Chemical Bond – May 2015

Vol. 66, No. 5, May 2015

Eleventh Annual STL-ACS Picnic – June 14th

When
Sunday, June 14th, 12pm – 4pm

Where
Gloria Rogers Shelter, Tilles Park, 9551 Litzsinger Road, Saint Louis, MO 63124 (map)

Description
Bring the family! Bring the kids. (There is an excellent playground and spray pool across the park road for diversion.)

Just $5 per person, kids under 12 free. Please register by June 10th. To register, or if you have questions, please email obrienjja@umsl.edu.

Highlights:
— lunch at 12:30 PM
— games
— networking
— of course great people!
Make checks payable to St Louis Section–ACS. Mail checks to:
Vic Lewchenko
354 Larkhill Ct.
Webster Groves, MO 63119.

The Google Map link shows a pin at the Windegger Shelter. The Gloria Rogers Shelter is at coordinates 38.621031, -90.366127.

Recap of STL ACS 2015 Awards Night

The St. Louis Section of ACS held the annual Awards Night Banquet on April 13th at Maggiano’s Little Italy on the Boulevard. Guests of the evening included 30 high school students, 9 college students, and 7 high school teachers.

Parents, research mentors, and members of the St. Louis Section brought the total to 116 attendees – an all-time record attendance. Following a scrumptious Italian dinner, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs Holden Thorp of Washington University engaged the audience with a description of anti-fungal drugs developed by his company (Viamet). Using simple concepts of Lewis acids and bases, he explained the interaction of two potential pharmaceuticals with metalloenzymes. Section Chair-Elect Dr. Joseph Ackerman presented certificates and awards to the winning students and teachers. Section Chair Dr. Pegah Jalili concluded the evening with congratulations to all the winners and their families.

2015 High School Teaching Excellence Award

Amy Frances Heathis a chemistry teacher at Granite City High School in Granite City, IL. She received her B.S. in Chemistry from Southern Illinois University in 1988.

While working as an industrial chemist she began working with high school students through Junior Achievement and realized she had missed her calling: education. She received her certification and began teaching chemistry in 1992 at Granite City High School and seven years ago became Science Department Chair. She is an adjunct teacher for the SLU1818 Program, which allows her chemistry students to earn dual credit. Her role as a board member, mentor and leader within the IBHE/NCLB grant for Science Teachers at SIUE for twenty years has kept her refreshed and current in the field.

Amy wears many hats at the high school: National Honor Society Cosponsor, Secondary Honors Coordinator, Renaissance Steering Committee and May Carousel Committee. She is a member of the National Science Teachers’ Association, Illinois Science Teachers’ Association, and Phi Kappa Phi National Honorary Association. Having a passion for the environment, Amy has led four student groups on eco-adventure trips to the Bahamas and Mexico though Green Edventures. She hopes to pass on to her students, her passion for science learning and their important role as keepers of this planet. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, biking, and spending time with her family and dogs. Amy still has plans to teach for quite a few more years!

2015 High School Chemistry Contest Awards

High School Chemistry Contest Awards

Administered by the St. Louis Section of The American Chemical Society

On March 13 or 14, hopeful chemistry students from area high schools gathered to compete in the Saint Louis Section High School Chemistry Contest.

Places are based on a written test. The Regular Division exam is open to students who are in their first year of high school chemistry (other than an AP course); the Advanced Division is for those taking their second high school chemistry course or AP chemistry. Each exam has a multiple-choice section and then a “tie breaking” section that consists of short-answer and essay questions.

Congratulations to all of the 2015 winners, listed below, and to their teachers. All were invited to Awards Night, April 13, as guests of the Section and were recognized for their achievement.

