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Researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder have found that the extent of Arctic sea ice, the floating mass of ice that covers the Arctic Ocean, is continuing its rapid decline.

The coroner's report concerning the death of Lynn Gordon Bailey Jr., as well as recent events at several other universities, tragically underscores the dangers associated with the misuse and abuse of alcohol. We are committed to doing everything we can to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.

In sports, there's a saying that the best offense is a good defense. The same is true for computer security, according to University of Colorado at Boulder researcher John Black. Black and CU-Boulder graduate student Martin Cochran and undergraduate student Ryan Gardner tested the security of the popular Web-based Internet Chess Club and showed that the site wasn't secure. In fact, they proved users could cheat rather easily. Internet Chess Club has more than 30,000 members worldwide and claims Madonna, Nicolas Cage, Will Smith and Gary Kasparov as players.

Hugo G. Rodeck, former director of the University of Colorado Museum, died Sept. 28 in Boulder. He was 102. Rodeck was appointed director of the CU Museum in 1939 and held the position until his retirement in 1971. His association with the museum began in 1929 when he worked as a graduate assistant before being named curator in 1933, a position he held until 1939.

Rohm and Haas Co. of Philadelphia is the winner of the inaugural Summit Award for Environmental Leadership presented today by the University of Colorado at Boulder's Leeds School of Business. The chemical company was one of three finalists for the award given by the Leeds School's Center for Business and Society. Albertsons Inc. of Boise, Idaho, and Horizon Organic of Longmont, Colo., also were recognized as finalists.

A NASA institute has selected a new University of Colorado at Boulder proposal for further study that describes how existing technologies can be used to study planets around distant stars with the help of an orbiting "starshade." The concept by CU-Boulder Professor Webster Cash of the Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy was one of 12 proposals selected for funding Sept. 28 by the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts, or NIAC. Cash's proposal details the methods needed to design and build what essentially is a giant "pinhole camera" in space.

A University of Colorado at Boulder professor returned from Florida this week after a visit to study the effectiveness of emergency operations at animal shelters in an area hard hit by one of the recent hurricanes. Pets are a major problem during hurricanes and other disasters because people aren't allowed to take cats and dogs into emergency shelters and most animal shelters already are filled to capacity under normal conditions, said Leslie Irvine, associate professor of sociology. After Hurricane Andrew struck Florida in 1992, about 2,000 cats and dogs were left homeless.

An action plan for responding to campus issues related to alcohol and the Greek system at the University of Colorado at Boulder was announced Tuesday by Chancellor Richard L. Byyny in his annual "State of the Campus" address. Speaking at Old Main Chapel on campus, Byyny addressed a number of recent issues, including fraternity and sorority life, alcohol, athletics and sexual assault and harassment, as well as strategies for moving the campus forward in a challenging fiscal environment for higher education.

MEDIA TIP SHEET The price of oil produced in the United States, which reached a new all-time high of $50.47 a barrel on Sept. 28, won't drop back down to around $40 until at least summer 2005, according to University of Colorado at Boulder faculty member Jack Edwards. "We may never see the $20 per barrel price of the mid-1990s again," said Edwards, an adjunct professor of geological sciences and a former chief geologist of Shell Oil. Edwards spent 37 years in the oil industry before joining the CU-Boulder faculty in 1992.

Christine Yoshinaga-Itano, interim vice provost and associate vice chancellor for diversity and equity at the University of Colorado at Boulder, has been appointed to the position on a permanent basis, according to Provost Phil DiStefano. Yoshinaga-Itano has held the position for the past year and has coordinated campus efforts to support programs and policies related to diversity and equity on campus, in addition to providing assistance for faculty, staff and students through the CU-Boulder department of equal opportunity.