Chemistry Club Meeting: 8/31/06


The first 2006-2007 SIUE Chemistry Club Meeting was held Thursday, August 31, 2006, at 2:00 p. m. in the chemistry club room (SL 1107). The new 2006-2007 officers introduced themselves: Mariellen Sydow, President; Dave Herrman, Vice President; Crystal Hise, Treasurer; Lindsey Hamilton, Secretary; and Jennifer Redding, Webmaster. To be considered an active chemistry club member, a person must participate in three events, which include meetings, volunteer activities, and tours. Active members will be given the access code to the chemistry club room where they may study and use a computer.


The new business began with a discussion regarding the upcoming Monsanto Tour coordinated by Dr. Yun Lu and Andrea Thies. The tour will be held on Friday, September 22, 2006. Andrea Thies has already contacted Southern Illinois University Carbondale and invited them to join the tour. They agreed. She has also contacted St. Louis University and is waiting for a response. Sign-up sheets for the tour will be available. Other possible tours include Anheuser-Busch, a forensics lab, and an oil refinery. Reservations to tour Anheuser-Busch need to be made six months in advance. It will be necessary to have a coordinator for each tour.


Next, Dave Herrman introduced his new program, Cougars Volunteering for Science (CVS). He received a grant through the American Chemical Society for $400. Groups of at least three students will take a box that contains a hands-on experiment into the classrooms of local schools. CVS will be targeting schools with a high percentage of underprivileged children in the sciences. Demonstrations will occur four times per semester. Volunteer hours acquired through CVS count as SLDP and scholarship service hours. Students performing the demonstrations will be required to participate in a training session. A sign-up sheet is available.


A new meeting time was voted on. The results are as follows:


Thursdays, 2:00 p.m.: 13 votes

Thursdays, 3:00 p.m.: 5 votes

Thursdays, 6:00 p.m.: 2 votes

Fridays, 2:00 p.m.: 8 votes

Fridays, 3:00 p.m.: 3 votes


A poll will also be posted on Yahoo! Groups. For those people who are unable to attend the meetings, minutes will be posted on the chemistry club website (http://www.siue.edu/CHEMISTRY). Chemistry club also has a Yahoo! Group with a bulletin board, polls, discussions, and events.


Dr. Dixon is continuing the mentoring program this year. The mentoring program brings SIUE Alumni from local industry back to SIUE to discuss the careers they have using their degrees from SIUE. The alumni will have a question-and-answer session with students. Lindsey Hamilton will be helping Dr. Dixon plan three events for the upcoming year. This includes advertising and introducing the guests.


Chemistry club raffled off three t-shirts and five ACS periodic table pens.


Upcoming chemistry club events include homecoming, trivia night at Dr. Lindell’s, book/bake sale, National Chemistry Week, and Probst lecture.


Lastly, students joining the SIUE chemistry club are encouraged to become ACS Student Affiliates. Student affiliates have opportunities to attend the ACS conventions. The spring 2007 convention will be held in Chicago. Students may visit www.chemistry.org for more information.


The chemistry club meeting was concluded at 2:45 p.m.