REGULAR DIVISION

Place	Student	School	Teacher
1st	Noah Sock	John Burroughs School	Eric Knispel
2nd	Yunchao Zhang	Parkway Central High School	Beth Karfs
3rd	Harry Rubin	Clayton High School	Brad Krone
4th	Emily Sharp	Clayton High School	Brad Krone
5th	Alex Luckermann	Parkway Central High School	Beth Karfs
HM	Ian Bradley	John Burroughs School	Eric Knispel
HM	Tiger Chen	Clayton High School	Brad Krone
HM	Jake Kovalic	John Burroughs School	Eric Knispel
HM	Nicholas Lee	Clayton High School	Brad Krone
HM	Henry Arneson	John Burroughs School	Eric Knispel
HM	Tony Chen	Parkway Central High School	Beth Karfs
HM	Deniz C. Ince	John Burroughs School	Sandra Mueller
HM	James Kim	Parkway Central High School	Beth Karfs
HM	Caroline Creighton	John Burroughs School	Eric Knispel
HM	Alexander Hymes	St. Louis University High School	Charles Busenhart
HM = Honorable Mention

ADVANCED DIVISION

Place	Student	School	Teacher
1st	Aditya Cowsik	Clayton High School	Nathan Peck
2nd	Amanda Cao	John Burroughs School	Sandra Mueller
3rd	Daniel Greenblatt	Clayton High School	Nathan Peck
4th	Joseph Albertson	Westminster Christian Academy	Andrew Shaw
5th	Gajan Kumar	Parkway Central High School	Beth Karfs
HM	Timothy Nonet	Clayton High School	Nathan Peck
HM	Xuechun Qian	Clayton High School	Nathan Peck
HM	Omkar Venkatesh	Clayton High School	Nathan Peck
HM	Victoria Yi	Clayton High School	Nathan Peck
HM	Gabrielle Choo-Kang	Clayton High School	Nathan Peck
HM	Anirudh Gururaj	Parkway Central High School	Beth Karfs
HM	Paul Krucylak	Clayton High School	Nathan Peck
HM	Olivia Long	John Burroughs School	Sandra Mueller
HM	Anna Widder	Clayton High School	Nathan Peck
HM	Sarah Widder	Clayton High School	Nathan Peck
HM = Honorable Mention

2015 Outstanding College Junior Chemistry Student Awards

We are pleased to announce the winners of the Outstanding Junior Chemistry Student awards for 2015. Each college and university in the local section territory chooses its winner; all were feted at Awards Night on April 13.

Student	College or University
Stephanie Gaide	Greenville College
R. Justin Stacer	Lindenwood University
Adam M. Rork	Maryville University
Kenneth L. O’Dell Jr.	McKendree University
Austin Moyle	Principia College
Kurtis A. Breger	Saint Louis University *
Stephen G. Kukielski	Southern Illinois University – Edwardsville *
Magnus Creed	University of Missouri – St. Louis *
Yifei Hu	Washington University *
* = ACS Approved Programs

Illinois Junior Academy of Science Region 12 Science Fair

Results from the 2015 Illinois Junior Academy of Science Region 12 Science Fair
reported by Sheryl Loux

GRADES 9-12 DIVISION

First Place: Sally Nijim, “The Role of the Transcription Factor Atonal Homolog 8 in Erythopoiesis and Iron Homeostasis: Potential for the Comprehension and Treatment of Hemochromatosis and Cases of Iron Loading and Iron Deficiency”, Grade 11, Willowbrook High School, Villa Park,IL.

Second Place: Caroline Stewart, “Change in Loss Modulus of Bulk Metallic Glass With Varying Titanium Concentration”, Grade 10, Governor French Academy, Bellville, IL.

Third Place: Dinah Pimentel, “How Much Does Cooking Vegetables Destroy Their Vitamin C Levels?”, Grade 9, Alton High School, Alton, IL.

GRADES 5-8 DIVISION

First Place: Reagan Guerra, “Heat Stability of Catalase in Carrots, Potatoes, and Sweet Potatoes”, Grade 7, Good Shepherd Lutheran School, Collinsville, IL

Second Place: Lydia Reed, “How Much Hydrogen?”, Grade 6, St. Francis/Holy Ghost School, Jerseyville, IL.

Third Place: Holly Baalman, “Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz”, Grade 8, St. Norbert School, Hardin, IL.

