POLY Councilors’ Report of the Philadelphia Meeting

At the Philadelphia National Meeting (August 16-21, 2008), POLY was represented at the ACS Council by Bill Daly, H. N. Cheng, John Pochan, and Greg Tew.  An overview of the meeting has appeared in p.8 of C&EN, 8/25/08.  The following account summarizes some selected activities in the committees and groups that POLY Councilors are involved in.

Division Activities Committee (DAC) - John Pochan

The Council voted, as recommended by the DAC, to accept a revised division funding (allocation) formula.  DAC reported that the formula improves clarity, offers simplicity, and rewards collaborative programming between divisions.  The change will take effect in 2009 for 2008 activities. The formula will reward cooperative or joint programming for divisions. The effect on POLY’s total allocation should be minor. 

The Council also voted to approve the formation of the Probationary Division of Catalysis Science and Technology.  The primary objective of this probationary division is to provide a “home” for the chemical science of catalysis within the ACS in a way that will also insure a continual connection between this science and the essential chemical technology of catalysis. 

Multidisciplinary Program Planning Group (MPPG) – John Pochan

Themes, or tentative themes, for the national meetings have been identified thru spring 2012. These are:

Spring 2009, Salt Lake City

Confirmed Theme: Nanoscience: Challenges for the Future

Tentative Subthemes: Nanolithography, Nanotoxicology, Nanomachines, Nanomedicine and Nanomaterials/Analysis 

Fall 2009, Washington DC

Confirmed Theme: Chemistry and Global Security: Challenges and Opportunities

Tentative Subthemes under consideration: Chemistry of CO2 and Climate Change, Chemical and Biological Terrorism Defense, Forensic Tools and Methods, Imaging Technologies and Applications

Spring 2010, San Francisco

Confirmed Theme: Chemistry for a Sustainable World

Fall 2010, Boston

Confirmed Theme: Chemistry for Preventing and Combating Disease

Spring 2011, Anaheim

Tentative Theme: Chemistry of Natural Resources

Tentative Subthemes: Feeding a Hungry World, Natural Product Chemistry, Chemistry of Natural Materials

Fall 2011, Denver

Tentative Theme: Chemistry of Air, Space, and Water

Spring 2012, San Diego

Tentative Theme: Chemistry of Life

Tentative Subthemes: Systems Biology, Neurochemistry

NOTE: If you feel anyone in POLY would be a good choice to serve as the thematic program chair at any of these meetings please contact John Pochan (johnpochan@hotmail.com), chair, MPPG.

Committee on Meetings & Expositions (M&E) - Bill Daly and H. N. Cheng

            The Meetings and Exposition Committee authorized a pilot program to open the 2009 expositions on Sunday evening between 6:30-8:30 PM with a welcome reception and open show hours. Although the goal was to open the exposition at hours that do not compete with oral sessions, the new exposition hours do overlap with our current Sunday evening poster sessions.  Further, on Sunday evening a Plenary Session associated with the thematic programming topic will be presented in the Convention Center from 5-6 PM.

The POLY programming committee has been apprised of these developments and they are considering possible options.

            M & E is still very concerned with the number of “no-shows”, particularly at the poster session where more that 10% of the presentations are missing.  An ACS staff member is recording “no-shows” and non-presentations where a poster is up but no one is there to discuss it.  A remedy under discussion is removing abstracts of papers submitted but not presented from the CAS records.   The names of individuals who repeatedly fail to make presentations will be forwarded to session chairs to allow them to take appropriate action. 

            The meeting in New Orleans received favorable reviews.  For those ultra-long range planners, we will go back to New Orleans in Spring 2018.  A particular emphasis has been (and will be) placed on “green” meetings, minimizing waste and encouraging recycling.

            Net income from national meetings is declining; in fact in 2007, the excess revenue over expenses was negative.  The change was partially due to accounting changes as more overhead is charged to each meeting.  Next year the national meeting registration fee will be $340; the increase was calculated on the ratio of CPI 2007 to the CPI of 2006.

Committee on Committees (ConC) – H. N. Cheng

At its meeting, ConC developed its recommendations for appointments to all Council, Society, and Joint Board-Council committees for consideration by the President-Elect and the chair of the board of directors.  ConC has also agreed to form a joint Board-ConC Action Enablement Team to examine the reporting alignment of ACS Council-related committees and recommend changes in their categorization as needed. 

ConC has approved the formation of a Task Force on Senior Chemists.  The purpose is to serve as a focal point for senior members, to organize talks, events and activities targeted for their interests, and to give these members a greater sense of inclusion in the ACS.  

Committee on Nomenclature, Terminology, and Symbols (NTS) – H. N. Cheng

This committee strives to provide leadership in nomenclature and coordinate its work with other national and international organizations on nomenclature, particularly with respect to ACS publications.  Two of the current activities are the re-definition of the kilogram, and nanotechnology terminology.  For more information, visit their website at http://membershierp.acs.org/N/NOME