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Note to Editors: Photographers and reporters are invited to attend the events at Macky Auditorium and the CU-Boulder Heritage Center in Old Main. CU-Boulder astronaut-alumnus Jim Voss, headed to the International Space Station in three months, will be on campus Dec. 21 and Dec. 22 to receive an honorary degree, speak at the Macky Auditorium and meet with local schoolchildren.

Note to Editors: MillerÂ’s presentation is at 3:20 p.m. PST on Monday, Dec. 18, in San Francisco. The AGU press room telephone number is (415) 905-1007. A study of old and new emu eggshells collected from central Australia indicates a dramatic loss of grasslands beginning roughly 300 years ago was due to the arrival of Europeans and the introduction of exotic grazing animals, according to a new study.

Ancient ice cores indicate air temperatures in Antarctica rose up to 18 degrees Fahrenheit in just a few decades as the last ice age began to wane some 19,000 years ago, the largest and most abrupt warming spike ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere.

Special recognition ceremonies will be hosted by most University of Colorado at Boulder schools and colleges in addition to the main university commencement ceremony on Friday, Dec. 22, at 9:30 a.m. in the Coors Events/Conference Center. Following is a schedule of special events in the schools and colleges to honor the graduates, their families and guests. * Dec. 21 at 3 p.m. in Macky Auditorium, School of Journalism and Mass Communication recognition ceremony. Douglas Looney, senior sports columnist for the Christian Science Monitor, will be the speaker.

NEWS TIP SHEET Noteworthy Graduates for CU-Boulder Commencement December 2000 Marion Brew

Chancellor Richard L. Byyny and Vice Chancellor Phil DiStefano announced today they will step up efforts to correct gender inequities in salaries among University of Colorado at Boulder faculty by doubling the equity salary pool for next year and revising methods for distribution to ensure improved equity. Last year, noting a 2 percent discrepancy between salaries of male and female faculty members, Chancellor Byyny announced a three-year program to rectify the differences and allocated $80,000 for the first year of a gender equity salary pool.

With the holiday shopping season gaining momentum, more consumers than ever will be buying gifts online. Those who bid at Internet auction sites such as eBay should beware of shilling, an illegal practice in which a seller or their friends covertly pose as bona fide bidders and continuously raise the highest bid. The result is that the buyer pays an artificially high price and the seller makes a fraudulent profit.

The Board of Directors of the University of Colorado Foundation Inc. has announced the appointment of Michael M. Byram, president and CEO of MedLogic Global Corp. in Colorado Springs, as the new president of the privately governed nonprofit organization. Byram will assume the post in early January 2001. He succeeds Charles G. McCord, who will be retiring after 20 years at the professional helm of the CU Foundation.

PHOTO OPPORTUNITY Denver Elementary School Children to Tour CU-Boulder Space Center Dec. 13 Note to Editors: Please RSVP to Stefanie Countryman at (303) 735-5308 or Jim Scott at (303) 492-3114 if you plan to have photographers or reporters in attendance.

The tight labor market and fluctuations in the high-tech industry will affect Colorado's economy in 2001 and slow the rate of growth, according to CU-Boulder economist Richard Wobbekind. "The state economy will experience slower growth in 2001," said Wobbekind, director of the Business Research Division. "This is due to the tight labor market, transitions in the high-tech industry and the slower national economy." Wobbekind's annual economic forecast was delivered at Denver's Brown Palace Hotel on Dec. 11 at 1:15 p.m.