Ieditorially A Time of Decision
It is said that the upcoming election for ACS President-Elect will mark a turning point in the character and philosophy of the American Chemical Society. Regardless of which of t,he three candidat,es wins, the ACS very lilcely will assume a new posture and pursue a reformulat,ed, and perhaps decisively remodeled, game plan. The key issues center on how the Society's priorities will be ordered and its resources allocated among its professional, scientific, and educational interests. The vital question before t,hemembnrship is: Are the prestige, influence, and services of a learned society in the traditional sense adequate to safeguard and advance the profession during a period of drastic economic and social change, or must the Society in these circumstances exert leadership and influence in new and different directions, using less subtle methods to make its impact? The ACS is chartered as a scientific and educational society. For many years it concentrated its efforts in two areas: a ) conducting meetings at which members could present and listen to technical papers; and b) publishing journals to disseminate important developments in chemistry. It has fulfilled both these functions with distinction. Recerit,ly it has responded to member demands that it become more professionally oriented by developing a variety of programs to help individual members in more tangible ways. These programs, such as membership assistance for unemployed members; guidelines for employers; life, health, and possibly unemployment compensation insurance; pensions for professionals, and others are described by the very able chairman of the Committee on Professional Relations, Ray Mariella, in his article, "Professionalism in the ACS Today," which appeared in t,he September 6 issue of Chemical and Engineeying News. Despite the earnest commitment and substantial effort to strengthening and expanding its services to members, there is much controversy over hour far the Society should go in its professional orientation. Many of the present programs were developed under less than ideal conditions; others are clearly experimental. Their effectiveness and implications remain to be seen. The entire effort is not much more than a start in the direction of professionalism which, if embraced with the vigor it will surely demand, could claim the lion's share of the Society's resources and st,aff energies. Still, about two-thirds of the membership is employed by industry and is subject not only to the economic
speaking
fortunes of a particular corporation, hut to the general economic and social climate as well. Further, the chemist may be somewhat more vulnerable to being declared unessential than are many other classes of employees, since, to oversimplify for brevity, his sewices may bc deemed less valuable once he has provided the know-how and creativity for producing a money-making product. Unlike the WID, most professional chemists have only one client. In these circumstances the client may be tempted to take advantage of the professional. The result could be detrimental not only to the professional, but if the condition continues unabated, the entire profession, even the general public, could suffer needlessly. The individual can do very little to remedy this on his own, and, while feu, if any of the membership want ACS to become a union, a strong case can be made for the importance to chemistry and to all chemist,^ of a sensible but powerful and active professionally-oriented component of the national organization. A powerful case also can be made for maintaining and extending the vital functions of the learned societyopport,unity to exchange and debate ideas, and the dissemination of new knowledge. These are, after all, the wellsprings from which our competency and creativity gain sustenance. Without them, there would be little to offer our clients, and little need for professionalism. The three candidates for President-Elect appear to offerthe membership some clear-cut choices, if we read their statements and those of their spokesmen correctly. One would move the Society strongly toward professionalism, offering more services to individual memhers, working for higher salaries, better job security, and promoting greater ACS involvement in National affairs. A second would seek to preserve the learned society philosophy, helping individual members when possible, but searching for a theoretical model to apply to the problem of professionalism, meanwhile relying largely on the prestige of ACS and the brilliance of distinguished chemists to make the case for chemistry. The third would take a middle course based on what members want and what is possible in terms of funds, facilities, staff, and realistic benefit-cost ratios. Before voting in November we urge each member of ACS to examine the issues and the positions of candidates carefully. The outcome could affect each of us a WTL good deal more than we might now expect.
Volume 48, Number 10, Ociobw
1971
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641
