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Drought has most Coloradans focused on the increased risk of fire hazard, but scientists at CU-Boulder and NOAA have additional concerns about the risks to water quality as the summer heats up. "The threats that drought represents to aquatic organisms include loss of habitat and alterations to the quality of the remaining habitat," said Jim Saunders.

Local students were among the 4,377 students who received degrees May 10 during spring commencement ceremonies on the University of Colorado at Boulder campus. The ceremony was held in Folsom Stadium on the CU-Boulder campus. The Chancellor's Recognition Award for students receiving all As in their college careers was given to Nathan Brandwein of Fairway, Kan., who received a bachelor's degree in music, and Cara Seelinger of Lyons, Colo., who received a bachelor's degree in environmental, population and organismic biology.

Six students, including five women and two non-traditional students age 30 or older, will benefit next fall from $1,000 scholarships awarded by the University of Colorado at Boulder's Center for Education and Career Transition. Undergraduates Ricki B. Moseley, Rhonda Kaye Scott, Emily M. Utz and Shawna M. Ward won scholarships, along with non-traditional students Christina S. Manning-Lebek and Kazuhiko Yokota. Each recipient was chosen based on his or her biographical application essay, grade-point average and amount of academic financial need.

Claudio RoumainOchoa, a 22-year-old University of Colorado at Boulder student from Aurora, Colo., has been awarded a $1,000 academic scholarship from Pi Kappa Phi to use toward his future academic goals. RoumainOchoa, who will graduate this month with a degree in finance and international business, was recognized by the national fraternity as one of six 2001-2002 Pi Kapp Scholars. Recipients were selected from applications nationwide.

Down Beat Magazine has released its June issue honoring great students and jazz programs around the country, and the University of Colorado at Boulder jazz studies department is front and center. CU-Boulder student musicians won prestigious national recognition in three categories of Down Beat's annual competition: outstanding group performance in the instrumental jazz category, outstanding individual performance by a jazz instrumentalist and outstanding individual performance of an original composition.

The family of William "Bill" Arthur Yeager, a student at the University of Colorado at Boulder who passed away earlier this week, will hold a memorial gathering at their Broomfield home on Saturday, May 11, at 1 p.m. Members of the campus and Boulder communities who knew him and would like to pay their respects to his family and friends are invited to attend.

The University of Colorado at Boulder campus will be awash in imaginative and creative minds as thousands of students from around the world converge to compete in the 23rd annual Odyssey of the Mind World Finals May 22-25. About 700 teams will participate in the event, which challenges students to come up with the most creative, original and imaginative ways to solve a selection of problems.

Editors: Please note students listed from your community. Eighteen undergraduate students in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Colorado at Boulder have received the prestigious Jacob Van Ek Award for outstanding academic achievement and contributions to the university and Boulder communities. The recipients were honored May 9 along with faculty members they named as mentors. The award was established in 1973 to honor Jacob Van Ek, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at CU-Boulder from 1929 to 1959. Van Ek died in 1994 at the age of 97.

The University of Colorado at Boulder will host a Women and Tobacco Trade-In Event on Monday, May 13, to highlight the special risks that tobacco use poses to females. Women are asked to trade in their ashtrays, cigarettes or tobacco company promotional items such as key chains, lighters and bottle openers for a free T-shirt listing the "Top Ten Reasons for Women in Colorado to Quit Smoking" plus helpful information on the quitting process.

People who plan to attend the University of Colorado at Boulder commencement exercises May 10 at 9:30 a.m. in Folsom Stadium will join a crowd of about 20,000 and should plan to arrive early. The majority of parking for the ceremony will be in lot 436 on Regent Drive, just south of Colorado Avenue. Close-in parking and drop-off for persons who have difficulty walking will be along Colorado Avenue south of the stadium. People who want to access the drop-off area should do so well before the student procession reaches the stadium. The student procession begins at 9 a.m.