who described plans to bring career programs to ACS regional meetings and sought to identify areas in which CWD can offer suggestions related to career-seeking members with disabilities. CEPA offered to organize a panel discussion to be held prior to the reception at the fall meeting.

A report was given on the very successful program held during the Northeast Regional Meeting at which students of the Rochester School for the Deaf attended a symposium that focused on careers for those with disabilities. CWD once again offered accessibility demonstrations at the exposition and continues to work with Committee on Community Activities to enhance the accessibility of National Chemistry Week and other ACS-sponsored activities and to make activities available in alternative formats such as Braille in order reach the most inclusive audience possible.--Judith A. Summers-Gates, chair

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES

The Committee on Community Activities met in San Diego and was instrumental in various activities taking place during this meeting.

Festival de Química. In collaboration with the ACS Society Committee on Education (SOCED), Committee on Minority Affairs, and ACS President William F. Carroll, the committee presented the Festival de Química, a community outreach program for the Hispanic/Latino community of San Diego. Hundreds of children and their parents attended this community outreach event, which was conducted entirely in Spanish and featured 12 different hands-on activities, a chemical demonstration show, dancing, and music. The festival was promoted with live feeds from the top two Spanish-language radio stations in San Diego along with their mirror stations in Mexico. Press garnered by the event included spots on morning news programs for the local CBS affiliate (featuring President-Elect E. Ann Nalley) and Univision (featuring Ingrid Montes of the University of Puerto Rico), as well as an article in the San Diego Union-Tribune. The festival represented the first time that the society produced an event specifically for Hispanic/Latino youth.

National Chemistry Week (NCW). The NCW Subcommittee brought forward two motions to the full committee that subsequently passed. The motions were "to adopt 'Chemistry & Careers' as the topic for the 2007 NCW celebration" and "to adopt 'Chemistry & Sports' as the topic for the 2008 NCW celebration." In addition, the subcommittee continued its review of the NCW program, including the need for greater use of electronic distribution methods for materials as well as their earlier availability. Production timelines for NCW materials were moved up accordingly.

Chemists Celebrate Earth Day (CCED). The Developing Programs Subcommittee brought forward a motion from the CCED Working Group to the full committee that subsequently passed. The motion was "to adopt 'Recycling--Chemistry Can!' as the theme title for the 2007 celebration of Earth Day." A beta version of a Web-based interactive program for 2005 CCED entitled "Flying Is a Breeze" was previewed by the committee. In addition, the committee examined new CCED products that were available through chemistry.org/store and were developed to support local section and student affiliate activities.

The Chemists in the Library Working Group also met to further develop the program, including the development of blueprints for successful events in community libraries and resources for NCW and CCED.

The Awards & Recognition Subcommittee reviewed rubrics for the evaluation of ChemLuminary Awards for NCW as well as those for the recognition of outstanding CCED programs.

In addition, the committee presented preliminary work on Carroll's challenge to develop community service outreach opportunities for ACS local sections. In conjunction with public relations plans being developed by Committee on Public Relations & Communications, steps for involvement in these opportunities will be posted on chemistry.org/oca.

The committee also joined with the Committee on Chemical Safety, SOCED, and the Committee on Chemical Health & Safety to form an Inter-Governance Working Group on Safety that will review content for the various hands-on activity publications of the society.--V. Michael Mautino, chair

CORPORATION ASSOCIATES

The Committee on Corporation Associates (CA) reviewed its strategic activities as assigned to its various subcommittees.

Through its Education Subcommittee, CA has been asked to provide input to the development of a proposed Office of Graduate Education workshop titled "Preparing for Life after Graduate School." The subcommittee discussed a report that resulted from a 2004 Anaheim, Calif., event cosponsored by CA and the Committee on Minority Affairs titled "Feeding the Ph.D. Pipeline: Diversity Programs That Work." The report will be shared with academic department chairs and posted on the Web.

The Programs Subcommittee will work with the International Activities Committee to develop a 2005 Washington, D.C., symposium on conducting business in Latin America. This subcommittee will also spearhead CA's participation in an industry-wide survey directed by the National Academies to quantify the effects of globalization on industrial R&D. (CA's role will focus specifically on gathering input from the chemical and pharmaceutical industries.)