Chemistry Olympiad

Five students qualified for the National Chemistry Olympiad competition based on their performance in the high school chemistry contest. The Olympiad exam consists of a 90-minute multiple-choice section, a 105 minutes of free-response questions, and a 90-minute lab practical. The exam was held at UMSL and supervised by Keith Stine and Harold Harris. These students will compete against others across the country who also qualified for this exam. The top 20 students in the nation will be invited to a two-week summer chemistry training camp at the Air Force Academy. The four best of that group represent the US at the International Chemistry Olympiad, which consists of a five-hour lab practical and five-hour theoretical exam. This year’s International Olympiad will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The Five Students Who Qualified are:

Student	School	Teacher
Joseph Albertson	Westminster Christian Academy	Andrew Shaw
Aditya Cowsik	Clayton High School	Nathan Peck
Daniel Greenblatt	Clayton High School	Nathan Peck
Anirudh Gururaj	Parkway Central High School	Beth Karfs
Gajan Kumar	Parkway Central High School	Beth Karfs

Kids and Chemistry Celebrate Earth Day at Saint Louis Science Center

As many as 600 people stopped at Kids and Chemistry tables brought by coordinator Sheryl Loux to the Saint Louis Science Center for Chemists Celebrate Earth Day on April 18th, 2015. Demonstrators and kids had a great time discovering that which foods contain starches and that some laundry detergents have enzymes added to break down food spills on the laundry. All enjoyed the crushing cans demonstrations and many viewed the DNA models on display. Sheryl would like to thank Marty Rhine and Donald Sartor for leading and Joy Campbell ,Jian He, Emily Penick, Alexandra (Alex) Campbell, Jenna Hoffman, Abby Bridges, Hannah Dadzie, Marisa Gonzalez, Daniel Gutierrez, Kimberly Bennett, Ashlin Grover, Shadi Ansari, Alexia Lewis-Moss, Brenna McIlvoy, Precious Kinzer, and Jasmine McNear. Reported by Kids and Chemistry Coordinator—Sheryl Loux (sjloux@gmail.com)

Career Day

Dear Science Educator,

We invite you and your students to Career Day sponsored by the American Chemical Society. This event is to be held at the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL) in the Chemistry & Biochemistry Department on Friday, May 8th, 2015 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

The aim is to introduce your students to careers involving chemistry and biochemistry and have them witness activities in those areas. The event includes tours of research laboratories and instrument facilities, and Chemistry Demonstrations by UMSL’s Chemistry Club. A lunch (pizza, etc.) starting at about 11:30 a.m. concludes the event. In a brief introductory session lasting 30 minutes, What is Chemistry will be considered, available career options will be summarized, and typical tertiary level courses will be outlined. Chemistry and biochemistry are very much “central sciences” and careers such as ones in medicine also involve these disciplines. In the tour, research in biochemistry, inorganic, organic, and physical chemistry will be featured and major instruments to be shown and demonstrated include X-ray Diffraction, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Mass Spectrometry and Electron Microscopy.

Your school schedule is likely already very crowded, but please consider how valuable this experience may be for your students as they consider their future career options.

Please respond to Michelle Haley (516-5311, e-mail: haleym@umsl.edu) by May 4, 2015 to inform us that you will attend. Please let us know how many students will accompany you so that complete arrangements for food and setting up tour groups may be made. For those who can attend, additional information will be provided subsequently by e-mail. Please include an e-mail address in your response to this invitation. We again are contacting science educators by e-mail rather than by traditional mailing. Please note: our budget for this event does not include the cost of transportation for attendees but free parking will be provided. Additional details concerning the program that is planned can be obtained by contacting either
Professor Keith Stine (314) 516-5346, kstine@umsl.edu or
Professor Jim O’Brien. (314) 516-5717, obrien@jinx.umsl.edu u

The Governance Structure of ACS

Article submitted by Donna G. Friedman, Councilor

In the fall, members of the St. Louis Section will cast votes for ACS President-Elect, District V Director, and Councilors from the St. Louis Section. Officers, Directors, and Councilors play important roles in ACS governance, but how do these positions relate to each other? This article provides an overview of the governing bodies of ACS – its Board of Directors, its Council, and its Committees.

