News

On January 24, Upper Valley Waste Management (UVWM) granted the Pacific Union College Student Association and student senate $2,980 to start a waste reduction and a recycling program on campus. The grant was developed to help UVWM meet a government mandated 50 percent landfill diversion goal, in addition to encouraging north Napa Valley residents to recycle and reduce waste. $1,980 of the grant will be used to recycle white paper on campus. Four hundred wastebaskets exclusively for recylcing white paper trash will be purchased for each faculty and staff office. PUC plant services will dispose of and bale the white paper. Proceeds from the recycling will help fund student financial aid. $1,000 of the grant will fund a campaign to reduce the use of styrofoam trays in the cafeteria. PUC students use approximately 250,000 styrofoam trays each year. The styrofoam, which is not recyclable in the Napa Valley, is not biodegradable and is an ecological threat. Students Against Waste, a student committee for the program, was formed to oversee the use of the grant money. SAW's goal is to encourage the reduction of styrofoam use and the recycling of white paper trash on campus. "The use of these funds is...

On November 7, Pacific Union College presents "Fifty," the latest Warren Miller film extravaganza to hit the big screen. "Fifty," named for Miller's fiftieth anniversary in snow-sport film-making, has already been labeled by film critics as the crown jewel of the Warren Miller collection. From the mesmerizing opening montage to the spine-tingling ending, "Fifty" takes the viewer on a rollicking ride through a dozen exotic locations. The film will be shown at the PUC Dauphinee Chapel. The first show will begin at 7:30 p.m., and the second at 9:30 p.m. The later showing will also feature the annual snow-wear fashion show, sponsored by the Board Garden and Snowdrift in Napa. Tickets are $8 a person and are available at the PUC campus center, Palisades Mountain Bike in Calistoga, St. Helena Cyclery in St. Helena, and the Board Garden, Snowdrift, and Bicycle Madness in Napa....

Pacific Union College's campus ministries, which operate under the chaplain's office, provide a number of avenues for students to reach out to help others. Each week, approximately five students and their sponsors of the Prison Ministries team present Sabbath School, a church service, and personal counseling to the inmates of the Medical Correctional Facility in Vacaville. Prison Ministries involves a substantial commitment from participants, including training and a security clearance. Twice a month, 15 to 20 students join Homeless Ministries in offering a hot meal to the homeless people living around People's Park, Berkeley. Students and sponsors set up a serving-line of hot food, cafeteria-style. They also spend time talking one-on-one with the people who come to eat. Lighthouse sponsors community service events in Angwin and the greater Napa Valley twice per quarter. Students clean houses and yards for elderly people, participate in a "Brush Rush" to clear brush and promote fire safety for those who cannot do it themselves, and cooperate with the Napa Valley Food Bank. Major events attract 40 to 50 students, plus faculty and staff. Short-term Missions gives students the opportunity to make short mission trips to other countries. Each spring break, 12 to 15 students...

The Pacific Union College presents "Premiere," a juried art exhibition that will feature the work of artists in the Howell Mountain area. The showing will open with a reception on Saturday, January 10, from 7-9 p.m., and will continue through Sunday, February 8. Premiere's goal is to demonstrate the existence of an artistically creative community living and/or working in the Howell Mountain area of the Napa valley. Thomas Morphis, an art professor at PUC and director of the Rasmussen Art Gallery, hopes that the exhibition will bring more exposure to lesser-known individuals while also profiling the more well-known artists from the area. "To my knowledge, this is the first exhibition to feature the artists within the Howell Mountain area," says Morphis. "I'm very excited about it, and I hope we get a lot of entries." The artwork to be displayed will be chosen by three professional artists from outside the area. There is no entry fee, and the gallery takes no commission on sales. Interested buyers will be referred directly to the artist. To be eligible for the exhibition, entrants must live and/or work in the area of Howell Mountain, bordered by the Silverado Trail on the west and Pope...

