CINTACS Newsletter of the Cincinnati Section of the American Chemical Society  Vol. 37, No. 8 - April 2000

INDEX

Program
 

Dinner reservations: Make reservations via e-mail cintacs.im@pg.com Include your name (complete with correct spelling), phone number and affiliation. Please specify if this is your first Cincinnati ACS meeting when making your reservation. All reservations must be received by noon, Monday, April 17, 2000. As a reminder, if you decide you must miss a meeting after you have made reservations, please call to cancel. If you do not cancel, the Section will have to charge you because it will have been charged by the food service. Payment will be received at the door. Guests are always welcome; emeritus, unemployed, new, and student members are half price.

Directions: From Downtown or Northern Cincinnati suburbs, take I-71 (or I-75 or I-275) to I-471 south. Approximately six miles from the Ohio River, I-471 highway ends as it merges with U.S. 27. At the second stop light, turn right onto Nunn Drive, the entrance to Northern Kentucky University. Follow Nunn Dr. straight through campus and park in lots G, K, or L. The University Center is across Nunn Dr. from Regent's Hall. Guests may park in any lot. Guests must have a handicapped parking sticker in order to park in a space for the handicapped.

The rapid development of forensic DNA typing using the polymeric chain reaction represents a major revolution in the scientific analysis of forensic evidence. As a result of the power of this silent witness to violent crime, efforts are underway to produce a national database of results for convicted offender DNA samples. In order to process the large numbers of samples collected through these efforts, efficient and automated procedures for analysis of DNA fragments must be developed. Capillary electrophoresis has great potential to fulfill this requirement. Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is an analytical technique that can produce rapid and efficient separations of DNA, due to the superior heat dissipation of the capillary when compared to standard slab gel methods. Additionally, the capillary can be easily manipulated for efficient and automated injections. Despite these advantages, it is only recently that dedicated commercial systems for PCR product analysis have begun to appear.

The reason for the slow development of CE systems for PCR analysis has been the scarcity of efficient methods for injection, separation and detection of DNA fragments. For example, the high ionic strength of the PCR reaction mixture is incompatible with CE injection methods. Gel based separations are difficult to implement in the capillary format, and commonly utilized ultraviolet (UV) detection techniques have poor sensitivity. These problems have been largely overcome as a result of better understanding of the nature of the CE procedure.

This presentation will introduce the concepts involved in forensic DNA typing and illustrate how capillary systems can be used in this type of analysis. Advancements in separation, sample preparation, and detection will be emphasized, and the talk will conclude with a discussion of future applications.

Bruce R. McCord joined the faculty of Ohio University as an Associate Professor in Fall of 1998. Dr. McCord received a BS in Chemistry with Honors from the College of William and Mary in 1981,and his Ph. D. in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1986. Prior to joining the faculty at Ohio University, Dr McCord spent 9 years as a research chemist at the FBI’s Forensic Science Research and Training center.

His present interests involve the development of new separation systems for the analysis of DNA fragments by capillary electrophoresis and the application of this technology to problems in genetic typing. Because of the adversarial nature of forensic DNA typing, developing highly precise and robust analytical procedures are critical to the success of the procedure. For the past several years, Dr. McCord has utilized CE for the forensic analysis of microsatellite DNA, multiplexed STR systems, and rapid quantitation of PCR amplified mitochondrial DNA. Included in the results of this work were investigations into the nature of fluorescent detection of DNA and the interactions between DNA and soluble polymer buffers.

Other aspects of his work include the development of analytical systems used in the investigation of explosives residues and in forensic trace analyses. These procedures were utilized in a number of high profile investigations such as the bombing of the World Trade Center, and the O. J. Simpson trial. Dr. McCord is a current member of the editorial boards of Electrophoresis and the Journal of Capillary Electrophoresis.

Sign up now for the Local Section Party Night. To be held in conjunction with the 32nd Central Regional Meeting. Please note the registration deadline is April 20th. Come meet many of the CMACS 2000 participants as well as your local section colleagues!

