So how did you spend your summer? Numerous students and faculty in the UI Division of Performing Arts dotted the globe with their summer activities. Students gained valuable experience performing and working in music, theatre, and dance, while faculty taught at workshops, performed at festivals, and conducted research.

Monday will be a big day in the life of the new—and the old—Hancher facilities. Weather permitting, construction crews working on the new Hancher facility will initiate the project’s single-largest concrete pour around 6 a.m. Monday: 1,400 cubic feet in a single day, to be exact. And around 9 a.m., a wrecking ball will begin dismantling the original Hancher Auditorium.

The cloud computing technology company 3 Par was a money-loser for its first 11 years in business, but Dell and Hewlett-Packard still went to war over its acquisition in 2010, a bidding battle that more than tripled the firm’s stock price in a month.

Results from a survey administered by the UI College of Education's Iowa Testing Programs suggest that interest levels among Iowa students in science, technology, engineering, and math, collectively referred to as STEM, decline steadily between third grade and high school graduation.

Participants are invited to register for the Iowa Regents Institutions 2013 Disability Awareness Summit Thursday, Oct. 17, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Suite 2520 of the University Capitol Centre in downtown Iowa City. The theme is "Tools for Change."

Today the overwhelming majority of scientists in Iowa, the United States, and across the world agree that biological evolution explains the diversity of life on our planet.

Doctors learned Myles Peterman would be born with hydroencephalitis—a buildup of fluid inside the skull that puts pressure on the brain—and spina bifida, a birth defect in which the spinal column does not close completely while the baby is still in the womb. Now 13, he's had a variety of surgeries and comes to UI Children's Hospital a few times a year.

Tranquility and beauty were plentiful during a daytrip to Winterset and the bridges of Madison County. Our University Communication and Marketing videographer Kirk Murray was pleasantly surprised to discover much more than bridges, however, during a recent venture to this part of the state.

University of Iowa researchers Stuart Weinstein and Lori Dolan led a study team that set out to compare the risk of curve progression in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis who wore a brace with patients who did not.

The University of Iowa will host the 23rd annual Celebrating Cultural Diversity Festival from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 29, in Hubbard Park on the UI campus, the first time that the festival has been held in the fall as the official kickoff to the 2013 UI Homecoming Week.

What does the reading public lose when a book is removed from the shelves? Writers from Burma/Myanmar, Pakistan, Panama, and Portugal—in Iowa City for the International Writing Program fall residency—will team up with Iowa City librarians for a public discussion on censorship Sept. 26.

Former Congressman Jim Leach, also a visiting professor in the UI College of Law, will present “Bridging Cultures: the Heart of the Fulbright Program” at an upcoming UI event celebrating the legacy of Fulbright programs at the university.