ACS NEWS 



COMMENT 



Bryant W. Rossiter. chai'"ian 

 Comminee on International Activi'.ies 



International activities and ACS 



In 1979. members o1 the American 

 Chemical Society added a third objec- 

 tive to the society s constitution, spec- 

 ifying that ACS should cooperate with 

 scientists internationally and [be] con- 

 cerned with the worldwide application 

 of chemistry to the needs of humanity " 

 It was entirely proper that they should 

 have done so. but many members may 

 well not realize lUSt how important in- 

 ternational activities are to ACS 



Some 40% ol ACS's general fund 

 revenues come from other countries 

 through sales o( books and journals, of 

 abstracting services and products, and 

 of continuing education courses and 

 from the dues that about 10.500 foreign 

 members pay Earning some S45 million 

 internationally makes it very much m 

 ACS s interest to work closely with 

 chemists and chemical organiaations 

 worldwide 



About 75 % of the abstracts and 90% 

 of basic patent citations in Chemical 

 Abstracts cover work in other countries 

 It IS thus vital that ACS members par- 

 ticipate in international projects, con- 

 ducting some themselves as well as 

 attending ttiose in other countries, if ttiey 

 are to benefit professionally quickly and 

 completely from results produced out- 

 side the U S 



The US chemical industry enjoys a 

 very favorable balance of trade What- 

 ever ACS members do internationally 

 D\at makes chemistry more useful in the 

 US by employing findings from other 

 countries contributes to the financial 

 well-being of the industry that employs 

 most of them 



Focal points for ACS international 

 activities, other than those involving 

 Chemical Abstracts Service and the 

 staff Education and Books & Journals 

 divisions, are the loint board-council 

 Commmee on International Activities 

 and the staff Department of International 

 Activities With the foregoing points of 

 the importance of international activities 

 to ACS m mind, the committee and the 

 department in recent years have 



• Conducted science and technology 



exchange projects with Egypt and India 

 that liave led to long-term funding of four 

 projects tfiat were recommended to 

 hasten their economic development. 



• First suggested and then promoted 

 holding an international meeting as a 

 tollowup to the 1979 ACS/CSJ Chemi- 

 cal Congress, the ■ esult being the very 

 successful Pacific Basin Chemical 

 Congress in Honolulu this past Decem- 

 ber Some 2300 papers were presented 

 in 75 symposia and in general and 

 poster sessions This conference had 

 the best press coverage of any chemical 

 meeting in ttie US except possibly ACS 

 national meetings m New York City and 

 Washington. D C 



• Published and distributed free 

 some 3000 copies of a guide to chemi- 

 cal education in the U.S. to help students 

 in other countries prepare themselves 

 better to continue their education in the 

 U.S. 



• Written, edited, and helped dis- 

 tribute some 3000 copies of the sum- 

 mary, conclusions, and recommenda- 

 tions from the "CHEf^RAWN II Confer- 

 ence on Chemistry and World Food 

 Supplies The New Frontiers." 



• Initiated a program to receive 

 donations of textbooks and back issues 

 of journals from ACS members and 

 others and to distribute ttiem to colleges 

 in the US and in developing countries 

 that need such assistance to improve, 

 their chemical education programs 



As a result of its experiences in tfiese 

 and other international projects, the 

 committee now sees its goals as being 

 to conduct projects m ctiemistry to help 

 meet the needs of humanity and to in- 

 crease interactions among chemists so 

 that chemistry will be a more useful 

 science and so that ACS members will 

 advance professionally As a result, it 

 and the department have instituted a 

 number of projects 



One such project, in cooperation with 

 the University of Nairobi, is organizing 

 a seminar on advanced analytical 

 chemistry and a short course on instru- 

 ment maintenance tor professional 



ctiemists and instrument technician; m 

 Kenya and neighboring countries in Af- 



Another is helping the International 

 Union of Pure & Applied Ch«-'nii;'\ 

 conduct briefings on the impliC3::ori o' 

 the CHEMRAWN II recommendations for 

 developing countries, so that persons in 

 policy positions in those countnes ca-i 

 set the best priorities for chemical and 

 agricultural research if they are to meet 

 the increasing need for food lor then 

 growing populations 



A third project is presenting two 

 symposia at the First Pan American 

 Chemical Congress in Puerto Rico this 

 October — one on chemistry s role m 

 improving world food supplies and [r.-y 

 other on material transformations tha; 

 are keys to economic grovvth m Latin 

 America 



Those who benefit from these and 

 other ACS international activities l'n:.w 

 firsthand the contributions they make to 

 scientific progress and to the profes- 

 sional progress of ACS members There 

 is another reason that is equally impor- 

 tant, however The gap bet\\een ir^- 

 developed and many developing 

 countries is widening rather thar na - 

 rowing, and the resulting growing dis- 

 parity in life styles ranks as one of the 

 greatest threats to political stability 

 worldwide Therefore, it is in the eco- 

 nomic and political self-interest of 

 everyone, including us as chemists and 

 as ACS members, to work to reduce the 

 disparity 



Although we may act because of our 

 economic and political selt-mteiest we 

 must also recognize our humanitarian 

 responsibilities as well Perhaps Albert 

 Schweitzer expressed it best when he 

 said "It IS not enough to say. Im earn- 

 ing enough to live and support m> family 

 I do my work well . But you must do 

 something more |and| give some time 

 to your fellow man Even if it s a little 

 thing do something for those who have 

 a need . something for which you get 

 no pay but the privilege of doing it For 

 Continued on psjr- 28 



Apr.l 16 I9E6C4{.N 27 



