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How do you ask your boss for a raise? Why should you care about state politics? What are the rights and responsibilities of an ethical businessperson? WouldnÂ’t it have been nice if someone would have taught you these things? ThatÂ’s what the University of Colorado at Boulder will try to accomplish as it kicks off its pilot program in workplace readiness. The effort to meet increasing demands in todayÂ’s complex workplace begins February 3.

Nine students from the University of Colorado at Boulder have received scholarships to study in other countries this spring. The scholarships were awarded by the Study Abroad Office at CU-Boulder and the Colorado Commission on Higher Education (CCHE). They will help cover expenses in the Study Abroad program for Colorado residents who are underrepresented on the Boulder campus because they are ethnic minorities or are from the state's rural areas.

Approximately 100 graduates of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Colorado at Boulder were initiated into the Phi Beta Kappa scholastic honorary organization this winter. Phi Beta Kappa taps the top 6 percent of graduates receiving degrees each year in the liberal arts. The minimum grade-point average is 3.65. The Phi Beta Kappa Society was founded in 1776 at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va., and has 250 chapters nationwide. CU-Boulder's Alpha Chapter, the first in Colorado, was chartered in 1904.

A University of Colorado at Boulder journalism professor has been elected to a top position in AfricaÂ’s largest communication education organization. Polly McLean, associate professor of journalism and mass communication, was elected to the executive committee of the African Council for Communication Education (ACCE). She is the first non-African born member of the ACCEÂ’s highest governing body.

EDITORS: Reporters are invited to attend the Virtual Chautauqua press conference at 10 a.m. Friday, Feb. 5, at the Colorado Council on the Arts. Project organizers and funding agency reps will be available. The Virtual Chautauqua web site will be accessible Friday at www.artscomm.org/virtualchautauqua .

The Success in Engineering through Excellence and Diversity program, formerly known as the Minority Engineering Program or MEP, has received national recognition in a new book written by William Bowen and Derek Bok, former presidents of Princeton and Harvard universities, respectively.

Claudia Mills, a CU-Boulder philosophy professor and author of several childrenÂ’s books, will be the first featured speaker in a lecture series at the CU Cortez Center beginning Friday, Feb. 5, at 7:30 p.m. MillsÂ’ talk,"Using Philosophy To Learn Along With Your Children," kicks off the CU-Boulder Lecture Series in Cortez. Professor Mills' books include "Dinah Forever," "Losers, Inc.," "Gus and Grandpa," and "One Small Lost Sheep."

The University of Colorado at Boulder Friends of the Libraries will host a performance by Boulder area singer Juli Steinhauer at CU-Boulder on Wednesday, Feb. 10. The event is free and open to the public and will be held at the Music Theatre in the Imig Music Building from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wayne Scott, professor emeritus of the College of Music, and Dean Ross, bass player, will accompany Steinhauer in performing a program of popular music. A tour of the Music Library and a discussion and display of the Music Library's popular music collection will follow the performance.

The CU College of Architecture and Planning has been ranked for the second consecutive year among the top programs in the country by the Gourman Report, a nationally recognized guide to institutions of higher learning. The numerical ratings contained in the latest annual edition of the Gourman Report placed CUÂ’s undergraduate planning program in ninth place, scoring 4.66 on a five-point scale. The program held the same ranking last year.

The departments of Telecommunication Services and Information Technology Services at the University of Colorado at Boulder have been merged into a single organization effective Jan. 15 in response to the growing demand for information services. "Data, voice and video are coming together in the modern world of information technology," said Bobby Schnabel, associate vice chancellor for academic and campus technology.