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On Sunday, March 22, 2009, Pacific Union College lost six alumni in a fatal airplane accident. The crash, which took place in Butte, Montana, claimed the lives of 14 people, seven of which were children under the age of ten.Brent Ching ('93), Kristen Mautz Ching (att.'96-97), Erin Jacobson ('96), Amy Feldkamp Jacobson (att.'93-95), Michael Pullen (att.88-91), and Vanessa Feldkamp Pullen (att.'89-90) all attended PUC and went onto Loma Linda University. Close family friends, they often vacationed together. On this occasion, the friends were headed to a ski trip in Montana.PUC President Richard Osborn said in a statement, "We are deeply saddened by this tragedy, and our prayers are with the victims' families. This is a very personal tragedy for Pacific Union College and our local community. All but one of the adults on board the plane graduated from or attended PUC, and there are many on our campus who remember them as students. Our alumni are also grieving this loss, as are many in the St. Helena and Angwin communities who knew and loved the Jacobson family."There were three families lost in this accident: the Chings and their two children, Hailey, 5, and Caleb, 3; the Jacobsons and their three...

According to the American Association of Cancer Research, cancer claims the lives of almost 500,000 Americans each year. The cure will come from the research of gifted students, professors and scientists. Leading the charge for Pacific Union College in this field is Dr. Brian Wong, who manages to balance his time between the classroom and the lab. He is joined by senior biochemistry major Rachel Devadhason and senior biology major Tom Nguyen. Many students don't realize that advanced cancer research is being conducted right here at PUC. It came as a surprise to Devadhason although she was herself a science major. "When I first heard about ongoing cancer research at PUC, I was extremely skeptical," she admitted. "Without state-of-the-art technology and multimillion dollar funding, what could be accomplished? My ignorance kept me from setting foot in the lab for an entire two years." Devadhason latched on to the research of Wong (who has been studying the effects of Scutellaria barbata and Oldenlandia diffusa on cancer prevention since the early 1990s) early last year and began conducting research of her own. "I was privileged to join Dr. Wong's team of researchers and began to work in earnest," says Devadhason. "I began...

Although the newest member of the aviation program's fleet was purchased in the summer of 2008, it has yet to leave the ground. It lacks an engine and wings, but its usefulness is hailed by students and flight instructors alike. Meet the Frasca 180, Pacific Union College's new "flight training device." The advancement of technology has had an untold impact on modern instruction. Perhaps nowhere is this more clear than in the realm of aviation and the development of flight simulators. The PUC aviation program understands that any technology promoting more efficient learning in non-life threatening conditions is worth its weight in gold. Housed safely in Fisher Hall, the Frasca 180 provides both, and affords peace of mind to students and - especially - to parents. The flight simulator allows student pilots to test their abilities against every aerial hazard imaginable, all within the safety of Fisher Hall. "We can 'weather' the airplane any way we like," says flight center director Bill Price. "We can fail various pieces of equipment and force the pilot to fly in snow, hail, fog and turbulence." Frankly, if it happens in an airplane, it can happen in the flight simulator. The sense of realism...

In an unusual and unusually rich theatre production in March (with 15 additional showings scheduled for April), Pacific Union College's Dramatic Arts Society pushed into some new theatrical territory. Clay Feet/Wire Wings: The Space Between was another original DAS work inspired by two series of poems by a PUC English professor and Honors Program director, John McDowell. McDowell's "God Poems" are written as narrative, based on the common (and biblical) things we say about "seeing God in others" or "God understanding every experience," and making that experience literal. Thus we have "God Surfs" and "God in the Kitchen." His "Angel Poems" series are more mysterious and ambiguous as they explore the mysterious and ambiguous roles of angels, who must, McDowell says, represent God to man and man to God, who are in-between. Clay Feet/Wire Wings: The Space Between is a play that is, in director Mei Ann Teo's words, "collage, ensemble, and experimental theatre." With layer on layer of art, meaning, and experience, the play demands that the audience think hard, feel deeply, and even interact. Teo led a team of DAS members in personally exploring McDowell's two series of poems, contributing their own thoughts and experiences to create the...

In three March 7 programs at Pacific Union College, U.S. Senate Chaplain Barry C. Black spoke for the Heubach Lecture and two church services. Faculty and staff, students, and visitors from far and wide packed the building for all three services and the book-signing that followed the lecture. In his presentations and interactions, Black impressed people from a wide range of ages and backgrounds with his energy, sincerity, and message. At the first church service, Black presented "Gather the Fragments," a call to gather and put to use the leftovers, fragments, or things that seem not to matter to us - including fragments of blessings, time, and compassion. All these pieces, he said, still count. They all add up. "We've got to not waste the leftovers of our faith," he said. We have to believe that God can use his people "above all that we can ask or imagine." In the second service, titled "Comfort in Tough Times," Black shared ways to have courage in these times, including learning how to wait on the Lord, permitting God to dispel the shadows in one's life, and developing an unshakable confidence in Jesus. At the Heubach Lecture, a biennial lecture provided by...