Several special mini-symposia are planned for this year's meeting. Eric Herbst, The Ohio State University, and Carl A. Gottlieb, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, are organizing a mini-symposium entitled "New Trends in Astronomical Observations," which will emphasize new spectroscopic techniques and results applied to astronomical problems, the role of molecules in star formation, and space-based spectroscopic observation of the heavens. Invited speakers will include Thomas Giesen, University of Cologne; Gary Melnick, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics; and Thomas Phillips, California Institute of Technology. A second mini-symposium is being organized by Frank DeLucia, The Ohio State University, and Kevin Lehmann, Princeton University, on the subject of "Rotational and Low Frequency Vibrational Spectroscopy in the Condensed Phase." This mini-symposium is designed to bring together the communities who study low lying resonant phenomena in the condensed phase and symposium participants who have typically studied high resolution gas phase systems. While the science of interest is energetically associated with the microwave and far infrared, contributions based on spectroscopies from across the spectrum are encouraged. Invited talks for this mini-symposium will be given by Robert Austin, Princeton University; Tatiana Globus, University of Virginia; and Al Sievers, Cornell University. A third mini-symposium is being organized by Mitchio Okumura, California Institute of Technology, on "Spectroscopy and Chemistry of Our Atmosphere." This mini-symposium will encompass the spectroscopy and chemistry of reactive and stable atmospheric molecules, and will include both laboratory and in-situ, e.g., remote sensing, work. Invited speakers include: Johannes Orphal, CNRS/Universite Paris-Sud; Andrew Orr-Ewing, University of Bristol; and A. R. Ravishankara, NOAA/University of Colorado. A session on theory is being organized by Russell Pitzer and Anne McCoy, The Ohio State University, featuring an invited talk by David W. Schwenke, NASA.