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More than 300 students at ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ's Southern Hills Middle School will experience first-hand the challenges faced by chemical engineers through an oil spill simulation exercise led by CU-ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ chemical engineering undergraduates on Thursday and Friday March 1-2. 50 undergraduate volunteers will lead the simulation exercise in sixth and seventh grade classrooms. The outreach effort is organized by the student chapter of the American Institute for Chemical Engineering at CU-ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ.

Editors: A schedule of CU volunteer reading locations and times is attached. CU-ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ faculty, staff, students and administration volunteers will visit students in the ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ Valley and St. Vrain school districts as part of Read Across America Day on Friday, March 2.

Frank Barnes, professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Colorado at ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ, has been elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering, joining nine other faculty from the campus who have been elected since the academy's formation in 1962. Election to the National Academy of Engineering is among the highest professional distinctions accorded an engineer. Barnes was recognized for his fundamental research on the biological effects of electromagnetic fields, surgical procedures and contributions to telecommunications education.

Mark Andrejevic, doctoral student at the University of Colorado at ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ's School of Journalism and Mass Communication, is gathering information from television viewers nationwide on the popular trend of reality-based television formats and is making some interesting observations about its social implications.

A panel of successful entrepreneurs from the Rocky Mountain region will share their ideas about how to build, recruit and retain top-notch management teams March 1 at Entrepreneur Exchange, an interactive program for local businesspeople. The exchange begins at 7:30 a.m. Thursday, March 1, at the Adam's Mark Hotel, 1550 Court Place in Denver. The program, which runs to 9:30 a.m., includes breakfast and will cost $45.

University of Colorado at ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ Professor Gifford Miller will give a public talk March 7 on climate change in Australia about 50,000 years ago that likely caused the desertification of the continent's interior and the extinction of most large animals.

National Eating Disorders Awareness Week comes to the University of Colorado at ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ Monday, Feb. 26, through Friday, March 2, featuring a variety of free lectures, discussions and therapy booths targeted to both men and women. The programs will highlight the importance of understanding the effects eating disorders have on people's lives.

The University of Colorado at ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ Office of Community Affairs and Moe's Broadway Bagel are sponsoring a book drive at all four Moe's stores Feb. 26 through March 2 in connection with Read Across America Day on March 2. People who bring in new or slightly used children's books to any one of the three ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ stores or the Denver store, at 550 Grant St., will receive a free bagel and cream cheese. The offer is limited to one bagel per customer per visit.

Ron Stump, vice chancellor for student affairs at the University of Colorado at ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ, has appointed Peter Simons to the position of director of the Office of Parent Relations. The appointment recently was approved by Chancellor Byyny and Simons assumed the position Feb. 19. Simons replaces former director Leasa Weimer, who became student programs director at the University Memorial Center last semester.

Finding the fundamental building blocks of life in outer space will be the topic of "Organic Molecules in Space," a live show at the University of Colorado at ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ's Fiske Planetarium on Friday, March 2, and Tuesday, March 6, at 7:30 p.m. Astrophysical and planetary sciences Professor Theodore Snow will present evidence that large organic (carbon-based) molecules are common in space. "There is a lot of speculation as to what the molecules are, but precious little definitive identification," Snow said.