Doctor Luis Montaner, professor of the Wistar Institute Immunology Program and director of the HIV-1 Inmunopathogenesis Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, is a great example to follow by those who aspire to be outstanding researchers.

The book ‘Beyond Sun and Sand: Caribbean Environmentalisms', edited by doctors Sherrie Baver y Barbara Deutsch, was thought and created mostly for two groups of the North American population: the tourists that see the Caribbean as a paradise-on-Earth with attraction similar to an amusement park; and also, for the population of North American environmentalists that still see Caribbean environmentalism from a conservationist perspective. The book also creates awareness among Caribbean environmentalists that the Caribbean has similar environmental situations across the board; situations that could be solved more effectively if they joined forces between the islands.

Working with turbines and engines is not only for men and proof of this is 33 female high school students that will participate in the University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez mechanical engineering summer camp, sponsored by the Department of Mechanical Engineering of this campus. The summer camp, in its fourth year, has the goal to motivate women to consider mechanical engineering as a profession. The students will learn about robotics, materials, thermal sciences, and manufacture and they will have the opportunity to interact in a college environment.

Students of the Luis Muñoz Marín High School in Barranquitas have created “Biocomiso” (Bio-trust), a plant nursery where they can practice their teachings in biology and strengthen communitarian environmental conservation initiatives. With the nursery, sponsored by the Puerto Rico Conservation Trust under the Friend School Program, they are not only helping reforestation and educational efforts, but they are helping their school, since it can generate revenues for the school, and provide a place for student association activities.

The Puerto Rican MIT-Harvard Caucus is organizing a conference about how to Re-establish Economic Growth in Puerto Rico. In this conference they will talk about Puerto Rico’s problems and possibilities looking forward to propose and develop some real alternatives. One of the alternatives they already foresee is that education supports the creation of an enterprising ecosystem, where social, cultural and economic alternatives will flourish. Achieving this requires changes in our educational system both at the college and K-12 level.