The Board of Directors is the legal representative of the Society. It is composed of the President, the President-Elect, the most recent Past President (ex officio), six District Directors, and six Directors-at-Large. The six District Directors are elected by the members in each of six geographical Districts. The St. Louis Section is in District V; its Director is Dr. John Adams. The six Directors-at Large are elected by Councilors. Dr. Thomas M. Connelly, Jr., the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Society, is a nonvoting ex officio member of the Board of Directors.

The Council is the popular deliberative assembly of the Society and acts an advisory body in matters pertaining to the general management of the Society. There are five categories of Councilors: Local Section Councilors, Division Councilors, Ex Officio Councilors, Bylaw Councilors, and Alternate Councilors. Local Section and Division Councilors are collectively known as elected Councilors. Twenty percent of elected Councilors are elected by Divisions and eighty percent are elected by Local Sections. Each Division has at least one Councilor and may have as many as four, depending on the number of Division members. Every Local Section has at least one Councilor, with the number of Councilors allotted determined by the number of members in the Local Section. The St. Louis Section Councilors are Dr. Lisa Balbes, Dr. Lawrence Barton, Dr. Donna Friedman, and Dr. Alexa Serfis. Local Sections and Divisions elect Alternate Councilors equal in number to the number of Councilors to which each is entitled. In the event a Councilor is unable to attend a Council meeting, the Local Section or Division selects an Alternate Councilor to attend the meeting.

Ex Officio Councilors are the President, the President-Elect, the Directors, the Past Presidents, the Executive Director, and the Secretary. Ex Officio Councilors have full voting privileges.

Bylaw Councilors are members or members-elect of any of the three elected committees of the Council who fail at any time to qualify as a voting Councilor. A member can remain as a Bylaw Councilor on the elected committee and as a voting Councilor for one additional year or to the end of the committee term, whichever is shorter.

The committee structure of ACS is rather complex. There are several types of Council-related committees. Elected Committees of the Council are the Council Policy Committee, the Committee on Committees, and the Committee on Nominations and Elections. Elected Committees of the Council are composed solely of Councilors; its members are elected by Councilors. Dr. Barton is a member of the Council Policy Committee. Dr. Balbes is a member of the Committee on Nominations and Elections.

Standing Committees of the Council are also composed of Councilors. Committee members are appointed by the ACS President. Standing Committees are the Committee on Constitution and Bylaws, the Committee on Divisional Activities, the Committee on Economic and Professional Affairs, the Committee on Local Section Activities, the Committee on Meetings and Expositions, and the Committee on Membership Affairs. Dr. Serfis is a member of the Committee on Local Section Activities.

There are two Joint Board-Council Committees designated as Society Committees – the Committee on Budget and Finance and the Committee on Education. Each Society Committee is responsible to the Board of Directors on all matters relating to fiscal affairs, and to both the Board and the Council on all other matters. Members of Society Committees are appointed by the ACS President and the Chair of the Board of Directors. At least two-thirds of the members of Society Committees are Councilors. Dr. Friedman is a member of the Committee on Budget and Finance.

Other Joint-Board Council Committees are established by joint resolution of the Council and the Board of Directors. These committees are responsible to both bodies. Members of Other Joint –Board Council Committees are appointed by the ACS President and the Chair of the Board of Directors. Members of these committees need not be Councilors. Committees classified as Other Joint-Board Council Committees are Chemical Abstracts Service, Chemical Safety, Chemistry and Public Affairs, Chemists with Disabilities, Community Activities, Environmental Improvement, International Activities, Minority Affairs, Patents and Related Matters, Professional Training, Public Relations and Communications, Publications, Science, Senior Chemists, Women Chemists, and Younger Chemists.

