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A new study suggests that agriculture can successfully coexist with continuing population growth and urban sprawl in some areas of the Great Plains. The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan, Colorado State University and the University of Colorado, found that despite explosive population growth over the last 50 years in Denver, Boulder and other eastern Colorado Plains cities, total harvested area in the region increased by 5 percent and the amount of irrigated land that is harvested jumped by 73 percent.

A group of researchers led by the University of Colorado at Boulder have solved the crystal structure of a molecule switch that can trigger heart disease and cancer, paving the way for future drug designs to mitigate these diseases.

As the war winds down in Iraq, many teachers still may find themselves fighting battles in their classrooms, according to a University of Colorado at Boulder education professor. In schools throughout the United States, students and teachers have tried to figure out how the war in Iraq should be addressed in the classroom. Facing conflicting demands from students, parents, administrators and their own sense of professional responsibility, teachers are often caught in the middle, according to CU-Boulder Professor Kevin Welner.

Nine University of Colorado at Boulder students will be honored at an April 16 banquet as the winners of the fourth annual Western American Writing Awards presented by the university's Center of the American West. R. Todd Laugen, Jayme Catalano, W. Austin Arensberg and David Isaac Stonehill each will receive $350 first-prize awards. Elizabeth Marglin, Jay D. Rumisek, Serena Chopra, Susan Coley Huth and Sarah Hoffman each will receive honorable mention awards of $100.

Editors: Tours of a four-bedroom, two-bath model are available for reporters and photographers. Contact Rob Martin, general manager, at (303) 443-2521 or rmartin@studenthousing.com to schedule an appointment. Bear Creek Apartments at Williams Village, the new student housing project at the University of Colorado at Boulder, features a variety of on-site amenities for students.

The University of Colorado at Boulder Cultural Events Board will present a public lecture Friday, April 18 by a noted champion of anti-discrimination efforts across the country. Attorney Morris Dees' presentation, "Tolerances: Has America Progressed?" will take place at the Flatirons Theater on the Hill at 7:30 p.m. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m.

A lecture on "Disciples of the Buddha and the Words of Chogyam Trungpa" will be presented at the University of Colorado at Boulder on Wednesday, April 16. The illustrated lecture by Robert Newman begins at 7 p.m. in room N141 in the Sibell Wolle Fine Arts Building. Newman is the author of the book, "Disciples of the Buddha: Living Images of Meditation," which deals with a famous set of Chinese ceramic statues. He also is director of the World Health Foundation in Ashland, Ore., which specializes in meditational healing.

Most people know it's unhealthy to be overweight, but researchers now say it's important not only how much body fat you have, but where you have it. According to CU-Boulder Kinesiology Professor Robert Mazzeo, studies show that the bigger the belly the more likely a person is to develop diabetes, heart disease and other health problems.

A NASA astronaut and the founder of Spectra Logic Corp. are among five CU-Boulder engineering alumni and a non-alumnus who will be honored with Distinguished Engineering Alumni Awards by the University of Colorado at Boulder April 11. Astronaut James S. Voss and Spectra Logic Corp. founder Nathan C. Thompson are among the six awardees who will be honored at the 38th annual Engineering Awards Banquet. The banquet will be at 6:30 p.m. at the Millenium Harvest House Hotel in Boulder and is not open to the public.

For the third time in the last four years, a team of University of Colorado at Boulder undergraduates was named an Outstanding Winner in the prestigious Mathematical-Interdisciplinary Contest in Modeling sponsored by the Consortium for Mathematics and its Applications. The team, consisting of applied mathematics majors Darin Gillis and Aaron Windfield, along with electrical engineering major David Lindstone, was one of only 16 Outstanding Winners among 638 teams from nine countries participating in the 2003 contest.