Epilogue to Local Sectio
Activities
Ninth in a Series ROBERT F . GOULD, Managing Editor I N THE eighth article of the series on local section activities [CHEM. KNG. N E W * , 24, 029 (1046)] it was stated that if the» amount of material warranted, a subsequent chapter would be prepared to correct errors and omissions in the origi nal series. This is it. I'niortuiiately, ι few corrections must be made, but, in addition, there have been enough new de velopments to enable us to present this article as a constructive addition t o the series rather than just as an apology or a scavenger. Meetings T h e most noticeable change in the ac tivities of local sections over the past six *»onths has been the gradual resumption of peacetime schedules for meetings as the war ended and travel restrictions were removed. Ordinarily holding its meetings in Wilmington, the Delaware Section has renewed its prewar custom of holding its final meeting of the season at t h e Uni versity of Delaware in Newark. A plan that has recently been inau gurated by the Cleveland Section is the regular monthly dinner meeting of section officers and committee chairmen. I t is recommended as giving an opportunity for unhurried consideration of problems relating to the section. T h e Connecticut Valley Section starts its meetings in the afternoon. T h e busi ness session and the main speaker are preH. L. Gerhart, The Amalgamator
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sented before dinner which is followed by an informal discussion or b-y a second speaker on a more general subject. Typi cal discussions have dealt with the rela tions between colleges ami industry, atomic energy, science legislation, and amendments to the ACS constitution. T o the four sections mentioned in an earlier article as holding groiap meetings, add Cleveland which has recently organ ized discussion groups for its naembers who are interested in analytical and. in petro leum chemistry. The Northeastern Sec tion, however, has found that it favors the symposium type of meeting over the indi vidual group meetings wdiielh it formerlyconducted on occasion. Its first s y m posium, on "Technical M&iipower and Reconversion in the Chemical Industry", was held as its November aneeting last year and was s o well received that four others were scheduled for tli*c rest of t h e season; subjects included ""Vitamin, A**, "Polymers", "New Metallurgical Proc esses", and "Chemistry i n Leather Produc tion". The symposium is làeld between 4:30 and 6:30 P.M. with tSiree or four speakers drawn from local talent. It i s followed by the section dinmter, and t h e meeting is concluded with fehe main a d dress b y a guest speaker at S:00 P.M. I n recommending the symposium type of meeting, it was pointed out tshat everyone can hear all of the talks, and several a s pects of a general topic are presented G. M.
within the confines of a couple of hours. The Milwaukee Section holds a seminar at every meeting, but it comes a t the end of the program. After a short intermission following the main lecture, the section reconvenes to hear papers b y members cf the section or a nontechnical talk by a * local speaker. The purposes of t h e seminar are to present subjects of local interest and t o give the younger chemists an opportunity to give papers and to speak before their colleagues. It is conducted b y a chairman who is appointed for a term of one year to preside over this portion of the meeting and to arrange its programs. Attendance at the seminars has been around two thirds that of the general session. For a number of years, the Wichita Section, 6 0 to 7 0 % of whose membership consists of petroleum and refinery chemists, has annually devoted one meeting to the subject of petroleum chemistry. Special· speakers have been presented o r informal forums have been held, but last year's program w a s the first to be scheduled as an all-day meeting and t h e first at which printed programs and name cards were used. This year's meeting, thje eleventh; was held early in June and extended over two days with eight speakers and a registered attendance of 115. Another addition t o t h e list of special meetings held b y local sections is Maryland's Remsen Memorial Lecture, established this year in commemoration of the F. R. Armbriister? Puget Sound Chemist
Cunninghmtn, Scalacs
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IOC.h anniversary of the birth of the state's most famous chemist, Ira Remsen. The lectureship will be held annually at Johns Hopkins University. The first to receive the honorary scroll of the Remsen Memo rial Lectureship was Roger Adams, chair man of t h e board of directors of the ACS. The Detroit Section has designated its November meeting as its annual "Past Chairmen's Night", when all of the sec tion's past chairmen are invited as dinner guests of the section. Its first past chair men's night last year was held in honor of the section's first chairman, Major W. P. Putnam. Also t o be presented annually at the November meeting will be an award to a member of the Detroit Section who is judged t o have given outstanding meri torious service to the section and the com munity. In addition to those sections mentioned in an earlier article that use pocket name cards at regular meetings, the Milwaukee, Northeastern, and Philadelphia Sections also use variations of the long form of identification card. Pittsburgh's card, however, is printed on the lower half while t h e upper half is folded over and inserted in t h e breast coat pocket. General.
