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Newsletter of the Central Wisconsin Section - American Chemical Society Volume 29•No 5•September 15, 2005

the Alembic

Chair's Corner Greetings from your Central Wisconsin ACS! I hope everyone had a good summer. This was probably one of the warmer ones I can remember. I’m looking forward to a cooler fall (but no rush on winter!) I’m sure the devastation of the Gulf Coast caused by Katrina has been on everyone’s minds. During our dinner meeting next week, I’d like to discuss the possibility of sending a donation from our section to assist with the relief effort. Every bit helps in a time of trial such as this. The start of fall brings a busy time for our local section. Our monthly meetings resume with a tour of Gale Gordon’s dairy facility. Gale is the brother of Lynn Gordon, who many of you will know as a loyal member of our local chapter. Gale’s operation is unique in its conversion of methane from animal waste to energy through anaerobic digestion. The farm generates enough energy for the facility’s needs as well as selling energy back to the local utility. This should be a fascinating tour. More information will be found later in the newsletter. In this newsletter you will also find a report on the August ACS National Meeting from our Marv Lang, our section councilor. Both Marv and Don Schowalter attended this meeting in Washington, D.C as

presenting a chemistry demonstration for educators on Sunday. National Chemistry Week’s theme this year will be “The Joy of Toys” running from October 16-22. As part of the week’s activities, we are looking for volunteers to visit local libraries on the Saturday before or the Saturday of National Chemistry Week to hold chemistry demonstrations or other hands-on activities. We have materials available from national for kids describing about how chemistry has affected the development of toys over the past 100 years and filled with activities such as home experiments, puzzles and games. We have representatives available for the Stevens Point and Waupaca libraries, but are looking for volunteers for libraries at Eau Claire, Wausau, Wisconsin Rapids, and Marshfield. If you would be interested in donating a few hours of your time on one of these afternoons at any of the locations (including Stevens Point or Waupaca), please contact Marv Lang at (715)346-3609 or Steve Nieland at (715)258-5525 (x114). Finally, we are looking for a couple of additional members serve on a committee to review of our local bylaws. Our bylaws have not been reviewed for a number of years. Knowledge of the bylaws is not required as guidelines are available from national to assist with review. Marv Lang has agreed to head this

committee, so if you can assist please give him a call at (715)346-3609. I look forward to seeing you all on the 22nd. Have a great month! Steve

ACS - CWS Mini-Directory

Chair Steve Nieland 612 West Fulton Street Waupaca, WI 54981 phone (715) 258-5525(office) email snieland@fmspecialty.com Chair-Elect Laura Cole Secretary - Treasurer Tip Randall Councilor C. Marvin Lang Alternate Councilor Dave Lewis Newsletter Editor Tom Zamis Dept. of Chemistry, UW-SP, Stevens Point WI 54481 phone (715) 346-3258(office) email tzamis@uwsp.edu

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Tour of Deere Ridge Dairy - Gordondale Farms

Mr. Gale Gordon

Thursday, September 22, 2005 9845 State Hwy 161

Nelsonville, WI

5:30 Tour of the Farm 7:00 Dinner, Tomorrow River Supper Club

The Gordondale dairy farm in Wisconsin has found anaerobic digestion to be a good solution to overcoming phosphorous build-up in farmland, and it also delivers paybacks in power revenue along with delivering many more benefits to the farm business, surrounding neighbors and the environment. Gordondale Farms is the largest dairy operation in Portage County, milking about 900 cows around the clock. The anaerobic digester has attracted national and international attention, with individuals from around the U.S. and from as far away as Germany and New Zealand touring the facility. Gale Gordon says: "The advantages are just unreal: pretty much get rid of the odor; we can use bedding out of the fiber; defer some costs by making electricity, and it's green electricity, which our environmental people are interested in; the fly problem is pretty well gone; pathogens are gone; nutrient value of the manure that we're hauling out, the nitrogen is more stable, the phosphorous probably more available; and the neat thing is the manure we're hauling out is going into the digester at a pH of 6.8, 6.9 - it's coming out at a pH of 7.8 to 7.9. So we're getting a neutralizing value in the manure; besides, there should be a savings in lime as we get down the road. So, with all the features of the whole thing, it's pretty much a win-win thing for the community and the environmental concerns and everything." ******************************************************************************************************** The meeting will start at the Deere Ridge Dairy, 9845 State Highway 161, about two miles east of Nelsonville on the way to Iola from Stevens Point. Dinner will follow the tour at the Tomorrow River Supper Club, 9971 County Road KK, Amherst. Dinner reservations should be made by contacting Steve Nieland at (715) 258-5525 or email snieland@fmspecialty.com by Wednesday, September 21.

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ACS - Central Wisconsin Section 2005 Meeting Schedule

DATE LOCATION SPEAKER TOPIC HOST

Thursday Sept. 22

Nelsonville Gale Gordon Tour of Deere Ridge Dairy Farm Lynn Gordon

October 12 Stoltz - Tentative Medical Practice during the Civil War

Tuesday November 8

David F. Wiemer Herbal Products: They're Natural but Are They Safe?

ACS-CWS Web Page www.uwsp.edu/chemistry/acscws/

Up-to-date information about section activities including the Alembic and meeting notices. Also visit www.chemistry.org for latest chem news.

Molecules of the Month

Lithium bromide is an extremely hygroscopic chemical commonly used in absorption chillers, where water is the refrigerant. Because of its high affinity to water, LiBr can easily absorb excess vapor, making the system an environmentally friendly non-CFC alternative.

