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Former United States Attorney General Edwin Meese III will be giving the keynote speech at the University of ColoradoÂ’s School of Law commencement ceremony this year. Meese was a key political figure in the Reagan White House during the 1980s. Also featured at the May 12 ceremony will be CU School of Law alumnus Carl "Spike" Eklund. Eklund, an accomplished bankruptcy and corporate restructuring lawyer, will receive the prestigious Honorary Order of the Coif. The commencement begins at 2 p.m. in Macky Auditorium.

The recent house fire on University Hill in April is a costly reminder of the potential danger of everyday household items like candles, according to Tom Carney, the emergency management coordinator for the University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ. An unattended candle caused the April 21 fire, which gutted the house and left 10 people homeless, including eight CU-Â鶹ӰԺ students, while also damaging many of their possessions.

Editors: College leaders and government representatives will be available at 1:30 p.m., May 12, in the architects/tenants tent at the corner of Regent Drive and Colorado Boulevard to answer questions for media prior to the groundbreaking. An artistÂ’s rendering of the Discovery Learning Center is available by calling Carol Rowe, (303) 492-7426.

Three students from the University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ received prestigious Barry M. Goldwater Scholarships for undergraduate academic excellence in the fields of mathematics, natural sciences and engineering. CU-Â鶹ӰԺ junior Katherine Francis and sophomores Saverio Spagnolie and Gadalia Weinberg were among 309 undergraduate students to receive the scholarships for the 2000-01 academic year. A total of 1,176 undergraduate students were nominated nationwide for the awards.

One of the most violent phenomena in astronomy -- supernovae -- will be the topic of the final live astronomy show of the spring semester at CU-Â鶹ӰԺ's Fiske Planetarium on Friday, May 5, and Tuesday, May 9, at 7:30 p.m. University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ astronomy Professor Richard McCray will delve into supernovae, looking at everything from ancient Chinese inscriptions to current observations of these rare stars and how new observations are used to measure the expansion of the universe.

The CU-Â鶹ӰԺ Alumni Association will recognize 10 outstanding individuals, alumni and CU faculty, at the 70th annual Alumni Awards Banquet on Tuesday, May 9. The event will begin at 7 p.m. in the Old Main Chapel on the CU campus. A reception will follow at the CU Heritage Center. The recipients will be honored for their distinguished careers and exceptional contributions to CU and the community.

Note to Editors: Reporters or photographers interested in attending the May 13 Discovery Learning Conference are asked to call Carol Rowe at (303) 492-7426 to make arrangements. The conference is not open to the general public. As part of the events surrounding the groundbreaking for the Discovery Learning Center, the College of Engineering and Applied Science will host a national conference on the new learning model and partnerships with industry.

Lighting improvements are providing safer passage for CU-Â鶹ӰԺ students and other residents and visitors on University Hill. The Public Service Co. of Colorado last month upgraded 36 streetlights from 70 watts to 150 watts and installed new lights on 16 existing poles. The improvements were made in areas extending from Broadway to Ninth Street and from University to Euclid Avenue. According to Mike Mansfield, university-city liaison and program coordinator, the lighting upgrades are a good example of cooperation between the city and the university on mutual goals.

CU-Â鶹ӰԺ Professor Emeritus of biology Jane Bock and Professor of biology Carl Bock will read from their newest book, "The View from Bald Hill; Thirty Years in an Arizona Grassland," on Wednesday, May 10, in the final program of this year's Campus Lecture Series. The presentation will look at issues regarding the protection and restoration of the nation's grasslands and will examine the dynamics of grasslands in the absence of livestock. A book signing will follow the presentation, which begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Humanities Building, room 150.

In November 1999, CU-Â鶹ӰԺ senior Sarah Blakeslee found herself in a place she never would have imagined. She was standing atop 18,900-foot Antisana Peak in Ecuador, part of an international science team studying a retreating South American glacier. To get there, she and several CU-Â鶹ӰԺ graduate students and faculty members flew to Guayaquil, Ecuador, then took a nine-hour van ride to a 15,600-foot base camp on Antisana. There, members of the international team began ferrying hundreds of pounds of equipment to the summit.