Orientation at American Chemical Society, 1155 Sixteenth Street, NW Washington, DC 20036

-- Presentation of Certificates

-- How to Talk to your Representative: James Brown, Senior Legislative Associate, American Chemical Society.

Directions: Field Trip participants will be escorted by CUR National Office Staff.  All other participants should arrive at the American Chemical Society before 5:30pm.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

7:30 am - 8:00 am: Continental Breakfast - Rayburn House Office Building

8:00 am - 9:30 am: morning orientation session

Speakers: Congressman Vernon J. Ehlers and John Marburger, Science Advisor to the President

11:00 am - 3:00 am: appointments with Congressmen

3:30 pm - 5:00 pm: set up your posters and view other student's posters - Rayburn House Office Building, Room B-338, B-339, B-340

5:30 pm - 7:30 pm: Poster session and reception - Rayburn House Office Building, Room B-338, B-339, B-340

7:30 pm: break down of posters

Visits to Congressional Offices:

After the morning session you will have free time in which to visit with your Congressional Representatives and Senators.  You will find a paper included in your folder that will discuss this in greater detail.   The time frame for these visits is between 11:00 AM  and 3:00 PM.

Poster Session:

Posters will be displayed from 5:30 - 7:30 PM, in B-338, B-339 and B-340 of the Rayburn House Office Building.  Set up time begins at 3:30 PM and your poster must be fully mounted on the display by 5:00 PM.   Plan on getting set up and then take the time to view other student's posters.  Please do not begin to remove your poster until 7:30 PM.

Your Poster:

Posters will be displayed on room dividers that are nominally 5 feet high and 5 feet wide.  Two posters will be displayed on each room divider (one on each side).  Each participant will have an area that is approximately 56” wide by 48” high.  Posters that are wider than 56" WILL NOT be permitted to be displayed.  All of your materials must be mounted on the wall.  There is no room for additional displays or materials.

Each participant will need to produce a capital-lettered header that will run across the top of the display area (56” wide by 6” high) that will include the name of the student(s) on the top line and the name of the university and funding agency on the bottom line.  Be sure to identify the funding agency with the word “Sponsor: ..”.  This will leave a space of 56” wide by 42” high for your poster.

Pages of text, graphs and photographs should be mounted on a colored cardboard backing.  A border of approximately ½” should be used.  Multiple pages may be mounted on a single piece of cardboard.  Please understand that in terms of layout we’re not trying to be overly prescriptive.  We would like some degree of uniformity between posters for appearance purposes.  You can also use a single poster for your presentation.

While the layout and design of the poster is up to you, the first element in your display should contain the title of your project, a list of all project collaborators, and an abstract.  Please remember that the title of the research has NOT been included on the block-lettered header, so it is important that you include it in the material you prepare.

All poster materials will be attached to the carpeted faces of the room dividers with Velcro fasteners.  YOU NEED TO BRING VELCRO TO ATTACH YOUR POSTER TO THE ROOM DIVIDER.  Pins, scissors and knives are not allowed past security, so please prepare these materials in advance.

Getting Prepared:

While many individuals in Congress have a broad understanding of science and a few have developed a sophisticated understanding in some areas, most members of Congress do not have your depth of knowledge, especially in your particular field.  For this reason, you should prepare your poster and your oral remarks for an audience that is educated and knowledgeable but that has a limited technical background.  To the extent possible, you should also try to put your work into the broader context of science.  Try to avoid the use of technical jargon and use effective graphics (charts and photographs) on your display whenever possible. 

Generally members of Congress are interested in people.  They may, for example, want to know how your work might benefit the voters back in their districts (please be a little careful here.  Do not make too great a stretch of what might be possible or it will be apparent.  Not every research project has an immediate application.  There is plenty of good basic research that needs to be done before solid applied work can be pursued.)  It is also quite likely that besides hearing about your work, members of Congress and their staff will want to know about you and how involvement in undergraduate research has affected your education and life.  They may want to know how you got involved in undergraduate research, who you worked with, and how undergraduate research has affected your career plans.  You should be prepared to answer these kinds of questions.

