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Today’s college students may not have experienced torture, child slavery, or imprisonment for religious beliefs. But it’s happening today; and the need to help in whatever way they can has driven PUC students to establish and lead an active chapter of Amnesty International (AI) on the campus. With service and ministry options that range from World Missions to singing for shut-ins, PUC students are consistently involved in making life just a little better for people in need. But three and half years ago, students approached faculty members with the wish to address more political issues of human rights in the U.S. and internationally. The result was that PUC linked up with Amnesty International, a widely respected human rights organization started in the early ‘60s by a British lawyer and now boasting 1.8 million members worldwide. Amnesty International continues to emphasize its original focus of “forgotten prisoners”—people imprisoned for their political or religious beliefs—while expanding to tackle other human rights issues and violations of every shape and size. Members of PUC chapter of AI are working to spread information about injustice and social issues, as well as taking direct measures—mostly through writing letters—to make a difference. Student leaders run monthly meetings...

Jake Scheideman, owner of St. Helena Cyclery and an active member of the St. Helena Rotary Club, is eight years into a project that has come to include many Napa Valley residents and now, in a spontaneous contribution of almost $8,000, the students of Pacific Union College as well. During a February 16 presentation to an all-school colloquy at his alma mater, Pacific Union College, Scheideman told his story of how a bicycle store owner in the Napa Valley came to be building houses in Nicaragua. After graduating with a business degree in 1990, Scheideman took a bike trip through Central America. He fell ill in the small village of Empalme de Boaca in Nicaragua and was nursed back to health by a local family. Promising to return someday, Scheideman went home to start his career. But it wasn’t until Hurricane Mitch ravaged Honduras and Nicaragua eight years later that Scheideman found himself compelled to look up his old friends in Nicaragua. He went back to visit and soon was immersed in helping the village of Empalme de Boaca. He started with a plan for a simple baseball field, but the baseball field became a full baseball stadium—“a field of...

On December 18, the San Joaquin Country Club in Fresno, California, was bustling with friends celebrating the 90th birthday of artist and Pacific Union College professor emeritus of art Vernon Nye. His former students brought paintings, at his request; their artworks, along with several of Nye’s, leaned against the walls and the many windows in informal gallery style. Meanwhile, there was a perpetual line of friends, family members, and former students waiting to get a moment’s conversation with the hero of the event. When the convivial milling around was interrupted for a segment of speeches, PUC President Richard Osborn stood to make a special presentation to Nye. Osborn read a letter on behalf of PUC Vice President for Student Services Lisa Bissell Paulson, in which she said, “You are an absolute wonder of a man. Gifted and talented beyond compare, your life has been a gift to us all. Your beautiful and astonishing pieces have graced our homes, our calendars, our mantels...and most importantly, our lives.” Osborn then presented Mr. Nye with a special tribute, announcing that the classroom in the Rasmussen Art Gallery has been dedicated as the “Vernon Nye Lecture Hall.” The honor is certainly well placed. There...

Caps, gowns, and the school banners decorated the annual Senior Recognition Colloquy on Thursday, February 9. Academic Dean Ileana Douglas presented the 345-member Class of 2006, mentioning class statistics such as numbers of student missionaries, youngest to graduate, and candidates for high academic honors. “There is no future in any job—the future lies in the man or woman who holds the job,” she reminded the class. “The torch has been passed to you.” The guest speaker for this year’s Senior Recognition was chaplain Sam Leonor of La Sierra University. With humorous anecdotes and an energetic charisma, Leonor talked about the achievements and successes that we celebrate at such events as graduation. “The danger is that we begin to see our identity in these things,” he said. “We see value as based on our level of achievements, and the things that are important to God get moved down the list.” Leonor encouraged students to do their best and finish their college experience with a flair, but also to dedicate their lives to building the kingdom of God here, now. “May God give us the courage to give our lives to building the kingdom of God and proclaiming the One to come,”...

“People say the Nobel Prize is the stamp of achievement in the science world,” said Sydney Brenner. “But I don’t think it’s the prize that really counts; it’s what we do in our scientific lives.” Brenner, presenting a lively sense of humor in his gruff British accent, gave a lecture on How to Win a Nobel Prize at Pacific Union College on Monday night, January 30. He was the 8th scientist to present for the Breakthroughs in Science lecture series, coordinated by the biology department. Brenner, age 75, won the Nobel Prize in 2002 for his work on genetic regulation of organ development and programmed cell death, and he has a long history of highly influential research, including pioneer work in genetics and molecular biology and discoveries that have been significant for medical research. In a lecture that included scientific references but was also peppered with humorous anecdotes and illustrations to keep the broad range of attendees engaged, Brenner talked about the discovery and exploration of DNA, the issue of contemporary people’s “misplaced sense that we can achieve everything by high technology when we actually just need to think practically,” and the importance of realizing that “you are much more...