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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.

The CU Business Advancement Center, part of the University of Colorado at Boulder, has won a national award for developing international markets for Colorado environmental companies. The project, "Malaysia-Colorado Cleaner Production Policy and Technology Exchange," was named "outstanding" in the economic development category of the Project of the Year Awards competition sponsored by the National Association of Management and Technical Assistance Centers.

Editors: For additional information on the award recipients contact Greg Swenson at the CU-Boulder Office of News Services at (303) 492-3113. The University of Colorado at Boulder will honor four alumni with prestigious awards at the university commencement ceremony on Friday, Dec. 22, at 9:30 a.m. at the Coors Events/Conference Center.

The University of Colorado at Boulder will confer 1,888 degrees on Friday, Dec. 22, during university commencement ceremonies at the Coors Events/Conference Center. The winter commencement ceremony will begin at 9:30 a.m. and last about an hour. Guests are expected to be in their seats by 9:10 a.m., and since no tickets are required for the ceremony, early arrival is strongly suggested.

CU-Boulder athletes and coaches will deliver Buffalo Hugs pillows to Boulder Community Hospital on Tuesday, Dec. 12, continuing a program launched this fall to comfort young patients during medical or dental visits. The delivery of 180 Buffalo Hugs will be made at 12:15 p.m. at the Boulder Community Hospital lobby, 1100 Balsam Ave.

Editors: Reporters and photographers are welcome to attend the competition Dec. 13 in rooms 224 and 216 of the business college. Call Susan Kelley, 492-2823, for information. Prize money for the University of Colorado at Boulder's 2000 business plan competition, scheduled Dec. 13 on campus, is at its highest level ever, putting CU's event in the top tier of business-plan competitions in the nation. The 2000 Bank One Business Plan Competition gives students the opportunity to present a comprehensive plan supporting an innovative concept for a product or service.

The communication department at the University of Colorado at Boulder received five awards at the annual meeting of the National Communication Association last month. Communication Professor Gerard Hauser received the Marie Hochmuth Nichols Award for his book "Vernacular Voices: The Rhetoric of Publics and Public Spheres." Hauser, who is chair of the communication department, is the author of two books and numerous research articles.

An article to be published in the U.S. Department of EducationÂ’s Winter 2000 newsletter will feature the Web site CU 4 K12, which gives teachers access to information and educational programs from the University of Colorado at Boulder for use in the classroom. The site is at www.colorado.edu/cu4k12 . The Department of Education newsletter circulates to 8,000 schools regionally covering Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota and Utah.

People waking up on Christmas morning to find a piece of the sun missing will be relieved to know that Santa didnÂ’t give it away as a gift. Rather they will be seeing the final solar eclipse of the second millennium. About 40 percent of the sun will be covered at the peak of the partial eclipse, when the moon passing between the Earth and sun will cast a shadow over Colorado, according to experts at the Sommers-Bausch Observatory at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

AlaskaÂ’s Columbia Glacier, heralded as the worldÂ’s speediest glacier, appears to be on a course to disintegrate and evolve into a spectacular fjord rivaling Glacier Bay in the coming years, according to a University of Colorado at Boulder researcher.