Weekly Horn

Big 12 commissioner hints at CU’s exit in 2011

It has been up in the air since CU left the Big 12 for the Pac-10 in June exactly when the move would take place. But on July 26 Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe made several points at a Big 12 media day that suggested things are moving along and the jump would take place in 2011, not 2012.
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Unforgettable Boulder

What’s unforgettable about your CU-Boulder experience? Check out Chris Dea’s (Jour’09) entertaining music video, “Boulder the talented, creative and bold.” It will bring you back to your good ol’ CU days.
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New Alumni Association executive director arrives July 26

Deborah Fowlkes 2010

CU-Boulder announced that Deborah W. Fowlkes (pronounced “folks”) has been named executive director of the University of Colorado Alumni Association. Fowlkes, who will assume the post on July 26, currently serves as assistant vice president for alumni relations and executive director of the Temple University Alumni Association in Philadelphia.
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As immigration rises, crime rates fall

Tim Wadsworth

During the 1990s, immigration reached record highs and crime rates fell more precipitously than at any time in U.S. history. And cities with the largest increases in immigration between 1990 and 2000 experienced the largest decreases in rates of homicide and robbery, CU-Boulder sociology researcher Tim Wadsworth has found.
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Hale still hearty

Hale-Irwin-029

Hale Irwin (Mktg’67) arrived in Colorado this week to play in the Senior PGA Championship in Parker, Colo. He played golf and football while at University of Colorado at Boulder in the 1960s, but golf has brought him all around the world in the years since.
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Grad fights child malnutrition in Nepal

Mark Arnoldy (Psych

In 2007 Mark Arnoldy (Psych’10) took a year off from school to travel to Nepal, where he taught in a school and piloted an education program. He learned that there are half-a million malnourished children in Nepal and also came across research describing how peanut butter was literally solving the problem of malnutrition around the world. So he developed a peanut butter-based product called NepalNUTrition that, now that he has graduated, he’ll return to Nepal to distribute.
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New basketball coach a native

Tad Boyle

Colorado native Tad Boyle, who most recently resurrected the basketball program at University of Northern Colorado, has been named the 18th head coach in CU men’s basketball history.
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Dream Chasers

Jim_Voss14GA

A Colorado-based aerospace company, Sierra Nevada Space Systems of Louisville, is collaborating with students and faculty in the department of aerospace engineering sciences at the University of Colorado at Boulder in the development of a new spacecraft called Dream Chaser, which will be used to carry astronauts to space.
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Weiman nominated by Obama

Carl Wieman

President Barack Obama nominated CU-Boulder distinguished professor and Nobel Prize in Physics winner Carl Weiman as associate director for science in the Office of Science and Technology Policy. A strong proponent of science education reform, Weiman won the Nobel in 2001 for his work in creating a new form of matter.
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"Conference on Everything Conceivable"

From April 5 through 9 and for the 62nd time since 1948, distinguished guests from throughout the United States and the world will pay their own way to participate in a unique event film critic Roger Ebert calls the “Conference on Everything Conceivable.”
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Leaving “a unique trail of bugs behind us”

nf_swabh

Forensic scientists may soon have a valuable new item in their toolkits — a way to identify individuals using unique, telltale types of hand bacteria left behind on objects like keyboards and computer mice, says a new CU-Boulder study.
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Pac-10 speculation continues

Photo by Casey Cass

In which assistant athletic director Dave Plati (Jour’82) comments in question-and-answer format on the widespread speculation that CU could switch athletic conferences from the Big 12 to the Pac-10. Your comments are welcome at the end of the jump. This is excerpted from his Plati-‘Tudes blog.
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Ultra fast lasers opening doors

Margaret Murnane

For nearly half a century, scientists have been trying to figure out how to build a cost-effective and reasonably sized X-ray laser that could, among other things, provide super high-resolution imaging. And for the past two decades, CU-Boulder physics professors Margaret Murnane and Henry Kapteyn have been inching closer to that goal.
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Speak Out

wklyhorn_polis

Student journalists working at the CU Independent, the online student newspaper, launched a campaign last week to address issues of inclusivity and diversity through a bold, groundbreaking new awareness campaign called “Speak Out.” U.S. Rep. Jared Polis (D-Boulder), in the photo, keynoted the launch of the campaign at the UMC plaza.
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Help with CU’s accreditation

Buff Sculpture 2.CUphoto

On Monday, Feb. 22, alumni are invited to meet with the site team from the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association to talk about their experiences with and impressions of the university. Questions and comments should relate to the five criteria below. The team is working on the 10-year reaccreditation of CU-Boulder. The open forum is 3-3:50 p.m., UMC room 235. Here’s more information.
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CU Stands With Haiti

CUstandwithHaiti-Final-01

Student leaders at CU have launched a campaign to support the relief efforts in Haiti, and your help is needed. Through their “CU Stands With Haiti” campaign the entire CU community is being mobilized to generate at least $100,000 for relief efforts as part of a national competition between universities, the Haiti Earthquake Fundraising Challenge. One hundred percent of your tax-deductible donations given at this site will go directly to work on the ground in Haiti through Partners in Health, a respected and efficient organization that has been working in Haiti for more than 20 years.
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CU grad student’s ‘tweet’ approach streamlines online communications during Haiti disaster

