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University of Colorado at Boulder fire safety officials are warning students about the dangers of lighting candles and other open-flame items and leaving them unattended. Students, faculty and staff are prohibited from using candles and open-flame devices in residence halls and other campus buildings except in rare situations and only after obtaining a permit from the campus fire marshal. "Candles start fires. If you light one, do not leave it unattended until you fully extinguish it," advised CU-Boulder Fire Marshal Mansour Alipour-Fard.

National Public Radio commentator and writer Andrei Codrescu will give a free, public lecture titled "Lose a Country, Gain a World: Reflections on Exile" at the University of Colorado at Boulder on Friday, Feb. 16. The lecture will begin at 4 p.m. in the Center for British and Irish Studies room on the fifth floor of Norlin Library and is sponsored by CU-Boulder's Center for Humanities and the Arts.

For the first time, scientists have used a spaceborne instrument to track the origin and movements of water vapor throughout Earth's atmosphere, providing a new perspective on the dominant role Earth's water cycle plays in weather and climate.

Baritone Patrick Mason, a University of Colorado at Boulder associate music professor who has been nominated for a Grammy Award this year, will perform in three free campus concerts as part of the annual music faculty series. On Feb. 6, Mason will perform songs by U.S. and British songwriters, including Roger Quilter, Noel Coward, John Harbison and John Musto, during a concert titled "Crossing the Pond." Pianists Mutsumi Moteki, Robert Spillman, Margaret McDonald and Charles Koslowske also will be featured.

Hip hop has the potential to be a vehicle for powerful social and political change, says a University of Colorado at Boulder professor who is using the musical genre to teach a new generation about African-American history. "Why are we as a generation overlooking the contributions of the civil rights movement?" said Reiland Rabaka, an assistant professor of African-American studies. "There's a lot we can learn."

A new podcast produced by the University of Colorado at Boulder News Services office features safety expert Mike Morrison of the department of Environmental Health and Safety talking about the safe use of disposable masks in the event of a flu pandemic. To access the podcast go to www.colorado.edu/news/podcasts/index.html and click "play" on "Use of Fitted Masks in Case of a Flu Pandemic." Recent podcasts on "Safe Schools" and "CU-Boulder Passes Peace Corps Milestone" also are posted on the Web site.

Several University of Colorado at Boulder scientists involved in editing or authoring sections of the report of the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change slated for release Feb. 2 in Paris are available for media interviews.

The University of Colorado at Boulder has been awarded a contract from the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research to design and build a small student satellite to study variations in Earth's atmosphere and its effects on spacecraft.

The Colorado Hispanic Bar Association awarded Lorenzo Trujillo, assistant dean at the University of Colorado at Boulder School of Law, the Chris Miranda Outstanding Hispanic Lawyer Award for 2006. "Each year the association presents the award to an outstanding Hispanic attorney who has shown a continual commitment to the Hispanic community and the principles of the legal profession," said Awilda Marquez, president of the Colorado Hispanic Bar Association.

The reasons that compel some business leaders and executives to behave in ways that damage their careers or risk the financial viability of their companies are examined in a new book by CU-Boulder business Professor Mathew Hayward.