Hi all,

I am beginning a formal push for us to develop a BS Biochemistry area/concentration, which is different than a major at my school because it would have more hours than a major and no minor requirement.

We currently have roughly 1/3 to 1/2 of our Biology majors and 1/2 to 4/5 of our Chemistry majors as aspiring pre-meds or pre-pharm, pre-vet...thus many minor in the other major and take additional coursework to prep for their desired professional school...

I am writing up a "wish list" for my inorganic chemistry lab.  I seek advice.  Johnson-Matthey has the magnetic susceptibility balance (MSB) that seems like "the standard" for educational lab.  Can anyone advise on getting the "Mark I" vs. the "Auto MSB?"  Also, do you know the approximate prices for each of these two instruments? 

The relevant URL is:  http://pureguard.net/Library/data_sheets/MSB_Brochure.pdf

 Thanks.

 Dave

Why is cis-[Co(en)2Cl2]+ purple and the trans isomer green?  Thanks for any thoughts you might have on that.  Please email me at mertzecl@luther.edu.  Thanks.

http://faculty.luther.edu/~mertzecl/

Since the new ACS CPT guidelines have come out, our department has begun having discussions about ideas for changes in the curriculum. As part of this process, we are trying to define the skills that we think a BS-level chemistry graduate should have. We have a good start on skills that aren’t specific to a discipline (literature searching, databases, writing reports in the format of a journal article, presenting research/lab results, scientific ethics, safety, etc.) Now we’re focusing on skills (not content knowledge) that our majors should have.

There's a professor in Biology here at Smith who has been using Lecture Capture technology.  You can see his video speaking about his experience on YouTube (search Michael Baresi and Smith). I tried posting just the link here, but it didn't seem to work right.  Hopefully the video isn't just something you can see from Smith. 

 I am a bit skeptical about using it.  I was wondering if anyone out there is using it and, if so, what their experiences have been with it.

we are redoing our first year laboratory, and want to fix a broken experiment, and add a new one.

1)  Vanadium.  We have the students make a variety of vanadium compounds and watch the color changes during a variety of redox reactions.  I haven't taught this in a while, but I know there is a chemical reduction, bubbling air through it for an oxidation, and then finally reduction with zinc amalgam.  We'd like to remove the Zn and Hg from the lab if possible.  Does this lab sound familiar to anyone?  And do other reducing agents work?