article o n this subject appeared in Janu ary. One section ha& started a newsletter, another has found a name for its paper, and two mimeographed papers have be come printed publications. T h e first edition of "The Florida Sec tion News" appeared in February. I t is a three- t o five-page mimeographed paper issued b y the section's committee on pub licity of which S. S. Block is chairman. A contest i s now in progress within the sec tion to name the paper. T h e Maryland Section has named its newsletter "The Chesapeake Chemist" and has established it o n a permanent basis with Belle Otto as editor. The paper is photo-offset on both sides of a folded 8V2- by 10-inch sheet. During the past year, The Puget Sound Chemist, already in its seventh year as a single-sheet mimeographed newsletter, was p u t out for a while as a multipage paper in booklet form, mimeographed on halfletter-size sheets. Then in April it became a printed publication with a 24-page first issue in the 6- by 9-inch form and intro ducing a cartoon depicting the struggles of one "Elmer Ehrlenmeier" who in sub sequent issues has become a feature of the paper. Chemical Reactions, published by the Joliet Section, also came of age with the appearance of its first printed issue in Feb ruary, but in the process it was renum bered, Volume 1, Number 1, although it h a s been published in mimeographed form b y the section and its predecessor, t h e WiU County Chemical Society, since 1941. I t is an eight- to twelve-page paper with a minimum of advertising and devotes a large portion of its editorial space to dis cussion. Following the practice observed i n the earlier article, the editors of t h e t w o new printed local section publications are intro duced b y means of their pictures on these pages. Accompanying them are two other editors whose pictures were not available when t h e first article was printed. T o cor rect an error in the first article, H . L. Gerhart, editor of The Amalgamator·, suc ceeded R. L. Osburn, who started the paper, when it was authorized on a per manent basis. G. M. Cunningham, editor o f Scalacs, became chairman of the South ern California Section in June. (Present editors of the two above mentioned pub lications are: Leon Foreman, of The ALTnalgamator, and Kenneth Ό. Kahn, of Scalacs.) Scalacs, publication of the Southern California Section, was started as a re gional publication since its first issue, in October 1945, carried a column devoted to *cSan Diego Notes". An innovation which was conducted recently in the Southern California Section with the help of the local section publication was a campaign to re cruit committee workers. Committee questionnaires were sent out on which members were asked t o check their pref erences for committee work for the next
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During t h e past year, three more sec tions, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, *nd D a y ton, became incorporated; but only one of them, Philadelphia, is of a size compar able to those which have previously taken this step. Milwaukee announced that it was adopting incorporation as a measure pi protection in consequence of publishing a slocal section paper. (Dn t h e subject of aids to local section operation, t h e Delaware Section lias pre pared a guide t o the duties of officers and committee chairmen, and Cleveland has begun activity in this direction. Publications Activity i n the field of local section pub lications has been brisk since the first Alfred Chemical
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year. In order to guide them in theia: choices, a department in tt*e current, issue of Scalacs was devoted t o discussions o f the duties and functions of t h e committees. A plan designed t o give cooperating sec tions the opportunity for more complete representation in their regional publica tion i s followed by The Bvlletinoï t o e Virginia Sections. The paper is published i n Richmond und^r the direct, supervision o f the Virginia Section, but t h e Virginia Blixe Ridge and the Hampton ïtoads SectioiM elect their own editors who are responsible for their parts of the paper. Once a yea*·, each of the cooperating editors is asked t o take over the entire magazixie for o n e issue. He chooses th-e cover picture, writ.es tiae editorial, and provides any special material that he or his section would like t o have discussed. Editor William Ralston, whio inaugurated tfeie plan, reports t h a t it lias been quite popular. In the original article o n local section publications, i t was stated that The Crucible (Pittsburgh) w a s the only paper t o have appeared as a daily. This statement has proved to "be erroneous. A l e t t e r fronn Sydney D a v i s , of West Orange, N. J.,\rIho edited The Catalyst from its inception in 1916 until 19&0 when he left Philadelphia, called attention to the fae?t that h i s paper was published as a daily hia Secfaon amd assisted him o n t h e editorial staff of TFhe Catalyst—further evidenee of "h*ow e d i tors get that ^vay". Emjploymemt activities i n t h e field of emplpyment services h a v e been numerous during "fche past six mortths, partly accelerated, p e r haps, b