The Fun Stuff!

In addition to the serious research and ethics portions of the REU program, the faculty and students get together for a variety of fun activities. In the last two years these included

* A visit to San Francisco's Exploratorium Science Museum (www.exploratorium.edu)
* A visit to the Hershey Chocolate analytical laboratory in Oakville
* A visit to the California Academy of Sciences (www.calacademy.org)
* Faculty/student and chemistry/biology volleyball games,
* "Falafel Friday" lunches, when we go to a different restaurant each week to sample food from different ethnic backgrounds
* A nature hike at Castle Rock State Park
* An Oakland A's baseball game
* Miniature golf
* A San Jose Giants minor league baseball game
* Several trips to local movie theaters
* A weekly Wednesday afternoon Cookie Hour
* And more!

The student researchers form a tight-knit group, and often organize activities themselves, including outings to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk (www.beachboardwalk.com) and trips to dance clubs.

The San Francisco Bay Area provides a huge variety of recreational activities, from museums and night life (www.metroactive.com) to state parks (cal-parks.ca.gov) in the hills, to beaches (Santa Cruz is only about 40 minutes away).