Life at PUC

If you are looking for a lively and interactive church service, visit the Youth Chapel on the second Sabbath of every month. What's inside may surprise you. At first glance, if you stick your head in at the right time, you may see what looks like a crowd of elementary-school children, acting surprisingly grown up, watching several unshod grown-ups act shockingly childish. This is Children's Church, led by Rita Hoshino, student services assistant director. She and some friends, including Mike and Michelle Mesnard, Cliff Rusch, Milbert Mariano, and Betsey Ross are working to help children in grades one to six learn about church through participation."Our goal is to bring the church service down to a child's level," said Rita. "The first thing we do is take off our shoes. There's nothing that makes a woman look grown-up like her shoes."Children's Church starts out with what Hoshino calls "mover music," spiritual, spirited songs that require action. "This is to get the wiggles out of them," said Rita. "We gradually go to quieter and more worshipful songs, so that everyone is quieted down for prayer."The kids are encouraged to share prayer requests at prayer time. This can make things rather interesting, because...

Pacific Union College is expanding the scholarships it offers in two important areas. PUC's academic scholarships will now be renewable and will be larger in size. The college is also offering scholarships to students working in summer ministry.Pacific Union College's academic scholarships, with the exception of National Merit scholarships, have previously been awarded for the freshman year only. They were based on the student's academy or high school GPA. The new academic scholarships are also given to freshmen based on their high school or academy GPA, but students can renew them each year by keeping up their grades at Pacific Union College. The scholarships have been enlarged as well: Previously, a freshman could receive a one-time scholarship of up to $1,950 for having a high school GPA of 3.75-4.0. Now, he or she can receive a renewable scholarship worth up to $4,000 over four years. Beginning in the fall of 1998, all students who are maintaining high GPAs at Pacific Union College will be eligible to qualify for the renewable academic scholarships for their remaining college years, even if their GPAs were originally too low to qualify."I think it sounds like a very good idea," said Lary Taylor, associate professor...

Pacific Union College is offering three interesting and educational tours during the summer and fall of 1997. Dr. Gordon Thomas, professor emeritus of history, is leading two tours: one to the British Isles and the other to the Panama Canal. And PUC graduate Rob Stretter, '95, is leading a visit to the annual Shakespeare festival in Ashland, Oregon.Britain & IrelandFrom July 8 to 23, Gordon Thomas will conduct a tour of Britain and Ireland. The itinerary includes Salisbury Cathedral, Stonehenge, the panoramic Ring of Kerry, Dublin, the north coast of Wales, England's Lake District, Edinburgh, York, Stratford-upon-Avon, Oxford, Windsor, and London. The price for the Britain and Ireland tour is $3,098 per person, which includes round trip airfare, accommodations in first-class hotels, and most breakfasts and dinners. Three units of college credit are available for a $105 tuition fee.Shakespeare Festival at AshlandRob Stretter will lead a visit to the annual Shakespeare festival in Ashland, Oregon, August 11-15. Participants will attend four of Shakespeare's plays: As You Like It, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Timon of Athens, and King Lear; take a backstage tour; meet an actor; and discuss the plays. The $245 base price includes theater tickets and accommodations at a...

Forget the palatial gardens of Paris and the wonders of the Louvre—that is so last year. This year the honors program opted instead for Italian villas and cozy cafés as the site of its annual Summer Term Abroad. The two-week trip to Italy was for the class “Beauty,” a required class for honors students that examines different concepts of beauty within the Western aesthetic tradition, particularly in the visual arts.Previous to its trip to Europe, the honors class met informally to prepare for the class. The students then traveled to many cities and towns throughout Italy to learn on location about artists and writers from Michelangelo and Di Vinci to Aristotle. While the class visited Venice and Rome as well as several coastal towns, the class spent the majority of its time in Florence, Italy, visiting cathedrals and museums like the Santa Maria del Fiore and the Academia.According to professor John McDowell, head of the honors department and trip sponsor, Italy was the perfect place for the students to learn about the history and art of the period they studied. “Florence is a great place for the students to see the shift from the classical models of the Renaissance period...