The Public Policy Subcommittee reported on a CA effort to provide industry feedback to an ACS policy guideline document on energy. In addition, this subcommittee will continue to advise the Office of Legislative & Government Affairs (OLGA) on potential topics for the Science and the Congress program including energy self-sufficiency, science education, long-term funding for technology R&D, and the Bayh-Doyle anniversary (a retrospective view of its impact). The subcommittee will also work with OLGA to explore potential policy statements of interest to the industrial community and will assist the Committee on Economic & Professional Affairs with a 2006 national meeting symposium titled "Workforce in the Future: Filling the Science Pipeline."

CA received funding proposals requesting a total of $13,000. CA approved funding at $3,100 for the following activities at the ACS fall national meeting in Washington, D.C.: the Division of Chemical Health & Safety's presidential symposium on chemical plant security; the Women Chemists Committee's presidential symposium, "Successful Women in Chemistry: Corporate America's Contribution to Science"; and the International Activities Committee symposium, "The Chemical Enterprise in Latin America: Aspects of Doing Business in the Region."

In an effort to respond to ACS President William F. Carroll's request to all committees to share their perspectives on where the chemical enterprise will be by 2015, CA held a discussion examining key topics relevant to industry. On the basis of the discussion, CA will compile a report for Carroll's review.--Thomas H. Lane, chair

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENT (JOINT WITH COUNCIL)

The Committee on Environmental Improvement (CEI) discussed ACS President William F. Carroll's Enterprise 2015 initiative at its March meeting. The committee believes that environmental issues should be more prominent in the program's materials. Specifically, CEI recommended more focus on the increasing demand for reliable potable water, breathable air, and productive soil; the increasing demand for fossil fuels and feedstocks and the need for alternative resources; and a concentrated effort to develop and adopt sustainable products and processes.

The committee is planning a symposium in Washington, D.C., that will explore the regulation of chemicals with a view toward the U.S. system that might exist in 2015. The program will review existing regulatory models, address ongoing international initiatives, and explore the value of harmonization.

The committee reviewed the recent National Research Council workshop it cosponsored on sustainability in the chemical enterprise and plans for programming at the Washington, D.C., national meeting to highlight the subject and the resulting report. In a separate project, CEI is developing a new ACS policy statement on sustainability for consideration by the board of directors. CEI also discussed its recent review of the 2005 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award applications and planned future activities in green chemistry and engineering.

In the area of environmental education, the committee discussed its upcoming breakfast, hosted with the Division on Chemical Education, on including environment and policy in the chemical curriculum. CEI also discussed continuing projects on curriculum, a response to the Committee on Professional Training revision of the guidelines for chemistry degrees, and Earth Day activities in conjunction with the Committee on Community Activities.--Jurgen H. Exner, chair

INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES (JOINT WITH COUNCIL)

The Committee on International Activities (IAC) has been making significant efforts toward advancing our science and profession around the globe. At the San Diego national meeting, IAC completed work on its response to ACS President William F. Carroll's Enterprise 2015 initiative.

The committee discussed how IAC could help the divisions better align with sister societies abroad and enhance their portfolios of international efforts and will consult with the Committee on Divisional Activities.

Several efforts to enhance awareness of international research opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students were identified.

The committee selected recipients from the eligible Latin American and African countries to participate in the 2005 International Initiatives Program.

In Latin America, the committee is focusing its efforts on two hemispheric initiatives in science and technology--advancing gender equity and biotechnology. The committee discussed potential ACS involvement in the 2006 Congress of the Federation of Latin American Chemical Societies.

Under IAC's aegis, 12 scientists from sub-Saharan African countries participated in the 2005 PITTCON through a cooperative program with the Society of Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh.

The conference, Frontiers of Chemistry II: Research & Education in the Middle East, planned for November 2005, is on track for success. ACS, the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), the German Chemical Society (GDCh), and the International Union of Pure & Applied Chemistry are cosponsoring this event. A conference for outstanding young scientists that will be jointly sponsored by ACS, GDCh, and RSC is being planned for 2006.--Catherine E. Costello, chair

MINORITY AFFAIRS (JOINT WITH COUNCIL)

In San Diego, the Committee on Minority Affairs (CMA) met to continue to promote its mission to conceive, develop, coordinate, cosponsor, and implement programs that increase the participation of underrepresented minority chemical scientists. During this meeting, the committee cosponsored symposia on academic hiring, academic employment initiatives, and strategies for closing the gap for underrepresented groups by 2015.

