By Emily Pennington
The spring semester at UT offers a plethora of events worth attending: guest speakers, performances and art exhibits. It is impossible to attend them all. With the hectic schedules of faculty and staff in mind, the editors of Our Campus have chosen our top three event picks for March.

• March 6, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Explore UT, UT Campus
Explore UT, “the biggest open house in Texas,” is when UT opens its doors to anyone and everyone who wants to interact with UT students, faculty and staff, and see firsthand the type of groundbreaking research happening on the 40 acres, as well as the impressive art and literary collections housed in its many buildings. In its 11th year, Explore UT is expecting more than 50,000 visitors and offers the greatest number of programs in its history including: a performance by the Aeolus Quartet, an industrial-sized steamroller that creates art on canvas, tasting and creating famous Russian dishes, tips on researching and following the stock market, a simulation of a nuclear chain reaction using mousetraps and ping pong balls, and the mock trial of Gold E. Locks. “They [UT faculty and staff] are demonstrating their responsibility to the people of Texas, whom this university is designed to serve,” Vice President of Public Affairs for the Office of Relationship Management and University Events Susan Clagett said. “We hope the young people who come are captivated by who they hear, what they learn, and who they meet.”

• March 17-April 4, 8 – 10 p.m. “The Phantom of the Opera,” Bass Concert Hall
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera” is the haunting story of a talented opera singer torn between her allegiance to a disfigured musical savant who lives in a secret chamber of the opera house and her love for a childhood friend. It is directed by Harold Prince and adapted from Gaston Leroux’s classic novel of macabre. “UT faculty and staff will not want to miss Phantom’s third and final appearance in Austin this spring, with the same breathtaking special effects and sweeping melodies audiences have come to expect from this legendary piece of musical theatre,” Andrew Cole, tour press associate said.

• March 24. 6 – 7 p.m.
Perspectives Series, “A Conversation with James A. Baker III,” LBJ Auditorium.
As part of the ongoing Perspective Series, Evan Smith, CEO and editor-in-chief of the Texas Tribune, will interview the Honorable James A. Baker III, former secretary of state. Baker was a driving force behind presidential campaigns for Ford, Reagan and Bush, and served in senior government positions under all three. “Secretary Baker is known for being thoughtful and engaging, which will be refreshing when engaged by Evan Smith’s wry and penetrating interview style. I suspect that the conversation will deal partly with the state of the American political system, but—given Secretary Baker’s extensive foreign policy experience—will deal with the state of American foreign policy and the global challenges facing the United States,” said Jeffery Patterson, assistant dean in the LBJ School of Public Affairs.