Leysia_Palen

A new approach to social media called “Tweak the Tweet,” conceived of by University of Colorado at Boulder graduate student Kate Starbird and being deployed by members of CU’s Project EPIC research group and colleagues around the nation, is helping Haiti relief efforts by providing standardized syntax for Twitter communications.
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CU-Boulder seeks public input in accreditation process

varsity_bldg_casey_cass

The university will undergo a comprehensive evaluation visit Feb. 22-24 by a team representing The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. For the past year and a half, CU-Boulder has been engaged in a process of self-study, addressing the commission’s requirements and criteria for accreditation, which takes place every 10 years. Comments must be received by Jan. 22, 2010.
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Barringer bags Bowerman

Jenny Barringer, 2009

University of Colorado senior Jenny Barringer needs to make room for one more trophy on her mantle as she was named the recipient of the inaugural The Bowerman award on Wednesday night. The Bowerman will recognize annually the most outstanding collegiate women’s track and field athlete and is administered by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). It is named in honor of track and field pioneer Bill Bowerman, who served the sport of track and field in numerous ways, including his leadership in the USTFCCCA predecessor organization the National Collegiate Track Coaches Association, and his contributions to NCAA track and field and the running community as a whole.
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Hawkins here to stay

weekly_horn_hawkins

University of Colorado athletic director Mike Bohn confirmed last week that head football coach Dan Hawkins will continue to coach the Buffaloes and return for his fifth season in 2010. With questions about Hawkins’ future mounting from CU supporters, the media and the public related to CU’s 3-8 record this season, Bohn wanted to end speculation and reiterate what he has maintained all along: that Hawkins is and will remain CU’s coach.
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Sewall memories

sewall_lion_1962

Do I have memories of Sewall Hall! I was a residence advisor of the right side of Sewall Hall in 1962-63. My little “apartment” was just off the huge living room. Sewall was an upper-class women’s resident hall. We called it Menopause Manor. The women and I obeyed most of the rules and had wonderful times together. Sewall had beautiful furniture. One of the stellar furnishings was a grand piano. It was regularly tuned, but no one used it. I’d taken piano- classical- as a child. Hated it. The grand drew me. I began to play bits of old, memorized pieces. Finally I bought a couple of jazz books and went off in a new musical direction. I remember studying in my room, playing to relax, studying, playing. Sometimes I play now for Semester-at-Sea voyages in the Piano Lounge, an avocation that began in Sewall.
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Nobel science leads to planet hunting

Exosolar planet art -- NASA

CU-Boulder and the National Institute of Standards and Technology have been awarded a $495,000 grant to look for Earth-like planets around other stars using technology based on 2005 Nobel Prize-winning research conducted at JILA, a joint institute of the two Boulder institutions. A sophisticated technique will allow the team involved to observe the stars in the near-infrared spectrum where they shine the brightest, according to the researchers.
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Forever Buffs – what it means to be a Buff

StudentsWalkingToEaton

The Alumni Association has spent almost a year building the foundations of our Forever Buffs program. Being a lifelong alumni member is an enduring investment in CU, one that begins before admission, builds during undergraduate years, flourishes after graduation and continues through retirement. Forever Buffs instills within alums and students what it means to be a Buff, including an expectation of supporting the university, other alums and students. In addition, the program brings with it numerous services provided to alumni and students by the Alumni Association.

Go here for an FAQ on the background, funding and programming of Forever Buffs.
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Change the way executives are paid

Sanjai_Bhagat

When it comes to paying America’s corporate executives, the problem isn’t that they are paid too much but rather how they are paid that helped lead to some of the spectacular corporate implosions in recent years, according to CU-Boulder finance professor Sanjai Bhagat. “Executive compensation plans should lead to policies that are simple, transparent and focused on creating and sustaining long-term shareholder value,” he says.
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Make it three astronauts with CU faculty affiliation

CU Alumni astronaut John Voss

CU alumnus-astronaut Jim Voss (MAero’74, HonDocSci’00) has become the second astronaut to join CU-Boulder’s aerospace engineering sciences department following his NASA career, which for Voss included five spaceflights, 202 days in space and four spacewalks. He is one of three astronauts affiliated as faculty at CU-Boulder. He joins former astronaut Joe Tanner (Edu’70), who joined the aerospace engineering sciences department in fall 2008. Their NASA colleague John Grunsfeld, who remains active at NASA, accepted a future appointment as adjoint professor in the astrophysical and planetary sciences department in an e-mail from space last spring.
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Face of dorm life changing to include faculty

weeklyhorn_scot-douglass-andrews

When CU-Boulder students moved into the newly renovated Andrews Hall this fall, they were welcomed by scores of returning students and a faculty member and his family who they’ll be living with.
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Watch parties around the country!

