2001 Annual Report Nominations

Award Category: Outstanding Performance by a Local Section

This nomination is supported by the full annual report with its supporting documentation, and does not require a separate petition as do the following awards.

Award Category: Most Innovative Use of Technology by a Local Section

Contact Person:

	
Name:		Milt Levenberg					
Address:   	31057 Prairie Ridge Road; Libertyville, IL 60048	
Phone:		847-680-1223        	
E-mail:   	milspec@iname.com

The website for the Chicago Section has been growing in features and functions year by year. In 2001, it reached a level of support invaluable to section members. Each section activity is listed on a calendar of events, and when a section program was changed at the last minute as a consequence of the September 11 attack, the Chicago Section web page was the only mechanism available to get the word of this change out to the membership in a timely fashion.

Registrations for meetings are routinely submitted via an online form, and each monthly announcement includes an abstract, speaker biography, dinner menu, map, and directions to the meeting. Since meetings are held at various locations throughout Chicagoland, members are often dependent upon the map and directions on our website as an aid for driving to the meeting. This year, we also instituted an archive of old meeting announcements and other resources, so that in the future members will be able to retrieve historic information.

A treasury of twenty-plus year old photos was discovered and posted on our photo gallery.

A PERL script has been written which provides the ability to monitor web page "hits" to assess interest in specific pages. This information is valuable in determining which aspects of the Chicago section site are showing the most interest to our members.

Finally to further improve the communication between the section members and the officers, a "contact the chair" button was added that provides a direct email link to the present section chair. The Chicago section website has become a valuable "first-line resource" for section members, and it continues to expand to provide new member services.

Photo of our web home page.

Award Category: Local Career Service Program Activities

Contact Person:
Name: Allison A. Aldridge Address: 4704 W. Euclid Ave., Apt 2C, Rolling Meadows, IL 60008 Phone: 847-776-7917 E-mail: Allison457@AOL.com

The Chicago section was involved in several activities in 2001 targeted at young people interested in careers in chemistry and science in general. Three of the events were for high school students and one for college students. These events were co-sponsored with the YCC, Minority Affairs, and the Committee on College Education.

The events for high school students included the 2001 F.U.T.U.R.E. (Faction United To Unveil Resources Through Education) College Fair, April 28, 2001in Harvey, IL. The students were provided with information on the many different careers they could pursuer after getting a degree in chemistry. They also were given information on the many services provided by the ACS career service department. Some of the pamphlets included were: “I Know You're A Chemist But What Do You Do,” the booklet that contains information on several careers in chemistry, and the career services catalog. Approximately thirty students, along with their parents stopped at the table for information and they had plenty of questions.

Allison Aldridge attended the Career Day held at Harper College, April 19, 2001 in Palatine, IL. The information listed above was provided to the students. Approximately sixty students stopped at the table.

The same information was also provided for the T.E.E.N.S (Teenagers Exploring and Experiencing Nature and Science) Career Day at the Peggy Notebart Nature Museum, May 12, 2001 in Chicago, IL. All the students employed at the museum are interested in science. A program is held every year to provide information to these students on the many career opportunities that exist in chemistry and other fields in science. This year's format consisted of a 7-member panel. Allison Aldridge spoke about chemistry and how the ACS career services department could provide the students with information. Ten students participated in the program.

A workshop entitled “Managing an Effective Job Search” given by Rich Bretz was held at Columbia College March 17, 2001 in Chicago, IL for the annual College Career Conference. Students had the opportunity to have their resumes reviewed by Rich and to ask questions. Only four students attended, but they found the information very useful and enjoyed the workshop. Those that brought resumes had Rich review them.

These activities merit consideration because the Chicago section is reaching out to future chemists. They will have an idea of how career services can help them find employment. We have also provided information to soon-to-be chemistry graduates that will help them in their job search.

Award Category: Phoenix Award: Outstanding Event for a Specific Audience

Contact Person:

	
Name:		Ami LeFevre
Address:	122 Imperial  Court, Palatine, IL 60067
Phone:		847-568-3655
Fax:		847-705-9068
E-mail:  	amilef@niles-hs.k12.il.us

A workshop “Technology Use in the Chemistry Lab” was held for high school chemistry teachers. This workshop concentrated on the use of technology in the laboratory. The teachers were given a resource book (See Part II Appendix 1A11) with information about available computer technology and internet resources. This book provides updated information about chemistry related technology and emphasizes the importance of ACS involvement.

