Our traditional activities include chemical 
demonstrations and a variety of hands-on activities.  
These demonstrations and activities are conducted at 
local 4th grade classrooms, after school programs, 
the Evansville Museum, Washington Square Mall, and at 
the University of Southern Indiana.  Both academic 
and industrial members of the section join forces 
with the USI Student Affiliates and UE students to 
assemble the materials and provide the activities 
each year. This year a $25,000 grant from General 
Electric to the Chemistry Department at the 
University of Southern Indiana was also spotlighted 
during NCW.  The annual Girl Scout Overnight is a 
cornerstone in our NCW activities.  This year we also 
participated in the Wellness Fair for students, 
faculty and staff at the University of Southern 
Indiana.

On December 2, the section celebrated its 50th 
anniversary with a banquet to honor past chairs.  A 
total of twelve former chairs attended the meeting, 
the earliest serving as the 7th chair in 1960.  
Addresses for all of the chairs, who were still alive 
and living in the tri-state area, were compiled so 
that they could be invited to the banquet. Our guest 
speaker was past ACS president Attila Pavlath who 
presented his musical play "It is Time for a 
Change!".  Past chairs were recognized and presented 
with a certificate entitled "Local Section Officers: 
The Unsung ACS Heroes".

The Indiana/Kentucky Border Section and the St. 
Louis Section submitted a grant proposal for video 
taping a program to help unemployed chemists and 
beginning chemists find jobs.  We were recently 
informed that this joint proposal has been funded!  
We are very excited about this new opportunity.

In April the section sponsored an awards banquet 
honoring outstanding sophomores and seniors from the 
four area universities and colleges.  The banquet was 
preceeded by a student poster session at which five 
undergraduates presented their research work.

One of the section goals is to increase 
participation of industrial members.  As a way of 
achieving that goal, a tour of Red Spot Paint & 
Varnish Company in Evansville was arranged and both 
research and production facilities were toured by 
section members.  Future plans include making a tour 
of one of local industrial facilities an annual event 
for the section.

The Indiana/Kentucky Border Section continues to 
participate in the Chemistry Olympiad.  Members of 
the section administered the tests during both 
sessions of the Olympiad and conducted the laboratory 
section of the test.  Participants were provided 
lunch by the section.  In addition, members of the 
section held tutoring sessions for interested high 
school students prior to the tests.  Although no 
student from our section has ever made it to the 
camp, perhaps this extra work will help some student 
in the future.

Because first year chemistry students can't compete 
in the very successful Mole Day Celebration during 
NCW, the section embraced the Earth Day concept and 
invited first year chemistry students to compete 
during the Earth Day Celebration.  The celebration 
included a competition between 3-member teams from 
each of the high schools as well as chemical 
demonstrations and a tour of the University of 
Southern Indiana's campus.  Other Earth Day 
activities included conducting additional chemistry 
experiments with 4th grade classrooms in the area.  
This activity has been so successful during NCW that 
we expanded it for Earth Day.

Members of the local section worked with a cub scout 
troop providing a tour of the UE science facility, 
demonstrations, and hands-on activities.  This 
activity allowed the cub scout members to achieve 
their Science Pin.  
This year, more than 25 Boy Scouts earned their 
merit badges at the all day session at the University 
of Southern Indiana.  This annual event required 
numerous volunteers to help assemble and man stations 
in the chemistry labs.  The Scouts rotated through 
each station and had to complete each activity in 
order to earn their badge.  Student Affiliates and 
volunteers explained the chemical concept involved at 
each station.

Members of the section continue to provide chemical 
demonstrations for a number of cub scout troops in 
the local area.  The requests for these 
demonstrations grows each year.  In addition, members 
of the section provide demonstrations for various 
middle school groups as a part of the campus visits 
organized to bring the student to a college campus to 
encourage them to consider attending college after 
graduation from high school.  Many of these groups 
are made up of children from families that have never 
considered college as an option.

Members of the section conducted 2 all day 
workshops for middle school teachers.  These 
workshops were designed to encourage the teachers to 
use hands-on experiments to teach chemical concepts 
in the classroom.  After a PowerPoint presentation 
suggesting various ways to present the material, the 
teachers actually conducted the experiments 
themselves.  The local school corporation will be 
selecting textbooks in Spring 2005.  The Science 
Supervisor supports the idea of incorporating hands-
on activities in the classroom and has been very 
corporative.  He also supports our activities with 
the teachers for the NCW and Earth Day activities.

The local section holds a variety of events to serve 
both the public and chemists.  This year we held a 
total of 7 meetings; at 4 of these meetings we had 
ACS tour speakers give presentations.  Programs were 
varied so the public was often invited.  Members, 
nonmembers and university students attended many of 
these meetings, and attendance ranged from 20 to 
100.  Many of the meetings were preceded by a meal 
with the speaker and all members were invited. 
     In addition to the activities described above, 
such as NCW, Earth Day, the Chemistry Olympiad, 
demonstrations for all ages and hands-on activities 
for K-12 students, and after school programs, several 
members volunteer as judges for the local Tri-State 
Science and Engineering Fair.  The section also 
provides monetary awards to the top junior and senior 
presentations at the Science Fair and to the top 
sophomore and senior students in the area's four 
universities and colleges.  These awards are 
presented at a banquet each year.  
    This year we sought to increase participation by 
industrial members by arranging a tour of a local 
chemical industry, which was a great success.  More 
than 20 members toured the Red Spot plant and had 
dinner together afterward. We also had the pleasure 
of celebrating our 50th anniversary as a section with 
a banquet honoring past chairs. Although we mentioned 
it above, we are very excited about a new and 
challenging opportunity for new year!  The Section 
worked with the St. Louis Section on a grant proposal 
for preparing a video tape that can be used by local 
sections to help unemployed chemists and graduating 
chemists find employment.  We were recently informed 
that the proposal has been funded.  
   Members of the section are also involved in local 
environmental groups that inform the public about 
various issues in the area.  Also, two Student 
Affiliates  from the University of Southern Indiana 
section presented posters on their work at the spring 
meeting.  Members of the section helped guide them in 
the project and helped them get the money for the 
trip. 
    The Section worked with the St. Louis Section on 
a grant proposal for preparing a video tape that can 
be used by local sections to help unemployed chemists 
and graduating chemists find employment.  We were 
recently informed that the proposal has been funded.  
This will present an exciting new challenge this year!

1.)  Increase participation of industrial members 
(successful)

2.)  Increase member attendance at meetings (somewhat 
successful)

3.)  Find new NCW activities (successful)

4.)  Continue outreach efforts (successful)

1.)  Improve local section communication (news, 
letters, web page, meeting announcements)  
(successful)

2.)  Increase participation of industrial members 
(successful)

3.)  Increase membership of young chemists (somewhat 
successful)

1.)  Investigate possibility recognizing a National  
Historic Landmark in the area

2.)  Continue outreach efforts

3.)  Increase membership of young chemists

4.)  Investigate possibililty of starting a Women's 
Chemists group

1.) Conduct survey for local section

2.) Work on National Historical Landmark investigation

3.) Increase participation of younger chemists

Help us find ways to get the older members of the 
section involved and increase attendance of members 
at meetings.