Local Section chemists discussed their vocations and
careers at two community colleges.  The highlight NCW
activity, entitled "Drugs, Bombs and CSI" took place
at De Anza College on October 27, 2007.  Professional
chemists (the Many Faces) and students engaged in an
exciting forum about the careers and job opportunities
in our community that involve chemistry.  A similar
panel discussion was held at Canada College on October 25.
 Please see report at
http://www.scvacs.org/Report_07/NCW.html

The Student Interview Workshop program was
established in 2004 to teach job interview skills to
undergraduate chemistry and chemical engineering
students.  Each student has a practice interview with
trained interview coaches and receives feedback from
the coaches and a small group of student peers. 
Initially, volunteer coaches present information and
advice on interviewing skills and resume preparation. 
This is followed by a mock interview designed to give
examples of good and bad interview behaviors.  The
workshop is a joint venture involving the Santa Clara
Valley Section, the California Section and the NorCal
section of AIChE with funding from the ACS Innovative
Projects Grant program, AIChE and the Local Sections. 
Four workshops were held in 2007 at University of
California-Davis, San Jose State University, University
of San Francisco, and Stanford University.  The
workshop is well received by the students and plans are
underway to expand the workshop to campuses away from
the San Francisco Bay Area and to community colleges.

With the enthusiastic support of 25 students from the
Chemistry Club from Santa Clara University, children
visiting the Children's Discovery Museum in San Jose
were treated to the ever popular Wheel of Chemistry
Fortune, where every stop meant a prize.  The children
made jewelry out of UV-beads, decorated shrinky-dinks,
discovered acid-base properties of goldenrod paper and
had their fortunes told by polymer fish.
 Please see report at
http://www.scvacs.org/Report_07/NCW.html

Three different groups of young "chemists" treated
the Section with posters depicting "The Many Faces of
Chemistry." The groups included entrants from
Burlingame's 4th grade Girl Scout Troop #2562, the 8th
grade at a local middle school, and the chemistry
classes at Palma High School in Salinas.  The National
ACS 3rd-4th Grade Category winner was Amelia Milne from
Girl Scout Troop #2562.
 Please see report at
http://www.scvacs.org/Report_07/NCW.html

To celebrate NCW, the Science Club of California State
University Monterey Bay (CSUMB)hosted the 1st Annual
Titration competition.  The Alisal High School team was
first to complete the challenge of accurately
determining the amount of acetic acid in vinegar.  The
CSUMB team came in second.  Prizes included an iPod, a
periodic table beach towel, and other fun items.  The
Science Club thanked the ACS and the Division of
Science and Environmental Policy along with the section
volunteers.

Two efforts took place within the Section to improve
our communications and voting processes.  Both of these
activities involved changing from our hard copy
newsletter and voting by mail to the use of electronic
media: computers and the internet.  The newsletter, the
SV Chemist, maintains its regular format but is
maintained on the Section's internet website, available
to anyone with access to the web.  The newsletter
production and distribution costs were reduced by about
$30,000 in 2007 from 2006.  Changing the voting
process required a change in the Section's bylaws,
which the members are currently voting on (by mail). 
This change is intended to increase the outreach to
members on Section issues and to increase the numbers
of ballots counted in an election.

Vikram Nathan was the Santa Clara Valley finalist in
the 2007 U. S. National Chemistry Olympiad.  12 local
schools and about 140 students participated in this
year's event.  On April 28th, 12 of Silicon Valley's
top chemistry students met at Santa Clara University to
compete in the national testing event along with 18
students from the California Section.  They spent 6
hours indoors working on problem sets, multiple choice
questions and the "killer" lab problems.
 Please see report at
http://www.scvacs.org/Report_07/Olympiad.html

In March, the "SciencePalooza" and Synopsis
Championships were held at the Santa Clara County
Fairgrounds and San Jose Convention Center.  114
students participated in the Synopsis Championship.  41
won awards and 8 advanced to the California State
Science Fair while 4 advanced to the Intel
International Science Fair.  Several Section members
volunteered to help with these events.
 Please see report at
http://www.scvacs.org/Report_07/Minority.html

During the year, several events occurred that involved
our members:  1) The annual Summer Picnic and Wine
Tasting with ceremonies to honor our twelve 50- and
nine 60-year ACS Members, 2) Solicitations to join and
participate in Silver Circle Groups, and 3) An invitation
to members to write articles for the newsletter about
"How I Became a Chemist."
 See a sample article on p. 5 of our December
newsletter at
http://www.scvacs.org/newsletter/news0712hi.pdf

