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Local children can discover how common lasers are in everyday life, from Sega Dreamcasts to CD players to digital cameras, at the next CU Wizards show "Lasers and Light" on Saturday, May 27. Dana Anderson, optical physicist and professor of physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder, will explain the marvels of lasers and light at 9:30 a.m. in the Duane Physics building, room G1B30. The free hour-long presentation is intended for children in grades five through nine.

A conference and music festival celebrating the cultural diversity of the American West through its music will be offered Aug. 10-13 by the Center of the American West at the University of Colorado at Boulder. The conference titled "Listening to the West: Music in the Soul of a Region" will feature free music performances on the lawn of Boulder's historic Chautauqua Park including Tish Hinojosa, Antonia Apodaca, Ramblin' Jack Eliot, Calvin Standing Bear, the Hot Club of Cow Town and many more.

Editors: A complete schedule of events is available by calling (303) 492-4007. This event is not open to the public but reporters are welcome to attend More than 110 school and community officials from throughout the state will gather in Boulder May 17-19 for a seminar on safe school planning offered by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

People planning to attend commencement at the University of Colorado at Boulder on Friday morning, May 12, are encouraged to leave ample time for driving, particularly people arriving via U.S. 36. Traffic volume is expected to be about half of game-day traffic during CUÂ’s football season, which sometimes clogs the Turnpike even without construction delays. Because of construction work along U.S. 36, similar tie-ups could result, although all lanes reportedly will be open.

"Community Faculty" Assist Student Teachers

Construction of the Discovery Learning Center and expansion and renovation of the University Memorial Center will affect parking availability on the east and west ends of campus for the next 15 to 24 months. Construction of the Discovery Learning Center (DLC), to be located northeast of the College of Engineering, is scheduled to begin on June 1. Parking lots 444, east of aerospace engineering, and 437, north of engineeringÂ’s Integrated Teaching and Learning Laboratory, will be eliminated by DLC construction.

Michael Leeds, a 1974 CU-Boulder College of Business graduate and former CEO of CMP Media Inc., will speak May 12 at the University of Colorado at Boulder MBA graduation ceremony. He will address "Realities of the ‘New Economy’ and the Importance of Ethical Behavior in the Business World" at the 6 p.m. ceremony in Macky Auditorium on the CU-Boulder campus.

University of Colorado at Boulder Associate Professor Kristi Anseth has been named an investigator by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, bringing the number of the prestigious appointments on the Boulder campus to four.

Best-selling author and University of Colorado at Boulder law Professor Marianne Wesson will be the guest speaker at the eighth annual Just Desserts on Friday, May 19, at 7 p.m. in the Fleming Law Building. The event, which begins with a dessert reception in the law building's foyer, is a "friend raiser" presented by the CU Friends of the Libraries and is free and open to the public.

With about 20,000 people expected to attend the University of Colorado at Boulder commencement exercises May 12 at 9:30 a.m. in Folsom Stadium, attendees should plan to make an early arrival. Parking will be available in Lot 436 on Regent Drive for most people attending. Meters on campus are free the morning of the University Commencement Ceremony, but regular fees will be charged for the Euclid Autopark east of the University Memorial Center.