Academics

Aviation students attending Pacific Union College can now complete the commercial flight training portion of their program in Angwin, thanks to the recent purchase of a Piper Seminole twin-engine plane. Last year, an FAA mandate posed a crisis to the aviation program, since the aircraft being used for commercial training no longer met requirements for FAA practical tests. After researching the perfect aircraft for training purposes, Nathan Tasker, chief flight instructor and director of the PUC flight center, concluded a Piper Seminole was the aircraft of choice. "The Seminole is great for what it was designed to do - train," said Tasker. "Its operating costs are low; it is safe and easy to fly; it can safely perform emergency procedures in-flight; and it is capable of short-field landings and takeoffs." But PUC lacked the funds needed to purchase a Seminole. Thankfully, that didn't stop Tasker. After sharing his vision with others, offering many prayers, writing over 400 letters to every Seminole owner in the country, selling another plane, receiving donations, acquiring a loan, working through on-line trading companies, and making four inspection trips to Florida, Tennessee and Pennsylvania, there was still no plane. Most people would have given up at...

John McVay, Professor of New Testament and Dean of the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, will speak for Pacific Union College’s Heubach Lecture in Dauphinee Chapel on Thursday, April 15, at 7:30 p.m. His subject will be “Waging Peace in the Great Controversy: Paul’s Call to Arms.” Dr. McVay, who served for 13 years in PUC’s religion department, is a specialist in the later Pauline Epistles, and contributes regularly to professional conferences and publications. ...

The thought of a college student behind the wheel is probably not a contemplation that brings images of peace and security to your mind. Perhaps it comes with visions of mangled road guards and huge hospital bills—or at least exhorbitant speeds followed by exhorbitant speeding tickets. But as a young person who enjoys a calm and leisurely drive, let me introduce you to a few college students who experience more than road rage and speed highs behind the wheel. Morgan Wade loves driving, maps, and history. So I knew he’d have some good stories about local drives. “There’s a back road that I love,” he says, “one of the most beautiful drives that I remember.” He’s referring to Ida Clayton Road (which turns into Western Mine Road), taking off from Highway 128 north of Calistoga, winding around the Western side of Mt. St. Helena, and coming out on 29 south of Middletown. There isn’t much “civilization” for Morgan to encounter as he tootles along the road, except the sign for a Trout Farm – in fact, Morgan says, the road seems to give him a little idea of how California was before it was settled. It’s a lazy Friday afternoon,...

Pacific Union College will be hosting the 12th annual Malcolm Maxwell Golf Classic at the Napa Valley Country Club on Monday, May 17. The event will feature 18 holes of golf in a two best ball foursome play, with an individual low gross and low net division. Proceeds from the Golf Classic benefit students supported by the PUC Malcolm Maxwell Scholarship Fund. The hole-in-one prize is a 2004 Chevy Blazer 4x4 courtesy of Epps Chevrolet. Awards for the longest drive and the closest to the pin on all par 3’s will be presented at the tournament. Additional contests include the One Million Dollar Shot, the Vacation Celebration, Guess Your Drive, and the $5,000 Putting Contest....

Renowned brain researcher Dr. Robert Sapolsky will present "Stress Management and Health" on Thursday, April 29, at 8 p.m. in Pacific Union College's Dauphinee Chapel. Admission to the seminar is free and open to the public. Sapolsky, known for his engaging and lively speaking and writing styles, is a MacArthur "Genius" Fellow, a professor of biology and neurology at Stanford University, and a research associate with the Institute of Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya. Sapolsky's lecture will focus on stress and the causes of stress-related diseases. He says that while the body's physical responses can cope with short-term physical threats, they are not suitable responses for the psychological stress faced in today's world. Sapolsky calls our reactions to today's stress "generally short-sighted, inefficient, and penny-wise and dollar-foolish." Sapolsky has authored several books, including: Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers, A Primate's Memoir: A Neuroscientist's Unconventional Life Among the Baboons, and The Trouble with Testosterone....

When Pacific Union College participated in Matchmaker’s national campus and community bone marrow drive last week, responses far exceeded student coordinator Stefanie Holimon’s hopes. “I was excited but nervous before,” she explains. “I wasn’t sure of the response we’d get.” But after PUC registered 145 students, faculty and staff as potential bone marrow donors (compared to the 13 Microsoft registered and 55 from UC Berkeley in the same drive), Stefanie was completely thrilled. “I’m really proud of the school,” she says. Stefanie’s involvement with projects such as these really started 17 years ago in Japan, when her aunt was diagnosed with lukemia. In response, Stefanie’s mother and aunt started a much-needed registry of bone marrow donors in Japan. Stefanie has personally been involved in numerous bone marrow drives. “This one has been the most successful of all of them” she says. Matchmaker, a function of the Mavin Foundation, is a national program dedicated to mixed race bone marrow donor recruitment and education and is under the umbrella of the National Marrow Donor Program....

