Â鶹ÒùÔº

Reza Aslan, a well-known religious scholar, best-selling author, media commentator and doctoral degree candidate, will be one of two featured speakers at a University of Colorado at Boulder event that will explore the current state of affairs in the Middle East and changes within the Islamic faith.

John Wood, who quit his senior executive position with Microsoft to found a non-profit organization that establishes schools and libraries in the developing world, will speak at the University of Colorado at Boulder's Leeds School of Business on campus March 14. Wood's free public presentation will be at 5 p.m. in room 155 of the Fleming Law Building, where the Leeds School is temporarily housed. He is an alumnus of the CU-Boulder business school and received his MBA from Northwestern University.

Renowned Harvard University Professor Lisa Randall, one of the world's leading theoretical physicists and cosmologists, will speak at the University of Colorado at Boulder on Monday, March 19, on hidden dimensions of the universe. A professor of theoretical physics at Harvard, Randall will speak at 7:30 p.m. in Macky Auditorium for the 42nd George Gamow Memorial Lecture. The talk will focus on concepts from her 2005 book, "Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions" and is free and open to the public.

University of Colorado at Boulder student leaders are sponsoring a contest from March 5 through March 16 for a new "spirit shirt" design that would represent the university in all of its aspects - academics, athletics and co-curricular activities - and foster a greater sense of community on campus. Campus student organizations will promote the winning design, which will be printed on thousands of 2007-08 CU-Boulder spirit shirts.

Tiny lab versions of 12-foot tall snow spikes that form naturally on some high mountain glaciers may someday help scientists mitigate the effects of global warming in the Andes, according to a University of Colorado at Boulder professor.

The University of Colorado at Boulder's women and gender studies program and the campus' Women's Resource Center will mark International Women's Day on Thursday, March 8, with an open house, rally and reception. The Women's Resource Center will host an open house from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in rooms 412 and 416 of the University Memorial Center, or UMC. Staff members will serve refreshments and hand out International Women's Day ribbons. The open house will feature an art display, and visitors will be able to create their own art.

The Natural Resources Law Center and the University of Colorado at Boulder School of Law will host a two-day conference on the impact of climate change and its direct effect on society's most vulnerable populations. Called "The Climate of Environmental Justice: Taking Stock," the conference will be held March 16-17, and will be attended by national leaders in the field of environmental justice.

A University of Colorado at Boulder alumna who married a Muslim and converted to Islam before becoming a college professor and the mother of eight bicultural children will talk about balancing career, family and religion in an Islam Awareness Week keynote lecture next week.

Former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb will meet with University of Colorado at Boulder students before discussing his new autobiography, which chronicles his life from his Chicago boyhood to his rise as one of Colorado's most influential politicians and policy-makers. The CU-Boulder Black Student Alliance will host a reception for Webb before he gives a free public talk at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 7, in auditorium A2B70 of the MCD Biology Building. Webb also will sign copies of his new memoir, "Wellington Webb: The Man, the Mayor and the Making of Modern Denver."

Award-winning mathematics Professor Richard Tapia will speak at the University of Colorado at Boulder March 5 on the challenges of recruiting and retaining Hispanics and African Americans in science, engineering and mathematics at American universities.