At the CMA luncheon in San Diego, Sara Young, director of outreach at Montana State University, Bozeman, gave a keynote presentation titled "Cradling Our Future: An Indigenous Approach to Mentoring Leaders for Tomorrow's Scientific Workforce." During the luncheon, ACS Board Chair James Burke recognized Schering-Plough for its $100,000 contribution to the ACS Scholars Program. ACS President William F. Carroll recognized nine ACS Scholars mentors at the luncheon.

CMA, celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Scholars Program, also hosted an ACS Scholars reunion and reception in San Diego. A total of 38 current and former ACS Scholars attended the reunion. The Scholars Program has awarded scholarships to 1,482 students since inception in late 1994. Of the 580 program graduates, 224 have entered the chemical workforce and 254 have gone on to graduate school. A total of 18 students have now received Ph.D.s.

CMA held a strategic planning brainstorming session during its meeting in San Diego. Three key priority areas for the committee were identified as well as goals for local section and division interactions, education, and public relations and communication.--Jean M. Andino, chair

PATENTS & RELATED MATTERS (JOINT WITH COUNCIL)

The Committee on Patents & Related Matters (CPRM) discussed ACS President William F. Carroll's Chemical Enterprise 2015 project at its meeting in San Diego. The committee discussed proposed reforms to the U.S. patent system and changes in intellectual property matters likely to occur in the next 10 years, and the potential effects such changes might have on the work of chemists in industry and academia.

CPRM celebrated the Wisconsin Alumni Research Fund's (WARF) receipt of the National Medal of Technology, the nation's highest honor for achievements in technology. CPRM prepared the ACS nomination of WARF for the medal. WARF was an early pioneer in the field of technology transfer and played a pivotal role in the development of the Bayh-Dole Act. CPRM is pleased to have played a role in the honor and recognition bestowed upon WARF.

CPRM also discussed legislation that would affect intellectual property protections and continued discussions on several educational tools to assist and inform members on patent issues and other intellectual property matters important to a successful career in the chemical enterprise.--Charles F. Hauff, chair

PUBLICATIONS (JOINT WITH COUNCIL)

Editorially, C&EN continues to be, by far, the strongest publication in the world devoted to covering the chemical enterprise. C&EN Online is an increasingly important component of our total effort to deliver news and information of the chemical enterprise to our readers.

Final monitoring reports for Crystal Growth & Design and Biomacromolecules were presented and accepted by the committee. Nano Letters and the Journal of Proteome Research will be monitored next.

The ACS Publications Sales & Marketing Department is actively expanding access and driving use with new consortia licenses in Ireland, Poland, Portugal, and Hungary while also increasing the number of institutions in India and China. The first developing-country initiative with Pakistan has been signed. The marketing team continues to position the journals and C&EN as the leading publications in chemistry with the "Cycle of Excellence" campaign, which was launched at the San Diego national meeting.

The Journal of Chemical Theory & Computation was officially launched at the World Association of Theoretical & Computational Chemists meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, in January and is off to a great start. Staff are also planning the launch of ACS Chemical Biology for 2006.--Grace Baysinger, chair

SCIENCE (JOINT WITH COUNCIL)

The Committee on Science (ComSci) organized the following programs at the San Diego 2005 national meeting:

• ◾A full-day symposium titled "Finding Criminals with Forensic Chemistry"
• ◾A lunchbox forum titled "Staffing Issues Facing the Forensic Sciences"

For the 2005 Washington, D.C., national meeting, ComSci is planning programs on the following subjects:

• ◾ The Changing Practice of Graduate Research: The Bayh-Dole Act 25 Years Later
• ◾ Impact of U.S. Government Policy on Green Chemistry
• ◾ Meeting Scientific Workforce Needs of 2015
• ◾ A Presidential lunchbox forum featuring William F. Carroll, who will discuss his 2015 initiative, which will be followed by a question-and-answer session
• ◾ Impact of Globalization on Materials Research
• ◾ Chemistry ... The Great Challenges: Molecular Medicine

For the Atlanta 2006 national meeting, ComSci is considering programs addressing the following issues:

• ◾ Direction of Graduate Education
• ◾ Training Chemical Technicians
• ◾ Critical Analysis of the 2015 Final Report
• ◾ Chemistry ... The Great Challenges: Sustainable Energy

During the next few weeks, the committee will seek to establish appropriate partnerships with other committees and divisions that share our interest in developing these programs.

