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More than $140,000 and hundreds of winter coats, sweaters and other clothing have been donated by the University of Colorado at Boulder community during the holiday season, according to organizers at the university's Office of Community Affairs. Winter Warmth Drive items were collected Nov. 3 to Dec. 5 at CU-Boulder deans' offices, the chancellor's office, the bookstore and other locations and included 247 coats, 118 sweaters, 26 blankets and dozens more hats, scarves, gloves and socks. The CU Bookstore donated several new jackets bearing the CU logo.

According to recent analyses, six-year graduation rates for minority students have risen in line with newly announced improved graduation rates for the overall student body at the University of Colorado at Boulder. The latest data from the Office of Planning and Budget Analysis show 60 percent of Asian Americans entering CU-Boulder since 1994 have graduated within six years, an increase of 5 percent to 10 percent over the rates of those who entered in the early 1990s.

Larry Bell has been appointed director of the Office of International Education at the University of Colorado at Boulder, replacing Michael Delaney who retired in June 2002. Bell has been interim director since last summer while continuing to serve as director of CU-Boulder's International Student and Scholar Services office, a division of the Office of International Education. He was hired in July 2002 for that position, and has more than 25 years of experience managing international education programs at CU-Boulder, CU-Denver and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

NEWS TIP SHEET A CU-Boulder student satellite dubbed "The Little Satellite That Did" re-entered Earth's atmosphere and burned up following nearly six years of collecting valuable data while being controlled from the CU campus.

An estimated 9,000 people are expected to attend the winter commencement ceremony at the University of Colorado at Boulder on Dec. 19 and those planning to drive should arrive early. Commencement begins at 9:30 a.m. in the Coors Events/Conference Center. It is recommended that guests arrive well before 9 a.m. Early arrival will give all guests time to be in their seats by 9:10 a.m. and will avoid delaying the ceremony.

Editors: Contents embargoed from release until Monday, Dec. 15, at 6 a.m. An expanding national economy, led by increased business spending and improving equity markets, has prompted improved economic conditions in Colorado and laid the foundation for modest growth in 2004, according to CU-Boulder economist Richard Wobbekind. Wobbekind's announcement was part of the 39th annual Business Economic Outlook Forum hosted Dec. 15 by the University of Colorado at Boulder's Leeds School of Business.

When it comes to spending money in the pursuit of happiness, the "good life" may be better lived by doing things rather than by having things, according to a University of Colorado at Boulder researcher. In a society that thrives on the pursuit of happiness, a question that often comes to mind, especially around the holiday shopping season, is what really makes us happy. "We found that people receive more enduring pleasure and satisfaction from investing in life experiences than material possessions," said CU-Boulder assistant professor of psychology Leaf Van Boven.

Although rings around planets like Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are relatively short-lived, new evidence implies that the recycling of orbiting debris can lengthen the lifetime of such rings, according to University of Colorado researchers. Strong evidence now implies small moons near the giant planets like Saturn and Jupiter are essentially piles of rubble, said Larry Esposito, a professor at CU-Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics. These re-constituted small bodies are the source of material for planetary rings.

The scientific properties of sound and air pressure are explained when CU Wizard Michael Dubson presents his show, "Boom! The Physics of Sound and Air Pressure," on Saturday, Dec. 20, at 9:30 a.m. in Duane Physics, room G1B30. During the free hour-long show, Dubson, a senior instructor in the physics department at the University of Colorado at Boulder, 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.

The belt of high-energy electrons that normally cradles Earth from afar was greatly enhanced and pushed unusually close to our atmosphere during the violent solar activity that occurred in late October, University of Colorado at Boulder researchers say.