Posts tagged CU
Campus Alerts system gets a test Friday
Dec 3rd
“As we saw during the recent floods, emergencies can happen quickly and without warning,” said Stuart Pike, CU-Boulder emergency management director. “The Campus Alerts system is our most effective means of communicating key safety messages to the campus community. It’s important for students, faculty and staff to be aware of this critical messaging platform.”
If the emergency involves a threat to personal safety or a campus closure, a campus alert will be sent using one or all of the communication methods available. Text messaging is the backbone of the system as it reaches the most individuals in the least amount of time.
More than 90 percent of CU-Boulder students, faculty and staff are registered for the Campus Alerts system and over 90 percent of those have at least one mobile device registered, according to Pike.
During an emergency that affects the campus, critical updates, additional details, and any necessary instructions regarding the nature of the emergency will be posted at http://alerts.colorado.edu, university social media sites, and on the campus Emergency Information Line at 303-492-4636 (303-492-INFO).
Active CU-Boulder student email addresses (@colorado.edu) are automatically registered and the university encourages students to add mobile phone numbers in order to receive text notifications as well. Faculty, staff, or affiliates of the CU-Boulder community with an @colorado.edu (or cufund.org, or cu.edu) e-mail address are encouraged to register on a voluntary basis. Additional information is available at http://alerts.colorado.edu.
Details on the decision process for determining a closure, how administrative leave should be handled for essential personnel and other employees, and answers to questions that frequently arise are covered in “Campus Closing Procedures During Emergencies” located at http://www.colorado.edu/policies/campus-closing-procedures-during-emergencies.
Any user who expected to receive an alert and didn’t, or who needs help signing up for the system, should call the IT Service Center at 303-735-HELP or email help@colorado.edu.
Climate change early warning system called for
Dec 3rd
Climate change has increased concern over possible large and rapid changes in the physical climate system, including Earth’s atmosphere, land surfaces and oceans, said Professor James White of CU-Boulder’s Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research and the chair of the National Research Council committee. Some abrupt changes and impacts already underway – including the loss of Arctic sea ice and increases in the extinction rates of marine and terrestrial species – and others could occur within a few decades or even years, said the committee.
“Research has helped us begin to distinguish more imminent threats from those that are less likely to happen this century,” said White, also a CU-Boulder professor in geological sciences. “Evaluating climate changes and impacts in terms of their potential magnitude and the likelihood they will occur will help policymakers and communities make informed decisions about how to prepare for or adapt to them.”
Other scenarios, such as the destabilization of the west Antarctic ice sheet, have potentially major consequences, but the probability of these changes occurring within the next century is not well understood, highlighting the need for more research, according to the committee.
In some cases, scientific understanding has progressed enough to determine whether certain high-impact climate changes are likely to happen within the next century. The report notes that a shutdown in the Atlantic Ocean circulation patterns or a rapid release of methane from high-latitude permafrost or undersea ice are now known to be unlikely this century, although these potential abrupt changes are still worrisome over longer time horizons.
But even changes in the physical climate system that happen gradually over many decades or centuries can cause abrupt ecological or socio-economic change once a “tipping point” is reached, the report adds. Relatively slow global sea-level rise could directly affect local infrastructure such as roads, airports, pipelines or subway systems if a sea wall or levee is breached. And slight increases in ocean acidity or surface temperatures could cross thresholds beyond which many species cannot survive, leading to rapid and irreversible changes in ecosystems that contribute to extinction events.
Further scientific research and enhanced monitoring of the climate, ecosystems and social systems may be able to provide information that a tipping point is imminent, allowing time for adaptation or possibly mitigation, or that a tipping point has recently occurred, the report says.
“Right now we don’t know what many of these thresholds are,” White said. “But with better information, we will be able to anticipate some major changes before they occur and help reduce the potential consequences.” The report identifies several research needs, such as identifying keystone species whose population decline due to an abrupt change would have cascading effects on ecosystems and ultimately on human provisions such as food supply.
