The ninth year of Women in Chemistry (WiC) has been
extremely successful, continually increasing the 
involvement of students in the organization, and WiC 
in the community.  The goals of WiC for 2006 included
expanding and diversifying participation in WiC 
activities, continuing the extensive community 
outreach program, and building and supporting the 
women's network at MSU.  In 2006, WiC was proud to 
host a luncheon at the ACS Central Regional Meeting in
Frankenmuth, MI.  The guest speaker was Patricia 
Moore, a chemist from Dow Corning in Midland, MI.  In 
an effort to sustain a variety of networking
opportunities, WiC continued to host "Meet the 
Speaker" events.  Wic sustained the outreach program 
in 2006 with coordinating the state chemistry 
laboratory event in the Michigan Science Olympiad, 
hosting and planning Chemistry Day at Impression V 
Science Center in Lansing, MI, hosting the third and 
fourth-annual Scout Chemistry Merit Badge Day at MSU, 
providing chemistry workshops at the annual Girls 
Math/Science Conference,and participating in the 
American Cancer Society's Making Strides against 
Breast Cancer for the fourth consecutive year.  Women 
in Chemistry also continued to build a supportive 
community within the women of the Department of 
Chemistry through hosting social activities including 
an end-of-the-semester potluck dinner, the annual 
welcome luncheon for incoming graduate students, and 
an evening creating dinners at Main Dish Kitchen.  
WiC is proud of their accomplishments in 2006, and 
looks forward to future growth and success.
http://www.chemistry.msu.edu/acswic/index.html

In 2006, Women in Chemistry had the opportunity to
write and proctor the Chemistry Lab portion of Science
Olympiad at the State level.  The event was held on 
the campus of Michigan State University.  This years 
topic consisted of "thermodynamics and physical 
properties."
  WiC members designed the experiments; coordinated
graduate and undergraduate student volunteers to run
through the experiment, and proctored and graded the
experiment.  Participants included high school 
students from the State of Michigan who excelled in 
the regional Science Olympiad events.

Women in Chemistry (WiC) sponsored the third and
fourth-annual Chemistry Merit Badge Day in 2006.  This
event allows boy scouts and girl scouts to come to the
chemistry building at MSU to participate in a day of
experiments and activities and earn a boy scout merit
badge, or girl scout interest project patch (IPP) in
chemistry.  This year, 40 boy and girl scouts
participated in each event.  WiC coordinated graduate
and undergraduate student volunteers to run the
experiments and made the event a success.  The day
included a lecture on pollution and laboratory safety,
experiments involving analytical, organic, inorganic,
physical, and biological chemistries, poster
presentations by the scouts, and a tour of the laser
laboratory.
http://www.chemistry.msu.edu/acswic/outreach.html

Women in Chemistry hosted a luncheon at the ACS 
Central Regional Meeting in Frankenmuth, MI on May 
18, 2006.  The guest speaker was Patricia Moore, a 
chemist from Dow Corning in Midland, MI.  With over 
50 attendees, including both male and female graduate 
students and professionals, Ms. Moore discussed what 
it means to be a member of the chemistry community 
and how she feels it is important to "touch a life 
and leave a legacy".  The event provided a welcoming 
atmosphere for attendees to meet and discuss current 
issues for chemists.  Women in Chemistry was pleased 
with the turnout of the event and was happy to have 
the opportunity to host such a function.

Women in Chemistry participated in the 17th Annual 
Girls Math Science Conference held at East Lansing 
High School on February 11th, 2006.  WiC members 
presented two hands-on activites entitled "Solving 
Murder with Makeup" and 'Chemical Properties of 
Soil."  In "Solving Murder with Makeup", girls were 
able to compare different lipsticks from three lady 
suspects using thin layer chromatography.  From the 
difference in the components of the lipsticks, the 
girls were able to solve the murder mystery.  In 
the "Chemical Properties of Soil", girls were able to 
use chemical tests to forensically compare soil from 
different regions and use the results to associate 
two samples.  The chemical tests included pH, 
chloride, limestone, iron, and copper.  Participants 
in both groups included 6th grade girls who had 
expressed an early interest in math or science.

YCC is a committee designed to enable all students 
interested in chemistry to interact within the 
science community and develop the skills needed to 
pursue a successful career in their chosen field. We 
provide opportunities for students to interact with 
each other and the community to promote the 
possibilities of science. In 2006 we had a very 
productive year. We provided an opportunity for 
community outreach with our participation in 
Chemistry Day activities at Impression 5 Science 
Center in Lansing, MI and also participated in 
Science Day at Steele Elementary School in Mason, MI 
by helping with demonstrations and hands-on 
activities. In addition, YCC participated in the 
Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) Day held at 
Michigan State University which is designed to 
showcase the benefits and opportunities in science, 
engineering and technology at MSU to prospective 
undergraduate students. We are looking forward to 
continuing our participation in these activities as 
well as becoming more actively involved in both the 
department and the community during the coming year.

