In 2003 I was asked to assume the chairmanship of this committee which had previously been chaired by Paula Andrelchick.  Activities of the committee appeared to have ceased after Ms. Andrelchick left the area.  For 2003 other members of the committee were Ronald D'Amelia, Neil Jespersen, Joseph Landesberg and Joan Laredo-Liddell.  Membership in 2004 and 2005 was identical to that in 2003.  As was the case in 2003 and 2004 the committee did not actually meet during 2005.

When I assumed the chair of the committee in 2003 we performed one function - the preparation of award certificates for high school students in Manhattan and the Bronx.  The reason that the section committee prepares certificates only for Manhattan and the Bronx is that award certificates for other geographical regions of the section are prepared by the respective subsections.  In 2004 and again in 2005 we also prepared certificates for high school students who participated in Chemagination.  We have received virtually no guidance regarding our responsibilities and it would be useful for the Board of the New York Section to have some discussion as to whether there are other activities which the Awards Committee can and should do.

Prior to 2004 the mailing soliciting nominations was sent by the Section Office.  However, in 2004 and 2005 I handled the mailing.  In April I sent letters to approximately 200 high school teachers in Manhattan and the Bronx asking them to nominate students to receive a certificate.  This letter (see page 3) was essentially the same letter I had drafted for 2003.  Included with the letter was the nomination form (see page 4).  A flyer prepared by David Sherman publicizing National Chemistry Week (October 16-22) and a sign-up sheet for the October 22 event at the New York Hall of Science were also included.  All photocopying of materials was done by me at Adelphi, and, except for the $33.00 cost for color copying of the flyer, the section was not charged.  The mailing was sent first class mail.  As a result it was not necessary to keep the envelopes in zip code order, and this saved some considerable time during the stuffing process.  Since I stuffed the envelopes myself there was no associated cost; however if in the future we pay someone to stuff the envelopes the time savings in stuffing and the advantages of first class mail may well offset the cost savings of using bulk mail.

The template for the certificates was essentially the same as that used in 2004.  Since a copy of the 2004 certificate was included in the report for that year no copy of this year's certificate is included here.

In response to the mailing to schools, a total of 40 certificates were sent to 27 different high schools.  Additionally I received a phone call from Thomas Edison High School in Queens requesting a certificate, which I prepared.  This compares with 19 schools which requested certificates in 2004.  A listing of the schools, teachers requesting certificates, and students honored is on pages 5-6.   Listed on page 7 are the five schools which had requested certificates in 2004 but did not request them in 2005.

A sample copy of the cover letter which accompanied the certificates is on page 8.  The actual certificates were produced by first printing the AACS arc@ onto the certificate paper and then printing, in a second step, the remainder of the text.  Finally, the gummed ACS logo was pasted onto each certificate.

As previously indicated, I also prepared certificates for the 46 students from the three high schools which participated in Chemagination.  The names of the student participants are given on page 9.  These certificates were presented to the students by Vijaya Korlipara and Christine Iannucci, co-coordinators of Chemagination for to New York Section.

The 2004 report of this committee included sample a sample copy of the Chemagination certificate (without the gummed ACS logo).  Since the certificate was essentially the same this year no copy is included here.
 

EXPENSES:

Postage:
April 29    $  88.80
May   7     $    5.90
May 14     $   4.24
May 19     $   4.24
May 27     $   8.85
June 14   $   6.73
                $118.76

Travel to and from the post office:
10 miles @ $0.405/mile =    $  4.05

Total Expenditures by S. Goldberg            $ 122.81

Certificate Paper, ACS logos, and Folders:  provided by the Section Office

Printing of letters, enclosures and certificates: done by S. Goldberg at Adelphi and not charged to the ACS

RECOMMENDATIONS:

1) While the recognition of outstanding students is something which the section should do, this task does not require a committee; a single person can easily do the work which is currently the responsibility of this committee.  I have done so in 2003, 2004 and 2005.  The Board of the New York Section should clearly define a larger role for the awards committee or consider abolishing it.

2) The Section might consider whether it is possible or desirable to have a uniform way of recognizing outstanding high school students.  At this time there is a considerable disparity in how this is done.  For example the Long Island Section Subsection has an awards dinner at which the certificates, in the form of plaques are presented to the students, whereas for Manhattan/Bronx schools the certificates are sent to the teachers who request them.  I am not aware of what procedures, if any, are currently used in the other subsections.