2014 Chair’s look ahead

Thank you for the opportunity to be Chair for the St Louis Section of the American Chemical Society for 2014. This section has a proud tradition and it been among the best medium-large ACS sections in all of the USA, as many awards for its activities over the years (including in 2013) have demonstrated. My goals for this year include:

1. Make members and potential members better aware of what services and resources ACS provides via the activities of the various groups supported by the section. Members may well have indicated special interests in responding to the survey for the St Louis section. This also can provide an avenue for expanding local section membership.
2. Foster activities of the Younger Chemists Committee: it was a recent recipient of a National ACS ChemLuminary award. Expanding the membership in the local section also can result from this.
3. Strengthen our association with high school teachers to heighten the profile of chemistry in the classroom. Chemistry is the “Central Science,” so the growing attention in the Missouri legislature to STEM education could be a boon for chemistry.

Thanks for the support of Board and the section committees in promoting the activities of the section. Let’s make 2014 another great one for the St Louis Section.

Jim O’Brien

Event watch: Scent and fragrance in/on the air

On Tuesday, February 11, national ACS is broadcasting a webinar on The Chemistry of Scent and Fragrance. The St Louis Section Younger Chemists Committee and Career Services are jointly sponsoring a live viewing opportunity: get together, have dinner, watch the webinar, and participate in a discussion of careers in flavor chemistry led by guest speaker Dick Henze.

Details: assemble at 5:45 pm, Feb 11
Room 1590, Jones Building, Saint Louis College of Pharmacy

Raffle and dinner included! For venue and parking information, and to RSVP, please visit http://bit.ly/FebACSWebinar and register by Feb 10. Spread the word to any colleagues who might be interested by forwarding this link to the event flyer.

Two Awards seeking nominees

Our signature award, the St Louis Award: nominate!

Nominations are solicited for the St Louis Award, which is sponsored by the Monsanto Company and administered by the St Louis Section–ACS. Nominees should be individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the profession of chemistry and demonstrated potential to further the advancement of the chemical profession. The awardee is selected by a review committee constituted by the St Louis Section–ACS. The award, consisting of a $1,500 honorarium and a plaque, is presented at the St Louis Award Banquet held in October during National Chemistry Week.

At the time of the nomination, nominees must not have previously received the Midwest Award or any national ACS-sponsored award. Nominees must be members or affiliates of the St Louis Section of the ACS. Nomination packets received by April 30 are considered for award presentation in October.

Nominations can be sent at any time to:

Joseph J H Ackerman
Department of Chemistry
Campus Box 1134
Washington University
One Brookings Drive
Saint Louis, Missouri 63130

Nominations should include a nominating letter, two or more seconding letters from individuals who have had a close professional affiliation with the nominee, a brief biography, a description of the nominee’s accomplishments, and a list of publications and patents. Additional details can be found on the St Louis Award web page.

Chemical Science & Technology Award nominations extended

The nomination period for the Chemical Science & Technology Award has been extended until March 1st. The award recognizes outstanding contributions by a non-PhD chemist. Many of you work with such a colleague who has become an indispensible member of the team. Nominating is painless and reinforces your recognition of your colleague’s value in your enterprise. You can find all the details on eligibility, nominating a candidate, and recent winners right here.

 You can be a Science Fair judge!

for the St Louis Section’s Science Fair chemistry awards

Volunteer for any or all of these opportunities by contacting Sheryl J Loux at 636.237.5149 or email sjloux@gmail.com. Sheryl still has spaces to fill for all three upcoming Science Fairs. The MO Tri-county is coming up soon, so if you can spare a Saturday morning, let Sheryl know pronto.

• Missouri Tri-county Regional Science And Engineering Fair, Saturday, February 22
  St Charles Community College, College Student Center. K–4 participation awards distributed. Judging 9 am–noon for grades 5–8, 9–12, and honors 9–12.
  Free breakfast for judges 8–9 am.
• Illinois Junior Academy of Sciences Regional Science Fair, Saturday, March 29
  Morris University Center at SIU–Edwardsville (#8 on campus map, park in Lot E). This regional fair hosts over 200 5th through 12th grade student projects from a ten-county area. Meet at 9:309 am; judging from 109:30 am to 1 pm in divisions grades 5–8, 9–12, and honors 9–12.
  Light judges’ buffet lunch available.
• Greater St Louis Elementary and Secondary Science Fairs, Wednesday, April 30
  Greensfelder Recreation Complex, Queeny Park, Weidman Rd, Ballwin, MO
  — Elementary (K–5): Participation Awards distributed to chemistry-related projects. Three people needed for about one hour each between 3 and 8 pm. No judging involved.
  — Secondary (6-12): Judging of chemistry-related projects 3–8:30 pm. Please volunteer for at least 2½ hours. Judges must be present at 8:30 to pick winners. This can take up to one hour.
  Free dinner on site for judges between 5 and 6 pm.

Your participation as an ACS judge would be greatly appreciated!

Your budget summary, 2014 edition

(We could teach our Congresscritters how it’s done.)

