The MSU Local Section was a finalist for the following ChemLuminary Awards:

• Outstanding Event for a Specific Audience
• Outstanding On-going NCW Event
• Outstanding Overall Local Section Women Chemists Committee
• Outstanding or Creative Local Section Younger Chemists Committee Event
• Outstanding Local Section Younger Chemists Committee

Congratulations, YCC!!

Chemistry graduate students John McIlroy and Matt Fahner wrote a grant proposal to obtain funding from the ACS Local Section Activities Committee (LSAC) to fund "Chemistry Caravan". The idea for "Chemistry Caravan" was originated by local section YCC section members who were interested in bringing chemistry-related demonstrations into local elementary school classrooms.  YCC volunteers will develop demonstrations for young students that will not only capture their attention but also increase their interest in the sciences.  They were awarded a grant of $3000 to carry out this project. Congratulations to YCC!

On Saturday, October 11, 2009, the MSU Local Section of the ACS celebrated National Chemistry Week (NCW) with our 23rd annual "Chemistry Day"; event. This year, 900 people visited Chemistry Day at Impression 5 Science Center! Among those in attendance were Boy and Girl Scouts who earned a participation patch for completing nine special activities, many of which related to the theme of the day, "Chemistry - It's Elemental!". Thanks to a generous donation from Emergent BioSolutions, admission to Impression 5 was free! Emergent BioSolutions also gave every child in attendance a pair of safety glasses! The MSU Local Section gave everyone who attended Chemistry Day an NCW activity newspaper "Celebrating Chemistry", a "Hooray for Chemistry"bag, a NCW sticker, a "Proud to be a Chemist" temporary tattoo, a NCW helium balloon, and a pocket periodic table of the elements.

In addition to the regular exhibits at Impression 5, tables of hands-on activities and chemical demonstrations were presented by students from the Department of Chemistry at MSU, the MSU Soil and Plant Nutrient Lab, the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) at MSU, MSU student organizations: ACS Younger Chemists Committee, NOBCChE (National Organization of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers), Science Theatre, Alpha Chi Sigma (chemistry fraternity), Omega Chi Epsilon (chemical engineering honorary); and students from Olivet College and Eaton Rapids High School.  Some of the activities and demonstrations included the determination of iron in cereal, the iodine clock reaction, flame tests for different elements, an element stage show, soil testing to monitor phosphorus movement from soil to groundwater, and an element matching game.

The YCC also organized a food drive for the event by obtaining donations from local businesses as an incentive for parents and children to bring in non-perishable food to benefit a local food bank.

Chemistry Day would not have been possible without the help and support of our volunteers. THANK YOU to everyone who participated and helped to make Chemistry Day 2009 a great success! Please visit our website (http://www.chemistry.msu.edu/chemday) to see pictures from the event.

Dr. Amy Pollock was the event coordinator and Mr. Dave Voss trained the demonstrators.

The Younger Chemists Committee (YCC) once again participated in the organization and hosting of an evening social gathering for incoming graduate students. It took place on Wednesday night, August 26th at Reno's East and was attended by many members of the YCC as well as MSU faculty and other graduate students in the Department of Chemistry.

In addition, as part of our section's initiative to increase membership within the YCC, we put on an omelette breakfast for the incoming graduate students.  The sole intention of this breakfast was to provide a venue for new students to get to know members of the YCC and encourage membership.  Nearly 30-35 new students attended the event which was a great success. Graduate students Mr. Matt Fhaner and Mr. John McIlroy were event coordinators.

This the seventh year that Women in Chemistry has participated in this Lansing event. The group supported Making Strides for Breast Cancer by raising money selling pink ribbons and close to 100 homemade baked treats in the lobby of the Chemistry Building; asking for outside donations from friends, family, and coworkers;  and walking in the event on Saturday, October 10th. Altogether they raised $1264.68 for breast cancer research and support! Ms. Allison Brown coordinated this activity.

When:  1st Monday of each month during the academic year
Time:  7:00 pm
Location: 481W Chemistry Building, Michigan State University

Information about past meetings and upcoming meeting topics can be found at our Chemistry Teachers Homepage. Anyone interested is welcome to attend the meetings (1st Monday of every month during the academic year, 7:00 PM, 481W Chemistry Building, MSU Campus).  If you know of any teachers who might enjoy being a part of this group, please pass on the information to them.  Questions?  Contact Gavin Reid (reid@chemistry.msu.edu) or Kathy Severin (severin@chemistry.msu.edu).

Contact Kathy Severin if you'd like to be added to our teacher e-mail list.

The YCC (Younger Chemist Committee) will be hosting a holiday food drive again this year.  All donations will go to Second Harvest which supplies the Mid-Michigan Food Bank.  The Mid-Michigan Food Bank cordinates support for many shelters accross mid-michigan including several here in Lansing and East Lansing.  We will be providing five boxes (one for organic, inorganic, physical, analytical, and chemistry staff) in the Department of Chemistry Main Office (485 Chemistry Building, MSU Campus).  Donations can be made November 30 through Dec. 11th during normal office hours.  In order to increase department interest we will award a trophy to the area that accumulates the most points at the end of the food drive.  We look forward to everyone's support.  If you have any questions feel free to contact Matt Fhaner (fhanerma@msu.edu).

The Younger Chemists Committee will be holding the seventh-annual Chemistry Merit Badge Day on a Saturday in January 2010 at a date to be announced.  During this event, boy scouts and girl scouts visit the MSU chemistry building and participate in a day of experiments and activities.  The boys earned a Chemistry Merit Badge; the girls earned a Chemistry Interest Project Patch (IPP).

The Girl Scout Chemistry Interest Project Patch was developed by women in the local section and approved by the Girl Scouts of Michigan Capital Area Council in 2004.  Any girl scout can earn the Chemistry IPP by fulfilling the requirements.