2013

Over a span of six days, May 6 – May 11, students, faculty, and staff gathered together as a school family to take a break from classes and studying. During the week, thirteen students shared the ways God has brought them “out of the darkness.” PUC hosts a week of prayer every quarter. Something is different about the week during spring quarter, because fellow students share their faith. “I really like that each student has a different story to tell, so it’s really relatable to a lot of people,” said sophomore Alana Muller. “[The speakers] are going through issues that college students are going through. I really like that.” Students shared amazing stories of God’s faithfulness as He pulled them out of dark periods in their lives. Shared themes of faith, surrender, and love ran through these stories. A pivotal point in nursing student Tad Worku’s journey was when he surrendered control. “I was no longer writing my own story,” Worku remembered. “From that point on, I said, ‘God, You know what, whatever You want to write in my life, whatever that means, the pen is Yours. You can write whatever story You want.’” For Halstyn Hart, one of PUC’s...

Over 30 Pacific Union College psychology students and faculty attended the 93rd Western Psychological Association (WPA) convention in Reno, Nev., April 25-28, to present undergraduate research projects. This year, a PUC group was awarded the top honor in the Psi Chi poster session, which included an accompanying cash prize.The topics covered humor in political advertisements; learning and memory; racial and ethnic perspectives in politics; and social psychology, among others. All of PUC's projects were accepted into the prestigious Psi Chi poster session this year, an honor reserved for selected projects from students who are members of the international honor society in psychology.Participation with professional conferences gives students an opportunity to present their research before a wider, professional audience. They also provide students with a chance to attend lectures by prominent psychologists, learn about recent research in the field, network with professionals from throughout the region, and prepare themselves for careers in psychology."Going to WPA gives us the experience of presenting our research, gaining more opportunities for the future, and keeping up to date with developments in the field," said Holly Batchelder, a senior psychology major whose group's research on humorous political advertisements in the 2008 election won the Psi Chi...

Social business strategist Michael Brito will present a social media seminar on Friday, May 17, from 1-1:50 p.m. in Pacific Union College’s Scales Chapel. Admission is free. The seminar will address how social media has changed the business landscape and offer guidance and suggestions to harness the power of social relationships. A discussion of Brito’s first book, Smart Business, Social Business: A Playbook for Social Media in Your Organization, will be included as a step by step playbook to humanize business operations to effectively engage with the social consumer. A book signing reception will follow. As senior vice president of Social Business Strategy at Edelman Digital, Brito currently helps technology companies drive internal and external strategic initiatives that better address the social customer. Brito has worked for major companies in Silicon Valley, including Sony Electronics, Hewlett-Packard, Yahoo! and Intel, working in various marketing, social media and community management roles. Brito’s visit to the Napa Valley is the result of an invitation by PUC’s social media students who are using Smart Business, Social Business as their main textbook. “This is our inaugural social media class at PUC and we are thrilled to host one of the prominent leaders in the industry,”...

Pacific Union College received a generous donation of cutting-edge laboratory equipment from B&K Precision to allow students in its physics department to acquire data more effectively and enhance learning.The donation consisted of a Model 2542B 100MHz Digital Oscilloscope, three Model 2540B 60MHz Digital Oscilloscopes, two Model 4005DDS Function Generators, two Model 1803D Frequency Counters, and six Model 2712 Tool Kit DMMs. The instruments have a combined value of over $5,000.Faculty and students alike are excited about the possibilities the new equipment creates for the department's laboratory experiences. Students can know utilize modern, state-of-the-art equipment instead of the reliable, but analog instruments used previously.According to Vola Andrianarijaona, professor of physics, the oscilloscope is "one of the most versatile electrical measuring tool[s] available in the lab." He lists analyzing AC currents, LCR circuits and sound waves as possible activities for students. Bruce Ivey, professor of computer science and physics, also envisions uses for the new oscilloscopes in teaching computer architecture.B&K Precision specializes in creating test and measurement instruments widely used in professional and industry settings, as well as educational laboratories. PUC has used equipment from B&K Precision for decades with "overwhelming success and reliability," according to James Robertson, associate professor of physics.PUC's...

PUC celebrated Green Week 2013 through various on-campus activities. Events included a fashion show featuring upcycled clothing, a “design your own” Green Week t-shirt, and a demonstration on gardening, where participants built their own mini tabletop gardens. On Wednesday evening, a screening was held for the 2011 documentary The Island President, which tells the story of the president of the Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed, and his fight to save the low-lying country from the rising sea. On Thursday morning, the director and associate producer of the film joined the PUC family for the Colloquy Speaker Series. Jon Shenk, award-winning documentary filmmaker, cinematographer, and founder of Actual Films in San Francisco, and Craig Hickerson, ’10, a PUC alumnus working as the associate producer at Actual Films, discussed the documentary. “We’re thrilled to have a speaker here to talk to us about how you can be thinking about being green on an international scale,” said Lisa Paulson, PUC vice president for student services and dean of students. Shenk remembered discussing the vision for the film before work began on it—“to make a documentary that can facilitate a new kind of conversation about the environment and the problems we face.” Prior to 2008, the...