Teachers were taught how to use and set up the Vernier computer-lab program, probes (temperature & pressure), and interfaces to collect and analyze data. The presenters provided tips and trouble shooting examples of how to teach this technology to their chemistry students. The labs used in the workshop include:

Evaporation and Intermolecular Attractions
Boyle's Law: Pressure-Volume Relationship in Gases
Endothermic and Exothermic Reactions

Another emphasis of the program was setting up calculators with temperature and pressure probes. This is an alternative method for those schools that cannot afford to purchase computers.

A list of useful chemistry related Internet sites were discussed. These are resources for the teachers to obtain additional information relating to the use of technology in the laboratory.

In addition to the hands-on laboratory work the teachers were given information about the ACS and its role in chemical education. The importance of teacher involvement in the ACS was emphasized, and ways in which the teachers could participate. The teachers were asked to participate in the US National Olympiad Exam, the Chicago Local Section Scholarship Exam program, and the Chicago Section High School Education Committee. The CD ROM series of The Journal of Chemical Education was introduced.

At the conclusion of the workshop prizes were raffled off, and a gift from the ACS was given to each teacher. Cecilia Hernandez from the USNCO office donated the gifts.

Award Category: ACS President's Award for Local Section Government Affairs

Contact Person:
Name: Barbara Moriarty Address: ONDEO Nalco Company One ONDEO Nalco Center Naperville, IL 60563 Phone: (630) 305-2224 Fax: (630) 305-2982 E-mail: bmoriarty@ONDEO-nalco.com
The Chicago Section provided a number of programs to its members in order to increase member involvement in government affairs and advance public policy to benefit science and society.

The first activity to increase member involvement in governmental affairs was our participation in the first Illinois State Capital Day in Springfield, IL on March 7, 2001. Eleven members of the Chicago Section joined twenty ACS members from other local sections around the state and three ACS staff members from the Office of Legal and Government Affairs (OLGA) to discuss increasing science education in schools throughout the state with our legislators. Presentations made by Gwen Pollock, the Science Coordinator from the Illinois State Board of Education and Paul Kimmelman, the Special Advisor from the North Central Regional Education Laboratory focused on the need to push for increased emphasis on science and mathematics education and discussed teacher certification and professional development of teachers. Finally, Representative Mary Lou Cowlishaw, from Naperville, who is the House Education Committee Minority Leader, spoke on her continuing efforts to promote an alternative teacher certification process. Representative Cowlishaw spoke at our Public Affairs Meeting a few years ago on this same issue. In the afternoon, each attendee made calls on their representatives to make a case for increased science education.

A second way that the Chicago section used in 2001 to increase the knowledge of our members on governmental affairs was through our yearly Public Affairs meeting. At the meeting on March 16, 2001, the Chicago Section presented the 2001 Public Affairs Award to the Hon. Harris W. Fawell (IL, 13^th Dist.). This is the first time since the section began giving the award in 1982, that a member or past member of Congress has been honored. The Public Affairs Award was established to recognize individuals who were involved in science and public policy issues. Congressman Fawell served 7 terms in Congress, and retired in 1998. While in Congress he served on the Committee on Education and the Workforce, Subcommittee on Employer –Employee Relations (Chair), and Subcommittee on Workforce Protection Oversight; Committee on Science, Subcommittee on Energy. The title of his award address was "The Challenges of Leadership in a Global Marketplace". Approximately 120 people attended the Public Affairs Award presentation.

Prior to the main address given by the Hon. Harris Fawell at the March Public Affairs Meeting, a topical group presentation, which was arranged by the committee, was given by Dr. Jeffrey S. Gaffney from Argonne National Laboratory. The title of Dr. Gaffney's talk was “Smog Chemistry: Ozone and Peroxyacetyl Nitrate (PAN) Formation.” The talk was attended by approximately 50 people who were very interested in the topic as indicated by the large number of questions addressed to the speaker. The topic was arranged to engage members in pollution, a public policy issue.

A third activity that the Chicago section pursued to increase awareness of its members in public policy issues was the co-sponsorship of the nomination of Hull House (and Dr. Alice Hamilton) as a National Historic Chemical Landmark with the Women Chemists Committee and the Division of Chemical Health and Safety. The work of Dr. Hamilton is credited with the establishment of the field of industrial toxicology while she was affiliated with Hull House. The ACS Board has since approved the designation of Hull House as a Landmark; the Landmark Designation is scheduled to take place in September 2002. This again focuses on a public policy issue and recognizes chemists for their role in public policy issues.

Finally, the committee helped in arranging the address of Congressman Danny Davis (IL 7^th District) to the Minority Affairs Committee's semiannual luncheon during the Fall national meeting held in Chicago on August 27, 2001. Plans are in progress to continue discussions between Cong. Davis and members of the Chicago Section.

2/11/02