ACS
N NEWS
ACS Opens New Regional Clearing House Society's fourth employment clearing house in Berkeley, Calif., will serve the West Coast The Society opens its fourth regional employment clearing house this week as another of its aids in helping chemists and chemical engineers find jobs suitable to their interest, experience, and training. The new West Coast Regional Employment Clearing House is located at 2082 Center St., Berkeley, Calif. (C&EN, Dec. 6, 1965, page 73). All applications now on file in the other regional employment clearing houses (in Washington at ACS headquarters; in New York at 733 Third Ave.; and in Chicago at 86 East Randolph St.) are on file in the new Berkeley office. New applicants wishing to register with the regional clearing houses may call or write to any of them for application forms. The Society opened its first regional employment clearing house in 1945 following earlier success with a National Employment Clearing House that had operated at ACS national meetings since 1937. Based on NECH experience, the ACS Board of Directors decided the Society should set up a year-round employment clearing house. The first regional office opened in Boston in 1945, followed by
clearing houses in New York, Chicago, Washington, Atlanta, Houston, and San Francisco. In 1949 the Board of Directors decided to retain only three offices (New York, Chicago, and Washington) because of lack of use by employers of the facilities in the other cities. The Society did not intend that each regional office should serve only those seeking positions within a small area nor that regional offices should serve only local employers. As a result, records of all registrants were distributed among all offices to assure availability of all applicants to all employers. Any member or student affiliate may request application forms. These are filled out in quadruplicate and returned to headquarters in Washington. After review, the Society places applications on file at each of the four regional offices. The Society encourages employer representatives to visit any one of the four offices to review the records. If a suitable applicant is found, the employer contacts him directly by telephone or letter. The Society does not arrange interviews between employers
and applicants using the RECH. However, interviews result from the RECH operation, so the end results are the same. Currently, there are about 325 applications on file in each regional office. There is no charge for this service, but it is a nonconfidential listing.
National
Employment
Clearing
House. NECH itself has made great progress since its beginning in April 1937 during the ACS national meeting at Chapel Hill, N.C. At that time only 20 members left records of experience at the Executive Secretary's office. An equal number of prospective employers reviewed these records and as a result 28 interviews with applicants were held. Since an NECH operates only during an ACS national meeting, each user must be registered and in attendance at that particular meeting. Candidates for employment must be ACS members or student affiliates. Eligible applicants who have registered for the meeting may register with the NECH without charge. NECH is not a confidential listing. Applicants complete standard application forms by outlining their training and experience. These forms are filed chronologically and by the applicant's major field of chemistry. Employers review the applications, and on-the-spot interviews are scheduled. Employers interested in women chemists, graduate assistants, applicants who have retired, and persons with a particular specialty or interest in teaching can consult a classified index of some 300 specialties. Job seekers also may arrange contacts with certain employers who have submitted brief job descriptions of openings within their companies. To give you an idea of the activity at NECH during a national meeting, statistics on the operation in Atlantic City in September 1965 are Employers registered 982 Applicants registered 407 Employer/applicant ratio 2.4:1 Total interviews scheduled 6190 Interviews per hour (average) 180 Interviews per applicant (average) 15 Applicants with interviews 95% Unemployed applicants 1-9% Number of jobs advertised 677
BUSY. Only a few empty seats can be found at a typical employment clearing house set up during an ACS national meeting for employer-applicant interviews 50
C & E N J A N . 3, 1966
NECH is an service for recent seeking a job and any of the three
especially valuable graduates. Those planning to attend meetings in 1966
(Phoenix, Jan. 16-22; Pittsburgh, March 22-31; and New York, Sept. 11-16) should consider registering with NECH. For more detailed information on the Phoenix meeting, refer to C&EN Dec. 13, 1965, page 74. NECH details for the other two meetings will be published with the final programs for those meetings (C&EN, Feb. 14 and Aug. 8 ) . In addition to the clearing houses, the Society also offers two other main employment aids: • Publication of "positions open" and "situations wanted" in classified columns of C&EN. • Academic Openings in Chemistry. Ads in C&EN. More than 40 years ago, the Directors of the Society authorized that each issue of the News edition (now C&EN) "devote such part of four pages as may be needed as a clearing house for employment information." Anyone who is seeking employment or job applicants in the chemical profession may use this service. ACS members and student affiliate applicants, however, pay only 25 cents a word compared to 95 cents a word charged nonmembers. This is the only confidential listing the ACS offers job seekers. Members who are unemployed or retired may place three advertisements in C&EN each year without charge. Instructions for placing an advertisement in C&EN are printed in the masthead of the employment information section of each issue of C&EN. Academic Openings. Another of the Society's aids is the listing of "Academic Openings in Chemistry," which was made available for the first time in October 1962. Invitations to list openings in the academic field are forwarded to the chairmen of departments of chemistry, biochemistry, and chemical engineering at approximately 2000 junior colleges, colleges, and universities in the United States and Canada. Listings are then prepared and distributed each fall, winter, and spring. This service has been helpful to new graduates looking for teaching or academic research positions, to teachers interesting in changing positions, and to chemists and chemical engineers now in industry with an interest in academic work. When the data are collected, the latest issue is sent to college and university departments of chemistry, biochemistry, and chemical
