NEWS OF THE WEEK ACS
MEETING
MEMBERS GATHER IN CHICAGO National meeting draws 15,000 plus, features Technology Milestones exhibit
T
HE SKIES WERE CLEAR OVER
Lake Michigan as the American Chemical Society met last week in Chicago. Attendance of 15,290 exceeded expectations as chemical scientistsfromall over the world presented research and learned of the latest advances in theirfields.The program featured 6,089 papers presented in 66 concurrent sessions. And the exposition was a record breaker with 328 companies exhibiting in 543 booths. In addition, ACS celebrated its 125th anniversary with a special exhibit, a musical play, and a party for all attendees. The society unveiled its Tech nology Milestones exhibit, which was two years in the making. "The purpose of this exhibit is to show how chemistry has contributed to the quality of our lives during the past 125 years," said ACS Pres ident Attila Ε. Pavlath, who fea tured the exhibit as one of his pri mary Presidential Events. The exhibit, which grew out of a rec ommendation from the ACS Committee on Science, consists of six large panels that describe chemistry's contributions to health, energy, food and agricul ture, transportation, recreation, and communication. Four of the panels are interactive and provide viewers with more detailed infor mation on significant milestones in supporting chemical technol ogy In addition, 24 posters give information about trends in tech nology over the past 125 years. "Next steps may include taking the Technology Milestones ex hibit to science museums, trans lating it into an Internet display, or creating an appropriate publi cation," Pavlath noted. HTTP://PUBS.ACS.ORG/CEN
The meeting also featured a reprise of Pavlath's own musical play, "It Is Time for a Change!" The play featured performances by actors playing the roles of William Shakespeare and Oscar Hammerstein, who, along with an actress playing ACS commit tee chair "Jane Q. Change," aim to convince the cautious professor "Status Quo" to be open to changes that will benefit ACS members. To persuade him, they quote Shakespeare and sing "Climb Every Mountain," "The Impossible Dream," and "You'll Never Walk Alone," among other inspirational songs. At a party fol lowing the play, the society's board members cut the society's birthday cake. While ACS meetings are fun, serious business is also con ducted. And the ACS Board of Directors and Council dealt with a number of issues the society is facing, making decisions that will influence the near future of ACS. The effects of the downturn in the economy are being felt by the society The Society Committee on Budget & Finance reported that the core programs of the society are projected to end 2001 with a net contribution of $220,000. With the inclusion of projected net program expenses from the Member Insurance Pro gram of $2.6 million and the soci ety's board appropriations of $5.6 million, the society's overall oper ations are projected to end 2001 with a net deficit of $8 million. Board and council also heard a report of Pavlath's recent elec tronic survey of ACS members intended to gauge their satisfac tion with the society and its prod
ucts and services. While a sub stantial majority of ACS mem bers are satisfied with their ACS memberships, there is still room for improvement. The survey indicates that younger members are somewhat less knowledgeable about and/or satisfied with their memberships than older mem bers and that the primary draw of ACS membership is society pub lications. (A detailed report will appear in a future issue ofC&EN.) Also on the electronic front, JobSpectrum.org officially intro duced its employment and career website for the general chemical community (C&EN,June 4, page 13). The board approved the rec ommendations of its Task Force on Women in the Chemical Pro fessions to embark upon a pilot program to lower barriers to and increase participation ofwomen in chemical science professions. Among the recommendations are that ACS convene an aca demic awareness summit and produce "Thriving in the Work place" roadshows, a Web-based resource center, and a business and leadership course. And for those tracking the statistics: As of July 31, total ACS membership was 158,649 —with growth in both the student and recent graduate membership categories very positive. The National Employment Clearing House reported brisk traffic dur ing this meeting with 1,392 jobs posted, 169 employers registered, 1,105 candidates for jobs, and 4,001 interviews conducted. In addition, more than 3,000 visits were made to the ACS Career Resource Center.-LINDA RABER
WÊÉÈt$0ÊlÊÊÈÊÈÈËÊ: WÈÊÈÈÊÊÈÊÊÈÈÊÊJ0ÊÈÊÎ WÈÈÉÈÊÈÊÊÎÈÈËÊÊÊÊÈk. WÈ^ÈÊÊKÊÈSÊÊÊÈÈï WÊÊÊÈÊÊÈÈÊÈÈÊÈÈÊÊ.
WÈKÈÈÉÊÉÊÈÈÈÊÊÊÈÈ
MILESTONES Pavlath and Kelly Shannon, ACS Student Affiliate chapter president at Illinois Institute of Technology, visit the Technology Milestones exhibit.
C & E N / S E P T E M B E R 3, 2001
13
