News of the Week specialists of realistic training in chemical-agent detection and decontamination." This facility is the only one in the U.S. that trains chemical specialists in live-agent environments. Lois Ember
FROMATLWTA
ACS national meeting draws 10,000 attendees The American Chemical Society's 201st national meeting drew more than 10,000 participants to Atlanta last week. In this bastion of southern hospitality, where the sun shone most of the week, attendees were treated to the usual wide variety of activities, including more than 4000 technical presentations, an exposition of products from 230 companies, scads of governance sessions, and several special events. One event generating excitement was a symposium on Wednesday evening on large carbon clusters, one of the hottest current research fields in chemistry. Researchers there reported evidence of superconductivity in potassium-doped C 60 at the highest temperature yet achieved (18 K) for a molecular superconductor (see story on page 8). Another highlight was a Sunday evening presidential plenary session on the outlook for the chemical industry, organized by ACS president S. Allen Heininger. Speakers portrayed a rosy future for the industry, provided it overcomes the environmental and safety stigma the public seems to associate with it. At the session, Frank Popoff, president and chief executive officer of Dow Chemical, spoke on the chemical industry and the environment; M. Ross Johnson, vice president of Glaxo's chemistry division, addressed the pharmaceutical industry; and Karl Heinz Buchel, Bayer A.G.'s senior vice president for R&D, spoke on challenges and opportunities for R&D. Also featured at the plenary session was presentation of ACS's Charles Lathrop Parsons Award to Mary L. Good, senior vice president for technology at Allied-Signal, and 10
April 22, 1991 C&EN
former ACS president and ACS Board chairman. The award recognizes outstanding public service by an ACS member. Good delivered an award address entitled "What's New in Chemistry." Among governance highlights, the ACS Council approved a $5.00 increase in membership dues for 1992 (bringing dues to $91), and nominated two candidates for this fall's election for 1992 president-elect. They are Helen M. Free, professional relations consultant for Miles' diagnostic division; and Henry F. Whalen Jr., vice president and director of corporate development of PQ Corp. The council also acted on two petitions to amend the society's governing documents, adopting one and defeating one. The successful petition will eliminate genderspecific pronouns in 27 sections and subsections of the constitution and bylaws by rearranging words or phrases. The defeated petition proposed delaying council action on petitions amended from the council floor until the following council meeting. Other governance actions included ACS Board approval to move ahead with establishing a Chemical Abstracts Service Governing Board, which will oversee the businessrelated aspects of CAS operations. This action comes after months of
Good accepts ACS Parsons Award deliberations on the long-term viability of CAS in the increasingly competitive chemical information field. The new governing board, expected to be operating later this year, will draw its seven members not only from ACS governance and staff, but also from management in the information industry. The Society Committee on Chemical Abstracts Service is expected to continue operating, although with an altered role. Ernest Carpenter
Chemical firms show mixed earnings picture Chemical company earnings reports released to date for the January through March period are a mixed bag. They show everything from a loss at B. F. Goodrich to a more than 50% gain at Imcera. For the first quarter, Goodrich reported a $2.9 million loss compared with earnings of $16.2 million in the same period last year. The earnings decline came on a 10% drop in sales to $578 million in the quarter. The economy affected all segments of the company, with its Geon Vinyl Products unit registering an operating profit of $900,000 versus $10.1 million in 1990's first quarter. Specialty chemicals had an operating profit of only $100,000, plummeting from $13.4 million. Commenting on the results, chair-
man John D. Ong said, "The first quarter is the seasonal low point for our specialty chemicals business. This year we are seeing customers reduce inventories and defer orders, but we expect this to improve rapidly as the economy recovers." At Dow Chemical, after excluding a nonrecurring gain of $213 million, earnings declined 21% to $365 million. Sales were up 1% to $4.95 billion. And at Rohm & Haas, earnings fell 24% to $41.3 million on a 2% sales decline to $680 million. Georgia Gulf also reported an earnings decline, down 54% to $17.1 million on a 6% sales drop to $236 million. However/the company said that overall sales volumes increased from the fourth quarter of 1990. On the plus side, Ethyl reported a