engineering, and to the secretaries of all ACS local sections and divisions. Individual copies may be obtained by writing to the ACS Education Secretary in Washington, D.C. Publications. Other publications of the Society that should be of value to all candidates for employment are: • Salary surveys—see C&EN, Oct. 18, 1965, page 84, for starting salaries and Dec. 6, 1965, page 90, for salaries based on the NSF Biennial Survey, or write to ACS headquarters for a free reprint of each. • Special annual Career Opportunities issue of C&EN-May 24, 1965, supplement (free reprint available). This publication features prominent chemists and chemical engineers discussing their careers and covering all types of work, including research, teaching, marketing, and others. Additional articles included in that issue of C&EN are "Guide to Job-Hunting Tools"; directory of companies that employ significant number of chemists and chemical engineers; and "Chemical Companies Scramble for Graduates. " The next Career Opportunities supplement will appear in C&EN March 14, 1966. • "Finding Employment in the Chemical Profession." This booklet presents several different methods of securing a job, offers suggestions on how to prepare a resume, and gives advice concerning the interview. Single copies of this booklet are free upon request to the Society; additional copies are 50 cents each. If a person is not seeking employment but wishes to continue his studies, the following publications should be useful: • "Preparing for Graduate Work in Chemistry." Copies may be obtained for 50 cents each, prepaid, from Committee on Professional Training, 343 State St., Rochester, N.Y. 14650. •"List of Approved Schools"— free on request, ACS. • " A C S Graduate School Clearing House"—a publication to facilitate and increase contacts between college seniors interested in graduate schools and graduate schools with suitable openings. It is designed to supplement, but not replace, existing avenues. There is no fee for listing in this book and no placement charges are made for the use of this list. Copies are available for $3.00 each from ACS Special Issues Sales Department.
Retired Chemists. The American Chemical Society is currently planning what will probably be called a "Retired Chemists' Clearing House." If there is enough interest, this service will include collection and distribution of a booklet containing standardized resumes of retired members seeking part- or full-time positions. It is expected that the first booklet of resumes will be distributed to a known group of interested employers in early 1966.
ACS Reports to Commission On Patent System "The Society considers that the present United States patent system is basically sound and that it can and should continue to serve the nation well for many years to come." This is the nub of an 11-page statement submitted by the ACS to the President's Commission on the Patent System at the request of commission chairman Dr. Harry Huntt Ransom. The statement was developed by the Joint Board-Council Committee on Patent Matters and Related Legislation and was approved by the Board of Directors at its Dec. 4 meeting. Citing the large proportion of patents in the chemical field as one reason for its interest, the Society discussed five main aspects of the patent system from its position of competency and experience: patents as sources of technical information, patents as an incentive to invention, patents as an incentive to commercialization, changes in patent practice, and operation of the U.S. Patent Office. A number of specific suggestions and ideas were advanced by the Society which it indicated could have a beneficial impact on the patent system and its service to the public, including chemical inventors. These suggestions were: • Patent titles used in the "Official Gazette" of the Patent Office should be sufficiently descriptive so that their scientific and technical content is clear. • Patent descriptions in the "Gazette" should be preceded by a substantive abstract similar to those published by Chemical Abstracts Service. While not necessarily a formal part of the patent or of legal significance, such abstracts would greatly enhance the value of the "Gazette" to the working scientist and would add to the basic JAN.
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Unpaid Members Off Mailing List March 1 In accordance with Bylaw IV, Section 4, the names of all members whose dues and subscriptions for 1966 are not paid by March 1 must be removed from the mailing lists. If you have not sent in your 1966 payment, please do so in order that you may continue to receive your journals as published.
value of the patents themselves, the ACS stated. • The inventor's name should remain on the patent even though he may be required to assign rights to others. • A study should be made of the differences in the standards of invention applied by the courts and by the Patent Office. Part of this study might embrace three other suggestions the ACS offered: 1. For the benefit of the courts, have patent examiners summarize in the patent file their reasons for granting a particular patent. 2. Seek to improve the understanding by scientists and engineers of the value and mechanics of the patent system. ACS said it is already working in this direction for its own members. 3 . Consider other ways of improving general public understanding of the value of the patent system. • The present standard of invention (discoveries must be both new and unobvious) used by the Patent Office seems reasonable to the ACS. •Proposals for early publication of patent applications should be deferred pending study of the recently adopted Dutch system of early publication. • A higher level of efficiency within the Patent Office should be sought principally through use of modern business methods and equipment, improvement of working conditions, maintenance of competitive salaries, and fostering of a professional climate. • Because the public benefits from the work of the Patent Office, the Society stated it does not believe that the office should be a self-supporting agency in the sense that patent fees must underwrite all operating costs. 52
C&EN
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1966
• To help cope with the information explosion, ACS offered to explore cooperation between the Patent Office and CAS in the development of improved information retrieval and storage capabilities. The President's Commission on the Patent System was created by an executive order signed by President Johnson April 8. The commission is due to transmit a preliminary report of its findings next April 8, with a final report six months later.
