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An $85 million NASA satellite carrying five instruments designed and built at the University of Colorado at Â鶹¹ÙÍø to study how and why variations in the sun affect EarthÂ’s atmosphere and climate is slated for launch on Jan 25.

A University of Colorado at Â鶹¹ÙÍø alumna was successfully launched into orbit Jan. 16 aboard the space shuttle Columbia, where she'll spend two weeks in space operating student projects that were built and tested at CU-Â鶹¹ÙÍø. CU-Â鶹¹ÙÍø aerospace engineering graduate Kalpana Chawla, who is making her second space shuttle flight, is among the seven-person flight crew. Chawla received her doctorate from CU-Â鶹¹ÙÍø in 1988 and flew on Columbia in 1997. She is one of 15 alumni of CU-Â鶹¹ÙÍø who have flown in space.

University of Colorado at Â鶹¹ÙÍø Chancellor Richard L. Byyny announced today the appointment of Pauline Hale, former director of public relations and current spokesperson for the Â鶹¹ÙÍø campus, to the position of executive director of University Communications, effective Feb. 1. The position was vacated in July 2002 when former Executive Director Bobbi Barrow resigned to join Denver Health Medical Center. A national search conducted last fall did not result in an appointment.

MEDIA ADVISORY SORCE Satellite News Briefing at CU-Â鶹¹ÙÍø Set for Jan. 17 The University of Colorado at Â鶹¹ÙÍø will hold a news briefing on Friday, Jan. 17, on the launch of an $85 million CU satellite designed and built to study Sun-Earth interactions that affect global conditions including climate change and ozone depletion.

Note to Editors: Reporters and photographers wanting media passes to this event should contact Peter Caughey at (303) 492-4007 or Greg Swenson at (303) 492-3113. Former U.S. Special Ambassador Dennis B. Ross will speak on the Middle East at the University of Colorado at Â鶹¹ÙÍø on Jan. 22 in an event hosted by the student government's Cultural Events Board. Ross will speak at 7 p.m. in the University Memorial Center's Glenn Miller Ballroom. The doors will open at 6 p.m.

Displays chronicling the ideals and principles of Martin Luther King Jr. are being featured at the University of Colorado at Â鶹¹ÙÍø in honor of the Jan. 20 holiday that bears his name. Exhibits are located in the east lobby of Norlin Library and the second floor of the University Memorial Center and are open for viewing during normal business hours. The UMC display will run from Jan. 15 to Jan. 20 and the Norlin display will run from Jan. 15 to Jan. 31.

Professor Sue Rankin of Pennsylvania State University will speak on "Queer Voices on Campus: Results of a 2001 Campus Climate Study" Jan. 30 at the University of Colorado at Â鶹¹ÙÍø at 7 p.m. in Eaton Humanities Building, room 1B50. Rankin serves as the senior diversity planning analyst in the Office of the Provost for Educational Equity and coordinator of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equity. She will share the results of a recently completed Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer campus climate study with students, staff and faculty at 14 universities.

The National Science Foundation has awarded the University of Colorado at Â鶹¹ÙÍø $6 million to support its Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal Materials Research Center. The CU-Â鶹¹ÙÍø center is funded by NSF's Materials Research Science and Engineering Center program, a national network that includes Harvard, Columbia, MIT, Princeton, Stanford, Caltech, Cornell and the University of Chicago among its 29 centers. The award is for six years and is renewable.

Fiske Planetarium and Sommers-Bausch Observatory at the University of Colorado at Â鶹¹ÙÍø will present three programs Jan. 24, 25 and 28 in memory of the space shuttle Challenger and CU-Â鶹¹ÙÍø alumnus and astronaut Ellison Onizuka. This month marks the 17th anniversary of the space shuttle's tragic explosion, which killed Onizuka and six others on board.

Swinerton Builders, co-developers of a new student housing project at Williams Village by the University of Colorado at Â鶹¹ÙÍø, is launching a program to increase awareness of the company's sexual harassment policies. According to Derrick Watson, CU-Â鶹¹ÙÍø coordinator for the Williams Village project and assistant to the vice chancellor for administration, the increased visibility of the policy is designed not only to educate workers, but also to assure CU students, staff, faculty and local community members that Swinerton is committed to promoting a civil working environment.