BY: CATHERINE LAMB
Within the last year, Saint Joseph’s College has continued to expand the number of majors it offers for students. One of the College’s most recent additions to the undergraduate programs offered is a major in Chemistry, so it only makes sense that an academic club correlating with this new major would be created as well. That’s where the Chemistry Club comes into play.
According to club President David Moisan ’15, “The club was founded of course to give students who are involved in chemistry a way to come together with other like-minded people, but the club also wanted to give students who are not science majors the chance to become a part of the science field and see all the amazing things science can do.” In addition to bringing students together, the club’s other goal is to create a more environmentally friendly atmosphere at the College by making students aware of the carbon footprint that our college community is leaving behind.
Not only does the Chemistry Club want to change our college’s view of science and all that it can do, the club also hopes to positively influence the opinions of our community’s children as well. The club’s charity is the Boys and Girls Club of America, which is a national organization that strives to provide after-school programs for young people across the country.
While forming the club, the executives noticed that the science curriculum in public schools is not what it once was. Moisan recalls “really liking science as a child because we got to do fun experiments and do hands on activities that really brought science to life for me. But now schools seem to be cutting all the fun out and just reading out of textbooks and counting that as a science lesson.”
So by partnering with the Boys and Girls Club, the club executives hope to give children an outlet to enjoy science and show them that it is not the boring subject they think it is. Moisan feels that this is a great partnership because it will show children that “science is all about using your imagination. With a different combination of a few equations and calculations, someone can create something amazing and change the world as we know it.”
Even though the club has only been around since this past fall, it has big plans on how they are going to change our college campus. Their one big event this semester is their Recycle Mania fundraiser, for which they are partnering with Sister Suzanne—Director of Academic Advisement—and the College’s Sustainability Committee.
The fundraiser will be a six week long contest, starting on February 20th, where each club on campus will be vying to collect the most bottles to be recycled. Each club that signs up will have to create their own recycling bin, which they are free to decorate and advertise however they like. Then, the clubs’ recycling bins will be placed all over the school, with the bins being rotated throughout the weeks, making sure that every clubs has a chance to be in “recycling hot spots” like the cafeteria.
At the end of every week, each club will collect the deposited recyclables and bring them down to the Physical Plant office to be weighed and then properly disposed of. At the end of the six weeks, whichever club collects the most bottles will receive half of the total proceeds to donate to their club’s charity.
According to Moisan, “This event is meant to bring different students and clubs together through some healthy competition, all while making the college a ‘greener’ place.” In addition to Recycle Mania, the Chemistry Club will also be hosting a Science Fair in late April for the children of the Boys and Girls club to attend and learn all about the cool things that science can do.
If any of these events interest you, and you want to become involved with the Chemistry Club, you can email club President David Moisan at dmoisan@student.sjcny.edu or club Secretary Dava Reischman at dreischman@student.sjcny.edu. You can also find them on Facebook at SJC Chemistry Club to see when their upcoming events and club meetings are.
The Talon 