Newport Aquarium Tour
4;00-6:00 PM
Thursday, May 18, 2000
Cost: $14/person, includes transportation from meeting site and back

Meeting Reception at Marriott Hotel, Covington, KY
6:00-8:00 PM
Thursday, May 18, 2000
Cost: $16/person, includes open bar and pasta station

Reservations:

E-mail your reservations to cintacs.im@pg.com Include your name (complete with correct spelling), phone number and affiliation. Please specify if this is your first Cincinnati ACS meeting when making your reservation. All reservations must be received by noon, April 20th, 2000. As a reminder, if you decide you must miss a meeting after you have made reservations, please call to cancel. If you do not cancel, the Section will have to charge you because it will have been charged by the hotel. Payment will be received at the door. Guests are always welcome; emeritus, unemployed, new, and student members are half price.

THE CINTACS NEWSLETTER
Vol. 37, No. 8 April, 2000
Editor.........................Bruce S. Ault
Advertising......Sameer Choudhary

CINTACS is published nine times a year (September through May) by the Cincinnati Section of the American Chemical Society. All changes of address should be sent to Emel Yakali email mc.acs@uc.edu.

SUBMISSION DEADLINES

The submission deadline deadline for the May issue of CINTACS (the final issue of the 1999-2000 year) has now passed. The next deadline will be approximately August 1, for the Sept. 2000 issue. Electronic submission is strong preferred, except for original photos. All materials should be sent to:

Dr. Bruce Ault
Department of Chemistry
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, OH 45221}
E-mail: bruce.ault@uc.edu

This month, Professor Bruce McCord, an expert in forensic chemistry, will present a lecture at our meeting. Dr. McCord has been kind enough to travel down from Ohio University just for this meeting, so please take a moment to visit with him in our social sessions. We will gather this month at Northern Kentucky University, and we also look forward to having many students and teachers joining us for our education awards presentations. I would like to thank John Williams, Richard Sunberg, Hank Greeb, and others once again for doing a great job accepting nominations, administering the tests and the awards, and other coordination efforts. It will be our last technical meeting of the 99/00 year so I hope you will make every effort to join us. We thank Jim Niewahner for making all the arrangements again this year and I know it will prove to be an active evening. Fittingly, after the lecture, dinner, and awards presentation, we will finish with a social get together that will provide another opportunity to thank ur membership for their very active participation this year.

Our congratulations to all our education awardees this year. Five students, 12 years of age and under will receive awards and will attend our April meeting with their (teachers): Zack Evans, (Mrs. Muzny); Brent Martini, (Mrs. Goetz); Iris Taylor (Ms Taylor); Amanda Tate (Mrs. Evick); and Kelsey Folzenlogen (Mr. Berno). Our teachers of the year are Mr. Rex Bucheit, Elementary School Science educator of the year 2000, Mr. Dennis Beck, Middle School Science Teacher of the Year 2000, and Ms. Pamela Addison, High School chemistry Teacher of the Year 2000. As in past years, High School student awards will be presented at our meeting by John Williams. I am also pleased to note that Linda Ford, last year’s High School Chemistry Teacher of the Year, has now received the year 2000 James Bryant Conant Regional Award in High School Chemistry Teaching. This award also makes her eligible to compete for the National award in the year 2001.

Please note that we will hold our third board meeting of the year from 5:30 to 6:15 and this is always good opportunity to bring up any key issues. Please contact me to put any item on our agenda.

Each month I like to recognize the efforts of some of our members. I’m sure I still haven’t captured the successes of all of our membership, as so many deserve acknowledgment. This month I would like to particularly note the efforts of Jan Strobel, who provides Career Services information at every meeting. I haven’t asked her how many members she has helped, but if even one utilizes her information each year, her efforts have clearly been a major success. Jan continues to ably provide our Section Secretary roles as well, as an elected member of our board, so we thank her again for her many contributions to the section.

Again, please note the announcement for the May Party night. Try to include this event in your schedule at least as a minimum involvement with the exciting Regional Meeting activities. It is important to register early for this Party night event in particular. I look forward to celebrating another successful year with the section at that event.

See you at Northern Kentucky University!

