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Second graders in the "I Have a Dream" program at Sanchez Elementary School in Lafayette are excitedly designing animal costumes and masks for this Saturday's "Procession of the Species" program. "Procession of the Species," an artistic celebration of the natural world, will be on Saturday, April 20, at 10 a.m. at Central Park in Boulder. The students will show off their creations at the procession. The second graders have been learning about Boulder County's biodiversity -- the variety of all living things and their interactions - in recent weeks.

An orientation event for students at the University of Colorado at Boulder who plan to move off campus next fall is set for April 24th at La Iguana Taqueria on the Hill, from noon to 3 p.m.

"Spirits from the Sky: Thunder on the Land," a new star show produced in collaboration with the Pawnee Nation will debut at the University of Colorado at Boulder's Fiske Planetarium on Saturday, April 27, at 2 p.m. The show will be preceded by a traditional Pawnee blessing ceremony and songs, and will be followed by a reception. Most of the show is pre-recorded, but there also is a live portion. It will be repeated Tuesday, April 30, at 7:30 p.m.

An accounting professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder Leeds School of Business will travel to China next week to advise Chinese business faculty on environmental education issues. Naomi Soderstrom will attend the World Resources Institute's China Business/Environment Learning and Leadership (China BELL) conference in Beijing April 22-24. She will advise professors from Chinese business schools on conducting courses and developing curricula that includes environmental and sustainable management topics.

Â鶹ÒùÔº at the CU-Boulder Leeds School of Business will offer their recommendations on how Colorado and specific tourist destinations can best employ sustainable business practices at the first Sustainable Practices in Tourism event on Thursday, April 25.

Irene Pepperberg, an internationally known animal behaviorist, will present "In Search of King Solomon's Ring: Studies on the Cognitive and Communicative Abilities of Grey Parrots," on Tuesday, April 23, at 7:30 p.m. in Muenzinger Psychology, room E050. The talk, which is free and open to the public, will focus on Pepperberg's nearly 25 years of research on the intelligence of Grey parrots.

Â鶹ÒùÔº in the College of Engineering and Applied Science will apply their design skills and engineering know-how for the sheer fun of it this week during Engineering Days 2002 at the University of Colorado at Boulder. The annual Egg Drop, along with a Vertical Takeoff and Landing Challenge and a Model Rocket Launch, are some of the highlights of this year's event. Engineering Days, or E-Days, is a weeklong, tongue-in-cheek celebration of the engineering profession organized by students each spring. Â鶹ÒùÔº throughout the Boulder campus are invited to participate.

The United Mexican American Â鶹ÒùÔº group at the University of Colorado at Boulder will present a free public concert and Chicano film screening to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. Chicano actor-singers Daniel and Emiliano Valdez of Teatro Campesino will perform a free concert April 29 in CU's Old Main Chapel at 7 p.m. Their music is a fusion of Chicano soul, Latino jazz and traditional Mexicano-influenced farmworker corridos. A reception will follow the concert.

University of Colorado at Boulder Provost Phil DiStefano has approved a search committee recommendation nominating Todd Gleeson as the new dean of the College of Arts and Sciences pending approval of the Board of Regents at the board's May meeting.

Editors: The CU Jazz Ensemble will perform Friday, April 19, in Grusin Hall at the Imig Music Building, 18th Street and Euclid Ave., on the Boulder campus. During a military tour of duty in the hills of South Korea, the last thing that John Davis, now CU-Boulder's director of jazz studies, thought he would learn was a love of education and teaching. But that's exactly what happened to Davis, who today leads one of Colorado's fastest growing collegiate jazz programs.