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The University of Colorado at Boulder's Center for Astrobiology will host a multi-disciplinary panel of experts for its third annual public symposium titled "What Is Life?" at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 10, in Cristol Chemistry Building room 140. The field of astrobiology draws from many disciplines to understand what factors determine if there is life beyond Earth

Achievements, challenges and issues for women in the news media are highlighted in a series of special October programs sponsored by the University of Colorado at Boulder's School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Tad Bartimus, a reporter for The Associated Press for 25 years, is a Hearst Professional-in-Residence at the school and will be on campus Oct. 8-13. During her tenure at AP, she served as bureau chief, war correspondent in Vietnam, foreign correspondent in Europe, Northern Ireland and Latin America and as a special correspondent in the United States.

Five and a half weeks into a busy and eventful semester, students at the University of Colorado at Boulder are getting a break with two days off classes on Oct. 4 and Oct. 5 for fall break. Most students will have the opportunity to get some rest and relaxation before they begin to prepare for midterms and finals. But some have said they want to take the time to evaluate where they are in the semester and plan for the remaining two months.

The Black Alumni Association at the University of Colorado at Boulder will host a reception for Mary Mothershed Pryor, the university's first black homecoming queen, on Oct. 13 at 6 p.m. at the Koenig Alumni Center, 1202 University Ave. Pryor was crowned in 1963. She will be formally recognized by President Elizabeth Hoffman during a ceremony on the field at the CU-Texas A&M football game earlier that afternoon. The game begins at 1:30 p.m. Oct. 12-14 is CU-Boulder's Homecoming Weekend, dubbed the "Back to Boulder Weekend" by the Alumni Association.

The University of Colorado School of Law's Silicon Flatirons Telecommunications Program will hold a conference titled "The Challenges of Convergence" on Monday, Oct. 8, in the Lindsley Memorial Courtroom. The forum, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., will address the technical, business and legal aspects of technological convergence.

A new cab queue is being tested in front of Boulder's Fox Theater on the Hill starting tonight in an effort to reduce drinking and driving and to better facilitate taxi traffic between the Hill, Pearl Street and other Boulder locations.

NEWS TIP SHEET New INSTAAR Computational and Imaging Facility to be Dedicated Oct. 1 CU-Boulder's Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research will dedicate a powerful new $1.2 million computational and imaging facility on Monday, Oct. 1, that will help researchers and students study marine geophysics, ice sheet changes and natural disaster mitigation.

Kay Miller, an associate professor in CU-Boulder's fine arts department, has received a $10,000 award from the Creative Capital Foundation, a national nonprofit organization that supports artists pursuing innovative approaches to form and content. Miller's work, titled "Kiss of the Wild," will include five new paintings that depict the relationship between the human and spiritual worlds. "Kiss of the Wild" will draw upon indiginous people's understandings of and approaches to contemporary social and environmental issues.

University of Colorado Associate Professor Herbert Covert has been awarded a Fulbright grant by the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board to conduct research in Vietnam. Covert, of CU-Boulder's anthropology department, will conduct paleontological field research with colleagues from the Geologic Museum of the Department of Geology and Minerals of Vietnam in Hanoi. He also will study primate conservation and ecology with colleagues at the Endangered Primate Rescue Center of Cuc Phuong National Park.

The University of Colorado at Boulder will host an international Workshop on Earth Systems Engineering, Oct. 3-6, aimed at promoting the integration of green design, renewable energies and other sustainability concepts in engineering education, research and practice. Two free, public events will be held as part of the conference, including an evening lecture by Amory B. Lovins, chief executive officer of the non-profit Rocky Mountain Institute in Snowmass, Colo., which will kick off the workshop.