The Pacific Union College women's volleyball team scored a big win by beating Menlo College, an NCAA division III team, in straight sets at Pacific Auditorium in Angwin on Tuesday, Oct. 14. The Pioneers began the first set on a low note, giving up two points to Menlo due to sloppy defense. Immediately afterward, PUC exploded into a run featuring several kills by sophomore Emily Ziegler, forcing Menlo to call a time-out as the score rose to 10-2. The run ended at 12-2, and the set was shortly put away as junior Shannon Oliver performed a huge spike that sent shouts throughout the building. The PUC Pioneers won the first set, 15-3. The coaching that Menlo received during the break gain an early 1-3 advantage. Menlo OH Vasa Faasolo set down several kills in the stretch, one that ended up outside the building itself. But the Pioneers eventually took charge and established a quick 9-3 lead due to several great serves by freshman April Hiroshima. They soon closed out the set at a 15-4 mark. The final set saw the Pioneers take complete control of the game. They rallied to a 10-0 lead when Hiroshima decided to perform several jump-serves,...

A very special weekend, October 24-26, is returning to Pacific Union College... a chance to visit the campus that has become your child's home away from your home... a chance to talk with the men and women who are teaching your child and preparing him or her for a life beyond the college walls... and most importantly, an opportunity to spend time with your son or daughter talking around the dinner table, worshiping together in celebration, and exploring their world. If you have a son or daughter enrolled at PUC, we would like to invite you to come to Parents' Weekend, a family time on campus when students and their parents can get together to share the joys of the lives they have given one another. Over the weekend there will be many opportunities to share the PUC experience with your son or daughter. Worship will be one of our keystones as we celebrate our faith in a family vespers, student-lead Sabbath school and a church service lead by the college pastor, Ray Mitchell. There will also be a special musical program hosted by the Music Department, and the women's volleyball team, the PUC Pioneers will challenge a local team...

Recently, the nursing department launched a new program to make it easier for working nursing professionals to complete a bachelor's. The Second Step program allows current nurses to upgrade from an A.S. in nursing to a bachelor's degree in as little as nine months. Ideal for registered nurses, Pacific Union College's Second Step Nursing Program meets in short, concentrated time periods at one of three convenient classroom locations-Angwin (in the Napa Valley), Hanford, or Los Angeles. Students may even fly to classroom locations and continue the clinical experiences at home locations....

For the fourth straight year, U.S. News & World Report ranked Pacific Union College among the top ten regional liberal arts colleges. The college ranked fifth, up from last year's ranking of sixth, and remains the highest ranking regional liberal arts college in California. Significantly, U.S. News also listed PUC in its top ten list of "Best Values" among liberal arts colleges in the western United States. For this year's rankings, U.S. News employed a new, even more thorough approach. Overall rankings were based on academic quality, faculty-to-student ratio, available resources, financial aid, student diversity, and pre-professional programs. PUC scored especially high in all categories, especially academic quality, faculty-to-student ratio, and student diversity....

In the midst of the jumbled conversations of antsy freshmen and the imposing banners of various clubs, a tiny voice called out from behind a small, white poster which read the same message the voice was pleading: RETURNED SMs, COME HERE! Crammed into a corner and overwhelmed by the larger clubs, the newly formed Student Missionaries Club was almost drowned out by the chaos of registration day; but the relentless shouting and flailing arms managed to sign sixty names. The organization formed this year in hopes that individuals returning from the mission field would have a support group to rely on. "Most people don't know this, but many returned SMs suffer from a sort of reverse culture-shock," says Michiko Miyajima, a former student missionary and director of World Missions. "You have had an experience that allows you to see life from a whole new perspective, and you want to share this with someone who will understand -- a fellow returned missionary. Hopefully, this club will help us to find each other." The club plans on holding several worship services and Bible study groups. They have already had a pre-vespers program that welcomed close to thirty attenders. "It was really encouraging...

For Julie Hill, trusting God means expecting the unexpected. Julie, a junior nursing major at Pacific Union College, was shocked and honored to find she had been chosen to give the worship call at the official Net '98 kickoff program to be broadcasted all over North America. Then two days before she flew out to Andrews University for the filming, she received a phone call from the executive committee of Net '98. The co-host for the program had taken ill, and Julie had been chosen as the replacement. The next thing she knew, she was at Andrews University's Pioneer Memorial Church, meeting her co-host, Cedric Belcher of Andrews University, eating lunch with North American Division President Al McClure, and rehearsing her lines for the national broadcast. If that wasn't overwhelming enough, she was further astonished to discover that evening that "hosting" Net '98 involved more than a few minutes of chat at the start of program. "I thought that I'd just be giving a short welcome and maybe opening prayer," says Julie. "But I ended up staying on the stage throughout the entire hour, introducing every speaker." Although it was an experience that tested her improvisational skills, Julie was thrilled...