Princeton Section
 

COUNCIL MEETS AT 244th ACS NATIONAL MEETING

The Council met on Wednesday morning, August 22 and your two Princeton ACS councilors, Louise Lawter and Sharon Sibilia, attended. We heard reports from various members of the Board of Directors and Chairs of ACS Committees and Divisions. Some key actions or items of interest were:

ACTIONS OF THE COUNCIL

  • Council elected new members for the Committee on Committees, the Council Policy Committee and the Committee on Nominations & Elections for the 2013- 2015 term, to replace members whose terms have expired.
  • For the fall ACS national election, Dr. Thomas J. Barton, and Dr. Luis A. Echegoyen were chosen as candidates for President-Elect. Candidates for Directors-at-Large and Districts I and V were also chosen.
  • The Council also VOTED not to approve the Petition on International Chemical Sciences Chapters Funds. This petition sought to clarify that the Board of Directors may grant funds to international chapters for specific purposes.
  • A Petition to Amend National Election Procedures was also presented for consideration. It seeks to shorten the campaign period for candidates for President-Elect. The Petition to Amend National Election Procedures will be on the Council agenda for action at the 2013 spring meeting.
  • The Council VOTED to establish a Joint Board- Council Committee on Senior Chemists whose mission is to enrich the educational, technical, and cultural lives of the ACS Membership by ministering to and employing the talents of senior ACS members. The committee is aimed primarily at members over 60 years of age. The Board of Directors must now vote on final approval to establish the committee.
  • Meeting Registration Report: As of close of business August 22, 2012, the ACS fall national meeting had attracted 13,320 registrants, including 7,817 regular attendees and 3,177 students. •
  • The Committee on Economic and Professional Affairs (CEPA) has unveiled six new four-hour workshops, as the ACS Career Pathways series. CEPA trained more than 40 volunteer facilitators and the workshops are now available for regional meetings and local sections.
  • The Council VOTED to shift two local sections in District II (Hampton Roads and Western Maryland) to District III. (The two local sections had agreed to the shift.) The Bylaws mandate rough equality in district populations. The shift meets the specified criteria for redistricting as required by the Bylaws and brings the districts within permissible range. During the discussion, Councilors asked the Committee on Nominations and Elections to conduct a comprehensive review of the optimal alignment of local sections within districts.

ACTIONS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

  • On the recommendation of the Committee on Budget and Finance (B&F), the Board VOTED to approve an advance member registration fee of $370 for national meetings held in 2013. The Board also considered program funding requests, and on the recommendation of B&F VOTED to reauthorize funding for inclusion in the 2013 proposed budget the ACS Science Coaches program and the ACS Global Research Experiences, Exchanges, and Training Program (GREET).
  • The Board of Directors considered two other recommendations from the Committee on Budget and Finance and VOTED that an in-depth review of the expectations for the financial goals for National Meetings be performed, and that a financial plan for the long-term viability of the ACS Presentations on Demand program (formerly known as Electronic Dissemination of Meeting Content) be developed and shared with B&F at its 2013 spring meeting.

The Executive Director/CEO Report

  • The Executive Director/CEO and her direct reports updated the Board on the following: security threats faced by the Society's information technology systems and the measures in place to protect against them and a recommendation from the 2011 Financial Planning Conference that ACS identify additional revenue sources. It was also reported that a strategic assessment of the ACS Information Services Divisions was conducted over a period of nine months, The study affirmed the robust operating performance of CAS and ACS Publications, from both mission and financial viewpoints. It commended the increasing collaboration between the divisions and their global presence, and identified areas of synergy where additional opportunities for innovation and growth should be explore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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MARM Chemagination 2012
By Louise Lawter, 2012 MARM Chemagination Co-Chair

On Saturday June 2, students, teachers, family and friends traveled from New York and New Jersey to compete in the 10th Annual American Chemical Society's Mid-Atlantic Regional Meeting (MARM) Chemagination contest at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. These students qualified to compete on the regional level by placing First in their category at their local 2012 Chemagination contests earlier this spring.

Chemagination is an event in which high school students, working in teams of two or three, are asked to imagine that they are living 25 years in the future and have been invited to write an article for ChemMatters, a magazine for high school students that focuses on the role of chemistry in everyday life. The subject of the article is: "Describe a recent breakthrough or innovation in chemistry and/or its applications that has improved the quality of people's lives today." The article is written to fit in one of four categories: Alternative Energy, Environment, Medicine/Healthcare, or New Materials. In addition to the article, students must also design the cover of the magazine.

Teams were evaluated and winners selected based on the quality of their article, their poster display and their ability to defend the science behind their innovation during interviews with judges.

