The ACS Committee on Professional Training announces a new brochure, "Planning for a Career in Industry", published jointly with the ACS Corporation Associates. The brochure was designed to provide advice for undergraduate chemistry students who plan to enter the work force upon graduation. It includes suggestions about curriculum planning as well as a broader discussion about career options and opportunities. The brochure concludes with a bibliography of resources on career planning available to undergraduates and their advisors.

Copies are available without charge to distribute to undergraduates, to local high schools, to ACS local section groups, or as part of National Chemistry Week activities. For these and related materials, contact: Committee on Professional Training, ACS, 1155 Sixteenth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036; 202/872-4589.

History of Science Tour, June 1997

Lee Marek and Yvonne Twomey are arranging a tour of Ireland and England for the summer of 1997. Departure is June 13, 1997; return is June 28, 1997. Stops on the tour will include Trinity College, Robert Boyle's birthplace, Birr Castle, and the Faraday Museum as well as Oxford, Bath, Cambridge, and London. Those interested may take the trip as a course for three semester hours of graduate credit, "The Founding and Early Flowering of the Royal Society". Lee Marek will be the instructor of record. For more information contact Yvonne Twomey, 841 Kinston Court, Naperville, IL 60540; Phone: 630/961-9811; Fax: 630/961-0495; email: ytwomey@mcs.com or Lee Marek at Lmarek@aol.com.

Curriculum Guide Available

Copies of the curriculum guide, "New Directions for General Chemistry, A Resource for Curricular Change from the Task Force on the General Chemistry Curriculum", continue to be available free of charge. Contact: J. N. Spencer, Department of Chemistry, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA 17604; j_spencer@acad.fandm.edu.

Research Associateship Programs for 1997, NRC

The National Research Council announces the 1997 Resident, Cooperative, and Postdoctoral Research Associateship Programs to be conducted on behalf of over 100 research laboratories throughout the U. S. The programs provide opportunities for Ph.D. scientists and engineers of unusual promise and ability to perform research on problems largely of their own choosing yet compatible with the research interests of the sponsoring laboratory. Approximately 359 new full-time Associateships will be awarded, on a competitive basis, in 1997 to support research in: chemistry; earth and atmospheric sciences; engineering, applied sciences and computer science; life, medical, and behavioral sciences; mathematics; space and planetary sciences; and physics. Applications are accepted on a continuous basis throughout the year, but those postmarked no later than January 15 will be reviewed in February, by April 15 in June, and by August 15 in October. Further information as well as application materials may be obtained from: National Research Council, Associateship Programs (TJ2114/D3), 2101 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20418; Fax: 202/334-2759; email: rap@nas.edu; http://www.nas.edu/rap/welcome.html

Condition of Education in the U. S.

Each year, the National Center for Education Statistics publishes a compilation of statistics to help answer the question "What is the condition of education in the United States?" The 1996 report was released in August 1996. Major headings from the report appear below, and the full text is available online at: http://www.ed.gov/NCES/pubs/ce/index.html. A few findings from The Condition of Education, 1996 include:

· High school students are taking tougher courses, especially in math and science.

· College attendance is up.

· More high school graduates go to college immediately after high school, even though college costs continue to rise relative to family income.

· Conditions facing schools are changing.

To subscribe to EDInfo, address an email message to: listproc@inet.ed.gov. Then write SUBSCRIBE EDINFO YOURFIRSTNAME YOURLASTNAME in the message. Then send the message. Or ask Peter Kickbush for help (peter_kickbush@ed.gov). PAST EDInfo messages can be found at: http://www.ed.gov/MailingLists/EDInfo/

Awards Programs

1997 Pittsburgh Conference Memorial National College Grants

The Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy and its co-sponsoring technical societies announce the 1997 Memorial National College Grants program. Grants of up to $6,000 each are made to small college science departments for the purchase of scientific equipment, audiovisual or other teaching aids, and/or library materials for use in the teaching of science at the undergraduate level. To be eligible, schools must meet the following criteria: (i) enrollment must not exceed 2,500 full-time students; (ii) no more than 25% of the operating budget may come from national or state governments; (iii) requests that support undergraduate research are allowed but requests for equipment to be used solely for noninstructional research purposes shall not be funded; (iv) awards may be used as part of matching grant programs. (Note that 2-year community colleges are not bound by criteria 1 and 2.) Applications must be received no later than December 1, 1996. Application forms are available from Herald A. Barnett, The Pittsburgh Conference-PCMNCG, 300 Penn Center Blvd., Suite 332, Pittsburgh, PA 15235-5503; phone: 412/825-3220, ext. 107; Fax: 412/825-3224.Toyota-NSTA Science Grants for K-12 Teachers

Toyota Motor Sales and the National Science Teachers Association announce the seventh annual Toyota TAPESTRY grant program with the availability of 50 grants totaling half a million dollars to be awarded. The grants up to $10,000 are offered for kindergarten through 12th grade science teachers who propose innovative science projects that can be implemented in their school or school district over a one-year period. Individual science teachers or a team of up to five teachers can submit proposals in two categories: environmental education and physical science applications (applied physics, chemistry, and technology). Projects should be innovative and present a novel way of teaching science that relates to students' lives; create a stimulating, hands-on learning environment to heighten student interest in science; use an interdisciplinary approach; and affect a large number of students. To obtain TAPESTRY guidelines and entry forms, write to: Toyota TAPESTRY Program, 1840 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22201-3000; phone 800/807-9852; email pbowers@nsta.org. The deadline for receipt of proposals is January 22, 1977.

Call for Entries: Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision Awards

K-12 students from the United States and Canada have the chance to win up to $10,000 in the fifth annual Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision Awards, the world's largest student science competition. The competition asks students to work in teams of three or four to envision what a form of technology might look like in 20 years. Students use interdisciplinary skills to research their project, create a storyboard that conveys their idea in visual and written form, andif they win a regional round of the competitionmake a video about their innovation. A teacher-advisor and an optional community advisor facilitate each team project. For more information or an application, write to Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision Awards, National Science Teachers Association, 1840 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22201; phone: 800-EXPLOR-9 or 703/243-7100. The deadline to receive entries is February 3, 1997.

People: Awards Announced

The American Chemical Society has announced the recipients of 1997 awards. These include:

James Bryant Conant Award in High School Chemistry Teaching sponsored by Albemarle Corporation

Robert D. Becker, Kirkwood High School, Kirkwood, MO

George C. Pimentel Award in Chemical Education sponsored by Union Carbide Corporation

Arthur B. Ellis, University of Wisconsin-Madison

ACS Award for Encouraging Disadvantaged Students in Careers in the Chemical Sciences sponsored by The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Inc.

Billy Joe Evans, University of Michigan

ACS Award for Encouraging Women into Careers in the Chemical Sciences sponsored by The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Inc.

Mary E. Thompson, College of St. Catherine

ACS Award for Research at an Undergraduate Institution sponsored by Research Corporation

Gary C. DeFotis, College of William & Mary

The Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society announces the recipient of the 1996 James Flack Norris Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Teaching of Chemistry:

Mary Virginia Orna, O.S.U., College of New Rochelle

People: Obituary

Ernesto Giesbrecht of the Instituto de Quimica, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil, passed away at the age of 75 on July 20, 1996.