In the yearly auditions of the National Guild of Piano Teachers, 116 Napa County piano pupils earned memberships in the National Fraternity of Student Musicians. Two students received additional honors: Sasha Fulton was a Five-Year National Winner, and Michelle Holy earned the College Sophomore Diploma. Auditions were held May 14 to 18 in Napa at the Napa Valley Baptist Church and in Angwin at Pacific Union College. Students participating were from the classes of Ruth Andrieux, Lois Case, Judith Cochran, Angela D’Angelo, Anita Ford, Winsome Gane, Donna Kuntz, Janel Tasker, Phyllis Webster, and Lynn Wheeler. From coast to coast (and now also in Taiwan), nearly 120,000 enthusiastic piano pupils participate in this annual piano-playing event held in 843 music centers throughout the country. Each of the student winners receives a year’s membership in the National Fraternity of Student Musicians and Piano Hobbyists of the World, a gold or bronze embossed pin, and a certificate according to the number of pieces performed. Begun at Hardin-Simmons University, Abilene, Texas, in 1929, national headquarters are still maintained in Texas, where Rules and Regulations are available on request free of charge by addressing Piano Guild, Box 1807, Austin, Texas 78767-1807. The names of local...

Five grand. That's exactly what St. Helena Hospital employee Dwight Boyd won when he sunk a 50-foot putt during Pacific Union College1s Malcolm Maxwell Golf Classic on May 17. It was the first time someone has won the putting contest prize. PUC1s annual fundraiser, held at the Napa Valley Country Club, raised nearly $40,000 towards student aid through the Malcolm Maxwell Scholarship Fund In addition to playing 18 holes of golf, participants had an opportunity to win prizes sponsored by various Napa Valley businesses. Former PUC president Malcolm Maxwell was on hand to distribute awards to students during the dinner ceremony. In addition, prizes were awarded in the winning categories: low net-women: Diane Dillon low net-men: Gary Ortman low gross-women: Julie Ching low gross-men: Lenny Ballew 1st place team: Jay Lewis, Nelson Thomas, Pat Patterson, and Gary Nelson 2nd place team: Bob, Brian, Phyllis and Julie Ching...

Flying tortillas. Gigantic beach balls. If it hadn’t been for the 364 students clothed in graduation regalia, one might have thought Pacific Union College’s Commencement Grove was the site of a very large family cook-out. “ My friends and I bought 1,500 corn tortillas,” exclaimed Landon Bennett, international communication/Spanish graduate. “And we used them all.” Tucked away in the college’s forested land, PUC’s commencement on Sunday, June 13, closed another chapter of late-night study sessions, weekend hikes to Inspiration Point, and emergency lunch-runs to Giugni’s. “ I’ll miss this place—there’s nothing that comes close to this experience,” said Kristi Chiang, biochemistry graduate who will be attending Loma Linda University’s School of Dentistry this fall. Commencement speaker Jose Rojas, director of volunteer and young adult ministries for the Seventh-day Adventist Church, presented a challenging address. Rojas encouraged the Class of 2004 to build relationships with those around them and their God instead of worrying about grades as a measure of success. Richard Osborn, PUC president, then presented a total of 380 degrees, including associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Nearly 80 teaching credentials were awarded for elementary, secondary and early childhood education teachers. Notably, over 30 adult learners from PUC’s Center for...

Educational gurus David and Roger Johnson, co-directors of the Cooperative Learning Center at the University of Minnesota, brought their dynamic workshop to the Napa Valley on June 28-30. The Johnson brothers, well-known for their international research, have dedicated their life’s work to educating teachers about the importance of cooperative learning. The workshop, coordinated by Sandy Balli of Pacific Union College’s education department, drew participants from both public and private schools from as close as Angwin and as far as Wyoming. Dr. David Johnson, professor of educational psychology at the University of Minnesota and the author of over 350 research articles and book chapters and over 40 books, has been the editor of the American Educational Research Journal. His brother, Dr. Roger Johnson, is a professor of science education at the University of Minnesota and has co-authored numerous research articles and books with David Johnson. Roger is also a member of the Search for Excellence Team of the National Science Teacher’s Association. The Johnson brothers are advancing ideas that are hundreds of years old, but which have been overlooked in recent decades. They are trying to achieve a form of the cooperative learning that took place naturally in the old one-room...