The committee was briefed on organizational efforts to understand and capitalize on opportunities created by the multidisciplinary approach toward scientific discovery. A representative from the Board Task Force on Multidisciplinarity, as well as from the Divisional Activities Committee, addressed ComSci on this issue.--W. Christopher Hollinsed, chair

WOMEN CHEMISTS (JOINT WITH COUNCIL)

The Women Chemists Committee (WCC) met in San Diego; organized a presidential symposium titled "Closing the Gap for Underrepresented Groups by 2015: Proactive Strategies Are the Key!"; and held its biannual Women Chemists Committee Luncheon. More than 220 ACS meeting attendees were present for the luncheon and to hear the keynote speaker Frances Hamilton Arnold, 2005 Francis P. Garvan-John Olin Medal Recipient. Four women presented their research work at this meeting with funding by the WCC/Eli Lilly Travel Grant Award. WCC also held the Women in Industry Breakfast on the topic "Kaleidoscope for Success." The Second Annual Women Chemists Committee Golf Tournament Classic Fundraiser took place at this meeting, drawing more than 20 golfers.

WCC will organize a symposium in conjunction with the National Science Foundation ENHANCE project for the upcoming national meeting in Washington, D.C., to help promote the WCC book "Successful Women in Chemistry: Corporate America's Contribution to Science," which is scheduled to release summer 2005.

The committee will continue to actively identify women in academia and industry for involvement in ACS. At this national meeting, 10 women scientists received ACS national awards. To help promote WCC local and regional activities and increase involvement, a revision and overview of the WCC local programming materials is currently under way.

The committee received oral reports from each WCC subcommittee (Advocacy, Attracting, Communication, Developing and Local/Regional Activities) and from E. Ann Nalley, ACS President Elect; Helen M. Free, chair of PROGRESS Project; and Bradley Miller and Hessy Taft, Committee on International Activities.--Carolyn Ribes, chair

YOUNGER CHEMISTS (JOINT WITH COUNCIL)

During the ACS San Diego national meeting, the Younger Chemists Committee (YCC) welcomed seven new committee members; engaged visitors at its open meeting and joint International Union of Pure & Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) reception; presented programming titled "Communicating beyond Generational Differences," "Take Two: New Careers for Ph.D. Chemists," "Preparing Yourself To Be a Faculty Member," "Industrial Proposal Writing," and "Starting a Successful Research Program at a Predominantly Undergraduate Institution"; and cosponsored three other technical and professional development related programs. Also during the San Diego meeting, more than 180 eager meeting registrants participated in the fourth annual Fun Run/Walk. YCC looks forward to hosting its fourth annual blood drive and bone marrow registration at the upcoming fall 2005 national meeting in Washington, D.C.

In San Diego, the committee announced the transition of its biannual newsletter from paper to an electronic format and noted that plans are under way to overhaul its website. In addition, YCC announced the success of its 2005 Leadership Development Workshop (LDW), which was held during the ACS Leaders Conference this January. Moreover, YCC reported that a partnership with the Graduate Education Advisory Board (GEAB) is ongoing, and two new appointments will be made to the GEAB prior to the Washington, D.C., national meeting. Finally, the committee is developing an electronic Younger Chemists Network database, building its liaison program with other committees, and aligning its activities with the new ACS Strategic Plan.

For more information on YCC and its activities, including the 2006 LDW, visit chemistry.org/ycc or send e-mail to ycc@acs.org.--Marci K. Harvey, chair

Council Committee Reports

ELECTED COMMITTEES

COMMITTEES

The Committee on Committees (ConC) cohosted the ACS Leaders Conference in January 2005, with five other ACS committees. ConC's interactive session for committee chairs in San Diego served as an opportune follow-on as well as a forum for informative interchange among seasoned and new chairs.

The council approved ConC's recommendation to establish a Committee on Ethics as an "Other Committee of Council." The committee's charge is "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."

