Boston’s Hynes Convention Center was a popular destination for chemists in late August for the fall national ACS meeting. With 15,000 attendees and 250 exhibitors, many of the technical sessions were crowded, if not overflowing! An important part of any ACS conference is the Council Meeting, when local sections, through their councilors, participate in the governance of the World’s largest scientific society. Following addresses by the president and past president, the council discussed a number of issues. The following issues might be of interest to you:

• The Committee of Local Section Activities is forming an Older Chemists’ Committee. This might function in a similar fashion to the successful Younger Chemists’ Committee which celebrates its 25^th anniversary at the Spring 1999 National Meeting in Anaheim.
• The Society on Education (SOCED) is particularly interested in enhancing training for chemical technicians. As part of this effort they launched an internet course: "Statistical Analysis of Laboratory Data". Also of interest to industrial chemists, the Committee of Committees wants to encourage more industrial participation in Society governance: There are plenty of opportunities to serve on committees!
• The Division of Chemical Toxicology was granted full divisional status following three years of successful programming on probationary status.
• New ACS publications coming soon! Journal of Combinatorial Chemistry (early 1999), Modern Drug Design (November 1998) and Organic Letters (July 1999).
• The issue of copyrights in the age of the internet has been considered by the Committee on Copyrights. The committee recommended a number of policies: (i) authors cannot post full-text copies of their papers on the internet, but they may electronically distribute copies to up to 50 colleagues, (ii) authors may put figures and tables from their papers on the internet with appropriate credit, and (iii) students are to be given automatic permission to include papers in their thesis.
• Job seekers…..the ACS will be launching web-based employment clearing house through the ACS web page. Companies will be able to search for potential employees who have registered.
• The Committee on Economic and Professional Activities has completed a revision of the Professional Employment Guidelines. Both employees and employers might be interested in getting a copy. A number of small-business owners asked for clarification of the nature of this document. The committee stressed that these a guidelines, which small-businesses might not be able to work within, but which should provide a goal for businesses as they grow.
• The ACS Scholars program continues to support undergraduates from underrepresented minority groups. However, there is a need for more mentors for these students. [Note: there are a number of ACS scholars at Atlanta-area institutions, how can the local section support them?]
• Membership dues will increase next year by $3 to $105. The council rejected a proposal to raise conference registration fees by $10 to $235. The ACS board will consider this vote in setting rates next year.
• The ACS membership drive to 175,000 members by 2001 is on target….there will be a challenge to the local sections to attract members.

The ACS web site has all sorts of goodies…http://www.acs.org/

 Finally, please contact me (404-894-4026 or david.collard@chemistry.gatech.edu) if you have questions on these issues or anything else that relates to what ACS can do for you.
 
 
 

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Last Updated February 23, 1999.