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The School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Colorado at Boulder has been awarded a $190,061 grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development to train journalists from the West Bank. The project, "Commitment to Peace through the Fourth Estate," will provide intensive, hands-on journalism skills training for 15 members of the West Bank media in a six-week training course from April 4 to May 13.

Senior Bryn Weaver, whose research at the University of Colorado at Boulder commenced before she ever set foot in a classroom, is hoping to be awarded a Fulbright grant next month as the capstone to a stellar educational career that brings a whole new meaning to scholarship.

Editor's note: Reporters and photographers can watch the CU Solar Decathlon team as it builds about 20 Bio-SIP wall panels for the solar home. Construction is scheduled for March 21 or March 22 at the CU Distribution Center, 3300 Walnut St. in Boulder. Call Professor Julee Herdt or student project manager Jeff Lyng for specific times and details.

University of Colorado at Boulder scientists will hold a free public program about the sun and space weather at Fiske Planetarium in celebration of Sun-Earth Day, to be held the evening of the spring equinox on Monday, March 21.

Nick Forster, host and executive producer of the nationwide radio program, etown, will give the CU-Boulder Center of the American West's annual Distinguished Lecture on March 29. Forster will lecture on "100 Years with the King of Western Swing-- How Bob Wills Connected the Dots of American Music" at 7 p.m. in the University Memorial Center, room 235. The event is free and open to the public.

We have noted a number of inaccurate or misleading statements in the media regarding issues related to instructor Phil Mitchell. Here are the facts: 1. Instructor Mitchell was not dismissed. Mitchell is an instructor whose current appointment with the Sewall Academic Program, which runs through May 2005, was renewed for academic year 2005-06. Hiring decisions for the subsequent year (2006-07) will be made in early spring semester of 2006.

The Women's Resource Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder will host its fifth annual retiree banquet and silent auction fundraiser March 31 from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the University Memorial Center, room 235. Tickets are $5 for students and $10 for others. Those who wish to attend should call for reservations because a limited number of tickets will be sold. The center also is calling for silent auction donations including artwork and other items or services. Deadline for donations is March 29.

The connections between work, energy, heat and temperature will be explained during the Saturday, March 19, CU Wizards show "Much Ado °µÍø½ûÇø Absolute Zero." Paul Beale and Scott Kittelman of the University of Colorado at Boulder will present the show at 9:30 a.m. in Duane Physics, room G1B30. Beale is a professor of physics and Kittelman is a researcher in the Program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. The show, aimed primarily at students in grades five through nine, is free and open to the public.

Note to Editors: Contents embargoed until 5 p.m. EST on Monday, March 14. A research team using a novel genetic cloning and sequencing technique has identified a surprisingly high number of airborne pathogens in a Midwest therapy pool, pointing to the need for closer scrutiny of public hot pools, says a new study.

Chancellor Phil DiStefano plans to release the findings of his review related to CU-Boulder Professor Ward Churchill on Monday, March 28. DiStefano said that timeline will allow him and his team to complete the work in accordance with normal university procedures. DiStefano has been assisted in the review by Arts and Sciences Dean Todd Gleeson and Law Dean David Getches. The purpose of the review is to determine whether Professor Churchill may have overstepped his bounds as a faculty member, showing possible cause for dismissal.