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Screenwriter and playwright Heather Hach, a 1993 graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder School of Journalism and Mass Communication, accepts her success in film and theater writing with a mixture of awe and humility. Hach penned the book for "Legally Blonde, The Musical" a first-time playwriting experience that garnered her a Tony Award, Broadway's highest accolade for theater professionals. CBS will air the 61st annual Tony Awards on Sunday, June 10, and Hach plans to attend.

An environmental sensing instrument developed by the University of Colorado at Boulder's Center for Environmental Technology will be flown over Oklahoma several times in June as part of a major field study of climate and weather sponsored by the Department of Energy.

University of Colorado at Boulder researchers will scan Venus during a spacecraft flyby this week using an $8.7 million instrument they designed and built for NASA's MESSENGER Mission, launched in 2004 and speeding toward Mercury.

A group of prominent University of Colorado at Boulder professors will discuss immigration's impact on the U.S. economy, national security and cultural identity during an upcoming summer Alumni Association event. The association's second annual Alumni College, open to CU-Boulder alumni and the public, will take place on Friday, June 15 and Saturday, June 16. Panelists will address the issue of "Immigration: American Identity, Prosperity and National Security" during four panel sessions.

The mysteries of black holes, including what it would be like to fall into one, will be explored during two June shows at the University of Colorado at Boulder's Fiske Planetarium. CU-Boulder Professor Andrew Hamilton will present “Black Holes,” a show intended for a general audience, on June 15 at 8 p.m. On June 16 at 9:30 a.m. he will present the CU Wizards show “Black Holes,” which is geared toward students in grades five through nine. Both shows will be in the planetarium.

The University of Colorado will conduct aerial photography of the Boulder campus and selected sites within the Boulder city limits on Friday, June 1. The flight over campus is in conjunction with the City of Boulder and is planned to take place beginning about 7 a.m., pending favorable weather conditions. Photography should be completed before noon. All flights will conform to current FAA flight regulations.

Newly elected Sierra Club President Robert Cox will teach a summer seminar at the University of Colorado at Boulder that will explore how citizens and other stakeholders contribute to the debate over global warming, climate change and other environmental issues and ultimately shape public policy. As a summer visiting professor, Cox also will participate as a mentor in a national consortium for doctoral students and give a free public talk at the Denver Press Club at 7 p.m. on June 13.

A national symposium at the University of Colorado at Boulder featuring appearances by high-profile musicians, performers and composers will explore the medical, therapeutic and spiritual benefits of music on human health and society. "Music and Health in America" will take place June 28 through June 30 in the Imig Music Building at 18th Street and Euclid Avenue on the CU-Boulder campus and at other Boulder venues.

Shopping for that new high-definition television this summer? Skip it, and take a vacation instead, says a University of Colorado at Boulder psychologist who studies happiness. Assistant Professor Leaf Van Boven has conducted numerous surveys and experiments spanning several years and has found that life experiences, such as vacations, generally make people from various walks of life happier than material possessions.

NASA has awarded the University of Colorado at Boulder $1.2 million to design and build a rocket payload to probe a nearby interstellar cloud with new technology that may help scientists better understand the mass and evolution of distant galaxies.