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The University of Colorado at Boulder Parents Association awarded $40,000 in grants to university groups and organizations to fund programs to benefit the undergraduate student community this year.

University of Colorado at Boulder students, faculty and staff members are encouraged to participate in the 2000 United States Census, which begins this month. "Participating in the census is in everyone's best interest," said CU-Boulder Chancellor Richard Byyny. "People who answer the census help their communities obtain federal funding and valuable information for planning for hospitals, roads and more."

The University of Colorado at Boulder has created a new program for 150-200 of its most intellectually committed students. The Undergraduate Academy provides a range of special activities and advising opportunities for its members, who are chosen for their excitement about learning and their academic success. The three main goals of the UA are to expand the education of top students outside the classroom, build a sense of intellectual community among them and help prepare them for post-graduation opportunities.

University of Massachusetts at Amherst Distinguished Professor Lynn Margulis, one of the most renowned biologists in the world, will give a public lecture at the University of Colorado at Boulder on March 15. Her talk, titled "Gaia and Microcosm: Living Earth From Space," deals with the Gaia theory, which she co-developed with British scientist James Lovelock. The theory is based on the premise that the physical and chemical properties of EarthÂ’s atmosphere are actively regulated by the metabolism, growth and evolution of organisms.

Tomoko Masuzawa, a leading theorist in the study of religion and culture, will deliver the second annual Lester Lecture on the Study of Religion at the University of Colorado at Boulder on Thursday, March 16. Masuzawa is lecturing on "The Question of Universality: Counting the 'World Religions' in the 19th Century" at 7:30 p.m. in Hale Science Building room 270. The event is free and open to the public and is presented by the CU-Boulder religious studies department. A reception will follow the lecture.

New observations with space-borne instruments by Daniel Rosenfeld of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem showing that aerosols over land can modify clouds, suppress precipitation and reflect light is a "huge leap forward" in understanding the interplay among pollutants, clouds and greenhouse warming, said University of Colorado Professor Owen B. Toon.

Professors from the University of Colorado at Boulder and Colorado State University are working together to present the conference, "Beyond the Image: Crossing Cultures Through Film," on March 17 at CSU's Lory Student Center. Nine faculty members from each campus will participate in panels on different methods of using film to teach diversity issues in the classroom. The keynote speaker is Rosa Linda Fregoso, a nationally known scholar in Chicana cinema and a professor at the University of California at Davis.

It's the city girl facing the country boy in "The Urban-Rural Divorce," a March 18 program in Greeley exploring the complex relationship between the urban and rural West. The Center of the American West at the University of Colorado at Boulder is presenting the fun and creative program, casting the many difficult issues facing the urban and rural West in human terms. The three-hour mock divorce hearing will begin at 1 p.m. at Our Savior's Lutheran Church, 1800 21st St. The event is free and open to the public.

The Japanese Speech Contest, a program that has received rave reviews throughout Colorado and publicity from as far as Yamagata, Japan, will be held in conjunction with Japan Day 2000 at the University of Colorado at Boulder on March 18 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Humanities Building room 150. One of the highlights of the speech contest is an opening talk delivered by the honorable consul general of Japan, Makoto Mizutani.

Author and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Susan Faludi will visit the University of Colorado at Boulder campus March 14-15 as a guest of the new "World Affairs Athenaeum" program. The Athenaeum, launched in February, is an extension of the annual World Affairs Conference designed to create a more intimate setting for visitors and students to meet and discuss world affairs and new ideas.