2001

The portrait of Jesus has always alluded us; the pictures we do have of what the Messiah may have looked like have been mere speculation. There have been legends of a document written by Pontius Pilate in 1514, describing Jesus as a blue eyed sheperd with a head of cascading curls; the ancient Greek assumed that the Jewish carpenter resembled Apollo; and still more radical ideas hint that Jesus may have been mishapen. History reveals our inability to accurately describe Jesus, so who, today, would be as bold as to paint a picture of Christ? Certainly, not Tom Turner, an associate professor of art at Pacific Union College. Well, at least not without some convincing. Last fall, Mic Thurber, pastor of PUC Church, decided to present a series of sermons that painted a picture of Christ. He used the analogy that Jesus’s life was the brushstroke of God, painting a picture of Himself on the canvas of life and history. “What I wanted to do was pull from the Gospel of John the kinds of things that would illustrate who God is as pictured in Jesus,” says Pastor Thurber. “I simply picked different places in John with an eye towards...

On February 5, four hundred educators from all over Napa Valley and the Western United States packed into Pacific Union College’s Paulin Hall to hear Dr. William Glasser, president and founder of The William Glasser Institute in Los Angeles, speak on the principles of building a quality school. The presentation, “Every Student Can Succeed—a day with William Glasser,” was sponsored by PUC, the Seventh-day Adventist Northern California Conference, and the PUC education department. Dr. Glasser focused on how each individual has the freedom to make choices and the responsibilities that goes with that freedom. He takes this theory and applies it to the school setting, explaining how educators have fallen into the trap of coercive management strategies. He encourages teachers to use choice theory, a non-coercive approach which helps students understand the power they have to make choices. “The choice theory is something we should have been doing years ago,” says Samir Berbawy, principal of Lodi Academy. “It makes absolute sense. We’re going to start using it at our school.” Educators from the Seventh-day Adventist Pacific Union Conference, spanning Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California, and Hawaii, attended as part of a teacher inservice day. Administrators from local public schools also attended...

The mission of Pacific Union College has always been to offer a quality, Christ centered education. The mission statement is to the point: "Our mission is to offer an excellent and distinctive Christian education designed to prepare our students for productive lives of useful service and uncompromising integrity." In short, PUC's goal is to graduate students who are like Christ. Of course, such a goal is idealistic. Still, it reflects the faith of our college's founders and the dream we share for all of our schools. A brief stroll on PUC's campus--stopping to chat with various students--makes it clear that the mission is alive and well today. When the board of trustees met on February 28, it was encouraged to see how the college's commitment to that mission remains central. The board was also presented with some harsh realities. It is increasingly apparent that PUC lacks the financial strength to overcome an encroaching dilemma: the desperate need for entry-level housing for faculty and staff. The Pacific Union certainly chose one of the most beautiful locations in the world when it purchased Edwin Angwin's health resort in 1909 for PUC's campus. Two days later, Ellen White surveyed the newly purchased property...

The National Weather Service presented a 50-Year-Length-of-Service Award to the physics department at Pacific Union College on Thursday, March 1. Four representatives from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce flew into Angwin from their headquarters in Monterey for the informal ceremony. The institutional award was given to Bill Mundy, professor of physics at PUC and official weather observer for the National Weather Service Cooperative Observing Program, formally established by the Organic Act of 1890 with the purpose of taking meteorological observations to establish and record the climate conditions of the U.S. The award commemorates the voluntary service which PUC has provided the community, state, and nation since 1950. Dr. Mundy has been tracking Angwin weather for the program for 25 years. At 5 p.m. every day, Dr. Mundy and a hired student check the low and high temperature of the day with an electronic instrument provided by the National Weather Service. On rainy days, they climb to the roof of Chan Shun Hall, the chemistry and physics building on campus, where they keep a special bucket to measure rainfall. At the end of each month, the recorded information is sent to the headquarters in...

Just because the weather heats up doesn’t mean your brain cools down. That’s why Pacific Union College is offering a summer feast of quality courses, workshops, and seminars—and all at half price. And while tuition and housing are half price throughout the summer, PUC’s nationally recognized quality remains the same. This opportunity is ideal for everyone, including • First-time college students looking to get a head start. • Experienced students looking to take general education courses. • Teachers needing in-service training. • Adults looking for new challenges and creative adventures. Classes are offered in condensed and convenient one- to six-week sessions, and a wide variety of courses are offered....

