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Sixteen mountain researchers, adventurers and filmmakers from around the world will congregate for talks, discussions and screenings at the University of Colorado at Boulder Nov. 15-16 for the "International Year of the Mountain Conference: Ecosystems to Earthquakes." Presentations will run from 9 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. on both days in room 235 of the University Memorial Center. Film showings start at 7 p.m. on Friday in UMC room 235 and at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday at Fiske Planetarium. All events are free and open to the public.

When the Leonid meteor shower peaks at about 3 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 19, Colorado skywatchers may be in for a great show, according to Doug Duncan of the University of Colorado at Boulder's Fiske Planetarium. The Leonid meteors are part of the debris trail from the comet Tempel-Tuttle in its 33-year orbit around the sun. Each November the Earth passes through this patchy stream of space dust and sand that makes up the debris trail.

A plaque honoring the U.S. Navy's Japanese/Oriental Language School, located at the University of Colorado at Boulder during World War II, will be unveiled on Veteran's Day at the campus' University Memorial Center. Language school graduates and instructors will join CU-Boulder's Navy ROTC team for the ceremony on Monday at 10:30 a.m. in the UMC's newly converted Veterans Lounge.

The release of innocent people from death row and the increasing use of DNA testing are the two biggest reasons behind Americans' growing concern over erroneous convictions, according to a prominent University of Colorado at Boulder criminologist.

Using a hairdryer to suspend balls, nitrogen to create a delicious dessert and combining common household fluids to make "elephant snot" are only a few of the activities that will be explored during the next CU Wizards show "Go With the Flow" on Saturday, Nov. 16, at 9:30 a.m. in the Cristol Chemistry and Biochemistry Building, room 140.

Before making any travel plans for the end of the spring 2003 semester, the Office of the Registrar at the University of Colorado at Boulder is encouraging students to take one more look at the final exam schedule because the first schedule released in early October was incorrect.

Robert Cranny, director of the Wardenburg Health Service at the University of Colorado at Boulder, wants all CU-Boulder students who live in residence halls to get vaccinated for meningitis at a special daylong campus clinic on Nov. 7. Cranny's recommendation is in line with many health officials who support the shots for college-age adults, especially those who live in residence halls.

Alex Stone, a senior majoring in broadcast news at CU-Boulder's School of Journalism and Mass Communication, has received a national award for investigative reporting from the Radio-Television News Directors Association. He also received an award from ABC for Radio National Individual Reporter of the Year, placing as first runner-up.

Skiers and snowboarders may soon have a smoother ride through halfpipes and snow terrain parks thanks to two grant-winning University of Colorado at Boulder student inventors. David Kubicka and Kegan Paisley's "Halfpipe Helper" is a specially designed rakelike tool intended to make it easier for workers to create and maintain halfpipes, jumps and other ski area terrain features. The National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance awarded the students $6,600 for development of the tool.

Former U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson and his brother Peter, a University of Wyoming professor, will give talks in Boulder and Denver Nov. 11-12 as distinguished lecturers of the CU-Boulder Center of the American West. "High Plains Politics: A Dialogue with the Simpson Brothers of Wyoming," will be presented from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 11 in the Boulder Public Library Auditorium, 11th Street and Arapahoe Avenue, and from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 12 at the Denver Public Library, 10 W. 14th Ave. Parkway, in the lower level B2 conference room.