F. Hal Ebetino
Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals
ebetino.fh@pg.com

• Unemployed?
• Thinking about a change?
• Seeking chemists?
• Aware of the need to be current on career opportunities?

The 32^nd Central Regional Meeting (CMACS 2000) is nearly upon us. Members of the organizing committee have worked hard to develop an excellent program. There are too many outstanding symposia to list here. Please visit the web site at www.cmacs2000.org for a complete listing of the technical sessions.

A full slate is also offered on the social program. One free event is the Regional Directors breakfast. Please be sure to sign up for it on the registration form. The breakfast will feature comments by ACS National President Daryle Busch. You’ll also want to hear the comments of the President-Elect, Attila Pavlath, and Past President, Helen Free, so be sure to attend both the awards luncheon and the special session on Diversity.

The CMACS 2000 program has something for everyone in the local section. If you can not join us for the full duration of the meeting consider registering for a one-day attendance.

Ray D’Alonzo
General Chair
dalonzo.rp@pg.com

The group is looking for meeting locations and topics for the 2000-01 school year. We meet three times each year - October, January, and March, at area high schools. If you would like to host one of those meetings, please contact Linda Ford (lkford@fuse.net) to secure a specific date. The October meeting will be a round robin discussion among high school teachers and local college chemistry instructors on the important chemical knowledge and skill base students need to succeed  in freshman chemistry. Be sure to reserve the evening of April 19^th to attend the ACS meeting at NKU at which both area students and teachers will be honored. Let us celebrate their successes together!

Please join the Awards committee in congratulating Ms. Linda Ford, as the winner of the year 2000 James Bryant Conant Regional Award in High School Chemistry Teaching. This award is sponsored by Albemarle Corporation. Its purpose is to recognize, encourage, and stimulate outstanding teachers of high school chemistry in the United States, its possessions or territories, at both the regional and national levels.

The regional award consists of an appropriate certificate prepared by the Society and a cash prize of $1,000. Ms. Ford will get an all expense trip paid to the regional meeting, this year right here in Covington, Kentucky, at which the award will be presented. (Sorry, Linda, we aren't holding the meeting in Las Vegas this year.) As a result of her winning this regional award Ms. Ford will be eligible to compete for the National award in the year 2001.

Ms. Ford teaches Chemistry and other sciences at the Seven Hills Upper School after having taught for a number of years at Sycamore High School.

Again, congratulations to a very worthy recipient!

The awards committee is pleased to announce that it has selected Mr. Rex Bucheit and the Elementary School Science Educator for the Year 2000. This award steps outside the usual framework of direct teaching to give the award to a school principal who has maintained a high level of interest in promoting excellence in teaching in science. Mr. Bucheit has served as teacher in the Hamilton Schools since 1978, and principal of Fillmore Elementary School since 1991. During his career he has taken an active interest in improving qualifications of himself and of others by participating in ACS, PACT, and the National Science Teachers Association. He has participated in several Terrific Science seminars and Science through Toys presentations at Miami University. He is co-author of at least two books in Chemical Education printed by the ACS, and has contributed to several other publications.

Please join us in extending our hearty congratulations to Rex for this award.

The awards committee is pleased to announce that it has selected Mr. Dennis Beck of Lakota Schools as the Middle School Science Teacher of the Year 2000. Mr. Beck teaches 8th grade Science at Lakota Ridge Junior High School. When Dennis was going to school himself he complained to his High School Principal about the quality of one of his Physics teachers. The principal challenged him "If you think that schools need better teachers, become one yourself." Mr. Beck obtained a B.S. in education from the University of Cincinnati in 1991, and taught in two other schools before coming to Lakota in 1995. He is enthusiastically supported by his students - in fact, John Janusz, who nominated him, first learned of his qualifications when his daughters Karen and Kimberly came home very excited about science experiments they were doing at school! Besides doing several extra duties involving the science curriculum, Mr. Beck is a swimming coach.

Please join us in congratulating Mr. Beck on receiving this award.