Eight teams vied for one of the four prizes: First Place Overall, Second Place Overall, Third Place Overall, and Honorable Mention. The prizes consisted of $125 (per team member) for First, $100 for Second, $75 for Third and $50 for Honorable Mention. In addition, each prizewinner received a subscription to "ChemMatters" magazine complements of the ChemMatters staff. Also, "Chemagination" caps were distributed to students, teachers and judges to commemorate the event.

Between the various interviews, the students had the chance to mingle with their fellow competitors from Windsor-Plainsboro High School North. West Windsor- Plainsboro High School South and Bergen County Academies in New Jersey, and Hunter College High School and Division Avenue High School in New York.

During the deliberation of the judges, the students attended a Chemistry Demonstration by Dr. Stephen Mang of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

MARM Chemagination 2012 was sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Regional Meeting Executive Board of the American Chemical Society and organized by Mrs. Louise Lawter and Dr. Shirish Shah. We wish to thank MARM General Co-Chairs Paul Smith and Stephanie Watson, Dr. Stephen Mang, and our judges Dr. Holly Cymet, Stevenson College; Dr. Louise Hellwig, Morgan State University; Dr. Sara Narayan, Stevenson University, and Dr. James Saunders, Towson University for their service. We also thank the students' faculty advisors Ms May Chiu, Hunter College High School; Ms Cindy Jaworski, West Windsor-Plainsboro HS South; Mr. Troy W. Joseph, Division Avenue High School; Dr. Deok-Yang Kim, Bergen County Academies; Mrs. Julia Norato, West Windsor-Plainsboro HS North and Mr. Thomas Scott, Hunter College High School for supporting and encouraging their students.

It was apparent from the quality of the sub-missions that the students worked very hard to prepare for the competition. The judges did not have an easy task in selecting the winners!

And the Winners Were…

First Place Overall
"Lightening Farms: Electrical Agriculture"
West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South
Daniel Echeverri, Mark Khusidman and MacCallum Robertson

Second Place Overall
"Energy Exploding Enzymes: Power of the Protein"
West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North
Aastha Choksh, Anup Regunathan and Saavanth Velury

Third Place Overall
"The ProPancreas: How it Lead a Diabetic Revolution"
Bergen County Academies
Kellie Heom, Isabella Grabski and Rachel Yang

Honorable Mention
"MemNotes - A Revolutionary Way to Make Information Stick"
West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South
Brandon Chu and Aayush Visaria

 

 

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ACS Entrepreneurial Initiative (EI)

The ACS Entrepreneurial Initiative (EI) is a two-year pilot program that responds to the recent recommendations of the ACS Presidential Task Force on Innovation in the Chemical Enterprise entitled "Innovation, Chemistry, and Jobs: Meeting the Challenges of Tomorrow." The EI is intended to provide chemical entrepreneurs with affordable access to training and resources that foster the creation of new jobs for U.S.-based chemists. It comprises an Entrepreneurial Training Program (ETP) and an Entrepreneurial Resources Center (ERC). Since its recent launch two sessions of the Entrepreneurial Training Program have been successfully completed. The next application period for the ETP will open October 1st. To apply or learn more about ACS Entrepreneurial Initiative, please visit www.acs.org/ei. The "ACS Entrepreneurial Initiative" will be one of only six Summit Award recipients for 2012, the highest association honor from the ASAE, The Center for Association Leadership. The award will be presented at ASAE's Summit Awards Dinner to be held Oct. 3, 2012 at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC. (ASAE is a membership organization of more than 21,000 association executives and industry partners representing 10,000 organizations.)

2012 National Chemistry Week Activities Night
by Kitty Wagner & Louise Lawter, NCW Co-Chairs

This year's NCW theme is "Nanotechnology: The Smallest BIG Idea in Science". We are planning an Activities Night that will be fun and educational for all that attend. There will be varied hands-on activities designed around the theme of nanotechnology and helpful volunteers ready to answer questions. The event will be held on Friday, October 26 from 7:00 - 9:00 pm at Princeton University Frick Laboratory, Taylor Commons. Volunteers are needed for a variety of tasks including prepping for the "experiments", 4 organizing and/or supervising hands-on activities, greeting guests, answering questions and helping with event publicity. If you can help or just want to find out more please contact Kitty Wagner at kmwagner@Princeton.edu or Louise Lawter at louise.lawter@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

ACS Climate Science Toolkit Now on ACS Website

Global climate change, whether a result of natural variability or of human activity, is a vital issue for life on Earth and involves many processes and concepts related to chemistry. Engaging with this issue in deliberative discourse with colleagues and others requires understanding the fundamental science that determines Earth's climate. This fundamental science is the core content of the ACS Climate Science Toolkit. This toolkit is now up and running on the ACS website. It can be found at www.acs.org/climatescience

 

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PACS HAS NEW WEBMASTER

Sergio Anis, our webmaster for the past several years, resigned his post as webmaster for the section last year due to a job change. He volunteered to serve on an interim basis until we could find a replacement. (Thank you Sergio for your years of dedicated service.)