Other Committees of the Council are established to serve purposes that the Council or Council Policy Committee deem appropriate. Other Committees of the Council are Analytical Reagents; Ethics; Nomenclature, Terminology and Symbols; Project Seed; and Technician Affairs. The composition of Other Committees of the Council are determined by the Council or the Council Policy Committee. Members of Other Committees of the Council are appointed by the ACS President.

The Governing Documents of the American Chemical Society are its Charter, Constitution, Bylaws, and Regulations. These documents are in a publication known as Bulletin 5.

HS ChemBowl

Sponsored by the STL ACS Education Topics Group, a chemistry-and-quickness competition for area high school students (first-year, non-AP), promising to become an annual event.

Teachers will have received separate registration materials, but this is for you, the audience. Come on out. Cheer on your favorite school, favorite student, favorite coach/teacher. Or just dispassionately take in the event. Preliminary rounds begin at 10am. The whole thing should be over by 2:15 (we are promised by Bob Becker, organizer).

When: Saturday, May 2nd
Time: Starts at 10:00 AM
Where: Kirkwood High School, 801 West Essex Avenue, Kirkwood, MO 63122 (map)

Board of Directors

St Louis Section–ACS Board of Directors meets the second Thursday of each month, usually at the Glen Echo Country Club (map and driving directions). Meetings are open to all members, and all are encouraged to attend. Elected officers and chairs of major committees vote on questions put to the Board; others in attendance have voice but no vote.

If you want to attend for dinner, please contact the section Chair at least a week in advance. Usual cost of the dinner is $21 ($12 for post-docs and unemployed members). Bar service and dessert are optional extras. Members wishing to become active in section activities are welcomed for their first dinner as guests of the section.

Date: May 14
Social hour, cash bar: 5:30 pm
Business meeting: 6:30 pm (suspended for dinner when served)
Future meetings: Sept 10, Oct 8

Saint Louis University

Seminars are on Fridays at 12 noon in Carlo Auditorium, Tegeler Hall, unless noted otherwise. Refreshments follow. For more information, contact Jim Edwards, jedward5@slu.edu. Refer to the SLU Chemistry Department seminar page for the most up-to-date information.

MAY 1
Dave Gohara, SLU
Unfrozen: Using Molecular Dynamics for Macromolecular Enzymatic Inhibitor Discovery

University of Missouri–St Louis

Mondays at 4 pm in 451 Benton Hall, unless otherwise specified. Refreshments 15 minutes prior to seminar time. For more information, contact the Chemistry Department, 314.516.5311. Refer to the UMSL Chemistry Department seminar page for the most up-to-date information.

MAY 4
Distinguished Alumni Lecture: Michael Groaning, Associate Director CMC, and Alliance Manager, Endocyte Inc.
An Unexpected Journey: From Benton Hall to Basel and Everywhere Else in Between

May 14 (Thursday 10 am)
Louis Kuo, Lewis and Clark College, Portland, OR
Phosphonothionate neurotoxin hydrolysis by molybdate complexes

Washington University

Seminars are in McMillen 311 at 4 pm unless otherwise noted. For information, contact: Liviu Mirica, mirica@wustl.edu. Refer to the Wash. U. Chemistry Department seminar page for the most up-to-date information.

As of publication time, no seminars were scheduled for this month.

The Chemical Bond is published at www.stlacs.org January through May and September through December by the St Louis Section–American Chemical Society. If you would like to receive email notification when each issue is posted, you can subscribe to our email list and join the “Chemical Bond reminders” group.

Correspondence, letters to the editor, etc., should be emailed to editor@stlacs.org or mailed ℅ St Louis Section–ACS, PO Box 410192, Saint Louis, MO 63141-0192 Copyright © 2015 American Chemical Society and the St Louis Section–ACS
Editor	Margaret Allen	editor@stlacs.org
Associate Editor	Eric Ressner	314-962-6415 editor@stlacs.org
Assistant Editor & Advertising Manager	Keith Stine	314.516.5346 advmgr@stlacs.org
Business Manager	Donna Friedman	314.513.4388 bizmgr@stlacs.org