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<img src="http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/images/features/servicelearning_300x212.jpg" height="212" width="300" />It's the last day of classes for the fall 2009 semester, and Zak Lance's hands look like those belonging to most other ¶¶Òõ̽̽ seniors: fidgety, a pen bobbing in anticipation of an impending exam. They're smooth: the hands of a scholar. But just a few days ago, Lance had the hands of a farmer, soil-dusted and coarse from helping to pick and pack more than fifteen tons of produce at Burlington's Intervale Center.

<img src="http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/images/features/nishi_300x212.jpg" height="212" width="300" />For many people, the words "economic stimulus" call to mind images of construction projects like bridge repairs and roads being repaved. But in Vermont and across the nation, the current infusion of funds into the economy also has a strong biomedical research component.

<p>Scientists around the world who study malaria and the parasites that cause it will breathe a collective sigh of relief this month when they read ¶¶Òõ̽̽ senior Katie St. Denis' research paper. It goes a long way toward substantiating a commonly held -- yet unproven -- belief about how to distinguish malaria parasite species.</p>

<img src="http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/images/features/fittutors_300x212.jpg" height="212" width="300" />A large open space, one wall painted a pale shade of purple, sleek ergonomic chairs around a few wide circular tables -- it makes an impact on a small group of ¶¶Òõ̽̽ students spending their spring break at the Fashion Institute of Technology's writing "studio" as part of an intellectual exchange of peer tutors between the schools.