5:30pm Mix and Mingle in the Montgomery Room

6:00 p.m.     Dinner

7:00 p.m.     Lecture

Executive Committee Meeting after speaker

Reservations: Please RSVP by Please RSVP by Tuesday, February 23rd to Mrs. Tracey Southers at SouthersTL@Wofford.edu. Please include the names and affiliations of each person attending. We always welcome attendance at the presentations even if you are unable to come for the dinner!

The Cf-252 plasma desorption mass spectrometry (Cf-252 PDMS) technique uses a Cf-252 fission source to produce a thermal spike in the sample that volatilizes and ionizes sample molecules. Fragment ions as well as quasi-molecular ions are produced. The masses of the ions are determined by a time-of-flight measurement. The technique can be used for either positive or negative ions and has been very successful in studying difficult-to-volatilize molecules such as amino acids, peptides, nucleosides, toxins, and other natural products. Although the technique is relatively new, being developed since 1974, there are now several plasma desorption mass spectrometers around the world, and the technique is making major contributions to scientific knowledge.

Dr. Hassell is a native Texan from the small town of Seagraves. His degrees are a B.S. in chemistry and physics from Baylor University (1969) and Ph.D. in chemistry from Texas A&M University (1975). He was a postdoctoral research fellow at Texas A&M and at Baylor. He taught at Texas A&M where he served as assistant director of the First Year Chemistry Program and as manager of the College of Science Learning Resources Center. At Baylor University, he taught mathematics and physics and is presently teaching chemistry and archaeology. He also taught at two junior colleges: Blinn Junior College and McLennan Community College. He has authored or co-authored papers in chemical research and chemical education, books on problem solving, and lab manuals. The latest are Chemical Investigations for Changing Times (11th Ed.) and the solutions manuals to General Chemistry by Hill and Petrucci, both by Prentice Hall, and a mystery novel for use in a chemistry class. My current research areas are chemical education, cleaning and restoration of metals, and the use of beta radiography to study watermarks in antique books. He has been listed in Who's Who among American Teachers and Who's Who in American Education.

Dr. Sid Parrish - Chair 20109.
Dr. David Butcher - Chair-Elect 2011
Alice Claggett - Secretary 2010
Dr. Julia Brumaghim – Treasurer 2010
Mrs. Lucy Pryde Eubanks - Councilor 2009-11.
Dr. Royce S. Woosley – Councilor 2008-2010
Dr. George Heard - Alternate Councilor 2009-11.
Dr. John Kaup - Alternate Councilor 2008-10.

The Western Carolinas section of the American Chemical Society (WCACS) is proud to participate in the ACS sponsored Chemists Celebrate Earth Day (CCED) poetry competition. Specific details on the contest are available through the attached PDF or by directly linking to the ACS CCED site (www.acs.org/earthday). WCACS will accept up to four (4) entries per grade category per school. The grade categories, as indicated on the contest form, are K-2, 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12. Entries must be received by Friday April 2nd to be considered for the national competition. As an example, an elementary school with K through 5th grade students could submit a total of 8 entries: 4 entries from students in the K – 2nd grade and 4 entries from students in 3rd – 5th grade. Local section volunteers will judge the submissions based on the criteria indicated in the contest guidelines and will forward one winning entry in each of the four grade categories to the national competition. Feel free to contact John Kaup (john.kaup@furman.edu) if you have additional questions.

The Western Carolinas Section of the American Chemical Society will hold its annual Outstanding Seniors Award dinner on April 13, 2010 in the Townes Science Center on the Furman University Campus. We are excited to have ACS Past President Dr. Tom Lane as our special guest speaker this year. Please select your institution?s Outstanding Senior Chemistry Major and forward it to Tim Hanks at tim.hanks@furman.edu or at (864) 294-3373. If your department has not already received a copy of the Awardee Information Form or if you have any questions about the program, please contact Tim as soon as possible. Each Outstanding Senior will receive a certificate and a gift from the Section.

The date for the Chemistry Olympiad is April 23rd this year. If you are interested in participating in this competition please contact George Heard at gheard@unca.edu or (828) 232-5170

On January 12, 2009, registration opened for all attendees to register for the ACS 237th National Meeting to be held in San Francisco, CA, March 21-25, 2010. Early registration fees started on December 21, 2009, and will last through February 2, 2010. More information about the meeting is available at:

Western Carolinas Local Section of the ACS honors our members who have attained recognition by the National American Chemical Society as 50 year and 60 year members. Awards were presented to these WCACS members at the September meeting which was held Tuesday, September 15, 2009 at the USC-Upstate Campus in Spartanburg, SC. Below are the names of our members who have achieved this status. Please join in expressing our congratulations to them.

Our Webmaster, Dwayne Grassie, would welcome your "press releases" about activities that you believe would be of interest to our section. As he says so eloquently on our web site, "without active members reporting the activities of the section to me there would be no web site because there would be nothing to report." Dwayne can be reached at: MAG-IT@charter.net