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On Sunday, June 3, join the choirs and orchestra of Pacific Union College for their spring concert, featuring pieces from musicals and operas. Jenelle Anderson conducts Vox Pro Musica and Chorale, while Rachelle Davis conducts the Orchestra.Vox Pro Musica, along with PUC’s Chorale and Orchestra, will perform choruses from familiar operas and musicals such as The Mikado by Gilbert and Sullivan, The Promise of Living by Copland, Carmen by Bizet, Madame Butterfly by Puccini, and others.Additionally, Vox Pro Musica will sing a set of Elizabethan madrigals, including April Is In My Mistress’ Face and Now Is The Month of Maying, among others.The Orchestra will also be performing two pieces on their own: Concerto No. 2 in D Major for Flute by Mozart, featuring soloist Michele Rafuse, senior music major; and two movements from L’Arlesienne Suite No. 2 by Bizet.The concert begins at 3 p.m. in Paulin Hall Auditorium on the campus of Pacific Union College. Tickets are not required; admission is free and open to the public.For more information about PUC’s music program, including the Paulin Center for the Creative Arts and a calendar of upcoming events, visit puc.edu/music or call (707) 965-6201....

Half-price tuition. Half-price housing.Over two dozen areas of study to choose from.Hours and hours of NorCal sun.If even one of those things sounds good, you need to register for summer classes at PUC, stat! Headed home for the summer? Good news--we’ve got 17 online courses for you to choose from, too. Of course, online means no “hours and hours of NorCal sun,” but no matter what floats your boat this summer, we’ve got you covered!Summer classes last only 2-3 weeks, including full-year sequences for pre-med and pre-dent courses such as Biological Foundations and General Chemistry. Pre-nursing courses such as Human Anatomy and General Microbiology are also available during the summer.PUC already offers smaller class sizes, even during the regular school year, but during the summer, those class sizes shrink even more, offering students even better access to their teachers and more room for open dialogue and class discussions.“Rigorous” is definitely the name of the game in summer classes, but there are rewards to be had (besides getting course credits out of the way). Student Activities provides recreation options throughout the summer, such as weekly free food, Six Flags tickets, a San Francisco Giants game, and a pool party. Not to...

For years, Pacific Union College has maintained a medical and dental school acceptance rate well above the national average. The five-year average dental school acceptance rate at PUC is 65 percent, and for medical school this goes up to 68 percent. The national average is around 33 percent."We've always had a good pre-professional program here," says Dr. Robin Vance, professor of biology and long-time sponsor of the college's pre-professional club. "We have great students, and we've learned how to prep them well."Part of that preparation comes in the form of the student-led pre-professional club. Throughout the year, this club provides opportunities such as mock interviews, presentations by successful pre-professional alumni and doctors from local hospitals and clinics, Q&A sessions with students who have already been accepted to professional school, and more."It's challenging to be in a pre-professional major," says Shannon Henry, 2017-18 president of the club. "It's hard to balance everything, and we as a club try to offer resources to alleviate some of that stress."When a student expects to continue to medical school, their to-do list before graduation is no small thing. It involves shadowing professionals in the field, applying to around five schools (and paying a large amount...

During the summer of 2017, Cristian Pancorbo, assistant professor of Spanish at Pacific Union College, coordinated a trip to Lebanon with students from PUC, La Sierra University, and Loma Linda University. Hosted by Middle East University (MEU), the group worked with the Syrian refugee population in Beirut for a month.In addition to working alongside the students, Pancorbo was also conducting research for a project he was working on with his now-wife, Shanna Crumley, an intercultural communication and Spanish alumna of PUC currently finishing her master's degree at Columbia University (New York). In Lebanon, Pancorbo interviewed as many refugees, teachers, and non-governmental organization (NGO) employees as he could, asking about the needs of refugees there."My passion is working with underrepresented communities," says Pancorbo. "When you look at the big picture you see large numbers and a lot of need, but you don't really know what's happening on the ground with refugees. Throwing money onto the refugee canvas didn't help; they need access to education, so they can get access to jobs."His research fed into A4Ed, a social enterprise founded by Crumley, Pancorbo, and a third co-founder, Gemma Torras Vives, a classmate of Crumley’s at Columbia University. A4Ed is a platform based...

PUC’s department of chemistry is grateful to two generous donors who helped the department acquire a microwave plasma atomic emission spectrometer (MPAES). The MPAES can measure the amount of over 60 elements in many types of samples, and is sensitive enough to detect one part in a billion. So, what does this mean in real life?“Atomic spectroscopy is often used to evaluate heavy metals, such as lead and mercury in environmental samples like soil and water,” explains Dr. Robert Wilson, associate professor of chemistry. “It is also used to determine if lead is in the paint in children’s toys or measure mineral content in food.”Wilson also says the software for the MPAES is very easy to understand and use, which means students with little to no lab experience will be able to operate a state-of-the-art instrument on their own, offering them valuable independence in the lab.“The measurement process is very fast,” says Wilson. “It only takes about one minute per sample, and several elements can be measured simultaneously.”It’s not just the chemists who can benefit from this equipment; Dr. Kent Davis, chair of the department, foresees partnerships with other scientists, too.“We aren’t the only ones who see a use for...