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Roop L. Mahajan has withdrawn his name from consideration for the position of dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Mahajan, who is serving as interim dean of the college for the 2001-02 academic year, was one of five finalists named for the position last month. He cited personal and professional reasons for his decision to withdraw. A CU-Boulder faculty member for 10 years and director of two interdisciplinary research centers, Mahajan also leads the college's initiative in micro and nano systems.

The Bursar's Office at the University of Colorado at Boulder is offering two new services that will enable students and other student-approved payers to receive monthly tuition and fee bills over the Web. The Bursar's Office also will give students the opportunity to submit payments online from checking or savings accounts, using an electronic interface.

The Aloha Club of the University of Colorado at Boulder will host a Lu'au April 14 at 4:30 p.m. in the Glenn Miller Ballroom on the CU-Boulder campus. Tickets cost $15 for students and $20 for non-students and will be sold at the University Memorial Center in front of Baby Does coffee shop April 1 through April 5 and April 8 through April 12 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The University of Colorado at Boulder will hold a public meeting on the Williams Village student housing expansion project on April 4 at 7 p.m. at Stearns Central, room 179, in the Williams Village complex. The Williams Village Complex is at the southeast corner of Baseline Road and 30th Street. According to Derrick Watson, project coordinator, the purpose of the meeting is to introduce residents to the new developers of the project, American Campus Communities, and to provide an update on the project's status.

Activities in support of the Day of Silence, a national effort focusing on discrimination of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, will be held April 10 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the University of Colorado at Boulder. An orientation session also will be held on April 9 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Hellems Arts and Sciences Building, room 201. According to Bruce Smail, director of CU-Boulder's GLBT Resource Center, the National Day of Silence provides an opportunity for the CU-Boulder community to highlight voices silenced on college campuses.

Patricia Nelson Limerick, the renowned University of Colorado at Boulder history professor who also serves as the official "University Fool," will put on white face paint and make her annual tour of campus on April 1. Limerick will begin her tour at 10:30 a.m. in her office at the Center of the American West on the west side of Macky Auditorium, room 229. The tour is expected to last about an hour.

It is celebrated every year, and yet no one knows the true origin of April Fool's Day. Some historians say its roots date back to ancient Rome and resemble the festival of Hilaria, while others say April Fool's Day got its start in 16th century France. According to CU-Boulder English professor and folklore historian Michael Bell, one of the problems is that so much of what is written about folklore is based on fabrication and hearsay.

Editors: Photographers are welcome at the April 5 dedication ceremony, which will include Bruce Benson and Bruce Curtis unveiling the new "Bruce Curtis Building" sign. The building is located at Broadway and College Avenue on the CU-Boulder campus. A dedication ceremony for the University of Colorado at Boulder Museum of Natural History's new $6.1 million museum collections building renovation will be held Friday, April 5, at 4 p.m. on the north side of the building.

Note to Editors: Photographers are welcome to take pictures as the exhibit is being set up between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. on April 1. Starship 2040, an interactive NASA exhibit revealing what a commercial spacecraft might be like four decades from now in the year 2040, will visit the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Colorado at Boulder on April 2 and April 3.

Three University of Colorado professors have been awarded a $238,000 grant to improve computer software that helps people in companies and organizations make better decisions. CU-Boulder Leeds School of Business Professors Fred Glover and Manuel Laguna, along with CU-Denver business Professor Gary Kochenberger, were awarded the one-year grant by the Office of Naval Research.