Â鶹ӰԺ

Renowned Harvard University Professor Lisa Randall, one of the world's leading theoretical physicists and cosmologists, will speak at the University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ on Monday, March 19, on hidden dimensions of the universe. A professor of theoretical physics at Harvard, Randall will speak at 7:30 p.m. in Macky Auditorium for the 42nd George Gamow Memorial Lecture. The talk will focus on concepts from her 2005 book, "Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions" and is free and open to the public.

University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ student leaders are sponsoring a contest from March 5 through March 16 for a new "spirit shirt" design that would represent the university in all of its aspects - academics, athletics and co-curricular activities - and foster a greater sense of community on campus. Campus student organizations will promote the winning design, which will be printed on thousands of 2007-08 CU-Â鶹ӰԺ spirit shirts.

Tiny lab versions of 12-foot tall snow spikes that form naturally on some high mountain glaciers may someday help scientists mitigate the effects of global warming in the Andes, according to a University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ professor.

The University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ's women and gender studies program and the campus' Women's Resource Center will mark International Women's Day on Thursday, March 8, with an open house, rally and reception. The Women's Resource Center will host an open house from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in rooms 412 and 416 of the University Memorial Center, or UMC. Staff members will serve refreshments and hand out International Women's Day ribbons. The open house will feature an art display, and visitors will be able to create their own art.

The Natural Resources Law Center and the University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ School of Law will host a two-day conference on the impact of climate change and its direct effect on society's most vulnerable populations. Called "The Climate of Environmental Justice: Taking Stock," the conference will be held March 16-17, and will be attended by national leaders in the field of environmental justice.

A University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ alumna who married a Muslim and converted to Islam before becoming a college professor and the mother of eight bicultural children will talk about balancing career, family and religion in an Islam Awareness Week keynote lecture next week.

Former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb will meet with University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ students before discussing his new autobiography, which chronicles his life from his Chicago boyhood to his rise as one of Colorado's most influential politicians and policy-makers. The CU-Â鶹ӰԺ Black Student Alliance will host a reception for Webb before he gives a free public talk at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 7, in auditorium A2B70 of the MCD Biology Building. Webb also will sign copies of his new memoir, "Wellington Webb: The Man, the Mayor and the Making of Modern Denver."

Award-winning mathematics Professor Richard Tapia will speak at the University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ March 5 on the challenges of recruiting and retaining Hispanics and African Americans in science, engineering and mathematics at American universities.

A four-day public event dubbed "Ice Fest" at the University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ March 8-11 in celebration of the launch of the International Polar Year will feature talks, slideshows, films, science demonstrations and other family activities.

A National Park Service historian who played a key role in prompting Congress to boost funding for natural resource management and scientific research in the national parks will speak at the University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ on March 12. Richard Sellars of Santa Fe, N.M., will speak on "Past Perfect?: Historic Preservation in the National Park System" at 4 p.m. in the Wolf Law Building, room 207. The inaugural event in the Randy Jones Memorial Lecture Series is free and open to the public. The lecture is sponsored by the CU-Â鶹ӰԺ Center of the American West.