y the needs of discharged servicemen. Several local sections h a v e inaugurated employment services w h i l e a fewhave set up counseling services, particularly to help returned scsrviccDaerju T h e Virginia Section is operating a statewide employment contact service, c o n ducted b y i»ts regional publication, ST/ie Bulletin. "Briefs" of positions open a n d of individuals available are tenished by the respective principals* The service p e r forms t h e preliminary screening amd relfere the applicant to employers whose requirements approximately fit the c a s e , and t h e service is offered w i t h o u t cost to a l l chemists, chemical engineers, and employers thereof w i t h i n the State o f Virginia. S u m maries of current listdnigs are carried in each issue o f The Bulletin. T h e service w a s initiate*! at the suggestion of The Bulletin, and a member o f the publication board, elected for a terna. of three years, is designated a s chairnuui. 1?917
• As a result of a questionnaire conducted last fall, t h e Milwaukee Section has im proved its employment service and has instituted an employment service similar to that described above, but if desired, coded advertisements are placed in the section's paper, The A malgamator, at a charge of one dollar per insertion. Com mittee members (two) serve for at least two years in order to obtain continuity of experience, but files are destroyed a t the end of each year in order to protect users of the service. The employment service recently st arted by the Cleveland Section is conducted more as a function of the regional publica tion, Isotopics, which embraces 14 local sections in Ohio and adjoining states. Blind notices (50-word limit) of positions vacant and positions wanted are published without charge, b u t the service is available only to A C S members within the region. During t h e four months that Isotopics is not published, t h e service is conducted by its director in much the same manner as those in Virginia and Milwaukee. Detroit's employment service is also keyed to its local section paper, but in ad dition, t h e committee contacts prospec tive employers o n behalf of applicants. Coded listings, with a 50-word limit, are earned o n the "Employment Informa tion" page in The Detroit Chemist, and an original offer of free space to returning veterans applying for work in t h e chemical field has been extended to all applicants and employers for the current year. In order to assist servicemen t o find suitable employment, t h e Chicago Sec tion has arranged with the Great Lakes Training School and Fort Sheridan t o have the names of m e n w i t h chemical and chemical engineering training forwarded t o the section employment office where they are available to prospective em ployers. Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, on the other hand, have approached the problem of the returning veteran b y offer ing him a counseling service. In Phila delphia, t h e counselors are the section's more recent past chairmen. Including men in b o t h academic a n d industrial fields, the counseling service gives the techni cally trained veteran broad opportunities to discuss any phase of his return t o civil ian life. Counselors are not expected, however, t o a c t as employment agents. The hope has been expressed that as the service i s developed it m a y be made avail able to a n y chemist who feels the need of a confidential discussion of his personal situation with a n unbiased individual. It has been called to the attention of the editors b y E. F . Kohman, chairman of Philadelphia's employment committee,, that t h e unemployment insurance plan de scribed in the fifth article of the foregoing series h a s been dropped. The project was proposed t o o late i n the season to be put into action by t h e originating com mittee, and after reconsidering it, the sub sequent committee advised against its
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adoption. Factors which influenced this decision included federal social security, which was not available during t h e earlier period when the Philadelphia Technical Societies operated such a plan, and the question as to how the membership would respond to solicitation for a fund of tliis kind for which there was no immediate prospect of need. A survey indicated that the response would be poor, and the plan was dropped for the present. Detroit tried a new type of survey this past year. Its committee on employment and industrial relations circulated a ques tionnaire to employers with the purpose of determining what factors employers consider important i n evaluating appli cants and in giving promotions to chemists. Returns, however, were low and no star tling new facts were revealed by t h e survey. Publicity Another result of Milwaukee's compre hensive questionnaire on professional and economic status was the establishment of an ACS speakers bureau. I t is conduced along the lines of those in St. Louis and Sacramento which were described in a pre vious article. In order to give i t s national publicity adequate attention, the Midland Section has appointed two correspondents for CHEMICAL & E N G I N E E R I N G N E W S .
