Newsletter Report
2009

    "The Silicon Valley Chemist" is the newsletter for the Santa Clara Valley (SCV) Section  of the American Chemical Society. This was its thirty first year of publication. The newsletter and Section’s website are the primary communication links between members of the Section and its affiliates. The newsletters from 1999 to present are available on the site in PDF format, making the letters available for the general public as well as Section members. This is the second year of posting the newsletter in electronic format. The majority of our more than 3400 members now receive an email near the  first of each month informing them that the current edition of the newsletter is available for their viewing. Click here to see a report on this bulk e-mail effort. We still mail a small number of paper copies to those members who write in and ask to be put on the mailing list (at no cost to the member); however, we have greatly reduced printing and mailing costs, allowing us to reallocate our resources to other programs.

    The newsletter typically provides information about the upcoming monthly speakers and dinner meetings, local section outreach activities, and a calendar of upcoming science events and activities in our local five-county area as well as statewide and nationally. The Chair’s Message is a featured portion of the letter encouraging members to become involved in section and national activities and providing updated status reports regarding SCV Executive Committee deliberations and decisions. Annually there are reports regarding the Section’s award winners for the Harry & Carol Mosher Award, the Ottenberg Award, the Radding Award, and our new, first-in-the-nation Community College Teacher-Scholar Award. There are also summaries of our annual teacher events, the Chemistry Olympiad, and the Section’s National Chemistry Week activities.

    The ChemPloyment Abstract Bulletin also appears in every issue of the “Silicon Valley Chemist.” The ChemPloyment Abstracts have a standard format in which employers, who pay a small fee for the ad, can provide information about the latest chemistry related job opportunities at their companies. ChemPloyment Abstracts have become an important resource for chemists seeking employment in our area. Unfortunately, with the economy so low in 2009, the number of ads has been much smaller than usual. We hope to see an increase in 2010.
   
    Each issue also contains important contact information. The names of the Section officers, councilors and alternate councilors are listed as well as their telephone numbers and e-mail addresses making the Executive Committee accessible to all members. The contact information for the ChemPloyment Abstracts Director and Newsletter Editor are also featured.

    Highlights for 2009 included a full page of photos in our December issue of people, including ACS President Thomas Lane, attending the awarding of our new Community College teaching award; a long book review in the August issue of "The Invention of Air" (about Joseph Priestley), and a full page of photos of including our 50-, 60-, 65- and 75-year members and other awardees at our summer picnic and a page and a half of photos of our joint meeting with the California Los Padres Section at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.

                                                                                                              Stephanie Gehling

                                                                                                                    Editor, Silicon Valley Chemist

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