A group of Pacific Union College students and staff spent a week providing medical care and health information to villagers along the Amazon River—part of a medical service trip in conjunction with Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) Brazil, August 21-29. The trip continued a recent increase in focus on humanitarian service at the college. The group traveled along the Amazon River aboard a boat, the Luzeiro 26, stopping in the remote villages which line the river. The Luzeiro 26 is one of ADRA’s river boats dedicated to reaching the villagers in the interior Amazon Basin in Brazil. With the help of local professionals, the group set up medical clinics for villagers to consult with a physician or receive dental care. They also conducted medical screenings, health presentations, workshops, and expos to aid the communities in preventing future medical issues. The educational programs make a notable impact in the locals’ lives, explains Fabio Maia, service and missions coordinator at Pacific Union College. “The problems you see in these communities are the same,” says Maia. “A lot of the people are dehydrated because they don’t drink enough water and they sweat like crazy—it’s 100 degrees and 100 percent humid, so people...

PUC physics student Shalynn Romano received the top student presenter award for outstanding research at the International Conference on the Application of Accelerators in Research and Industry (CAARI) this summer in Fort Worth, Texas. The conference included professional research physicists, and Romano’s award was in a category typically reserved for graduate students. “To be recognized for research at a professional level while being an undergrad student was a great accomplishment,” says Romano. “It made me feel like anything was possible with hard work and confidence.” Romano conducted her award-winning research at her summer internship at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, one of the premiere experimental research facilities in the world. The subject was the energy exchange of charged particles. Although her research team included several other students and physicists from educational and scientific institutions around the world, Romano was named first author on the presentation of their findings due to her extensive work and commitment in the lab. “She is very motivated and focused, which has helped her as a researcher,” says PUC physics professor Vola Andrianarijaona, one of Romano’s collaborators on the project. “This is very important, because in research you are the teacher of yourself.” Although CAARI...

U.S. News & World Report ranked PUC the second most ethnically diverse liberal arts college in the nation, in the magazine’s annual list of the best colleges and universities released last week. The ranking calculates the proportion of minority students among the student body, excluding international students. Hispanic students make up the largest single minority group, according to the report. PUC administrators celebrated the distinction as an unique educational advantage. "Living, working, and studying collaboratively with people who come from a variety of backgrounds gives students an opportunity to learn about people, ideas, and cultures, and to think critically about new ideas," says academic dean Nancy Lecourt. “It also helps prepare them for the current working world, where they often find themselves working on teams with people who are quite different from themselves.” View the official ranking online at U.S. News & World Report....

One-hundred eighty students from 23 Adventist academies visited PUC for the 2012 Publication Workshop on Wednesday and Thursday, learning writing, photography, and design techniques from college professors and working publication professionals. “The classes have really opened my mind, and just what we’ve learned today has helped us come up with a great theme for our yearbook this year,” said Brandie Scott from Mother Lode Adventist Junior Academy, a first-time attendee at Publication Workshop. “I love it so far—it has been amazing!” High school yearbook and newspaper staffers chose from courses including photojournalism, layout, brainstorming, Photoshop, editor’s forum, and feature writing. Teachers lead the eager students in many hands-on learning activities, from spreading out across campus to develop their eye for photo opportunities, to creating scrapbook-like mood boards to help refine yearbook themes. “It’s exciting to see the potential in these students and see their excitement in learning the subject,” said Brian Kyle, a photographer and graphic designer in PUC’s public relations office, who taught several photography classes at this year’s program. “When you see them catch on it’s a very fulfilling experience.” The event also included a contest that awarded the attending schools for outstanding work on their latest newspapers...

Juniors in PUC’s Honors Program hada stunning start to their summer when they spent three and a half weeks inFlorence, Italy as part of the annual “Beauty” seminar, June 28-July 24. Studentsin the seminar focussed on the definition of beauty, primarily within thecontext of Renaissance art, centered in Florence, along with other artisticperiods.The tour was led by CynthiaWesterbeck, chair of the department of English, along with Sylvia RasiGregorutti, professor of modern languages, and Roy Benton, professor ofmathematics. This is the second time this group of faculty has led the tour;they led it with a different group of students four years ago.According to Westerbeck, the tripgave students time to become intimately familiar with the city of Florence andits culture. “You really feel like you own Florence, you know the city—it’syours,” she says. “More than any of the other type of class, you are gettingout of the classroom and actually experiencing learning.”In addition to Florence, the groupalso visited Rome for its plethora of baroque art; the stunning ancient town ofAssisi; Venice and its acclaimed museum of modern art, the Guggenheim; andother locations. In addition to the many museums and sights, the students alsokept up an extensive reading schedule during the trip ranging...