The MSU Local Section once again commemorated
National Chemistry Week with our 20th 
annual "Chemistry
Day" event held from 10am to 3:30pm on Saturday,
October 28, 2006 at Impression 5 Science Center, a
local hands-on science museum.  This year's theme was
"Your Home - It's All Built on Chemistry".
  The total attendance for the event was close to 2000
persons.  Admission to the museum was free, thanks to 
a
generous donation from MBI International, a Lansing
biotechnology firm.  The event was publicized to the
general public through the local newspapers,
entertainment weeklies, web calendars, and before
science-themed movies at the local IMAX Theatre.  The
event was also publicized to the MSU community via a
posting in the weekly printed news bulletin.  
  Though the event was open to the public, Girl Scout
and Boy Scout troops were specifically invited to
pre-register and attend through the local scout
councils.  As in the previous seven Chemistry Day
events, any Boy or Girl Scout participant received an
embroidered "Your Home - It's All Built on Chemistry"
patch for visiting 10 demonstration stations.  The
Scout patches were purchased from the ACS through a
generous donation to the Local Section from the Two 
Men
and a Truck moving company.  Each participant also
received a NCW activity newspaper, a "Hooray for
Chemistry" bag, NWC theme stickers, an NCW pencil, and
a NCW helium balloon.
  More than thirty tables of hands-on activities, most
consistent with the theme, were presented by graduate
and undergraduate students from the MSU Department of
Chemistry, graduate students from the MSU Forensic
Science Department, freshman chemistry students from
the MSU Lyman Briggs School of Science, undergraduates
from the MSU Chemical Engineering Department
representatives from the MSU Chapter of NOBCChE
(National Organization of Black Chemists and Chemical
Engineers), the MSU student-led science outreach 
troupe
Science Theatre, and several members of the Alpha Chi
Sigma professional chemistry fraternity.  Two local
high schools also sent teams of student demonstrators.
 Demonstrator volunteers received a page-sized 
Periodic
Table of the Elephants as tokens of appreciation.
  Hands-on theme related activities included Making
Paint, Red Cabbage Indicator, Testing the Hardness of
Water, Paper Chromatography, Fruit Batteries, Carbon
Dioxide Leaky Faucet, Synthesis of Nylon Rope,
Fluorescence, Calculating the Speed of Light with
Marshmallows in a Microwave, Stain Removers, and
Unclogging Drains with Chemistry, among many others.
  The MSU Local Section "Chemistry Day" website is
located at:  http://www.chemistry.msu.edu/chemday/

Team: Professors Babak Borhan, Robert Maleczka, 
James Jackson, Bill Wulff, Milton Smith, James 
Geiger, Jetze Tepe and Greg Baker, and graduate 
assistant Marina Tanasova

Project SEED was started by the American Chemical 
Society in 1968 to provide a summer research 
experience in chemistry or a related field to 
economically disadvantaged high school students.  
Students are placed in academic, industrial, and 
government laboratories for eight to ten weeks during 
the summer to participate in hands-on research.  
Professor Babak Borhan, assisted by graduate student 
Marina Tanasova was in charge of recruiting and 
mentoring students.  Fliers and brochures were sent 
out to local high school science teachers with 
significant populations of economically disadvantaged 
students since the ACS requires the family income of 
each participating student to be no more than 200% of 
the Federal Poverty Guidelines for his/her family 
size.  Teachers with interested students responded 
and were sent an application designed by the MSU 
team.  Each application required a resume, a 
statement of interest, and a letter of recommendation 
from a science teacher.  This encouraged the students 
to highlight their talents as well as taught them 
important business skills for requesting 
recommendation letters and submitting applications.  
	Dr. Borhan enlisted the help of Professors 
Robert Maleczka, James Jackson, Bill Wulff, Milton 
Smith, James Geiger, Jetze Tepe and Greg Baker to 
host Project SEED students.  Each professor was 
responsible for designing a research experiment 
suitable for a short-term project.  The eight 
projects from the past summer included the 
investigation of new metal-mediated methods for 
organic synthesis, testing of antimicrobial activity 
of small molecules, studies of blends of 
biodegradable polymers, synthesis of aziridines, 
structural biology and protein design, synthresis of 
aromatic polymers via C-H functionalization, 
synthesis of EDTA bis amide derivatives, synthesis of 
imidazolidines as anticancer agents.
One student from Perry High School, one student from 
Okemos High School, four students from East Lansing 
High School and three student from St. Johns High 
School were chosen to participate in this program.  
Each Summer I student received $2,275 and Summer II 
student received $2,600 for the eight-week session.  
Funding was generously provided by the MSU Office of 
the Provost, the College of Natural Science, and the 
American Chemical Society.  All of the students were 
very excited about the opportunity to participate in 
this program which began with a meeting to introduce 
them to each other and to their respective 
professors.  Meetings were held each week to allow 
the students to present their research as well as ask 
questions about various scientific issues, including 
working with graduate students and using laboratory 
equipment.  At each meeting, Professor Borhan and Ms. 
Tanasova covered different topics in organic 
chemistry to help the students better understand 
their research and how it related to larger projects 
or industrial research.  Project SEED students were 
responsible for maintaining a lab notebook and 
following appropriate laboratory safety procedures, 
as well as understanding their project and the 
chemistry it involved.  Each student had taken at 
least one chemistry class, but high school students 
generally have very little knowledge of organic 
chemistry, so it became the responsibility of the 
professors and their research assistants to ensure 
that the students had the necessary skills and 
knowledge to undertake their individual research 
projects.
At the end of the summer, all of the Project SEED 
students were required to present their research in 
the form a formal paper of their research 
accomplishments from the summer.  This helped develop 
their scientific writing skills and ensured they 
understood the research they had performed.
Project SEED mentors are also encouraged to support 
their students with college and career counseling. 
All nine of the student participants from last summer 
enjoyed their Project SEED experience.  Four of them 
are now planning to come back into the Project Seed 
program as Summer II student.  All of the students 
expressed interest in pursuing further studies in 
science.
Plans are in progress to expand this program in the 
summer of 2007 to include other areas of the 
Chemistry Department and to increase the number of 
student participants.  An attempt is being made to 
target more local high schools and develop a network 
of teachers to promote this program to the students 
they feel would benefit most from this experience.

