2007

For the second year in a row the St. Helena Star was named one of the state’s best newspapers by the California Newspaper Publisher Association. According to the paper’s editor, this year’s win was due in large part to the reporting skills of PUC alum Jesse Duarte. In an article entitled “Star Again Honored for Excellence,” St. Helena Star staff writer David Stoneberg details the awards and specifically credits Duarte for the Star’s success. Also, Stoneberg quotes publisher Doug Ernst as saying that Duarte’s article in the December 28 edition was ‘insightful’ and that “Jesse tracked down the story and did a wonderful reporting job.” The newspaper received several awards for its stories of news events in 2006 in a competition in which there were about 300 daily and weekly newspapers entered. Among the awards received was an award for general excellence for a weekly paper with circulation under 4,300. The Star received the General Excellence award for the December 14, 21 and 28 editions. Featured on the front pages of the winning editions were a piece about the lack of flood funding in St. Helena, coverage of a trial in which a judge ruled against Peter Mennen in a...

For the fourteenth consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report named Pacific Union College as among the best educational institutions in the country. PUC ranked 14 in the top tier for Comprehensive Colleges–Bachelor’s, western region, in the 2008 “America’s Best Colleges” issue. The category is for institutions that focus on undergraduate education and offer a range of degree programs. High scores are based on peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, and alumni giving. Aspects of PUC that contribute to its high score include its proportion of classes with fewer than 20 students, a high percent of faculty who are full time, alumni giving, and solid freshman retention rates. "“It is always a pleasure when others recognize PUC’s academic excellence,” said Nancy Lecourt, vice president for academic administration and academic dean. “We cannot help but be pleased that the quality Christian liberal arts education we offer here will be more widely known, and more students and parents will become aware of the great value PUC really represents. The steadiness of our standings—fourteen years without a break—is also a statement about our commitment to teaching and learning.”...

In August, PUC began working with Bon Appetit Management Company for the campus’s food service needs. Bon Appetit is an onsite custom restaurant company that provides caf and catering services to corporations, colleges and universities and specialty venues.At PUC, Bon Appetit serves a vegetarian menu with foods prepared from scratch, using local produce as often as possible, and providing ingredient lists and real dishware.“The daily service of great food to PUC students is of utmost importance. In our search for the right management of our food service, we looked for a company with a mission that we could share. Bon Appetit’s commitment to sustainable food service along with their quality food is what convinced us to work with them,” said Lisa Bissell Paulson, vice president of student services.Bon Appetit currently serves over 17 colleges and universities, and also provides food services for the deYoung Museum in San Francisco and The Getty Center and Villa in Southern California. Bon Appetit is known for their culinary expertise and commitment to socially responsible food sourcing and business practices, and strong partnerships with respected conservation organizations.The decision to work with Bon Appetit follows the departure of Gloria Roberts, food service director at PUC. Gloria...

In July, 25 young students spent a week on the campus of Pacific Union College, solving crime, debating issues related to global trade, and creating artistic masterpieces. This renaissance of activities was part of the PacificQuest program, an annual event inviting young students, grades 7-10, to participate in college-level courses. This year, the program’s core class was on genetics. Bryan Ness, professor of biology, taught students how forensic scientists use genetics and biology to analyze crime scene evidence. Ness even fabricated a “whodunit” scene and asked students to employ their newfound knowledge of genetics to solve the crime. Students also took a second course, choosing the areas of global business or digital art. In the global business, taught by business professor Dan Madrid, students learned about trade between nations, national corporations and how the world of business changes society. In the art course, taught by graphic design professor Cliff Rusch, students received hands-on training in the digital arts. The nights were no exception to learning and creativity, featuring various interactive activities. On Monday night students learned about the Ethiopian culture from Adu Worku and took part in games and food. On Tuesday evening, students tested their knowledge in the “College...

For the first time, the annual Seventh-day Adventist Nurse Educators Conference was held at Pacific Union College. Nursing instructors from several Adventist institutions traveled to PUC to participate in this year’s conference, entitled New Directions: The Changing Face of Nursing Education, which was held June 26-28. The annual event is structured to offer nursing educators practical resources that they can develop to help students, inform them about developments in media and medical technology in the field of nursing, and allow them to network and serve as a sounding board for one another regarding current issues in nursing education. During the course of the conference, nursing educators heard from various presenters including Wynelle Huff, vice president for Delivery of Care at Adventist Health, and Marilyn Hermann, dean of the School of Nursing at Loma Linda University. Presentation content included information on media advances in the field of nursing and panel and group discussion on “Politically Charged Issues,” with an emphasis on students who fail nursing programs. With so many factors playing a part in nursing education today, it can be hard to maintain balance and structure. In her introduction to the panel and group discussion held on the final day of...

