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Despite a full teaching schedule, PUC visual arts Professor Thomas Morphis keeps up an impressive level of personal involvement in the art world. His collages and mixed media works are often accepted and displayed in exhibitions both in and out of California. This year, Morphis discovered an opportunity through Alaska’s Percent for Art program, which mandates that one percent of the budget for all new government buildings is designated for art to be integrated into the building. The Kachemak Bay Campus of Kanai Peninsula College (a community campus of the University of Alaska Anchorage) was looking for an artistic project to be installed on one of eight possible sites on their campus. Artists from across the U.S. were eligible to submit proposals. After a process of designing, sending in a proposal, and refining the design, the campus contracted Morphis to create a vast stained glass window. He constructed the window in six panels, transported and installed it himself at the campus, and participated in a special unveiling and reception. So now there’s Alaskan sunlight streaming through the abstract design, which expands on the arched window shape to suggest the curvature of the earth and the transition of land/sea/sky....

The sound rising smoothly into a low roar, Pacific Union College’s new cogeneration plant made its official debut as college President Richard Osborn, Financial Vice President John Collins, and Napa County Supervisor Diane Dillon “flipped the switch” on October 21. A massive project for the college, and representing the cutting edge of forward-thinking energy production, the cogeneration plant has garnered its fair share of local and not-so-local attention. The grand opening was attended by officials from Trane, Kawasaki, Titan, and Patch Services, all companies involved in various ways in the construction and powering of the new plant. Members of the local community, media, and Napa Valley Advisory Council also joined college faculty, staff and students in the opening ceremonies and plant tours. In addition to PUC’s administration, Kelly Bock of the Pacific Union Conference spoke briefly at the opening, and Diane Dillon gave the keynote address. The cogeneration plant is, as Dillon summed it up, “Clean, clever, and climate smart.” It uses a 1,400 kilowatt Kawasaki turbine generator, unparalleled for its low emissions levels, to supply the majority of the college’s electrical needs. Recovered waste heat will also be used to supply the campus with heating and air conditioning. In...

From nurses to music professors, volunteers of every skill and background are welcomed into disaster relief teams. So as aid continues for thousands of hurricane victims, an assortment of Angwin residents have found ways to get involved. As a campus and community, Angwin and Pacific Union College responded to the disaster by raising funds, coordinating a drive for personal kits, and offering tuition assistance to affected PUC students and free tuition to students of colleges that were closed as a result of Hurricane Katrina. But there were also faculty, staff, students and alumni who got directly involved in the relief work. David Krussow, a PUC nursing alumnus, was deployed in New Orleans with the Texas Taskforce Team One (TxTFT-1). Krussow, who works as a flight nurse with STARFlight in Austin, was part of a six-helicopter unit that rescued over 6,800 victims and delivered over 2000 cases of food and 2000 cases of water in nine days. “[The relief work] was an operation of unimaginable magnitude,” he says. “While the looters and shooters garner all of the attention, let me reassure you that heroes do still exist. I could tell story after story of ordinary people performing extra-ordinary acts at high...

It’s autumn in Angwin, which means the vineyards are turning deep maroon-red, the blue sky is becoming crisp and cool, and the school year is kicking off with all sorts of events, festivities, and a few challenges. The days just before school were marked by the second annual FUSION retreat for new students, green-shirted volunteers providing Porter Power to move tons of stuff up endless flights of dorm stairs, and shockingly bright leis at the Hawaiian-themed all-school get-acquainted party. Then, just as students were beginning to get the hang of their new schedules, the revised schedule for Week of Prayer hit. The blessings seemed to outweigh the confusion, however; speaker Michael Knecht provided such solid, captivating messages that students flocked to the daily morning and evening meetings. Knecht, who pastors the CrossWalk Church in Redlands, spoke on “Mastering the Art of Living.” A brand-new development this year is the PUC radio podcast, with weekly shows hosted by students Dustin Comm and Jaymes Cheney, and by new campus chaplain Roy Ice. So far, the podcasts have featured guests such as SA president Juliana Gisele Dalotto, Week of Prayer speaker Michael Knecht, and worship and outreach pastor Jessica Shine. Finally, there have...

For 30 years, Eric Anderson has been propounding historical discussion in Irwin Hall. That’s plenty of time to get thoroughly involved in campus life, make a lasting impression on countless students, and build rapport and memories with colleagues. Which is exactly what Anderson has done. “Anderson has been part of the academic soul of PUC,” says President Richard Osborn. Anderson has been the chair of the history department, director of the Honors Program, presiding officer of Academic Senate and Educator of the Year—to name a few. “He’s done remarkable things on our campus,” adds Academic Dean Ileana Douglas. In spite of his involvement in so many aspects of PUC, Anderson’s main role has been in the classroom, where his teaching interests included African American history, the American South, and American political thought. These interests spilled over into three published books, plenty of shorter writings and a stint as Fulbright Professor at Ionian University in Greece. Midsummer, Anderson received and accepted the offer to become president of Southwestern Adventist University in Keene, Texas. With mixed feelings of pride and regret, Anderson’s colleagues gathered for a farewell that took place on the deck of the presidential house. As a glorious sunset lingered...