CORRECTION

A brief published Monday on the On Campus page incorrectly reported that Superior Court Judge Howard Manning Jr. would speak Friday at UNC-Chapel Hill. Manning had already appeared at UNC-CH.

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N.C. STATE UNIVERSITY

UFO LECTURE: "UFOs: The Hidden History," a lecture by Robert Hastings, will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Campus Cinema in Witherspoon Student Cinema. It's free and open to the public.

There will be a 90-minute lecture and slide show concerning the U.S. government's secret response to UFOs. The lecture is based on previously classified documents.

Hastings is an independent researcher and lecturer.

NSF GRANT: The National Science Foundation has made a $268,000 grant for Design Tech, a joint project of the Department of Computer Science and the College of Design. Design Tech will conduct research that combines computer science and design.

The grant will support 10 undergraduate students during a 12-week research program to be held each summer for three years.

PEACE COLLEGE

GRADuation SPEAKER: Ping Fu, chairman and chief executive of Geomagic, a technology firm based in Research Triangle Park, will deliver the commencement address May 13.

N.C. CENTRAL UNIVERSITY

VOTING FORUM: The Civic Engagement Task Force will sponsor a forum on voting rights Monday at 1 p.m. in the A.E. Student Union. Information will be provided on the modifications that will be made to the Voting Rights Act and how the act affects individuals. For details, call 559-8917, 530-5162 or 530-7256.

FORUM ON COURTS: The department of political science will sponsor a forum, "The Court System: Is Justice Blind?" on Tuesday in the A.E. Student Union. There is a reception at 5 p.m. and a panel discussion at 6 p.m.; free. For more information, call Jeffery Elliott at 530-5303.

UNC-CHAPEL HILL

Children's author TO VISIT: Avi, an award-winning author of more than 35 books for children and young adults, will give a free public lecture at 10 a.m. Saturday in the Hitchcock Multipurpose Room of the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History off South Road.

Judge TO SPEAK: Superior Court Judge Howard Manning Jr., whose Leandro ruling on public school funding entitles all North Carolina children to an equal opportunity to receive a sound, basic education, will speak at 4 p.m. Friday in Room 136 of the Tate-Turner-Kuralt Building (School of Social Work); free.

APPOINTMENT: John McGowan has been appointed the Ruel W. Tyson Jr. distinguished professor and director of the Institute for the Arts and Humanities. The professorship is named for the founding director, who will retire June 30.

HOWARD HUGHES GRANT: The Howard Hughes Medical Institute has awarded the School of Medicine a graduate student training grant totaling $800,000. The institute, a nonprofit organization, was founded by aviation pioneer Howard Hughes.

Author Joan DIDiON: Joan Didion, author of the best-selling memoir "The Year of Magical Thinking," will present a free public reading at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in Memorial Hall. Parking is available after 5 p.m. in some campus lots and in pay lots on Rosemary Street.

FORMER TIMES CRITIC: Frank Rich, op-ed columnist and former theater critic at The New York Times, will discuss art, culture and politics at 7 p.m. March 6 in Hill Hall Auditorium; free. Limited parking will be available in the Swain visitors' lot off Cameron Avenue.

DUKE UNIVERSITY

NEW PROFessor: Kam Leong, a national leader in drug and gene delivery at Johns Hopkins University, has joined the department of biomedical engineering at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering, where he will serve as director of the Bioengineering Initiative.

ENGINEER HONORED: Professor and author Henry Petroski of the Pratt School of Engineering has won the 2006 Washington Award, a prestigious engineering award, for his accomplishments in making engineering theory and practice understandable to the general public.

DEPARTURE: Pascal J. Goldschmidt, chairman of the department of medicine, was recently named senior vice president for medical affairs and dean of the University of Miami School of Medicine.

DURHAM TECHNICAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE

PROGRAM HONORED: The community college's developmental studies program has been named the most outstanding in the country by the National Association of Developmental Education. The developmental studies program helps students who are underprepared for college-level work strengthen their academic foundation before starting college courses.

HBCU ESSAY CONTEST

FRIDAY DEADLINE: In conjunction with Black History Month, 10 scholarships of $4,000 each will be awarded to students at historically black colleges and universities or to high school seniors.

The winners will travel to Little Rock, Ark., to meet poet and author Maya Angelou.

The essay, which asks the question, "What words of wisdom will you pass on to those who come after you?" is available online or at Alltel stores. Entries must be postmarked by Friday.

For more details, go to www.alltel.com/wordsofwisdom.