Council also approved ConC's recommendation, following a performance review of the Committee on Project SEED, that the committee be continued.

ConC began developing its recommendations for 2006 committee chair appointments for consideration by the president-elect and chair of the board. In its ongoing effort to strengthen the pipeline, ConC seeks names of potential members for consideration for service on council-related committees, especially those who have had no prior appointment. ConC continues to focus efforts on identifying members with the skills and expertise identified as needed by the committee chairs. Its newly modified Councilor Preference Form is to be sent to councilors in May.--Neil D. Jespersen, chair

NOMINATIONS & ELECTIONS

On Sunday evening, the Committee on Nominations & Elections (N&E) sponsored its third successful Town Hall Meeting for president-elect nominees. This forum facilitated communication among the councilors, members, and 2006 nominees. N&E will hold another Town Hall Meeting featuring the director-at-large candidates at the fall meeting in Washington, D.C.

The committee is developing outreach activities to improve communication with council and society members. These efforts will focus on improving understanding of the nominations and elections process.

In light of the council vote last fall, N&E reviewed its 750-word limit for a candidate's statement. The committee voted to retain the word limit, although it now better appreciates the council's information needs in this area.

To address the concerns of the Committee on Constitution & Bylaws and to respond to member feedback regarding ACS voting procedures, the committee voted to withdraw the Petition on Election Procedures that was under consideration in San Diego. The committee is making further improvements to the election procedures for president-elect, district director, and director-at-large positions.

The committee thanks the council, board, and members for support of the e-balloting petition, which passed last fall. It called for N&E to present balloting procedures to the Council Policy Committee (CPC). N&E presented procedures calling for a hybrid election this year to CPC in San Diego, and CPC approved them. N&E's procedures addressed how this hybrid election should ensure anonymity, confidentiality, prevention of fraudulent balloting, archiving of ballots and results, and timely reporting. Members will have the option of voting electronically or by traditional paper ballot.

N&E is planning an open forum on nominee slate preparation and election procedures at the fall national meeting. Prior to the forum, the committee will survey the council and a random sample of the membership to provide guidance for this session.

The committee developed slates of potential candidates for the Council Policy Committee and the Committee on Committees for 2006­08 terms.--Valerie J. Kuck, chair

STANDING COMMITTEES

CONSTITUTION & BYLAWS

The Committee on Constitution & Bylaws (C&B), acting for the council, issued new certified bylaws to the Rubber Division and the Division of Fluorine Chemistry. The committee has reviewed new proposed amendments and prepared preliminary reports for the Division of Professional Relations, Division of Geochemistry, Minnesota Section, Cincinnati Section, Michigan State University Section, Northern West Virginia Section, Western Michigan Section, and Rochester Section. A final report for the North Jersey Section was also completed.

The committee reviewed the Petition on Election Procedures, which was presented to the council for consideration. The Committee on Nominations & Elections indicated to the Committee on Constitution & Bylaws that a request for the withdrawal of the Petition on Election Procedures will be initiated, per Article XVII, Sec. 2(b) of the society's Charter, Constitution, Bylaws & Regulations.

The committee also discussed and approved new versions of its guideline documents for the amendment of local section and division bylaws and guidelines for incorporation. The new documents will be sent to the Committee on Local Section Activities, the Committee on Divisional Activities, and the Committee on International Activities for comment.

Recent constitution and bylaw changes necessitated the committee's further discussion and revision of the Charter Bylaws for New Local Sections, the Bylaws for Divisions in Probationary Status, and the Charter Bylaws for International Chemical Sciences Chapters. The committee expects to place the revised documents on the Council agenda for the Washington, D.C., meeting.

New petitions to amend the constitution or bylaws must be received by the executive director by May 11 to be included in the agenda for consideration at the fall 2005 meeting of the council in Washington, D.C.--M. Elizabeth Derrick, chair

DIVISIONAL ACTIVITIES

The Committee on Divisional Activities (DAC) is reviewing the 2004 division and secretariat annual reports. DAC deliberated on the recommendations for action by the scientific and professional member divisions that were brought forward by the DAC-sponsored division summit held in October 2004. The recommendations fell into the following categories: developing thematic or multidisciplinary programming at future ACS national meetings, removing or modifying the logistical barriers currently in place for developing cooperative or creative programming, and providing incentives for cooperation rather than competition for programming.

