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Five and a half weeks into a busy and eventful semester, students at the University of Colorado at Boulder are getting a break with two days off classes on Oct. 4 and Oct. 5 for fall break. Most students will have the opportunity to get some rest and relaxation before they begin to prepare for midterms and finals. But some have said they want to take the time to evaluate where they are in the semester and plan for the remaining two months.

The Black Alumni Association at the University of Colorado at Boulder will host a reception for Mary Mothershed Pryor, the university's first black homecoming queen, on Oct. 13 at 6 p.m. at the Koenig Alumni Center, 1202 University Ave. Pryor was crowned in 1963. She will be formally recognized by President Elizabeth Hoffman during a ceremony on the field at the CU-Texas A&M football game earlier that afternoon. The game begins at 1:30 p.m. Oct. 12-14 is CU-Boulder's Homecoming Weekend, dubbed the "Back to Boulder Weekend" by the Alumni Association.

The University of Colorado School of Law's Silicon Flatirons Telecommunications Program will hold a conference titled "The Challenges of Convergence" on Monday, Oct. 8, in the Lindsley Memorial Courtroom. The forum, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., will address the technical, business and legal aspects of technological convergence.

A new cab queue is being tested in front of Boulder's Fox Theater on the Hill starting tonight in an effort to reduce drinking and driving and to better facilitate taxi traffic between the Hill, Pearl Street and other Boulder locations.

NEWS TIP SHEET New INSTAAR Computational and Imaging Facility to be Dedicated Oct. 1 CU-Boulder's Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research will dedicate a powerful new $1.2 million computational and imaging facility on Monday, Oct. 1, that will help researchers and students study marine geophysics, ice sheet changes and natural disaster mitigation.

Kay Miller, an associate professor in CU-Boulder's fine arts department, has received a $10,000 award from the Creative Capital Foundation, a national nonprofit organization that supports artists pursuing innovative approaches to form and content. Miller's work, titled "Kiss of the Wild," will include five new paintings that depict the relationship between the human and spiritual worlds. "Kiss of the Wild" will draw upon indiginous people's understandings of and approaches to contemporary social and environmental issues.

University of Colorado Associate Professor Herbert Covert has been awarded a Fulbright grant by the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board to conduct research in Vietnam. Covert, of CU-Boulder's anthropology department, will conduct paleontological field research with colleagues from the Geologic Museum of the Department of Geology and Minerals of Vietnam in Hanoi. He also will study primate conservation and ecology with colleagues at the Endangered Primate Rescue Center of Cuc Phuong National Park.

The University of Colorado at Boulder will host an international Workshop on Earth Systems Engineering, Oct. 3-6, aimed at promoting the integration of green design, renewable energies and other sustainability concepts in engineering education, research and practice. Two free, public events will be held as part of the conference, including an evening lecture by Amory B. Lovins, chief executive officer of the non-profit Rocky Mountain Institute in Snowmass, Colo., which will kick off the workshop.

The University of Colorado at Boulder will hold a public meeting on the Williams Village student housing expansion project on Oct. 4 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Stearns Central, room 178, at the Williams Village complex. According to Derrick Watson, project coordinator for the department of Housing, the purpose of the meeting is to provide residents with an update on the status of the project, including master site planning sketches, preliminary design guidelines and the development schedule.

The Cultural Unity Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder has been awarded the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute's Collegiate Leadership Award. The award will be presented at the institute's annual conference in Chicago on Sept. 28. Approximately 1,500 present and future leaders are expected to attend.