Hawai'i Pacific University was named one of the best 123 Western colleges in the United States by The Princeton Review.

HPU is featured in the "Best Colleges: Region by Region" section of princetonreview .com, receiving the "Best of the West" designation.

The Princeton Review also named HPU one of the best overall values among the most academically outstanding colleges in the nation in the 2007 "America's Best Value Colleges" guidebook.

The ratings are based on a 70-question survey asking 110,000 students from 656 colleges across the country to rate their school and report on their college experience.

HPU received a "quality-of-life rating" of 84 on a scale of 60 to 99.

The Princeton Review weighed several factors, including campus safety, location, overall condition and comfort of dorms, among other indicators.

On the web: www.princetonreview.com

10 ADVANCE IN SCIENCE CONTEST

Ten Hawai'i middle school students are among 400 middle school semifinalists nationwide in the 2006 Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge.

The challenge is the nation's premier science contest for students in grades 5 through 8.

Hawai'i's semifinalists are: Shalila Baena of Hilo, Hawai'i (Ha'aheo Elementary School); Nolan Kamataki of Hilo (Waiakea Intermediate School); Aaron Sewake of Hilo (Waiakea Intermediate School); Laurel DiSera of Kailua (Kainalu Elementary School); Naomi Perry (St. Anthony's School, Kailua); Natasha Leonard of Kailua, Kona, Hawai'i (Kealakehe Middle School); Aaron Rozon of Lihu'e, Kaua'i (Island School); Chelsea Gilchrist of Lahaina, Maui (Lahaina Intermediate School); Josie Gomez of Lahaina (Lahaina Intermediate School); and Mali'o Kodis of Volcano, Hawai'i (Waiakea Intermediate School).

The students vying for the title of "America's Top Young Scientist" were selected from 1,900 formal entries, and initially chosen from a pool of 70,000 students who entered science fairs nationwide.

On Sept. 14, the field will be narrowed to the "Final Forty" competing for more than $100,000 in scholarships and prizes.

The 400 projects advancing to the semifinals run the scientific gamut, from biochemistry to physics, zoology to health and mathematics to engineering.

PUNAHOU TOPS IN ENVIRONMENT

The Green Guide named Punahou School first in its America's Top Green Schools report on environmentally conscious academic communities across the country.

Punahou was praised for its commitment to policies that "aim to make children's lives healthier and help the environment."

The school received specific recognition for its effort to build its Case Middle School according to the government's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards.

The school is complete with waterless urinals, photovoltaic arrays and even a Hawaiian plant nursery.

The school also has made a commitment that future buildings on the Punahou campus will be constructed according to LEED standards, according to The Green Guide.

The Green Guide praised Punahou for its promotion of healthy lifestyles, citing, for example, that vending machines across campus do not include candy.

On the web: www.thegreenguide.com