UI student Alfredo Garcia of Sioux City says his Mexican immigrant parents have labored intensely in fields and factories to give him and his siblings the opportunity to pursue their dreams. Garcia, who is also president of First Generation Iowa, says he is grateful for scholarships that have made it feasible for him to attend the UI and graduate debt free.

The northbound lanes of Madison Street, between Court and Burlington streets, will be closed March 6 through April 17 as part of a University of Iowa utility construction project.

Employment opportunities in the health science fields will be the topic of discussion when students from two eastern Iowa middle schools visit the University of Iowa Department of Biology this spring as part of Project HOPE, created by College of Education associate professor Saba Ali.

The Tippie College of Business hosted a workshop to help faculty and staff learn to properly pronounce the names of students from China, which are at a record high in the college.

The University of Iowa Department of Dance will present home concerts for its resident touring company, Dancers in Company, at 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, March 7-9, in Space Place Theater in North Hall.

The Book Wings project will link up the University of Iowa International Writing Program (IWP) with the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre and with the Moscow Art Theatre (established by Stanislavsky, home stage of Chekhov) for collaborative theatre performances on Tuesday, March 12, and Thursday, March 14, respectively.

UI undergraduate, graduate, and professional students who have secured summer internships with human rights organizations in the United States or internationally should consider applying for the Kenneth J. Cmiel Funded Human Rights Internship Program.

Celebrate art, “Patterns of Growth” and the approach of spring at the University of Iowa Museum of Art First Friday reception from 5 to 7 p.m. March 1 at hotelVetro. For $5, enjoy refreshments, light hors d’oeuvres, art by local fiber artist Mary Merkel-Hess, and live music.

Three University of Iowa Pentacrest Museum events have been rescheduled following postponements last week due to inclement weather.

The University of Iowa Mock Trial Program sent two teams to the Cedar Rapids Regional Tournament in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Feb. 16 and 17. Teams 1481 and 1482 both competed and earned bids to the Opening Round Championship Series to be held in Saint Louis, Mo. March 15-17.

Babies in Brazil of African ancestry, alone or mixed, are more likely to have low birth weights and to be born prematurely than those born to parents of European-only ancestry, according to a new study from the University of Iowa. The reasons may be less use of prenatal care facilities and where non-European-only ethnic groups live. Findings appear in the "American Journal of Public Health."

This year, the University of Iowa Celebrating Cultural Diversity Festival will be Sunday, Sept. 29 as a kick-off to the week’s Homecoming events, creating a new fall tradition for a popular event that has traditionally been held during the spring semester for the past 22 years.