pregame_2009

The football season is close at hand, and there are CU chapters in at least 30 cities around the country holding watch parties prior to at least one game. What happens at them? They’re usually at a locally favorite bar/restaurant that has the cable feed for CU Buffs games. There’s great food and drink and CU alums and friends watch the game as well as hang out, chat with old friends and meet new ones.
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CU “greenest” in nation

horn_sierra_cover_aug21-2009

The University of Colorado at Boulder is ranked the top “green” university in the nation this year by Sierra magazine in its September/October edition, a move up from second place in 2008. In the report’s three-year history, CU-Boulder remains the only Colorado institution to appear in the Top 10 featured lineup of “eco-enlightened” U.S. colleges.
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Ritter joins CREW for talk

Lucy Pao 1.CUphoto

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter (Law’81) will join representatives of three Colorado universities and three federal laboratories Aug. 14 at CU-Boulder for the inaugural symposium of the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory’s Center for Research and Education in Wind, or CREW.
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Water woes in the west

lake_powell

As the West warms, a drier Colorado River system could see as much as a one-in-two chance of fully depleting all of its reservoir storage by mid-century assuming current management practices continue on course, according to a new CU-Boulder study. The Colorado River, which hosts more than a dozen dams along its 1,450 journey from Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of California (Lake Powell, formed by Glen Canyon Dam is shown in the photo) is presently enduring its 10th year of drought.
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Space Internet on the way

dtnnetworks85ga

CU- Boulder is working with NASA to develop a new communications technology now being tested on the International Space Station that will extend Earth’s Internet into outer space and across the solar system. The technology is expected to lead to a working “Interplanetary Internet,” says Kevin Gifford, a senior research associate at CU-Boulder’s BioServe Space Technologies and a faculty member in the aerospace engineering sciences department.
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Judge dismisses Churchill case

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Today a Denver judge dismissed Ward Churchill’s case against the University of Colorado Board of Regents and ruled that it would be inappropriate to return him to the faculty. Read more about the case in Chancellor Phil DiStefano’s letter to the community.
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Late Boulderite largest-ever donor to CU Buffs

reed-donor

A woman who had a long history of volunteering and otherwise supporting CU athletics but didn’t attend CU except for summer courses has left $4.75 million to the athletic department for scholarships, the largest gift ever to the department. Louise Bennett Reed died in June and her family home was in Boulder’s Chautauqua area.
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See Navajo weavings at the CU Museum

museum_benwheat_textile

Rare Navajo weavings from what is considered one of the finest Southwest textile collections in the world are on display for a year at the CU-Boulder Museum of Natural History.
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Space shuttle astronaut CU bound

Astronaut John Grunsfeld

Astronaut John Grunsfeld, nearing the end of a successful NASA mission on board the space shuttle Atlantis to repair and refurbish the aging Hubble Space Telescope, has been named an adjoint professor at CU- Boulder.
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DiStefano new chancellor

Phil DiStefano, CU Chancellor 2009

Former provost and dean of education Phil DiStefano was appointed the 11th chancellor of CU-Boulder by President Bruce Benson (Geol’64, HonDocSci’04) on May 5. DiStefano’s appointment came two weeks after Benson named him sole finalist for the top job on campus.
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CU to send unmanned vehicle into tornados

tornado

This spring, a team of CU faculty and students will participate in a nationwide project exploring the origins, structure and evolution of tornadoes. The project is the largest and most ambitious attempt to study tornadoes in history, with an aim to probe both early and late stages of severe storms over the central Great Plains. For their part, the engineering college will fly a 12-pound Unmanned Aerial Vehicle into developing storms to measure air pressure, temperature, relative humidity and wind velocities. Read more.
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Arctic literally on thin ice

wkly_horn_actic_04102009

Arctic sea ice, considered by scientists as essential to the world’s climate system for its role as a global air conditioner, is continuing a decade-long trend of shrinking and is showing new signs of thinning, according to the latest data from NASA and the CU’s National Snow and Ice Data Center.

The most recent research shows that the winter of 2008-09 was the fifth lowest maximum ice extent on record and was 278,000 square miles below the average extent for 1979 to 2000. That difference is equivalent to an area slightly larger than the state of Texas, says Walt Meier (MAeroEngr’92, PhD’98), researcher at NSIDC.

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61st Conference on World Affairs

61st Conference on World Affairs

Attend the Conference on World Affairs On April 6 the Conference on World Affairs at CU-Boulder will kick-off its 61st year with a keynote address by Sen. Chuck Hagel and also will see the return of film critic Roger Ebert after a three-year hiatus. Hagel will speak on “21st century international relations” at 11:30 a.m. on April 6 in Macky
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Distefano appointed interim chancellor

Phil Distefano interim chancellor, University of Colorado, Boulder

CU-Boulder Provost Phil DiStefano has been named interim chancellor by CU President Bruce Benson (Geol’64, HonDocSci’04). “DiStefano will provide much-needed continuity during a challenging time in the university’s history,” Benson said, adding that there will be an internal search for a permanent chancellor of the flagship CU campus. “He is a proven leader with a deep knowledge not only of
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