Discounts Offered on Foreign Journals ACS has renewed agreements with four foreign chemical societies for mutual discounts on publications in 1966. This again, as it has for several years, will enable ACS members to get a number of foreign scientific journals at reduced cost. The agreements are with The Chemical Society (London) and The Institution of Chemical Engineers, in England; the Royal Netherlands Chemical Society; and the German Chemical Society. The Chemical Society (London) offers its publications to ACS members at a 10% discount from regular nonmember rates. These include the Journal of the Chemical Society which will be divided effective Jan. 1, 1966, into three sections available separately. An Inorganic, Physical and Theoretical Section and a Physical Organic Section will be published monthly and an Organic Section semimonthly. Also available are Chemistry in Britain, alone or in a combined subscription with JCS; Current Chemical Papers, Chemical Communications, Quarterly Reviews, and the Annual Reports on the Progress of Chemistry, 1965 (to be published in mid-1966). Subscription rates are available from Dr. J. R. Ruck Keene, General Secretary, The Chemical Society, Burlington House, London, W. 1, England. ACS members can obtain The Transactions of the Institution of Chemical Engineers at a 20% discount from regular nonmember rates. Inquiries should be sent to R. Mason, Deputy Secretary, The Institution of Chemical Engineers, 16 Belgrave Square, London, S.W. 1, England. Journals from the Netherlands available to ACS members at 10% discount from regular nonmember rates are the monthly Recueil des travaux chimiques des Pays-Bas, written mostly
in English, and the weekly Chemisch Weekblad. Inquiries should be sent to Dr. W. F. Haak, Secretary, Koninklijke Nederlandse Chemische Vereniging, Burnierstraat 1, 's-Gravenhage, the Netherlands. German publications obtainable at 10% discount from regular nonmember rates include: Angewandte Chemie, Angewandte Chemie (International Edition in English), ChemieIngenieur-Technik, Nachrichten aus Chemie und Technik, and Chemische Berichte. Inquiries should be directed to Dr.-Ing. R. Wolf, Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker, Postschliessfach 9075, 6000 Frankfurt am Main, West Germany. In all cases, chemists who are members of both the foreign society and the ACS are not entitled to a discount because member subscription rates already give them a cost reduction. ACS journals, except publications of CAS or publications of the Society's divisions, are made available to members of the four foreign societies at a 10% discount from the base rate.
Correction In the announcement of new officers of the ACS Division of Chemical Marketing and Economics (C&EN, Dec. 20, 1965, page 4 6 ) , the treasurer was given incorrectly. The new treasurer is Rita C. Parsil of Squibb Institute for Medical Research.
New Local Section Officers PRINCETON. Dr. Heinz Heinemann, manager of research and development at M. W. Kellogg Co, heads the Princeton Section for 1966. Other officers serving with Dr. Heinemann are Dr. Kurt M. Mislow, chairman-elect, and Dr. Ronald P. Andres, secretarytreasurer. IDAHO. Kenneth L. Rohde, section leader at Phillips Petroleum Co, is the 1966 chairman of the Idaho Section. The other officers serving with Mr. Rohde are George A. Huff, chairman-elect; Dr. Daniel B. Hawkins, secretary; and Dr. Robert R. Hammer, treasurer.
SOUTH JERSEY. Dr. David B. Cox, research associate with Socony Mobil Oil Co., heads the South Jersey Section for 1966. Serving with Dr. Cox are Dr. Edward L. Reilly, chairman-elect; Dr. Donald M. Nace, secretary; and Dr. Donald N. Thatcher, treasurer.
"How can we stop bleeding?M j S
ARK-LA-TEX. Marshall R. Kesling, government quality assurance chemist at Longhorn Army Ammunition Plant, Marshall, Tex., is the new chairman * 0 f t h e Ark-'La-Tex Section. Serving with him are Dr. Marvin Wayne Hanson, chairmanelect, and Constance Marie Maranto, secretary-treasurer.
SAN ANTONIO. Dr. Russell G. Dressier, chairman of the department of chemistry at Trinity University, is the 1966 chairman of the San Antonio Section. Serving with Dr. Dressier are Dr. Donald E. Johnson, chairman-elect; Dr. John E. Borges, secretary; and John D. Millar, treas-
SACRAMENTO. Chester A. Luhman, agricultural chemist in charge of the feed and livestock remedy laboratory, division of chemistry, in the California Department of Agriculture, heads the Sacramento Section for 1966. The • jA ^^^m other officers are IJr J H H i Dr. Albert T. Bottini, chairman-elect; John S. Sullivan, secretary; and Dr. Kate Murashige, treasurer.
PORTLAND. Dr. Herman R. Amberg, new chairman of the Portland Section, is manager of the j ***mm chemical and biom Tk logical research dem 1 partment of the ™ *^
