Council was called to order at approximately 8:00 a.m. Resolutions were read in honor of deceased Presidents and Councilors.

Council selected Catherine Hunt and John Kozarich as candidates for President Elect. The entire membership will choose the President-Elect in the fall election.

President Carroll reported on his activities, including some recent efforts of the Society in San Diego for involving Hispanic children in chemistry.

President-Elect Ann Nalley reported on her activities and especially focused on the value of volunteers within the Society.

Immediate Past-President Casey reported on academic employment opportunities and also on publications issues. In the future there may be more free access (via authors) to ACS journals.

Councilors from Districts III and IV selected C. Frenselau, M. Joullie, and B. Charpentier, and S. Pine for Board representatives from those Districts, respectively

Chairman of the Board James Burke reported on the rewriting of the Board regulations, contingency planning, a shared vision statement, scenario planning, and governance structure review. The Board reviewed the temporary assessment for 2006 and decided to reduce it from $6 to $5.

Budget and Finance reported that ACS increased its net unrestricted reserves for 2004. However, the reserves have not yet come back to the 2000 level.

Executive Director Jacobs reported on a variety of ACS initiatives, including the planned redesign of the ACS's web pages. Project seed will increase its stipends significantly.

Council voted to accept the Dues Escillator that will set dues at $127 for 2006. There is also the temporary special assessment of $5 (or less than the original $6 planned).

The Council voted to continue the Committee on Project Seed.

The San Diego meeting registration was 15,385, as of March 15, with 8,372 regular attendees and 4,160 students. Membership, as of year-end 2004, was 158,127, a 1% decrease from last year.

Respectfully submitted,

Frank D. Blum, Councilor

South Central Missouri Section, ACS

I serve as an elected member of the Council Committee on Nominations and Elections that selects nominees for ACS offices, including President-Elect and Board of Directors. I have the full Council Agenda book in my office if you need any further information.