For the second year in a row, PUC’s Pioneers basketball team has received the “California Pacific Team Sportsmanship Award.” Pioneers coach Robert Castillo received the award for the 2006-2007 season at the California Pacific Conference Convention on August 26. The award is given to the team that displays outstanding sportsmanship and exemplifies the purpose of the “Champions of Character” program that was set up by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletes several years ago. The award is voted upon by coaches from the member institutions of the CalPac Conference and is based on character and personalities of the athletes as well as athlete conduct during winning or losing game situations. The Sportsmanship Award tops off what was a truly amazing season for the PUC Pioneers, who made their first appearance in the conference playoffs and played a first-round game in the CalPac men’s tournament against Simpson College. Though the Pioneers lost the game, 85-77, they were graced with the support of their fans who overflowed the stands and were led by one extremely devoted group of PUC students called the “Pioneer Posse.” Receiving the award for a second time is an honor for the PUC athletic department, which has been...

While cramming five Shakespeare plays into three days is enough to have students thinking in iambic pentameter for the rest of the summer, 14 PUC students and alumni found it to be an invigorating experience when they attended the annual Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) this summer in Ashland, Oregon, for PUC’s Shakespeare in Performance class. The class began with a tour backstage so students could get an intimate behind-the-scenes look at all the factors that go into running a repertoire theatre, including scheduling, costuming, set design and direction. The students experienced an afternoon and evening performance each day and in the course of three days students attended performances of “The Tempest,” “As You Like It,” “The Taming of the Shrew,” “Tartuffe,” and “Romeo and Juliet.” Between plays, students participated in seminar discussions in which they both prepared for and reacted to each of the plays. As if that wasn’t enough, students also saw a “Prologue” that was prepared by the OSF. Later, they met and conversed with the actress who played Ariel in “The Tempest,” who gave the students insight into her particular role and her experiences as an actor. During down time, students explored the town of Ashland, which...

For the second year in a row the St. Helena Star was named one of the state’s best newspapers by the California Newspaper Publisher Association. According to the paper’s editor, this year’s win was due in large part to the reporting skills of PUC alum Jesse Duarte. In an article entitled “Star Again Honored for Excellence,” St. Helena Star staff writer David Stoneberg details the awards and specifically credits Duarte for the Star’s success. Also, Stoneberg quotes publisher Doug Ernst as saying that Duarte’s article in the December 28 edition was ‘insightful’ and that “Jesse tracked down the story and did a wonderful reporting job.” The newspaper received several awards for its stories of news events in 2006 in a competition in which there were about 300 daily and weekly newspapers entered. Among the awards received was an award for general excellence for a weekly paper with circulation under 4,300. The Star received the General Excellence award for the December 14, 21 and 28 editions. Featured on the front pages of the winning editions were a piece about the lack of flood funding in St. Helena, coverage of a trial in which a judge ruled against Peter Mennen in a...

For the fourteenth consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report named Pacific Union College as among the best educational institutions in the country. PUC ranked 14 in the top tier for Comprehensive Colleges–Bachelor’s, western region, in the 2008 “America’s Best Colleges” issue. The category is for institutions that focus on undergraduate education and offer a range of degree programs. High scores are based on peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, and alumni giving. Aspects of PUC that contribute to its high score include its proportion of classes with fewer than 20 students, a high percent of faculty who are full time, alumni giving, and solid freshman retention rates. "“It is always a pleasure when others recognize PUC’s academic excellence,” said Nancy Lecourt, vice president for academic administration and academic dean. “We cannot help but be pleased that the quality Christian liberal arts education we offer here will be more widely known, and more students and parents will become aware of the great value PUC really represents. The steadiness of our standings—fourteen years without a break—is also a statement about our commitment to teaching and learning.”...

In August, PUC began working with Bon Appetit Management Company for the campus’s food service needs. Bon Appetit is an onsite custom restaurant company that provides caf and catering services to corporations, colleges and universities and specialty venues.At PUC, Bon Appetit serves a vegetarian menu with foods prepared from scratch, using local produce as often as possible, and providing ingredient lists and real dishware.“The daily service of great food to PUC students is of utmost importance. In our search for the right management of our food service, we looked for a company with a mission that we could share. Bon Appetit’s commitment to sustainable food service along with their quality food is what convinced us to work with them,” said Lisa Bissell Paulson, vice president of student services.Bon Appetit currently serves over 17 colleges and universities, and also provides food services for the deYoung Museum in San Francisco and The Getty Center and Villa in Southern California. Bon Appetit is known for their culinary expertise and commitment to socially responsible food sourcing and business practices, and strong partnerships with respected conservation organizations.The decision to work with Bon Appetit follows the departure of Gloria Roberts, food service director at PUC. Gloria...

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...