The Section presented its annual 2007 awards to the
following chemists:
1.  Harry & Carol Mosher Award:  Dr. Dennis Curran
University of Pittsburgh, Distinguished Service
Professor, Bayer Professor of Chemistry, well known for
his work in radical chemistry and organic synthesis.  
2.  Shirley B. Radding Award:  Merle Eiss, industrial
chemist at McCormick & Company
3.  Ottenberg Service Award:  David Parker, former
Section secretary, chair (twice) and presently an
Alternate Councilor.
 Please see reports at
http://www.scvacs.org/Report_07/Mosher.html
http://www.scvacs.org/Report_07/Radding.html
http://www.scvacs.org/Report_07/Ottenberg.html

In addition to the activities described above, the
Section has participated in the following:
 The Section was honored to have a member be a
candidate for ACS President-elect, Howard Peters. 
Howard brought new ideas to the forum and has been a
staunch supporter of minorities and the disadvantaged
trying to get a good education in science.  He
continues to strongly support science fairs and science
competition in schools.
 Please see his report at
http://www.scvacs.org/Report_07/Minority.html  
 The Section through outreach efforts offered support
to local high schools in establishing Chemistry Clubs
for students.  One such club was established at Palma
High School in Salinas with the guidance of John
Chipley, a member and chemistry teacher.
 Many members volunteer their expertise in the
community but one was honored by the Tech Museum of
Innovation in San Jose.  He is Bruce Raby who teaches
in the lab, mans a station in the gallery and helps
visitors and staff at various events.
 The Section has renewed efforts to establish a
committee focused on governmental actions that affect
science education, the environment and matters
affecting chemists, chemical engineers and chemistry
teachers. 
 The Section continued its long-running job awareness
section in the newsletter, ChemPloyment.  Depending on
employer subscriptions, job postings may number from a
few to more than ten.  Members are encouraged to view
the ads and take action when a particular job
opportunity appears.

1. Conduct at least one dinner meeting for members in
the southern part of the Section (i.e.,
Salinas/Monterey area).  This could be a joint meeting
with California-Los Padres Section.
Assessment: The section was unable to coordinate a
joint meeting or other section event with the Los
Padres Local Section and no other section events were
held in the southern part of the section.  The
relatively large geographies of each section are
impediments.  

2.  Increase member participation in dinner meetings 
at least 30% by year-end.
Assessment:  Member participation in dinner meetings
continues at around 1% of the membership.  The
"regulars" usually show up and there seems to be a new
face or two at each meeting, which suggests that some
members do respond to meeting notices and attend if 
there is interest in the topic or presenter.  The 30%
increase goal over 2006 was not attained.

3.  Schedule at least one joint dinner meeting with 
the California Section.  
Assessment:  Although attempts were made, there were 
no joint dinner meetings with the California Section.

1.  Invite the 2006 Nobel Award winner in chemistry
(Dr. Roger D. Kornberg) to speak at a dinner meeting 
or other forum.
Assessment:  Arrangements for a meeting with Dr. Roger
D. Kornberg were not made, mostly due to previous
commitments with dinner meeting speakers.
2.  Complete the process to facilitate electronic
voting on ACS business within the Section.
Assessment: The Executive Committee completed the
review of bylaws for both the local section and ACS 
for voting and election requirements and what changes
were needed to allow for electronic voting on section
matters.  Proposed changes to section bylaws were
submitted to the Committee on Constitution and Bylaws
for review.  The Committee responded with concurrence
and additional recommendations to clarify certain
provisions of the existing bylaws.
 
3.  Provide support to high school teachers (e.g., 
John Chipley at Palma High in Salinas) in the
establishing of high school chemistry clubs within the
Section.
Assessment:  Support for high school teachers was
solicited through newsletter articles and Chair's
Messages.  Two members of the Executive Committee met
twice with the chemistry teacher at Palma High School
to learn about the development of a chemistry club at
Palma HS and how the section could assist other
teachers in the section.

1.  Increase member participation in dinner meetings 
at least 20% by year-end.

2.  Schedule at least one joint dinner meeting with 
the California Section.  

3.  Conduct at least one dinner meeting for members 
in the southern part of the Section (i.e., 
Salinas/Monterey area).  This could be a joint 
meeting with California-Los Padres Section.

1. Increased level of communication with inactive/ 
relatively inactive members of section, in an attempt 
to increase their activity level within the section.

2. Prevent burnout of current members of Executive 
Committee.

3. Assuming membership approval for our bylaw change
(voting currently underway), implement an electronic
voting system and use it in the fall, 2008 Section
elections.