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"Black Holes and Relativity," a presentation by professor Andrew Hamilton, is the first in a series of live public astronomy shows at Fiske Planetarium at the University of Colorado at Boulder. The program will be held on Friday Sept. 10 and Tuesday, Sept. 14, at 7:30 p.m. "Black Holes and Relativity" includes recent Hubble Space Telescope observations of possible black holes in distant galaxies and a look at other evidence of black holes in our own Milky Way galaxy. It features a fantastic but scientifically accurate view of a one-way flight into a black hole.

Three members of the CU-Boulder-headquartered Optoelectronics Computing Systems Center were selected by the Optical Society of America to represent the U.S. optics industry at a recent U.S. House of Representatives reception. Hosted by the Coalition for National Science Funding, the event was designed to highlight past results of government-supported science and to illustrate the benefits and need for continued federal support.

With prize money driving Business Plan competition prestige, recent funding pledges have propelled the prize money for CU-Boulder's entrepreneurship Business Plan competition to $45,000 — among the highest prize totals in the nation. The Business Plan competition culminates students’ semester-long team project of creating a comprehensive plan for a new enterprise. Teams include undergraduate and graduate business and engineering students.

Editors: The conference is open by invitation only but is open to reporters. An investment conference on Sept. 10-11, sponsored by the University of Colorado at Boulder's Burridge Center, will study the impact of a company's size on investment strategy -- including the dramatic effect Y2K may have on smaller firms' stock performance. Unlike their larger counterparts, small firms' stocks typically fluctuate dramatically during the first week of the year. Conference participants will explore potential ramifications fueled by Y2K uncertainties.

CU-Boulder students, faculty and staff are invited to attend a Community Meeting at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 31, at the University Memorial Center on campus to answer questions about the rape of a student off campus early Sunday morning and to learn more about campus counseling and other services available to the university community. The meeting will be in the Glenn Miller Ballroom of the UMC and is open to all interested members of the campus community.

Richard L. Byyny, chancellor of the University of Colorado at Boulder, will deliver his annual address on the status of women at CU-Boulder next Thursday, Sept.2. The address takes place at 3 p.m. in room 235 of the University Memorial Center, at the corner of Broadway and Euclid Avenue. Members of the public are invited to attend the address and the reception afterwards. The event is being hosted by the chancellor, the universityÂ’s Office of Diversity and Equity and the ChancellorÂ’s Committee on Women.

Wandering barnyard animals may have sparked some of this nationÂ’s bloodiest conflicts between early English settlers and American Indians, according to Virginia DeJohn Anderson, associate professor of American History at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Anderson has begun writing a book that will examine people and animals in 17th century America, focusing on New England and the Chesapeake colonies of Virginia and Maryland.

Editors: A list of parents and students available for comment is attached. ItÂ’s no secret that education can be an expensive item these days but the University of Colorado at Boulder is doing its best to help ease that burden. For the first time starting this fall, CU-Boulder is launching a computer loan program that will provide free computers for about 160 freshmen to use over the next four years.

Ray Cuzzort, professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Colorado at Boulder, died at his home in Boulder on Monday. He was 72. A memorial service will be held at the Old Main Chapel on campus on Tuesday, Aug. 31, starting at 11 a.m. This will be followed by an informal reception at his home, 1300 Elder Ave., at 12:30 p.m. Cuzzort, who was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and received his doctorate from the University of Minnesota, began working at CU-Boulder in 1966, was chair of sociology in the early 1980s and retired in 1988.

The Office of the Registrar at the University of Colorado at Boulder will join the other enrollment departments--Admissions, Financial Aid, and Orientation--in the division of academic affairs on Sept. 1, according to Phil DiStefano, vice chancellor for academic affairs. The Registrar's Office works closely with enrollment services and all of the colleges and schools to provide registration, academic scheduling, record-keeping, information services and academic support to students, faculty and the campus community.