Appendix to the Executive Director's Report
for the Year Ending June 30, 1999

Sigma Xi Chapter Activites: A Sampling from 1998-99

Sigma Xi's chapters sponsor and host a vast array of activities. They comprise an impressive collection of contributions to the science community and to local communities. Below is a sampling of those activities taken from the chapter annual reports from 1998-99, organized into topical areas that seem to dominate the activities of chapters in the last year.

Fostering Research
Wendy Baldwin, deputy director of extramural research for the National Institutes of Health, presented the keynote address at the 11th Annual Sigma Xi Research Symposium for students and faculty held in May by the Drexel University Chapter. Nearly 300 posters were presented in this year's poster session, abstracts of which were collected and published as part of the printed program.

The Middle Tennessee State University Chapter continued its support of Scientia, a student-run, electronic research journal, as well as an annual graduate research symposium and lecture series. Additionally, the chapter undertook a new effort aimed at support and encouragement of women in science by co-sponsoring the Expanding Your Horizons Conference for girls ages 9-16 and of a Women in Science lecture series on campus.

The DuPont Chapter set up a lunch time seminar series this fall to view and discuss A Science Odyssey, a dynamic and dramatic five-part special hosted by Charles Osgood that first aired on PBS in January 1998.

More than 200 attended the University of Hawaii at Hilo Chapter's Big Island Science Conference this year, which featured 50 presentations by faculty, students and outside researchers. The chapter also sponsored a special Astronomy Night, at which representatives from three major observatories gave computer presentations of what is happening on Mauna Kea

Promoting Science Education
As one of only two major sponsors for the K-12 New Haven Public Schools Science Fair, the Yale University Chapter holds teacher workshops and also hosts the fair and awards' ceremony on campus. After four years of chapter involvement, the fair has grown to include nearly all New Haven schools, with more than 5,000 students participating, most of them minorities

About 200 high school students and their teachers attended a Saturday morning science session called "Phase Transitions" sponsored by the Ford Motor Company Chapter in cooperation with the company's High School Science and Technology Program. Sigma Xi members gave a lecture, laboratory tours, demonstrations and led hands-on activities.

The Texas A&M University Chapter sponsored an essay and art contest for middle and high school students, inviting them to speculate in words or pictures on likely life forms on the planet Mars. This effort to promote interest in science and technology attracted 107 entries. Cash awards and other prizes were presented to the winners.

University of Michigan Chapter members were among the developers of a faculty forum in October inspired by the controversial Boyer Commission Report, Reinventing Undergraduate Education: A Blueprint for America's Research Universities. The keynote speaker was Shirley Strum Kenny, president of the State University of New York at Stony Brook and chair of the study, which was funded by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

The Nalco Chapter continues to support the Science-Is-Fun! program for roughly 100 elementary schools and thousands of third-graders in the Chicago area. Teams of Nalco Chapter and Nalco employees conduct and present a dozen experiments designed to stimulate an interest in science at an early age.

With the help of Sigma Xi's administrative offices, the Charleston Chapter initiated Chs-Sci-Net, a listserver open to anyone with an interest in science. To encourage participation, chapter members met with science liaisons from all local elementary and secondary schools, and it's hoped that the listserver will promote communication, not just among scientists in the Charleston, South Carolina, area, but between scientists and the public schools.

In 1998 the Rice University-Texas Medical Center Chapter joined the national "Partners in Education Program," adopting Northbrook Middle School as a focus for promoting a better understanding of science and appreciation of reading among sixth- through eighth-graders. In the near future, this effort will move from live presentations in schools to interactive distance learning, with some programs broadcast directly from researchers' labs.

The Howard University Chapter this year honored its five living founders during a Founders Day celebration. The chapter's popular "Science Discovery" program brings minority middle school students to campus for a Saturday of inspirational, hands-on science. Among other activities, a chapter delegation visited Congressional representatives in the fall, and chapter members also served as science fair judges and as advisors for science clubs.

In the Baylor College of Dentistry Chapter's Habitat for Science Program, minority high school students attend seminars and are matched with mentors for summer projects. The chapter teams up with the state's two other dental schools to sponsor Texas Tri-School Research Day, which includes a graduate student research symposium and competition.