We are pleased to announce that Danielle Carrick has volunteered to be our new Webmaster. She has been busy posting new information on the website and you may want to look at some of the job opportunities she has included under "Careers".

Danielle is a recent graduate of Syracuse University where she studied photography and economics. Web design/development was a hobby that eventually led to her first job. She currently works as an Information Designer at GfK, a market research firm, creating infographics and data visualizations. She enjoys running, reading and listening to NPR. Please join me in welcoming Danielle to the section. She can be reached at dacarrick@gmail.com.

Chemical Consultants Network, Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Dr. Roman Bielski, the Chief Technical Officer for Value Recovery, a Partner in ChemInnolab and an Adjunct Professor at the Pharmaceutical Department of Wilkes University will speak on "The Importance of Shape – A Primer for Chemical Consultants" The talk will concentrate on geometry of two and three dimensional structures belonging to small and large molecules.

>Location: Cynwyd Club, 332 Trevor Lane, Bala Cynwyd, PA. Networking, 5:30 pm; Dinner, 6:30 pm; Talk and Business Session, 7:30 pm. To make or cancel a dinner reservation, e-mail CCNReservations@aol.com or call the ACS office at 215-382-1589. For more information on the meeting see www.chemconsultants.org.

 

 

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Princeton Section Elections | Sign up for Electronic Ballot

Last year Princeton local section elections were held using either paper or electronic ballot for the first time. The process was a great success and our member participation increased over 5 fold.

The 2012 Princeton Section Elections will take place later this fall and will be conducted electronically once again. All eligible voting members with valid e-mail addresses will receive electronic ballots. This is a good time to give ACS your email address or check on the one you have on file with the ACS. You can do so by calling ACS Member Services at 1-800-333-9511, or e-mailing service@acs.org. You can also login to the ACS website (acs.org) and look under "Show Account Details" to edit your profile.

Members who wish to vote by paper ballot must request a paper ballot, in writing, from the Princeton Section Secretary, by Friday, October 5. Requests for paper ballots must include the member's name, address and ACS membership number. Address your requests for paper ballots to:

Barbara Ameer, PACS Secretary
PO Box 818
Princeton Jct, NJ 08550-0818
b4chemistry@gmail.com

ACS Webinars™ is a weekly online event. Each webinar is 60 minutes in length, comprising a short presentation followed by Q&A with the speaker. The live webinars are held on Thursdays from 2-3pm EST. Recordings of the webinars are available online and upcoming events are posted at http://acswebinars.org/events.

Thursday, September 27, 2012 | 2pm-3pm EST
Speaker: Sam Kean, New York Times bestselling author of The Violinist's Thumb Genes and Geniuses: How Humans Became "All Too Human", Our DNA makes us who we are, but what made our DNA the way it is?

Trace the history of our DNA with New York Times bestselling author Sam Kean as he highlights some of the subjects covered in his book, "The Violinist's Thumb." You will learn more about our DNA and its history than Mendel and his pe a plants ever could have hoped for. There will also be some interesting facts about Einstein's Brain to boot.

Are you receiving a paper copy of the AliQuotes?


Please help the Princeton Section save paper and reduce mailing costs. Sign up today to receive the newsletter electronically. Send your email address to Louise Lawter at louise.lawter@gmail.com to start receiving your electronic copy. You can also sign up directly at www.princeton.edu/~pacs/subscribe

 

 

ACS Benefits for Unemployed Members


During these tough economic times it’s more important than ever to belong to the American Chemical Society. Unemployed members can tap into a host of valuable benefits and services that help them get back in the workforce. And, members in good standing may qualify for an unemployed member dues waiver, allowing them to renew their memberships and keep their member benefits at no cost. Contact ACS at service@acs.org, 800-333-9511 or 614-447-3671 for complete details.


Other valuable benefits that help ACS member get back in the workforce include:

  • Free registration at ACS National Meetings and registration fees at Regional Meetings of just $25. Meetings offer ACS Career Fairs with on-site interviews.

  • Special discounts for ACS/Harvard courses, ACS ProSpectives and Short Courses, and the ACS Leadership Development System.

  • Membership in the ACS Network, your online resource to connect and communicate with friends, colleagues, and potential employers.

  • Free Guidance from ACS Career Consultants – ACS mentors offer resume reviews, job search strategies, and interview tips that make you stand out from the rest.

  • Free access to InterviewStream, an online tool that will sharpen your interview skills.

  • Members-only access to the ACS Salary comparator.

  • And more!

Contact ACS customer service today at service@acs.org, 800-333-9511 or 614-447-3671 today and let us know how we can help.