As is the case every year, the January board meeting was devoted primarily to discussion of budget items for the 2014 year of governance, service, and outreach activities. Kudos to the committee chairs for preparing budget requests that were reasonable and justifiable, and to the Steering Committee for putting it all together into an easily ponderable and acceptable package.

If you are new to perusing this annual Chemical Bond item, note that we always budget a modest deficit, but almost always underspend enough to break even or better. There is enough history of this happening that the practice is considered safe by the highly risk-averse financial moguls in the Section.

With but a few minor adjustments, the full budget was quickly passed by acclamation. We’ll spare you all the gory details, but the top-line summary of income and expenditures for 2014 will be as follows (with data from 2013 for comparison):

Income	2014 Budget	2013 Budget	2013 Actual
Affiliate dues	10	55	10
Member dues	12,500	15,000	12,657
National ACS allotment	14,397	15,467	15,467
Other general income	0	3,579	0
New members	200	500	205
Total income	27,106	34,601	28,339
Expenses	2014 Budget	2013 Budget	2013 Actual
Officers
Chair	280	280	253
Chair travel	500	500	476
Chair-elect	570	570	424
Chair-elect travel	360	270	315
Past Chair travel	800	800	700
Secretary	800	700	800
Treasurer	250	275	162
Committees
Awards Committee	8,150	14,100	11,034
Education Committee	5,025	5,050	3,546
Professional Activities Committee	5,695	6,985	5,516
Program Committee	2,500	4,000	2,400
Publicity & Public Relations Committee	550	2,100	(378)
Other expenses
Board Meeting expenses	1,200	1,200	1,503
Councilors’ travel	5,000	5,000	4,162
Special events	1,500	1,485	1,222
Total expenses	33,180	43,315	32,136
Surplus/(Deficit)	(6,073)	(8,714)	(3,797)

Notes:

• Totals may not match exactly because of rounding.
• Some category allocations shown for 2013 will not match the budget published last year: where some line items were recategorized, they now appear under the new category (Recognition Night previously under Program Committee, now under Special Events).
• The income from advertising on the website and in the Chemical Bond is booked as a negative expense for the Publicity & Public Relations Committee. Since it more than offsets the actual expenses, Committee spending is typically negative. However, we budget assuming that income is uncertain. This year, there is some additional expense projected for continued website development.

Any questions?

The Battle of the Burets is on for February 19

The St Louis Section–ACS and St Louis Community College–Florissant Valley are pleased to announce this year’s Battle of the Burets. This competition for high school chemistry students will match teams from local high schools against one another in a test of titration accuracy.

The contest will begin promptly at 6 pm on Wednesday, February 19, at SLCC–Florissant Valley. For more information on how to enter a team from your high school, contact:

Bruce Ritts
314.290.4744
bruce_ritts@steris.com

High School Chemistry Contest set

This year, the High School Chemistry Contest will be held on Saturday, March 8, 9–11:30am, in Statler 104 on the UMSL campus. For students who cannot attend the Saturday session, the alternative is Friday, March 7, 4–6:30 pm, at the same location.

Students compete in two divisions, Advanced and Regular. Regular Division for first year students in other than advanced placement classes; Advanced Division for all others. The Advanced Division exam is a qualifying exam for the National Chemistry Olympiad exam given on April 13. Winning students in both divisions and their teachers will be recognized at the St Louis Section ACS Awards Night (date, time, and place to be determined).

Rules, request for proctors, and registration materials have been sent to contacts at all area high schools. Registrations are due by February 22. For any questions, if you have not received materials, or to volunteer as a proctor, contact Myron Reese at McKendree College.

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 $24 ($12 for post-docs and unemployed members). Members wishing to become active in section activities are welcomed for their first dinner as guests of the section.

Date: Feb 13
Social hour: 5:30 pm
Business meeting: 6:30 pm (suspended for dinner when served)
Future meetings: Mar 13, Apr 10

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.

Feb 7
David van Horn, University of Missouri–Kansas City
TBA

Feb 14
Justin Walenski, University of Missouri–Columbia
The softer side of actinide chemistry

Feb 21
TBA
TBA

Feb 28
Connie Ruzika, Food & Drug Administration
TBA

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.

Feb 3
Martha Oakley, Indiana University
Structure and interactions of bacterial condensins

Feb 10
France-Isabelle Auzanneau, University of Guelph
Molecular modeling and synthesis of dimLex and LeaLex analogues: investigations towards anti-cancer vaccines

Feb 17
Chrys Wesdemiotis, University of Akron
Multidimensional mass spectrometry methods for the characterization of polymer structures and architectures

Feb 24
Patrick Holland, Yale University
TBA

Mar 3
Kristina Hakansson, University of Michigan
TBA

Washington University

Seminars are in McMillen 311 at 4 pm unless otherwise noted. For information, contact: Liviu Mirica, mirica@wustl.edu.

Feb 6
Karl Scheidt, Northwestern University
New frontiers with cooperative carbene catalysis

Feb 13
Justin Youngblood, University of North Texas
Photogalvanic dye sensitized solar cells based on organic dyes

Feb 20
Josh Coon, University of Wisconsin
Isotopes, mass defect, and ultra-high mass resolution for protein quantification