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Personal stories and eyewitness accounts of the 1930s Dust Bowl disaster on the high plains will be part of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Timothy Egan's public discussion Jan. 9 at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Egan will discuss his new book, "The Worst Hard Time," at 6:30 p.m. in the Old Main Chapel. The event is free and open to the public, and a book signing and reception will follow the talk in Old Main's CU Heritage Center.

The University of Colorado at Boulder's long heritage with NASA planetary missions will continue Jan. 17 with the launch of a student space dust instrument on the New Horizons Mission to Pluto from Florida's Kennedy Space Center.

A region of Mars that some planetary scientists believe was once a shallow lakebed and likely habitable for life may not have been so wet after all, according to a new University of Colorado at Boulder study.

"I am delighted to welcome Coach Hawkins to the CU-Boulder campus community. His record of achievements on the field is impressive, but he also brings a deep commitment to the personal and academic growth of student-athletes in his charge. I believe Coach Hawkins will be a good fit as well for the Boulder community, bringing an enthusiastic attitude to his relationships with members of the community. I look forward to working with him and Athletics Director Mike Bohn in moving the football program forward while focusing on the best interests of our students."

Editors: Names of degree candidates from your area are available by e-mailing greg.swenson@colorado.edu . This list was accurate as of Dec. 16 but is subject to final grade reports. Local students were among the 2,174 students who received degrees Dec. 16 during spring commencement ceremonies on the University of Colorado at Boulder campus.

Chris Lile, a math teacher at Columbine High School in Littleton, will be recognized as an Outstanding Colorado High School Teacher and presented with a $1,000 award from the University of Colorado at Boulder's College of Engineering and Applied Science tonight, Dec. 15. The new award recognizes a Colorado teacher or counselor who has provided inspiration, guidance or instruction leading to a student's future success in the College of Engineering and Applied Science. Nominations were solicited from the college's outstanding graduates.

NEWS TIP SHEET Despite continuing violence, Iraqi voters are casting ballots today to choose a parliament that will be charged with creating a government to run the country for a full four-year term.

University of Colorado at Boulder classics Professor Eckart Schütrumpf's quest to assemble little-known philosophical works by Aristotle has earned the professor a $75,000 German research award. Schütrumpf's Alexander von Humboldt Research Award for foreign scholars in the humanities was granted for distinguished accomplishments in research and teaching and for the pursuit of a project considered worthy of funding. Schütrumpf is considered one of the world's foremost experts on Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher who lived from 384 to 322 B.C.

Two vice chancellors at the University of Colorado at Boulder are offering $5,000 each for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for a racist and threatening e-mail message that was sent to a student government leader on Nov. 16.

A bullwhip, hydrogen-filled balloons and homemade musical instruments will be used during the Dec. 17 CU Wizards show "Boom! The Physics of Sound and Air Pressure." The free program begins at 9:30 a.m. in room G1B30 of the Duane Physics building on the CU-Boulder campus. Michael Dubson, a senior instructor in the physics department, will implode a 50-gallon steel drum using air pressure, create a sonic boom with a bullwhip and stage a tug-of-war with the pressure of the atmosphere.