“The purpose of my speech is to inform you of the secret ingredient in beer. A secret ingredient not found in the recipe or labels; what is that secret ingredient?” Pacific Union College student Andre Sanchez leans into the words as he clearly articulates for the gathered audience and judges the down sides of drinking. “That secret ingredient is…. stupidity.” Despite his charismatic presentation, Sanchez is not a professional speaker: He’s a junior communication major at Pacific Union College, and he is participating in the regional round of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union intercollegiate oratorical contest, held at Pacific Union College in May. Sanchez’s compelling speech won him the regional round of the competition. It also won him a chance to present his speech for the final round in September. The WCTU was organized in 1874 by women concerned about the problems alcohol caused families and society. The college oratorical contests started taking place in the 1950s. Now, regional contests select winners who eventually may go on to the annual world and national WCTU convention, which this year takes place in Indianapolis. Sanchez got involved with the program when he took communication professor James Chase’s pursuasive communication class. Every year...

For the first time in the 23 years he’s taught at Pacific Union College, communication professor James Chase skipped this year’s graduation. It wasn’t so he could spend Father’s Day at home watching golf on TV, though PUC’s graduation usually falls on the final day of the U.S. Open—no, he was away in Pennsylvania, attending the U.S. Open in person to film a special segment with golf legend Arnold Palmer. The event was a result of Chase’s work on a portrait of Palmer, which has been selected as the centerpiece and focal point of the Arnold Palmer Center for Golf History at the USGA’s museum in New York. Hundreds of portraits of Palmer have been created during the golfer’s celebrated career, but none have taken on the magnitude or unique composition of Chase’s “Gratitude,” a portrait created entirely out of words. Ranging from the hundreds of awards and accomplishments that Palmer has received during his career to Palmer’s wife’s name, the 22,719 words, which vary in size from 1/10th to 1/16th of an inch, represent story lines drawn from Palmer’s gracious and compassionate life. Chase explains, “I wanted the content to become the form—to turn Arnie’s story lines into Arnie’s...

The Hugh and Hazel Darling Foundation has made a $60,000 grant to Pacific Union College to fund student scholarships and a capital campaign readiness effort for the college. Richard L. Stack is trustee of the foundation, which was started in 1987 by Hazel Darling after the death of her husband, Hugh. Stack visited PUC in May and expressed an interest in helping the College fulfill its mission to provide Christian education in California. The Darling Foundation has funded major projects such as the UCLA law library and the law library at USC, Hugh Darling’s alma mater. Darling was also known for his service as a city councilman and mayor of Beverly Hills. “We appreciate the commitment of The Darling Foundation, which will make it possible for several students to attend PUC over the next two years who would not otherwise be able to attend,” PUC President Richard Osborn says of the gift. “The Foundation’s investment will also help PUC prepare for a capital campaign to expand and renovate our library, which will become the major learning center on campus.”...

This fall, Pacific Union College is launching a brand-new program that incorporates students’ desire to serve their communities with a demand for trained emergency personnel. The nationwide growing awareness of the need for more people to be trained in mitigating emergencies and large-scale disasters has been felt at PUC in a very tangible, local way. “Our local emergency services agencies, such as fire department and ambulance companies, are made up of a number of students,” explains James Robertson, a firefighter, EMT, and CPR instructor and physics professor who will head up the new program. The volunteer fire department, he adds, is over 50 percent students. “So there is an interest in the part of our current students to have emergency services as part of a program.” The new Emergency Services Program, which now offers an associate of science degree, is part of a larger picture at the college. “PUC has a reputation and a long history of providing medical training, whether it’s in the nursing department or with pre-medical students, and we do a good job of that,” Robertson says. “So it’s a natural extension of that training.” The program focuses on domestic emergency services, preparing students to work with...

The 325 graduates of the Pacific Union College Class of 2007 celebrated the conclusion of their undergraduate education during the weekend of June 15-17. The full schedule of programs and ceremonies included addresses from Roy Ice, PUC chaplain; Don Schneider, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America; Kristie Brandt, director of the Parent-Infant & Child Institute; and Julius Nam, assistant professor at the Loma Linda University School of Religion. Sunday morning’s commencement ceremonies found Commencement Grove lined with chairs and festive with leis, balloons, billowing black or white robes, and the traditional corn tortillas that graduates toss as an expression of their ebullience. Nam, a former member of PUC’s religion department, spoke to the graduates about dreams. “PUC has taught you to have dreams that are bigger than yourselves,” he said. He challenged them to choose a cause, a mission to serve their communities, citing several alumni who have made significant contributions through their vision and creativity. “The God who holds the universe asks you to partner with him in dreaming,” he said. “You PUC graduates have to be champions, have to be leaders.” Academic Dean Nancy Lecourt and President Richard Osborn then conferred 339 degrees, with the...