N NH2H2N

Proflavine is a synthetic acridine dye used as a powerful antiseptic during WWII to dress wounds. In recent years it has been studied extensively in novel RNA-targeted antiviral drugs and as an intercalator in cancer treatments. Proflavine is also has a mutagenic effect on DNA by intercalating between nucleic acid base pairs.

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230th National Meeting AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY

Washington, DC August 28-31, 2005

C. Marvin Lang, Councilor Central Wisconsin Section

The following summary reports what I consider to be key actions of the ACS Council and Board of Directors at the 2005 Fall National Meeting from which I just returned. Elections: I reported to you last spring that there would be three candidates for President-Elect 2006; two selected by vote of the Council and one petition candidate. Council was just informed that John W. Kozarich had withdrawn as a candidate for President-Elect. Thus, candidates for the ACS national election to be conducted this fall will be as follows:

President-Elect 2006 George E. Heinze, Rockland Technimed, Ltd, New York Catherine T. Hunt, Rohm and Haas Company, Pennsylvania

Regarding this election, members will, for the first time, have the opportunity to vote either by paper ballot or electronically. Election security will involve use of your membership number and a randomly generated “pin number.” Such measures are necessary to insure that members only vote once. Statistics As of Tuesday, August 30, 2005, the ACS Fall National Meeting had attracted 13,040 registrants as follows: regular attendees 7,584; students 2,715; guests 478; Exhibit Only 468; and exhibitors 1,795. Further, the 2006 national meeting “early” registration fee was set at $305. Council was informed that as of July 31, 2005 total ACS membership was 155,567. This is an increase of 282 over the end of July 2004. Special Discussion Item Over the past several Council meetings, a special discussion item was put on the Council agenda and time (usually 30 minutes) set aside for a “free exchange” of views by Councilors, Board members and Staff. The 230th Council meeting was no exception. ACS President William F. Carroll presented an overview of Chemistry Enterprise 2015 and described the process being used to develop a Society vision hypothesis that is to be tested with members, customers, governance and other interested parties. Dr. Carroll further described the methods used to get member input at the national meeting. ACS national meeting attendees reported 15 common themes to be considered as important to the Society’s future in 2015. Dr. Carroll sought Council input on the most frequent themes: diversity, young people, governance, multidisciplinarity, globalization and outreach. Councilors then engaged in a thoughtful, yet lively exchange of their vision of the Society’s long-term future. Of course, I put in my 2¢ worth of “sage advice” concerning “Where will our students come from in the next ten years, where will they go, and how will we help them get there?” Local Section Action On the recommendation of the Local Section Activities Committee, the Council approved a petition for change in section territory for the Central New Mexico Local Section. The annexation is intended to improve services to the ACS members in the northern New Mexico area. [As a note, our Section (Central Wisconsin) ought to consider moving forward with a petition to add Waupaca County to the territory served by CWS. What do you think?] Constitution and Bylaws On the recommendation of the Committee on Constitution and Bylaws, the Council approved revised charter bylaws for both new local sections and for international chemical sciences chapters. [Another note; the Central Wisconsin Section ought to review its bylaws with the goal of revising them.]

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The Board’s Committees and Task Forces

• The Board, through its Committee on Grants and Award, approved the following: nominees for both the 2006 Perkin and Othmer Gold Medals; actions relative to pilot programs of the Petroleum Research Fund; continuation of the Fund’s 1% distribution to the Green Chemistry Institute; and approval of a new national award, the ACS Award for Achievement in Research for the Teaching and Learning of Chemistry, sponsored by Prentice Hall Publishers.

• On the recommendation of the Board Committee on Public Affairs and Public Relations, the Board voted to

designate the development of Rumford Baking Powder as a national historic chemical landmark.

• The Board also received a status report on the activities of the Joint Board-Council Policy Committee Task Force on Governance Review. This task force is charged with conducting a review of the Society’s governance structure and Constitution and Bylaws to ensure that the Society has a governing framework to enable it to best fulfill its mission, meet member needs, and remain a world-class organization.

The Society’s Promotion of Diversity The Board received reports from both the Committee on Professional Training (CPT) and the Committee on Minority Affairs (CMA). CPT briefed the Board on recent training workshops relative to historically black colleges and universities and other African American-serving institutions; and CMA overviewed activities of the ACS Scholars Program. The Board voted to continue the Scholars Program through 2010. The Society’s Finances The Board, through the Committee on Budget and Finance, voted to include requests for funding of the following programs in the development of the Society’s 2006 proposed budget:

A two-year pilot program for ACS High School Chemistry Clubs ACS activities in connection with the International Science and Engineering Fair A Leadership Development Program that delivers a pool of capable, effective and motivated leaders for volunteer roles throughout the Society Reauthorization of, and continued funding for the Green Chemistry Institute A complete reinvention of the Society’s Web Presence At

this meeting, Don Showalter and I were invited speakers to the High School Teacher Day program sponsored by the ACS Division of Chemical Education. On Sunday afternoon we presented “Learning Chemistry Can Be Fun” to 75 enthusiastic DC area high school teachers. As always, we had as much fun as did the attendees. Regarding my personal involvement in the ACS, I continue to represent CWS in the Council and hold memberships on the Committee on Community Affairs, the Committee on Public Relations, and an appointment as Associate on the Committee on Meetings and Exhibitions. Each of these assignments requires attendance at numerous meetings, sub-committee meetings and focus group meetings. Most of the material discussed is interesting but most could be easily condensed to one or two simple sentences. At our next Section meeting, let me talk to you about Chemists-in-the-Library, or National Chemistry Week or one of the other programs of local interest that CWS could be involved with. Anyway, once again, thank you for electing me to serve you as Councilor from the Central Wisconsin Section.