If society hopes to anticipate tipping points in natural and human systems, an early warning system for abrupt changes needs to be developed, the report says. An effective system would need to include careful and vigilant monitoring, taking advantage of existing land and satellite systems and modifying them if necessary, or designing and implementing new systems when feasible. It would also need to be flexible and adaptive, regularly conducting and alternating between data collection, model testing and model predictions that suggest future data needs.
The study was sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Science Foundation, U.S. intelligence community, and the National Academies. The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council make up the National Academies. They are private, independent nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology, and health policy advice under a congressional charter granted to NAS in 1863. The National Research Council is the principal operating agency of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering.
For more information and a copy of the report visit http://national-academies.org. For more information on INSTAAR visithttp://instaar.colorado.edu.
WBB: Two top recruits sign letters of intent to CU
Dec 1st
BOULDER – Zoe Correal and Brecca Thomas have signed National Letters of Intent to play basketball and continue their education at the University of Colorado in 2014-15 head coach Linda Lappe announced on Wednesday, the first day of the NCAA’s early signing period.
“We are very excited about having Brecca and Zoe in the Buff family,” head coach Linda Lappe said. “They are great people first and foremost and will bring a lot of valuable skills to the University of Colorado both on and off the court. They have competed and won at a high level in their high school and club programs and have proven to be successful all around.”
Correal, a 6-foot, 4-inch center from El Cerrito, Calif., is gearing up for her senior season at Salesian High School a program where she has contributed to the last two NorCal Division IV titles.
“Zoe is a bona fide center who will get up and down the floor quickly and give us another big presence in the post,” Lappe said. “She has worked hard over her high school career and continues to get better each year.”
She averaged 9.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks as a junior, guiding the Pride to a 29-8 record, the NorCal title and runner-up finish at the 2013 CIF Division IV State Tournament.
“I’ll be ready to work,” Correal said. “I’ll give it all I have. I will bring my defense and will be working on my offensive game, getting ready for the bigs in the Pac-12 that can shoot. I’m excited to show everyone what I’ve got.”
Correal was named to the 2012-13 Cal-Hi Sports Division IV All-State Second Team. As a sophomore in 2011-12, she averaged 3.5 points and 4.0 rebounds on a 31-5 squad which also advanced to the Division IV state finals. Rated as the No. 46 post player in the nation by ESPN HoopGurlz, Correal also played for the CA Ballaz club program. She’s interested in pursuing psychology as a major.
“I’m really excited to get to Colorado,” Correal said. “(On my visit) I went to a psychology class with (current senior Rachel Hargis), it was an advanced class so I didn’t quite understand it, but knew I could do this. Everything is beautiful out there, the brick buildings on campus, and the mountains took me off guard, how pretty it was out there.”
Thomas, a 5-5 point guard from Houston, is entering her senior season at the Kinkaid School, a winning program in its own right. She has scored nearly 1,700 points and dished out over 400 assists in three years for the Falcons who have won back-to-back Southwest Preparatory Conference Division I titles.
“Brecca is going to be an exciting player as she plays with a lot of heart and energy,” Lappe said. “She will help us in the guard position as she has a tremendous skill set and is truly a triple threat player.”
A three-time All-SPC Division I selection, Thomas averaged 20.6 points, 5.5 assists and 3.5 steals as a junior, leading the Falcons to a 28-5 record. She hit 47 percent from the field (247-of-528) and was even more accurate from 3-point range, shooting 51 percent (72-of-141).
“Brecca is such a student of the game,” Kinkaid head coach Stacey Marshall said. “Both off the court and with her practice habits, she has an incredible skill set…kind of a once in a lifetime player.”
Thomas averaged 17.3 points, 4.2 steals and 3.8 assists as a sophomore as the Falcons finished 31-3, setting a school record for wins and claiming their first of two straight SPC crowns. She hopes to bring leadership as a point guard and a fast pace to her new teammates next year, who she’s already connected with.
“Everyone is so friendly and (Colorado) is a nice atmosphere,” Thomas said on her visit this past October. “It’s a great group of girls and coaching staff. I feel safe with them. And in academics my planned major (marketing), Colorado is a good school, so I really liked that.”
Colorado, ranked No. 17 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 Poll, will host Alcorn State in its home opener on Friday, Nov. 15, at 7 p.m. at the Coors Events Center.