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The earth's interior may contain three to five oceans of water locked within billions of crystals that could help regulate the level of water on the surface of the planet, a ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ at Boulder geologist says. Ten years ago, Professor Joseph Smyth discovered that a mineral called wadsleyite, located 250 miles to 350 miles below the earth's surface, could contain water. The wadsleyite does not contain liquid water, but the elements needed to make water bound up in crystals in solid form.

A report released today by the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ at Boulder summarizes the activities and findings of the first 18 months of the campusÂ’ Sexual Harassment Committee under the current sexual harassment policy. The report, covering the period of Dec. 1, 1995 through May 31, 1997, was submitted to Chancellor Richard L. Byyny by committee Co-Chairs Shari Robertson and Neil Ashby.

Larry Singell, the dean of the College of Business and Administration at the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ at Boulder, will relinquish his position and resume teaching economics before the 1998-99 academic year begins. Singell will have served five years as dean when he steps down. During his tenure as dean, the college has developed a Real Estate Center, the Center for Entrepreneurship and numerous courses and student services.

CU-Boulder MBA students who designed a business plan to fund emerging companies in the healthcare industry won first place in the Bank One Business Plan Competition last night on the Boulder campus. The competition was the culmination of a class taught by Juan Rodriguez, professor of electrical and computer engineering and chairman of Ecrix Corp., Steve Lawrence, professor in the College of Business, and instructor Mike Befeler, a principal and founder of Storage Systems Marketing Inc. Rodriguez is a co-founder of both Storage Technology Corp. and Exabyte Corp.

New data from a ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ at Boulder instrument on board the Galileo spacecraft now at Jupiter indicates one of its four large moons, Callisto, has oxygen on its surface and another, Io, continues to emit hot volcanic gases.

Former CU-Boulder Chancellor Roderic Park and his wife, Cathy, have contributed $100,000 to create renovated space on campus for the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Museum, current Chancellor Richard L. Byyny, reported today. Park served as chancellor from August 1994 through January 1997. Dr. Byyny said the former Geology Building would be the new site for the museumÂ’s collections of natural history and anthropology. The Laboratory of Plant Systematics and Evolution will bear the names of Roderic and Catherine Park.

Communities seeking to reduce juvenile violence have a new and practical alternative to building more prisons, according to the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence at the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ at Boulder. "After reviewing over 400 violence prevention programs, we have identified 10 programs that meet the highest scientific standards for demonstrating that they can successfully prevent or reduce levels of violence," said Delbert Elliott, a national authority on juvenile delinquency and a CU-Boulder sociology professor.

Special recognition ceremonies will be sponsored by several ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ at Boulder schools and colleges in addition to the university-wide commencement ceremony on Dec. 20 at 9:30 a.m. in the Coors Events/Conference Center. Following is a schedule of special events to be held by the schools and colleges, which also are open to the public: •Architecture and Planning - Recognition ceremony for architecture and planning graduates, Dec. 19, 3 p.m., Hale 270. A reception at the Koenig Alumni Center will follow.

When 29-year-old Frances Whiteley of Boulder receives her bachelorÂ’s degree at the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½Â’s winter commencement Dec. 20, sheÂ’ll be continuing a tradition in her family that dates back to the earliest years of the university. FrancesÂ’ great-uncle Richard Henry Whiteley, Jr., was a member of CUÂ’s first graduating class, the Class of 1882, which had six graduates. Four years later, in 1886, her great-aunt Helen Florence “Ella” Tyler, became the first woman to graduate from CU.

Some 1,937 students, including 24 who earned double degrees, will receive diplomas in winter commencement exercises Saturday, Dec. 20, at the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ at Boulder. Of the 1,961 degrees to be awarded, 1,350 will be bachelorÂ’s degrees, 440 will be masterÂ’s degrees, 160 will be doctoral degrees and 11 will be law degrees. The ceremony will begin at 9:30 a.m. at the Coors Events/Conference Center. The ceremony kicks off with a procession of graduates, faculty and administrators led by Jim Williams, dean of libraries, as commencement marshal.