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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.”...