During his last ceremony as acting president of Pacific Union College, Dr. Malcolm Maxwell conferred degrees on 338 graduates at commencement exercises on Sunday, June 17. In addition to handing out diplomas, Maxwell relinquished leadership of the college to commencement speaker and incoming president, Dr. Richard Osborn. Maxwell presented Osborn with the keys to the presidential office and commended Osborn for “his natural friendliness, his openness, his sensitivity to others and their needs, his intellectual rigor, and his honesty.” Osborn comes to PUC with vast experience as a teacher, administrator, writer, researcher, and historian. In passing the keys to his successor, Maxwell ends his eighteen-year term as president, the longest of any previous PUC president. He does not intend to disappear from college life, however, and will return to the classroom following a sabbatical for graduate study. Though Osborn accepted the keys during Sunday’s ceremony, he will officially begin his term as PUC’s 20th president on July 1, 2001....

Pacific Union College hosted the annual meeting of the Association of Seventh day Adventist Librarians (ASDAL), June 19-24, 2001. More than fifty librarians from SDA colleges and universitites in Argentina, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, the Philippines, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States attended this special twentieth anniversary conference on the Angwin campus. Seven of ASDAL’s charter members attended the meetings, including Joel Lutes, Public Services Librarian of Nelson Memorial Library. Also present was Adu Worku, chair of library services at PUC and president elect of ASDAL. The theme of the conference, “Bridging the Past and the Future” provided an opportunity for the librarians to reflect on the history of the association. A desire to combine past experience with present goals to create a more dynamic future fueled the six-day event. The first meeting of ASDAL was held at PUC in 1980 when a group of Seventh-day Adventist librarians gathered to dialogue, plan, and initiate a professional organization. Twenty years later, attendees left the anniversary conference inspired to continue their work fulfilling the mission of Adventist higher eduacation....

Dr. Dick Osborn became a permanent part of PUC’s history on July 1, 2001, by officially beginning his term as PUC’s 20th president in 119 years. There’s little talk about filling the enormous shoes left behind by Dr. Malcolm Maxwell, one of the college’s most beloved presidents. That’s because Dr. Osborn who was Vice President for Education of the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists, has brought with him own shoes—and they fit just great. Dr. Osborn brings a wealth of experience to his new position. He has been a multidimensional educator with vast experience as a teacher, administrator, writer, researcher, and historian. He obtained his early education in Montevideo, Uruguay. He attended Monterey Bay Academy for four years before attending Columbia Union College, where he majored in history and graduated magna cum laude in 1969. In graduate school at the University of Maryland, he continued his studies in history, obtaining an M. A. in 1975 and a Ph.D. in 1990. Yet the “Osborn Years” at PUC are not simply about the coming of a new president. Richard’s wife, Norma, is joining the pastoral staff of the Pacific Union College Church. Previously, she was an associate pastor at the Seventh-day...

Representatives from Pacific Union College entered the Calistoga Fourth of July Parade this year aboard an authentic freight wagon that was once used to distribute milk from the school’s dairy (in operation from 1909 to 1986--and county champion in 1928!). Recently restored and painted in the school colors––green and gold––the milk wagon served as the perfect (and slightly bumpy) stage for PUC’s talented brass quintet. Under the direction of Ken Narducci, professor of music, the quintet serenaded the crowds with popular pieces including “She’s a Grand Old Flag.” Despite loud competition from three unruly motorcyclists to the rear, the quintet drew enthusiastic applause from the masses along Lincoln Street. The prize-winning PUC float was made possible through the combined efforts of people across campus: from the skills of those at plant services and organization of the public relations staff, to the musical talent representing a variety of departments. Bob Paulson, assistant professor of exercise science, health, and nutrition, donated his time and his 1945 John Deer tractor to pull the wagon and quintet. Presidents past and present––Malcolm Maxwell and Richard Osborn––were also on hand to cheer for the float, which went on to receive a check and trophy for placing...

When Christian Anderson and Lars Engeberg boarded the 747 bound for Africa, they had no idea what they were doing––or whether there would even be someone to meet them at the airport in Nairobi. But at the invitation of Jon Wood, assistant professor of digital media at Pacific Union College, the two recent digital media graduates agreed to go to Africa to teach what they know best: how to use computers to produce digital video. Initially thankful when they found a bus waiting for them at the airport, the two were less enthusiastic after a twelve hour ride over pothole-ridden dirt roads that led them to the Tanzanian town of Mwanza. The last 15 miles of the journey covered roads so deteriorated that the bus slowed to a crawl, making it an easy target for robbers who haunt the area waiting for a vehicle to venture in after dark. “We arrived at this stretch of the road just as the sun was setting,” Christian recalls. An hour later, in total darkness, they arrived unharmed at their destination. From June 20 to July 6, as part of the “Africa for Christ 2001” satellite crusade––an evangelistic series translated into 17 languages and...