DAC recommends that divisions adopt the uniform definition of emeritus member as defined in ACS Bylaw XII, Sec. 3(d). DAC revised the guidelines for financial support available to a division through the innovative projects fund. Contact Michael Shea, DAC staff liaison, at m_shea@acs.org for more information.--Dwight W. Chasar, chair

ECONOMIC & PROFESSIONAL AFFAIRS

To address ACS President William F. Carroll's Chemistry Enterprise 2015 project, the Committee on Economic & Professional Affairs (CEPA) brainstormed a vision of the role of chemists in 2015, roadblocks to achieving that vision, and career/employment services programs that ACS might provide to help overcome roadblocks.

At the Chemjobs Career Center, 1,344 job seekers were scheduled for 1,410 interviews for 189 positions posted. In general, the numbers are down compared with previous years. Thirty-two career workshops were presented as well as mock interviews and résumé reviews. Entrepreneurial workshops on how to start up a business are being piloted to help members consider alternative employment opportunities.

Please respond to the ChemCensus 2005 questionnaire (a comprehensive workforce survey conducted every five years). New questions on global outsourcing and retirement benefits are included.

Working with others, CEPA organized or cosponsored 18 career-related events in San Diego. These included a presidential event, a current-trends symposium on Chemistry Enterprise 2015; a health care issues for retirees symposium; and an open forum on globalization, employment, and the dispersion of chemistry. All are invited to visit CEPA's message board on the CEPA website to discuss globalization issues.

Although the work world is rapidly changing, CEPA will partner with the Department of Career Services to develop the programs and services most needed to help members address challenges of the 21st century.--Marinda Li Wu, chair

LOCAL SECTION ACTIVITIES

The Committee on Local Section Activities (LSAC) met in San Diego and is pleased to report that eight local sections are celebrating significant anniversaries in 2005: North Central Oklahoma and Western Michigan (50 years); Dayton, East Tennessee, Mo-Kan-Ok, and Northeast Wisconsin (75 years); and the Iowa and Western New York local sections (100 years).

LSAC will host both spring and fall leadership conferences in 2005. The first conference was held in conjunction with the ACS Leaders Conference in Baltimore in January. Local section alumni of the January conference are invited to the Advanced Local Section Leadership Conference, which will be held in Memphis, Tenn., Oct. 14-16. The fall conference will center on developing leadership skills.

LSAC is pleased that 44 local sections were awarded funding through the "Local Section Innovative Projects Grant Program" in 2004. LSAC awarded nearly $97,000 during the first year of the program. For more details on proposal guidelines, visit chemistry.org/localsections.

LSAC has decided to slightly alter its subcommittee structure by forming a Subcommittee on Alliances. This subcommittee will encourage local sections to form alliances with ACS and non-ACS entities in an effort to enhance and benefit the society, its members, and the community.

The Senior Chemists Working Group has developed a starter kit that can be used by local sections interested in starting a senior chemists group or "Silver Circles." The kit can be found at chemistry.org/localsections.--Will E. Lynch, chair

MEETINGS & EXPOSITIONS

The 229th ACS national meeting in San Diego hosted 15,550 attendees, including 8,453 full registrations, 4,175 students, and 1,636 exhibitors. The exposition had 508 booths with 328 exhibiting companies. This is the second highest number of exhibiting companies. There were 14 workshops and eight theater presentations.

A new feature in the San Diego Exposition was a "town center," an area inside the exhibit floor where attendees network, interact with exhibitors, and participate in training sessions.

The Committee on Meetings & Expositions (M&E) continues to explore national meeting sites. We consider convention center facilities, hotel space, accessibility, data from past meetings, and maintaining a diversity of locations as we make our recommendations.

Thanks are extended to our attendees for supporting the ACS housing block at recent national meetings. ACS has no attrition obligations for recent meetings.

A team of regional meeting specialists, known as ReACT (Regional Activities Coordination Team), has been organized with the responsibility of implementing the recommendations from the Regional Meeting Study Group.

