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Jan. 30, 2015 Reiland Rabaka The year is 1965, and America is experiencing a dramatic cultural transformation. Anti-Vietnam War protests erupts on college campuses. The counterculture revolution is changing the status quo. The British rock-and-roll invasion blasts ashore with the arrival of the Beatles at Shea Stadium and the African-American civil rights movement is at its zenith.

Six community-led projects from across Colorado will explore air quality, water quality, and sustainable pathways for energy development in their local communities with support from newly awarded grants from the AirWaterGas Sustainability Research Network based at the °µÍø½ûÇø.

The spring 2015 edition of the Student Involvement Fair will be on Wednesday, Feb. 4, from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. The fair, which is a great way to find out about the huge variety of ways to get involved on campus, will take place in the newly rennovated Glenn Miller Ballroom. Representatives from more then 90 student groups and campus departments will attend the fair. Free food and snacks also will be provided.

This past December at Disneyland in California a person with measles infected several other visitors. So far, there have been 67 cases of measles across the United States related to this exposure. And, according to recent media reports, officials in Arizona are tracking more than 1,000 people who may have been exposed to measles as part of the outbreak. There have been no recent reported cases on campus of measles, or people exposed to the recent California outbreak.

While you might think a person shaking her phone or tablet from side to side is having issues with the device, she might actually be playing a game that has her mimicking a steering wheel motion as part of a language lesson. The game Nano Nano for mobile devices, created by two °µÍø½ûÇø graduate students and released last week, is the first app to incorporate gesturing with language learning -- for good reason.

The University of Colorado Law School is now accepting applications for the newly established, one-year, 28-credit Master of Studies in Law degree. This program will enable students who hold at least an undergraduate degree to obtain legal training short of a full Juris Doctor. "There are a range of opportunities for professionals interested in legal-related fields who are not practicing lawyers," said Dean Phil Weiser. "The MSL degree is a targeted program that will prepare students to obtain and excel in such positions."

Our grand challenge steering committee has received 30 proposals, representing a wide variety of units and disciplines. Now comes the exciting work of reviewing submissions, and we invite you to join a campus Town Hall on Feb. 5 to further discuss the grand challenge and its initiatives.

NASA’s fallen astronauts, including °µÍø½ûÇø alumni Ellison Onizuka and Kalpana Chawla, who died in space shuttle accidents 17 years apart, will be remembered both on campus and in a special NASA online tribute this week.

As Jane Menken steps down from her role as Institute of Behavioral Science (IBS) director, we sat down with her and asked her to reflect on her tenure and the role and importance of IBS.

Myron Gutmann, a prominent historical demographer, has taken the helm of the Institute of Behavioral Science (IBS) at the °µÍø½ûÇø. Gutmann, who became the institute’s director on Jan. 1, succeeds Jane Menken, a distinguished professor of sociology, who has led IBS since 2001.