Science Policy and Local Issues
The Montana Tech Chapter sponsored a day-long symposium in April on "Butte Mining: Problems and Solutions" as part of the 1999 annual meeting of the Montana Academy of Sciences. The symposium featured speakers from industry, government and academia and concluded with a late-afternoon field trip to view and discuss the current status of mining in the Butte area.

Rush Holt, co-chair of the Princeton University Chapter's successful Science Advisor Program, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey's 12th District. A former assistant director of Princeton's Plasma Physics Laboratory, Holt and fellow Sigma Xi member Vernon J. Ehlers of Michigan are the only members of Congress who have doctorates in physics.

The University of California at Santa Cruz Chapter took an active role in a community debate over fluoridation of public water supplies in response to a special city referendum on the issue. The chapter published an op-ed article in the Santa Cruz Sentinel and participated in a public forum on the scientific merits of fluoridation. Despite these efforts, the measure prohibiting it passed by less than one percent of the vote.

A talk by science writer Rob Barker, author of the book And the Waters Turned to Blood, about the Pfiesteria pisdica outbreak in the waters of North Carolina, was a highlight of the year for the Knox College Chapter. The talk got a lot of local attention because of the possible connection between agricultural run-off from hog farms and the Pfiesteria outbreak. Mega-hog farms are becoming established in that region of Illinois, and people are concerned about the possible environmental effects.

The Tidewater Virginia Chapter sponsored a panel discussion on "The Minority Community and AIDS" at Hampton University in November. The panel represented diverse experts, including university professors, faculty from the Eastern Virginia Medical School and community care givers.

The past president and several members of the Southern Appalachian Chapter met with their Congressional representative to open lines of communication on topics related to science advocacy and public policy.

Members of the Kansas State University Chapter attended state board of education hearings on revising science standards for K-12 classrooms and testified for strengthening the standards and maintaining an emphasis on evolution as the central theory of biology. This was in response to efforts aimed at having creationism incorporated into the public school curriculum.

Public Understanding of Science
Attendance at the National Institute of Standards and Technology Chapter's monthly colloquium series totaled 1,700 this year, including staff scientists and the general public, from senior citizens to entire high school science classes and their teachers. Topics included "Mathematics in the Music of J.S. Bach" and "A History of Light." Short abstracts of the eight talks appeared in the "Science and Learning" section of the Washington Post.

The University of Minnesota Chapter has initiated a Science Communication and Education Award to recognize excellence in presenting scientific research and promoting science literacy among the general public. The first award was presented to James L. Dawson, science writer for the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

In conjunction with the Mississippi State Chapter's monthly seminar series, speakers are interviewed for a local radio program called "Conversations with Scientists," which allows the general public as well as the scientific community to get to know them better.

The Whitman College/Walla Walla College Chapter this year became faculty sponsor for a new student group called the Skeptics' Club, with the goal of ensuring that scientific issues and viewpoints are included in the club's open panel discussions on controversial topics.

A major highlight of the year for the Gustavus Adolphus College Chapter was a public lecture by Ray Hyman who captivated a full house with his magic tricks during his talk on "How Smart people Go Wrong." Hyman met with faculty and students in the psychology department, and the chapter also hosted a public reception after his lecture.

International Activities
Among other activities, the Hungarian Chapter held a spring conference on the role of science in environmental preservation. The opening address was delivered by Ernö Mészáros, chair of the Commission for Central Environmental Protection of the Hungarian Academy of Science. James Baur, chair of Sigma Xi's International Committee, attended and participated in the discussion.

Activities during the year for the Prague Institute of Advanced Studies Chapter included a tour, with American Sigma Xi visitors, of the Charles University archives, a talk on experimental cancer research using plant cell division mechanisms and another on quantum mechanics.

The McGill University Chapter coordinated celebrations in honor of National Chemistry Week, including a week-long lecture series to capacity audiences on such wide-ranging topics as "Chemistry and Literacy: Scientific Writing in Quebec" and the "Chemistry of Explosives: From Black Powder to Space."

The University of Calgary Chapter's high school enrichment program, in cooperation with the faculties of science and medicine and the Calgary School Board, matches students with university professors doing research in an area of interest to them. The students carry out a research project in their labs and present their work in formal seminars open to the public. Prizes and Sigma Xi certificates are awarded.

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