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Sommers-Bausch Observatory at the University of Colorado at Boulder will host a special public open house on Friday, Dec. 14, between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., to allow visitors to safely view a partial eclipse of the sun using the observatory's solar telescope. According to Keith Gleason, a coordinator at the observatory, the moon will obscure 15 percent of the diameter of the sun at maximum eclipse, which occurs at 2:40 p.m. local time.

The CU-Boulder Leeds School of Business will present its 37th annual Colorado Business Economic Outlook Forum at 1:15 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 17, in the Grand Ballroom at the Brown Palace Hotel in Denver. The comprehensive state outlook features trends and forecasts prepared by more than 70 key business, government and industry professionals and is compiled by the Business Research Division at the Leeds School of Business.

On Dec. 12, the University of Colorado at Boulder's student "Solar Decathlon" team will unveil its design of a model solar home, which will generate enough energy to meet daily household needs and even power an electric vehicle. The team will present its design at a reception with Paul Farnan, congressional assistant to Congressman Mark Udall, and Richard King, program manager with the U.S. Department of Energy. The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the CU Henderson Museum, located on Broadway near 15th Street.

Editor's: Photographers and reporters are welcome to attend two gatherings where the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony will be viewed by live satellite downlink: the JILA auditorium on the CU-Boulder campus and the NIST auditorium at 325 Broadway in Boulder. The events are not open to the public.

Several investigators from the University of Colorado's aerospace engineering sciences department are involved with Jason 1, NASA's newest oceanography satellite, scheduled for launch Dec. 7 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. Jason 1 will continue the mission begun in 1992 by the successful TOPEX/POSEIDON spacecraft to monitor global climate interactions between the sea and the atmosphere. The JASON 1 mission is designed to last three years.

Up to six University of Colorado at Boulder researchers will attend a workshop at New York University Dec. 12-13 to present findings related to emergency response and recovery efforts following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on America. The researchers were among 17 from around the nation who were funded by the CU-Boulder Natural Hazards Center, in cooperation with the National Science Foundation, to study social and behavioral aspects of the attacks as part of its Quick Response Research Program.

Ron Stump, vice chancellor for student affairs at the University of Colorado at Boulder, announced today that Deborah Coffin has been named Interim Director of Housing effective Dec. 1. The appointment is pending approval of Chancellor Richard Byyny. Coffin was assistant director of housing at CU-Boulder and has many years of experience in higher education student housing.

Effective Jan. 1, a new policy at CU-Boulder will establish CU e-mail as an official means of sending information to students. The policy states that all students will receive an official e-mail account from the university and students are responsible for maintaining their official CU e-mail address.

A Latino Dance Party is set for Friday, Dec. 7th, at the University of Colorado at Boulder to give CU students, faculty, staff and Boulder community members a chance to dance away 'end of the semester' and 'beginning of the holidays' stress. Staff, students, faculty and area residents are welcome to attend the Latino Dance Party, which is free and open to the public.

A panel discussion on the role of women in Afghanistan will be held on Sunday, Dec. 9, from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the Mathematics Building, room 100, at the University of Colorado at Boulder. The keynote speaker will be Fruzan Parvanta, a native of Afghanistan. A representative of the CU-Boulder Muslim Â鶹ÒùÔº Association will moderate the panel. According to Ellen Maslow, coordinator of the event, Parvanta will report on a conference on Afghan women being held in Brussels later this week.