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a woman chemist, handles news of per sonnel while t h e second correspondent takes care of forwarding scientific and industrial news t o C&EN.
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CIETY abstain from identifying itself with movements for the licensing of chemists and chemical engineers in any state. Epilogue With this article, the plan of the local section activities series is complete. T h e series w a s started on the thesis that the local sections of t h e AMERICAN CHEMICAL
hibraries An item that was overlooked i n the dis cussion of libraries earlier i n the series was the Erie Sections' contributions to i t s local public library. The section, which supplies the library with Cheinical AJbstracts, recently v o t e d to contribute a sub scription of The Journal of the American Chemical Society and t o donate funds to trie library to purchase the third Decennial Index of CA. Chicago has a library requirements committee which is working t o develop the scientific, and particularly foreign, literature resources of local libraries and hopes t o gain the financial support of industry in the project. Professional
the region o n the three questionnaires amounted to 8%, 18%, and 1 6 % of the total membership, excluding Da3 r ton, re spectively. T h e Kanawha Valley Section, which is not included in this region b u t is adjacent to it, took part in the first ques tionnaire and recorded a 4 5 % return. Continuing interest in professional af fairs has resulted in the formation of an other technical societies council and of several additional committees since the previous article on this subject was pub lished. In order to bring the record u p to date, mention should be made of the Puget Sound Section's membership in its local council of engineering and technical socie ties, of Toledo's affiliation with its new technical societies council which is made up of 18 local societies, the activity of Delaware's science legislation committee, the appointment in California of a na tional policy committee, and t h e report of Detroit's committee on licensing. I n its recent report, t h e Detroit committee stated its belief that it is not possible at the present time t o write a satisfactory licensing act into t h e laws of t h e State of Michigan and recommended that for the
Activities
I t has been pointed out that, in the dis cussion of surveys i n the eighth, article of this series, the fact that the D a y t o n ques tionnaires were circulated among the pther sections in its region was overlooked. The questionnaires, on economic status, pro fessionalism, a n d t h e ACS, were printed in the regional bulletin, Isotopics, which reached a total membership of about 3,000 (13 sections at that time). Returns from Dayton, which originated t h e question naires, were tabulated separately while those from all other sections i n the region were tabulated as a group. Replies from
SOCIETY conduct a wide variety of activir ties which are not widely known outside their o w n local spheres. T h e length an# scope of the series should constitute ade quate proof of this thesis, and it is hoped that tlirough it both the local sections and their activities m a y become better knownMay it justify the use of the classical con clusion—quod erat demonstrandum.
Correction The Editors regret that Farrington Daniels, author of the article, "Peacetime Use of Atomic Power", page 1514 i n the June 10 issue, did not have a n opportunity to check the proofs and that several errors crept into t h e paper as it was published. The heading should have indicated that the article w a s published from the Metal·? lurgical Laboratory of the University of Chicago instead of from the Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin. Dr. Daniels is on leave from Wisconsin. The. 16th line of the second paragraph, first column,?page 1514, should read " 2 χ · < ^ 10 10 B.t.u.", instead of " 3 X 10™ B.t.u.", and t h e sixth line under "Piles" i n the third column, page 1514, should read "fis sion of one uranium atom".
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