Election Newsletter, 2000

Well, here it is again, already. Election time. No, not that one, ours.

It is time to elect the officers of our Section for the next year.

We were once again able to put together a slate of fine eager candidates, and this year some of the names are actually different than last year. As you know, Tony Mazzeo moved back east, and Dave Cleary, who has had one office or another for about five years, asked somebody else to take the honor of running this year.

Running for Chair this year is Dennis McMinn, for Chair Elect will be Jeff Moore, and as always, my humble self as secretary/treasurer and newsletter guy. This year we also have to vote for Section Counselor, which is a three year term. Jeff Rahn has agreed to run again for this office.

So, if you vote a party ticket, we will end up with Dennis, Dennis, Jeff and Jeff as our officers.

Included with this mailing is an already stamped post card for you to use as a ballot. What could be easier? Just scribble some Xes here and there, maybe even write in some names instead of using what we have suggested, and dump it in the old blue box. Do it on your way to the Real elections, maybe.

Try to have these things in by, oh well, November 17^th. That is a Friday. That gives us the next three months or so to count them all up, certify them, tabulate them, and maybe even announce the results.

In Other News

You will be happy to know that this will be a No Norm Newsletter. One time only.

However, you might be interested to know that for the third (or more) year in a row, Gonzaga Students and Faculty will be celebrating National Chemistry Week at the Children's Museum, 110 N. Post St, Downtown Spokane. It is about a block from Nordstroms, which any teenage lady can probably give you directions to. Come with your kiddlies and see the events. I went there last year with my grandbrats and they had such a good time they have been whining to go back all year. This will also give you a chance to park in the Infamous River Square Park Garage and see what the object of all the fuss is about. Think of it as the City paying You a couple of bucks to park there.

On the next page you will find the bios of our candidates. Please do vote.

For Chair:

Dennis McMinn received a BSc (Honours) degree from the University of Alberta and a PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of Minnesota. He taught four years at Carleton College and, since 1974, at Gonzaga University where he is currently Professor of Chemistry. He has served as Chairman of the Chemistry Department and as an officer of the local section of the American Chemical Society. He has been an ACS member for 32 years, and is also a member of the Analytical Division of the ACS.

For Chair Elect:

Jeff_Moore, Hollister-Stier Inc.

Education: Graduated with a BS in Chemistry/Biology (Biotechnology) in 1996 from Eastern Washington University.

Employment: Assistant Quality Assurance Scientist at Hollister-Stier since 1996

Professional Organizations:

4 yrs with ACS; 5 months as the Local Section Career Co-ordinator.

Member of the American Society for Quality (ASQ) since 1999 .

Chemistry related hobbies: Beer/Wine making

For Secretary Treasurer:

Dennis DeMattia.

BS and MS in Chemistry from the University of San Francisco. Worked 30 years for Kaiser Aluminum in four different locations, including both Trentwood and Mead here in Spokane, retired in 1999. Now working at Byte Dynamics, a small software company in the valley. Have been a computer nerd all my career, and have never worked a day in my life as a chemist. Have been a member of ACS for 34 years, and secretary / treasurer of this section for about three years. Will be NORM chairman in 2002 (oops! There's that Norm thing again!)

For Councilor:

Jeffrey A. Rahn, a Spokane native, is currently a Professor of Chemistry at Eastern Washington University. He received a B.S. degree in Chemistry from Whitworth College and a Ph.D. degree in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Nevada-Reno (1988). Upon graduation he served as a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Washington in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering for 2 years.

Since 1990 he has been at Eastern Washington University. His research interests include synthesis and characterization of transition metal complexes to better understand structure/ reactivity relationships, the synthesis of inorganic polymers as precursors to ceramic materials, and the development of chemical demonstrations to aid student understanding of chemical principles.

Since 1996 he has been a member of the "Chemistry Mystery Tour" (CMT) a program started by the University's Chemistry Department to provide presentations to schools throughout the Inland Northwest. CMT's primary purpose is to put together and perform chemistry demonstration shows to promote the discipline of chemistry.

He has been a member of the American Chemical Society since 1983 and has severed the Inland Northwest Section in a number of capacities:

Secretary/Treasurer (1994),
Program Chair (1995),
Chair-elect (1995),
Chair (1996),
and Councilor (1998 - present).

He is also the Co-Program Chair for the 2002 Northwest Regional Meeting. On the National level he is a member of the American Chemical Society's Council Committee on Nomenclature.