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In the months leading up to the new millennium, people can expect some eye-catching meteor showers in the night sky but nothing on the cataclysmic, world-threatening scale of the movie "Deep Impact." ThatÂ’s the prediction from Katy Garmany, professor of astrophysical and planetary sciences at the University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ and director of the universityÂ’s Fiske Planetarium. Garmany says star-watchers who can escape the glare of city lights and find a nice dark place in the mountains or grasslands of Colorado could be rewarded with a couple of spectacular shows.

A state-of the-art, $962,000 optical-measurement facility based at the University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ funded by the W.M. Keck Foundation of Los Angeles will be dedicated on campus at the JILA facility June 28. A joint institute of CU-Â鶹ӰԺ and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, JILA was founded in 1962. JILA is world-renowned for its innovative developments in lasers and optical science.

Silvery-blue ice clouds known as noctilucent clouds that appear each year in the far northern and southern latitudes in the middle atmosphere were spotted over Colorado for the first time on June 22.

The University of Colorado Board of Regents approved a revised CU-Â鶹ӰԺ campus diversity plan at its June 24 meeting held at the University of Colorado at Denver. An annual "report card" containing data and campus input will be issued each year to document progress. The plan, "Diversity and Equity: A Blueprint for Action," contains input from campus groups that was not included in the original plan approved by the board in December 1998.

University of Colorado Regents approved a five-year contract Thursday, June 24, with Ceal Barry, head coach of womenÂ’s basketball at CU-Â鶹ӰԺ. Under the contract, Barry will receive compensation worth at least $219,600 per year. The multi-year contract is permitted under Colorado statutes as one of six such agreements allowed for each state university. BarryÂ’s contract is effective with the 1998-99 fiscal year, continuing until June 2003.

Bill Reynolds, owner of the W.W. Reynolds Cos. in Â鶹ӰԺ, and his wife, Jane, have given a $1 million gift to the University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ’s College of Business and Administration. The Reynolds, along with their sons John and Forrest and BillÂ’s father, Vergyl, all have degrees from CU. The gift will be used to supplement graduate and undergraduate programs at the Real Estate Center at the College of Business, including the academic internship program -- the undergraduate capstone course for a certificate in real estate.

The Clifford Calhoun Public Service Award, given to a CU-Â鶹ӰԺ law student or faculty member who contributes to the public service mission of the law school, was awarded to law Professor Mark Loewenstein in a May luncheon ceremony on campus.

"CU This Summer," a cultural outreach program of the University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ, will present the acclaimed art exhibit, "Hollywood Goddess: Photographs of Marilyn Monroe" at the Estes Park Conference Center this summer. The exhibit opens Thursday, June 24. Featuring photographs of Marilyn Monroe by celebrity photographer Philippe Halsman, the exhibit will be available for public viewing from June 24 through Sept. 12 at the Estes Park Conference Center, located at 201 S. St. Vrain. Viewing hours are Thursday through Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Already the fastest moving glacier in the world, the Columbia Glacier in Alaska has increased its speed from 25 meters to 35 meters per day in recent months, according to a University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ glaciologist. And while that may seem like a snailÂ’s pace to most, scientists are intrigued and a bit alarmed at the rapid rate, said Research Fellow Tad Pfeffer of CU-Â鶹ӰԺ’s Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research. "I expect we will see some really dramatic event occur with this glacier within the next year or two," he said.

NASA El NIÑO-WATCHING SATELLITE Four Colorado institutions including the University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ have teamed up on the construction, launch and control of a NASA satellite designed to observe EarthÂ’s oceans and act as an "El Niño watcher." Known as the Quick Scatterometer, or QuikScat, the satellite will provide daily, detailed snapshots of the winds swirling above the worldÂ’s oceans to improve weather forecasting, according to NASA officials.