Karl Haffner, senior pastor at the Kettering Adventist Church in Ohio and author of a dozen devotional books, presented the 2013 Heubach Lecture on April 13. Commemorating the recently deceased Seventh-day Adventist pastor Morris Venden, Haffner titled his lecture, Keeping Venden’s Voice Alive: Sanctification by Faith Alone. Venden, the celebrated Adventist pastor and Voice of Prophecy member, was a very influential figure in Haffner’s life and ministry. “Venden pastored the PUC church for many years; he was a strong advocate of both justification and sanctification by faith alone,” commented Leo Ranzolin, department of religion chair and Heubach Lectureship Committee chair. In his lecture, Haffner outlined the three aspects to our salvation, drawing from a sermon given by Venden at PUC in 1976: “Salvation from our past sins—we call it justification. Salvation from our present sins—we call this sanctification. Salvation from a world of sin when Jesus comes—we call this glorification.” Haffner went on to examine each of these aspects, positing that we have no trouble accepting justification and glorification. “But somehow,” he said, “we have gotten the idea that in santification, the middle aspect of salvation, that it is faith plus effort, faith plus works.” “The Bible is not against...

Rajeev Sigamoney, director of the film and television program at Pacific Union College, was the winner of the eleventh annual SONscreen Film Festival's Pitchfest, April 5. He received $10,000 for his proposed "Decalogue 2.0" mini-series. The series will consist of ten short episodes shot at PUC, each based on one of the Ten Commandments.According to Milbert Mariano, chair of the visual arts department, the result at the festival underlines the strength of PUC's film and television program and Sigamoney's skills. "It's a great personal victory for one of our own faculty," Mariano said. "We're excited for him and proud that he's among our ranks. The film and television program and the department of visual arts can only be strengthened by having someone with Rajeev's talents and accomplishments leading out as director of the program."Sigamoney was also excited about the win. He describes the production as a "great project for the film and television program." His goal for the series is to modernize the themes of the Ten Commandments and to connect the audience with the universal motifs contained in the original stone tablets."As the production develops, the plan is to shoot the project at PUC sometime next year, highlighting our...

It’s a Wednesdaynight—8:30 p.m.—and the gymnasium is packed. The fact that it’s a weeknight doesn’tstop students and faculty alike from flooding into the Covered Wagon toparticipate. Team schedules constantly rotate, players hoping to advance after eachgame.This isintramural rec—the program that recently reached the number one spot on CollegeProwler’s list of the top ten intramural programs in the nation.PUC’s intramuralprogram gives players a place to compete in a number of different sports andleagues. Not only do current students participate in this popular program, butmany faculty, staff, and alumni are also active participants.“The focus on whatwe do at intramurals is to give people a place where they can physicallyparticipate with their friends in an environment where they will get someexercise, they’ll make some friends, [and] they’ll get some stress relief to maintainbalance in their academic life,” says Robert Paulson, professor of exercisescience, health, and nutrition, and the director of PUC’s intramural program.“The best partfor me is just the camaraderie with all the guys and the girls—all theteammates,” says senior accounting major Daniel Monnier. “It’s a lot of fun,just to be able to take our minds off studying and just do something different,relax for a bit, and play sports. That’s really what I...

Brittany Cheney’s law career began on the Pacific Union College basketball court. “To do well in law, you have to be competitive,” says the ‘07 alumna. “It’s the same thing with basketball." Brittany graduated at the top of her UC Davis School of Law Class of 2012, and was awarded the Law School Medal for academic achievement. After a successful internship with Downey Brand, the largest law firm in Sacramento, Calif., she was hired as an associate attorney in Downey’s family law practice. While at PUC, Brittany was a member of PUC’s Lady Pioneers. The team’s games and practices taught her athletic skills…and persistence. Even when the team didn’t win a game, says Brittany, “we didn’t quit.” As a summa cum laude graduate of PUC, Brittany was also dedicated to her studies as an international communication major with an emphasis in Spanish and a business minor. Brittany also managed a complex fundraising campaign in the college’s Alumni and Advancement Office, raising $25,000—above the drive’s original goal. After graduating, Brittany worked for two years in fundraising, advertising and other positions before deciding to attend University of California, Davis. The academic break gave her work experience that helped prevent burnout during law...

Asher Raboy, M.F.A., artist in residence, was named the Pacific Union College 2013-2014 Educator of the Year at a special colloquy program on March 14. The title is awarded entirely by student votes. This is Raboy’s first time receiving the award. Steve Waters, mathematics department chair, recalled the time he has spent with Raboy out on the golf course and the many conversations they have had about what it means to be a teacher. “One of the things that I actually strive to emulate, that Asher seems to do effortlessly and I think it’s part of what makes him a good teacher, is he really tries hard to see the best in everyone and then works really hard to get those people to see it in themselves,” Waters stated. Raboy has worked in the Napa Valley since 1990, when he took the position as conductor and artistic director of the Napa Valley Symphony Orchestra. He directed the orchestra for 19 years, turning it into “a fully professional orchestra that brought in top-level soloists and filled a significant cultural hole in the valley,” remarked Rachelle Berthelson Davis, chair of the PUC music department. Raboy joined the PUC family in 2006 as...