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An $88 million NASA satellite designed and built by the University of Colorado at Boulder launched in late January 2003 to study variations in the sun is performing flawlessly after more than a year in orbit, scientists say. Launched aboard a Pegasus XL rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., the Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment, or SORCE, was developed to study how and why variations in the sun affect Earth's atmosphere and climate.

A University of Colorado at Boulder expert on landscape ecology and prairie dog disease has been named a 2004 Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow in recognition of her outstanding leadership ability and desire to communicate scientific issues beyond academic audiences. Associate Professor Sharon Collinge is among 20 Leopold fellows selected this year from around the United States and Guam. Collinge holds a joint appointment in the CU-Boulder department of ecology and evolutionary biology and environmental studies.

Robert Kirshner, a Harvard University astrophysicist and author, will discuss how the light of distant exploding stars could validate one of Einstein's most controversial theories during a March 30 lecture at the University of Colorado at Boulder. "A Blunder Undone: The Accelerating Universe" will be held in Macky Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Nobel Peace Prize-winner Desmond Tutu will kick off a six-day "Stop the Silence" AIDS symposium March 29 at the University of Colorado at Boulder. The former archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa, is the keynote speaker of the symposium that includes advocates and scholars from CU-Boulder and Harvard University. Tutu will discuss his new book, "God Has a Dream: A Vision of Hope for Our Times," at 7 p.m. in the Coors Events/Conference Center.

Editors: Reporters and photographers are welcome to attend the symposium free of charge. Job "offshoring" and its potential positive and negative effects on the Colorado and national economy will be the topic of a March 25 symposium in Denver co-sponsored by the University of Colorado at Boulder's Leeds School of Business and the Mountain States Council of AeA, the nation's largest high-tech trade association.

Steven Manaster, dean of the CU-Boulder Leeds School of Business since 1999, today announced his decision not to seek reappointment when his current contract as dean expires on June 30. Manaster informed University of Colorado at Boulder Provost Phil DiStefano of his decision last week and began meeting with faculty members throughout the day yesterday. Manaster said his announcement comes at a time when the school needs to develop broader support to advance and secure its future.

Editor's Note: Digital photographs of earlier Engineers Without Borders projects can be obtained by contacting Carol Rowe at (303) 492-7426 or carol.rowe@colorado.edu . University of Colorado at Boulder engineering students will be part of a team traveling to Rwanda, March 19 to March 31, to work with a village decimated by genocide just short of a decade ago and now suffering from poverty, insufficient food and unsafe drinking water.

A new survey published in the Jan. 24th issue of The Economist in London ranked the University of Colorado at Boulder the 11th best public academic university in the world and the 31st best academic university globally in 2003. Also published by the European Commission and the European Union, the two-year study, which was completed at the end of December 2003, was undertaken by China's Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

The CU Parents Association at the University of Colorado at Boulder has awarded $42,000 in grants to 22 campus organizations that help enrich student life. The grants are awarded annually to CU-Boulder organizations whose projects build community, promote diversity, improve student safety or meet other association goals.

A memorial service celebrating the life of Anthony Barker, associate dean of natural sciences and a professor of physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder, will be held Thursday, March 11, at 3 p.m. in the Old Main Chapel. The service will be followed by a reception in the CU Heritage Center on the third floor of Old Main. Barker, 42, died of natural causes the weekend of Feb 28-29 at his ski condominium in Steamboat Springs, Colo.