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​Students now have a brand new place to gather at Williams Village. The Village Center Dining and Community Commons opened Jan. 11 and features state-of-the-art services from dining to residential programs, as well as healthcare and counseling.

In 1959, the folk music craze sweeping America prompted several CU affiliates to produce a record titled "Folk Song Festival at Exodus," which would later propel one featured group to the Billboard charts and a young employee, Judy Collins, to true superstardom.

Associate professor Franck Vernerey has been awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest U.S. government honor awarded to promising scientists and researchers beginning their careers.

Welcome back, folks! I hope you all had a fun and relaxing winter break and are ready to jump back in. There is a ton of free stuff for you to enjoy this week.

Graduate students Barbara MacFerrin and Ariel Morrison traveled to the Arctic with Jennifer Kay, assistant professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences, to video polar bears as a way to teach students about climate change.

Cybersecurity: Joe McManus is an expert in network security, network forensics and Internet-of-Things security. He can discuss issues related to hacking, forensics and the current threat landscape. He is a scholar in residence and professor in the Interdisciplinary Telecom Program. McManus can be reached at joe.mcmanus@colorado.edu . Life in Russia...

A joint research project involving what's called cloud seeding aims to beef up mountain snowfall and, subsequently, power generation. The results hopefully will be applicable to many mountain ranges in the western U.S.

The Cultural Unity and Engagement Center is excited to announce the second annual Ignite: Yourself, Our Community, Our Future – A Social Justice Retreat for students from Feb. 3 to Feb. 5. The purpose of the retreat is to facilitate students' understanding of diversity and social justice within the context of leadership.

The Bioneers network event Front Range Eco-Social Solutions will return to CU Â鶹ӰԺ Feb. 3 and 4. The event, produced by the CU Environmental Center, brings together progressive thinkers of the region to address both global and local issues.

Looking for housing or off-campus resources for next year? CU’s annual January Housing Fair is a free event that offers students a convenient way to view hundreds of local properties. Many local landlords, property managers, vendors and real estate agents will be in the UMC for the fair.