Attire:

For the men in the group, a sports coat and tie or suit should be worn to the poster session and on any visits to Congressional offices.

For women, a pants suit, dress, or skirt and blouse is appropriate attire.

LOGISTICS:

Lodging:           

The CUR National Office has established a room block at the Red Roof Inn, in Washington, D.C., located at 508 H Street, NW, just blocks from the Capitol. To secure a room reservation, please call (202) 289-5959 or 1-800-RED-ROOF and reference the group code B254CUR008. The room rate is $189.00 per night, an must be booked before March 28, 2008. You should plan on arriving on Tuesday, April 29^th, as we have arranged for a number of field trip opportunities in the afternoon and a speaker the night of the 29th. On April 30th, the morning session begins at 8:30 AM.

Additionally, you may wish to try one of the following hotels, which we have found with reasonable rates by using hotels.com. Please note that if you are unfamiliar with the Washington Metropolitan Area, that it is recommended that you book a hotel in Northwest, DC or Alexandria or Arlington, Virginia.

The District Hotel
1440 Rhode Island Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20005
202-265-3725

Jurys Normandy Inn
2118 Wyoming Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20008
202-483-1350

Morrison Clark Hotel
1015 L St, NW
Washington, DC 20001
202-898-1200

Jurys Washington Hotel
1500 New Hampshire Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20036
202-797-0162

Traveling around Washington:

Metro:

By far the easiest and least expensive means of traveling around Washington is by Metro.  Metro trains run from 5:30 am to Midnight on weekdays and 8:00 am to 3:00 am on weekends.  Some stations may have a slightly earlier closing time.  Fare cards can be purchased in machines at every station and price varies according to origination and destination.  There are signs that will tell you the fares at every station.  Please have small bills on hand.  The machines will take up to a $20 bill but will only give change of $4.95 and all in coins!! For more information on Metro click here.  

Taxi:

Besides the Metro, it is generally easy to find a taxicab in Washington.  Be prepared to pay between $5 and $10 per ride in the Downtown area.  Rides to points outside the city will, of course, cost more.

Airports:

There are three airports in the Washington, DC area: 
Dulles International
Ronald Reagan/National
Baltimore/Washington International (BWI). 

Amtrak:

Trains on Amtrak lines will bring you to Union Station in Washington, DC. From Union Station you can get the Metro, Washington, DC's subway system.  To get to the Metro website click here.  On the Metro site you can find fare information, Metro System maps, and much more.

Whom to Call:

Field Trips:

The CUR National Office has arranged for three field trips within Washington D.C. for the afternoon of April 29, 2008 between 1pm and 5pm.  All field trip participants must be at the hotel by 12:00 noon, and will travel directly to the opening session at the American Chemical Society immediately following the field trip.  Students will have priority in field trip choice over faculty and guests. 

The World Bank Briefing

The World Bank is an international organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., owned by 185 member countries. The World Bank's main goal is to reduce poverty by promoting sustainable economic development. During the visit to the World Bank Group, students are given an overview of the Bank Group's history, it mission and challenges, followed by a question and answer session.

The Folger Shakespeare Library

The Folger Shakespeare Library is an independent research library offering unparalleled resources for studying all aspects of the early modern period and the history of Shakespeare in performance, resources that range from printed books and manuscripts, to playbills, oil paintings, drawings, and theatre costumes. The Library has one of the world's largest collections of early English printed books, including about 55,000 volumes printed before 1700 and 30,000 printed between 1701 and 1800. Scholars come from around the world to work in the Library. The Library itself is housed in a beautiful art deco building on Capitol Hill, with interior spaces that echo the grand halls of Tudor buildings. The Library's reading rooms are not open to the general public, and usually only advanced scholars are given access to the Library's collections. This visit will start off by taking students on a tour of the Library; it will conclude with a book display and a conversation about some of our collection's highlights with the Library's Curator of Books and with the Undergraduate Program Director. For more information, visit the Library online at www.folger.edu

National Institutes of Health

This event is full.