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The University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ's new law school will begin to take shape east and south of the current building in January, thanks largely to the commitment and civic mindedness of several student leaders, said Law School Dean David Getches. Facing a threat to the school's accreditation because of the law building's poor condition, particularly the law library, Getches sought and won the support of student leaders last April, including senior biology major Eugene Pearson.

After years of delay due to state funding problems, the groundbreaking for a new University of Colorado School of Law building is set for Nov. 12 with construction activity on the $46.4 million building set to begin in January. "We are delighted that this long quest for a new state-of-the-art building will finally be fulfilled," said law school Dean David Getches. "You can feel the excitement among our students, alumni, faculty and supporters. It's been a long effort but will prove well worth it."

The booms and bangs of chemical reactions will reverberate at the University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ on Saturday, Nov. 20, during the CU Wizards show "The Chemistry of Booms: Cover Your Ears!" Associate professor of chemistry Tarek Sammakia's show will take place at 9:30 a.m. in Cristol Chemistry and Biochemistry, room 140. It is free and open to the public. CU Wizards is an annual series during the school year that introduces topics in astronomy, chemistry and physics and is intended primarily for students in grades five through nine.

Gale Norton will discuss her perspectives and experiences as current head of the U.S. Department of the Interior during a free public program Nov. 23 at the University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ. As part of the Center of the American West's "Inside Interior" series, Norton will be interviewed at 7:30 p.m. in the University Memorial Center's Glenn Miller Ballroom by CU-Â鶹ӰԺ law Professor Charles Wilkinson and the center's faculty director and board chair Patricia Limerick.

Editor's note: Reporters and photographers are welcome to attend the awards reception on Nov. 16. The winning photos will be available for publication. Contact Jami Nelson-Nunez for more information at (303) 735-0130. A photography contest and exhibit of pictures taken by international students at the University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ and study abroad alumni will take place during International Education Week, Nov. 15-19.

MEDIA ADVISORY Seven University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ students who were instrumental in securing financing for a new law school building and future campus construction will present plans for the new building and describe its unique financing at a briefing on campus Thursday morning. The briefing will be at 10:30 a.m. in the faculty lounge of the Fleming Law Building on Thursday, Nov. 11. The faculty lounge is on the second floor.

CU-Â鶹ӰԺ Friends of the Libraries will present "Backstage with Margot Fonteyn," a multimedia theatrical presentation highlighting the life of the famed British ballerina on Friday, Nov. 19. The event will be held at 7 p.m. in the Center for British and Irish Studies on the fifth floor of CU-Â鶹ӰԺ's Norlin Library. The program is free and open to the public and will be followed by a reception. Attendees should enter through the west doors of Norlin Library. Pay parking will be available at the Euclid Avenue Autopark.

Fossilized feces from 73 million-year-old aquatic life found on Devon Island in the Arctic Circle suggest an ancient marine ecosystem teeming with bottom-feeding creatures, according to a University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ researcher. Such a scenario is similar to modern Arctic marine environments where excess nutrients generated by huge pulses of plankton growth in the summer drop to the bottom of the ocean where they can be eaten over time.

Note to Editors: Colwell will participate in a news briefing Nov. 9 at the DPS meeting in Louisville, Ky. Contents embargoed until 12:10 p.m. EST Nov. 9. A University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ-built instrument riding on the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft is being used to distinguish objects in Saturn's rings smaller than a football field, making them twice as sharp as any previous ring observations.

Help may be on the way for millions of Americans suffering from chronic pain, a debilitating condition that makes it extremely painful to do anything from taking a shower to putting on a shirt, according to a CU-Â鶹ӰԺ researcher. Linda Watkins, a professor and researcher in the University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ's psychology department and Center for Neuroscience, is developing a revolutionary gene therapy that she says could stop chronic pain for months at a time, something unheard of today.