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The CU-Boulder Corporate Excellence Awards, sponsored by the MBA program, will honor local businesses for their contributions to the community on Feb. 10. Companies to be recognized include Gold Systems Inc., Global Solar Energy, the Boulder Public Works DepartmentÂ’s Utilities Division, U S West and Rhythms NetConnections Inc.

CU-Boulder MBA students won the $2,000 second-place prize at the western regional Venture Capital Investment Competition hosted at CU-Boulder on Feb. 5. The team will advance with first-place finisher UCLA to the finals held at the University of North Carolina on March 23.

Robert S. Langer, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the father of modern biomaterials, will present the First Patten Distinguished Lecture at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Langer will speak on "Biomaterials: Advances in Drug Delivery and Tissue Engineering" at 3:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 10, in Old Main Chapel. The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will be followed by a reception at the CU Heritage Center.

Alice K. Wondrak, a University of Colorado at Boulder doctoral student studying cultural geography and landscape theory, has been awarded a $75,000 scholarship from the Canon National Parks Science Scholars Program. Wondrak was one of eight nationally selected doctoral students awarded the scholarship, which was established in 1997 to encourage students to research scientific problems critical to the national parks. She was selected for her research in cultural sciences, one of four disciplines established under the scholarship program.

William Haid, registrar of the University of Colorado at Boulder, has accepted the position of executive director of enrollment services at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. His appointment is effective Feb. 28. Haid will lead enrollment services for the campus and will be involved in developing, monitoring and promoting the enrollment management plan. He will have direct responsibility for the departments of enrollment services, registrar, student financial services, accounts receivable operations and PC and networking services.

CU-Boulder students of all levels and majors will be able to talk to more than 70 local and national employers about internship opportunities at the Career Services Internship Fair on Wednesday, Feb. 16. The internship fair, sponsored by CU-Boulder's Career Services and the CU Parents Association, will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., in the University Memorial Center Ballroom on campus.

The University of Colorado at Boulder Libraries and the ethnic studies department will hold a day of events at Norlin Library on Friday, Feb. 18, to remember the time when Japanese-Americans were put into "war relocation authority" camps during World War II. On Feb. 19, 1942 President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order allowing the U.S. military to force Americans of Japanese descent into the camps.

The University of Colorado at Boulder will offer a variety of events in honor of Black Awareness Month in February. Presentations are centered on four themes: Power of the Black Mind, Spirituality, Black Love and Black Leadership. According to Black Awareness Month organizer Valerie Embry, the activities are designed to raise awareness of African-American culture and contributions and share them with the larger community. Highlights include:

The Scripps Howard Foundation has provided a $50,000 grant to the Center for Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado at Boulder for a week-long educational program for journalists who cover environmental issues. The gift will establish the Scripps Howard Institute on the Environment, which will be held May 22-27 in Boulder and is open to applicants from around the nation.

University of Colorado at Boulder Professor Emerita Jane Bock will give the second in a series of four lectures for this springÂ’s ChancellorÂ’s Community Lecture Series in February. The series, titled "Women in the Field," features four distinguished women faculty from CU-Boulder, each speaking on their areas of expertise. BockÂ’s lecture, "A LadyÂ’s Life in the Causcasus Mountains," is on Tuesday, Feb. 15, at 7:30 p.m. in the chapel of The Academy, 970 Aurora Ave., in Boulder.