M&E is doing its best to accommodate the needs of division program chairs by meeting with the Committee on Divisional Activities representatives three months prior to the national meetings to review and refine the technical program. With the increasing size of the national meetings, we anticipate an increase in complexity of scheduling plans.

As a result of requests from members, presentation guidelines for posters will be updated by the fall national meeting to facilitate uniform, high-quality presentations.--Steve Fleming, chair

MEMBERSHIP AFFAIRS

The Committee on Membership Affairs (MAC) examined ACS membership requirements and categories and concluded that an overall review is necessary for the future health of the society. One driver for this discussion was Article II of the ACS Constitution, stating, in part, "the objects of the ACS shall be to encourage in the broadest and most liberal manner the advancement of chemistry in all its branches." MAC believes that returning to this founding principle will aid in the realignment of the society's admission policies.

To accomplish this, MAC asked the president and the chair of the board to appoint a joint board-council task force that would include representatives of pertinent segments of the society. The task force's charge should be to make recommendations to simplify the society's membership requirements and dues categories. The goal is to make the society more welcoming to those whose professional activities are in chemistry or in the interdisciplinary areas such as materials science, biotechnology, pharmaceutical science, et cetera. The consensus within MAC was that the society needs to foster diversity in member recruitment and retention and to be more inclusive of professionals whose careers are in interdisciplinary chemical sciences. MAC will continue to address how well member benefits, products, and services are meeting expectations.

MAC passed a resolution challenging members of the committee to recruit one new member this year in support of the Member-Get-A-Member campaign. This year's theme is "365 in 2005" emphasizing the recruitment of one new member a day. MAC also challenges fellow councilors to make a commitment to recruit at least one new member this year. Membership in ACS was 158,127 at year-end 2004.--Joseph R. Peterson, chair

PROJECT SEED

The Project SEED program offers summer research opportunities for high school students from economically disadvantaged families. The program has had a significant impact on the lives of more than 7,500 students during the past 36 years. For the 2005 program, the Committee on Project SEED approved 315 students for the Summer I program and 90 students for the Summer II program to work under the supervision of a research scientist on projects that provide exposure to chemistry in more than 100 institutions. In addition, 16 former Project SEED students were awarded college scholarships totaling $80,000 for the 2005-06 academic year, with 10 students on a waiting list pending further support. The SEED program is made possible by contributions from industry, academia, local sections, members and friends of ACS, the ACS Petroleum Research Fund, and support from ACS.

At the national meeting in San Diego, the Committee on Project SEED adopted a draft for a new Project SEED strategic plan and voted to create a Project SEED Subcommittee on Public Awareness. In addition, the ACS Executive Director and the ACS Development Office hosted a reunion and recognition event for Alfred & Isabel Bader and Bader scholars. Jeanette S. Fields was recognized for establishing the "Ellis K. Fields National Meeting Travel Awards for Project SEED Summer II Students."

The committee continues its commitment to increase the outreach and facilitate the growth of the SEED program. The committee encourages all members to continue using the dues check-off option on their ACS membership renewal to support this remarkable program.--Mitchell R. M. Bruce, chair

TECHNICIAN AFFAIRS

The Committee on Technician Affairs (CTA) discussed its strategic plan, reviewing progress and developing further plans under each of the three following goals:

To increase the awareness of the important contributions that chemistry-based technicians make to the national economy and to society as a whole, CTA is establishing a chemistry-based technician resource center and promoting technician awards.

To make technicians relevant to ACS, CTA is working with the Division of Chemical Technicians (TECH), other divisions and committees, and will be contacting local sections.

To make ACS relevant to technicians, CTA has established the ACS Chemical Technology Student Recognition Award Program and is preparing a book on successful technicians and technician careers.

A discussion regarding the presidential initiative, Enterprise 2015, highlighted that there are likely to be many changes in responsibilities and expectations for chemistry-based technicians in the next 10 years. As a result, technicians will no longer be trained for specific jobs, but will need to be educated in the basic chemistry skills and prepare for life-long learning. (A summary of this discussion and the Presidential Event is available at chemistry.org/committees/cta.)

CTA discussed ways to work with TECH, the Committee on Economic & Professional Affairs, and ChemTechLinks on activities and resources for technicians and technology education programs. These efforts will encourage the advancement of chemistry-based technicians in the chemical enterprise.--John Engelman, chair