Congratulations to Ms. Pamela Addison as the Cincinnati Section's High School Chemistry Teacher of the Year 2000. Ms. Addison has been teaching Chemistry and other science courses at Norwood High School for the past 22 years. She received a BS in 1976 from Xavier University. Some of the accomplishments and duties include:

Ms. Addison is the head of the Elementary Science Outreach program for grades K-6. She has presented at the Summer "Toys for Science" program at Miami University She is moderator for Norwood High's Academic Team, and is a member of the selection committee for the Honor Society. In her spare time she flies a private airplane.

Please join the awards committee in offering our hearty "well done" to Ms. Addison.

Here are the winners of the local Cincinnati Section of the National American Chemical Society contest:
 

Winners	Zack Evans	Brent Martini	Iris Taylor	Amanda Tate	Kelsey Folzenlogen
School	Tayor Mill Elem.	Our Lady of Visitation Elem.	Jefferson Elem.	Freedom Elem.	N. Avondale Montessory
Teachers	Mrs. Muzny	Mrs. Goetz	Ms Taylor	Mrs. Evick	Mr Berno.
Location	Covington, KY	Cincinnati, OH	Hamilton, OH	West Chester, OH	Cincinnati, OH

The contest centered around the Spring 99 issue of WonderScience Magazine titled "Chemistry and Color". The students with the assistance of their parents and or teachers were afforded the opportunity to perform 1 to 5 experiments with a color reaction as the analytical or artful endpoint. These experiments included pH indicator paper, paper chromatography, analysis of vitamin C concentration by iodine titration, the effects of fats and oils on food color droplets, and art work using the pH sensitive paper that was enclosed in the magazine.

Contest kits were packed in late August by volunteers and distributed to 800 elementary schools in the tri-state area. Winners were selected and are listed below. This is the 12^th year that this contest has been sponsored by the Cincinnati Section as a NCW activity.

Richard Sunberg, contest co-ordinator.

PLEASE NOTE THIS NEW LOCATION!! Due to the large number of respondents we were forced to move to a larger facility. This location differs from what appeared in the March issue of CINTACS.

Check-in begins at 8:00 on the first day and will be taught from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. each day.

The Cincinnati Women Chemists Committee is sponsoring two symposia at the upcoming CMACS 2000 on May 19, 2000. One is a symposium on "Achieving Success in Chemistry" which is a panel discussion featuring successful women in the chemical sciences from academe, industry and law. The other is a symposium on color chemistry that bring together researchers from diverse fields to talk about the chemistry and practical aspects of colors.

This is just a short note to let you know that your Chair-Elect is alive and preparing for the new 2000 – 2001 season.

What a magnificent year the section has had under the Chairship of Hal Ebetino. The improved health of the Section is denoted by two successful conferences (International Conference on Phosphorus Chemistry chaired by Hal Ebetino and the Central Regional Meeting 2000 chaired by Ray D’Alonzo), increase in active attendance at our eight monthly meetings, timely distribution of CINTACS, increased performance of our Section’s Web site, increase activity at the committee level, Oesper award, Chemist and Research Assistant of the Year award, Chemistry Week, High School Students and Teachers Night and the all around hard work of the Electorate and Committee Chairs and their members.

Wow, what shoes to fill. I’ll need all your help to continue this successful venture.

In preparation for the new venture, I’ve begun to solicit for ideas and suggestions. I would like to hear any or all suggestions from our membership by e-mail (Rick.fayter@cognis-us.com) or telephone (482-3156) as I plan for the coming year.

A preliminary program meeting was recently held and afforded suggestions ranging from the Chemistry of Chocolate all the way to the Human Genome Project. I will also be attending the ACS Local Section Leadership Conference to obtain additional ideas for improvement of our Section. I should have a firmer preliminary program in the next few months and at that time, I will inform you all of it’s contents.

No Section can be successful without the active participation of its membership. It is my major goal this year to increase the active participation of the Section. We have a 1600 membership and I feel that 10% of that figure is not out of the question.

I look forward to working and sharing another enjoyable year with all of you .

Rick Fayter
1999/2000 Chair Elect, Cincinnati Section
e-mail: Rick.fayter@cognis-us.com

50 Year members of the ACS will be honored at the April meeting of the Cincinnati Section. For details on your colleagues who have achieved this distinction, please see article in the May CINTACS.

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