The MSU local section has been a participant in the 
US National Chemistry Olympiad (USNCO) program for 
many years.  In 2006 we hosted 27 students from 
Haslett, Owosso, Grand Ledge and Waverly High schools 
in the local section chemistry olympiad qualifying 
examination held in the MSU Biophysical Sciences  and 
Chemistry buildings.  The students took a multiple 
choice exam.  MSU faculty, staff and graduate 
students served as proctors for the written and 
laboratory examinations.  Ten students qualified to 
write the USNCO test, which was held at Michigan 
State University.  MSU faculty, staff and graduate 
students participated in this event as well.

This year the MSU local section presented 
Outstanding College Student Awards and Travel Awards.

The college student awards are designed to recognize 
excellence in preformance from undergraduate 
chemistry students within our local ACS section. The 
following awards were given to MSU students in 2006:
Freshman Chemistry
Freshman Honors Chemistry
Organic Chemistry
Physical Chemistry
Analytical Chemistry
Inorganic Chemistry
Robert Clark Kedzie Award for BS Chemistry Graduate
Robert Clark Kedzie Award for BA Chemistry Graduate

Awards were also given to students from other 
colleges in the local section.

Travel grants were also provided to assist 
undergraduate and graduate students presenting 
research at technical meetings.

Organic Chemistry Club:
The ACS local section sponsors the organic chemistry
club held every Wednesday at Michigan State 
University.
The meeting is open to all members/students and is
generally represented by ~20 graduate students which
present papers and mechanistic problems to the group.
The ACS sponsors snack and beverages during this 
weekly event.

1. To enhance the professional development of our
section members.
2. To encourage and inspire young students to pursue
careers in the natural sciences, especially chemistry.
3. To provide a mechanism for informing/educating the
general public on chemical issues.
4. To initiate a mentoring program to expand our
outreach activities and support of minority students.

Assessment

Through programs like Program SEED, the Organic 
Chemistry Clubs, Younger Chemists Committee, and 
Women in Chemistry, we have provided valuable
development services for our members. These 
organizations have provided information both on
technical expertise and contact development.

Goals 2 and 3 above have been addressed through 
several different programs for the general public and 
young students in particular. For example, "Chemistry 
Day at Impression 5" brought ~2000 people to hear 
about the contributions of chemistry to society and 
to see chemical demonstrations.  Merit badge day is 
also successful.

For minority students, the MSU local section is in 
its second year of participation in the ACS SEED 
program, which is designed for disadvantaged students 
to come to MSU over the summer to do research in 
faculty laboratories. Hopefully, through this program 
more minority and disadvantaged students will gain 
the interest and confidence to begin careers in the 
sciences.

Although improvement in our outreach activities at
local schools still needs improvement, WiC conducted 
hands-on workshops at 
the Girls Math Science Conference for 6th Grade 
Girls, and we continued participation in Chemistry 
Olympiad.

1. Continue to provide financial support for the 
broadrange of outstanding activities currently 
promoted
by the section.
2. Increase involvement of schools and the local
section membership with National Chemistry Week, 
Chemistry Olympiad, and other activities which 
inform/educate the
general public on chemistry-related issues.

Assessment

In the past year, we aided many students financially
in attending a National ACS Meeting. In addition, we
supported the WiC, Organic Chemistry Club,  and 
Younger
Chemists Committee in their activities.

We issued a broad call for both volunteers at 
National Chemistry Week and participation in 
Chemistry Olympiad.

1. To enhance the professional development of our
section members.
2. To encourage and inspire young students to pursue
careers in the natural sciences, especially chemistry.
3. To provide a mechanism for informing/educating the
general public on chemical issues.
4. To initiate a mentoring program to expand our
outreach activities and support of minority students.

1. Continue to provide financial support for the 
broadrange of outstanding activities currently 
promoted by
the section.
2. Increase involvement of schools and the local
section membership with National Chemistry Week and
other activities which inform/educate the general
public on chemistry-related issues