Search - By Mike Mennard

U.S. News & World Report's annual "Best Colleges" issue hits the newsstands on Monday, August 23, and Pacific Union College in Angwin, Calif., continues to score high. For the sixth straight year, the national magazine ranked PUC as the top ten regional liberal arts college in all California and in the top ten among regional liberal arts colleges in the fourteen Western states. Along with the overall rankings, PUC fared well in specific areas, as well. Significantly, U.S. News ranked PUC in its top five for "Best Values" among liberal arts colleges in the Western United States-a ranking based on a ratio of quality to price. The magazine also ranked PUC among the top ten most "ethnically diverse" campuses within the Western United States. For this year's rankings, U.S. News employed their most thorough approach. Overall rankings were based on academic quality, faculty-to-student ratio, faculty resources, graduation rates, financial aid, student diversity, alumni giving, and pre-professional programs. PUC scored well in all categories, especially academic quality, faculty-to-student ratio, and student diversity. Also, PUC's students have a high-acceptance rate into graduate schools, ranked in the top ten among all American colleges and universities for acceptance into medical school according to The...

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....

On September 22, Pacific Union College launched its 116th year of quality Seventh-Day Adventist education. By the close of the college's inaugural year of 1882 83, the school had enrolled 152 students and employed a faculty of six. Things have changed. Today, PUC educates over 1600 students with about 115 faculty members. This year, PUC welcomes six new professors to the college's faculty. Sandra Balli, Ph.D., joins the department of education. Balli will teach for the department and will serve as an associate academic dean. Her focus will be to assist the school in applying technology to learning. Balli replaces Paul Plummer who retired this year after over fifty years in Adventist education. Kenneth James, Ph.D., R.D., new to the family and consumer science department, will work directly with PUC's food science and administration programs, as well as nutrition classes. James comes to PUC from East Tennessee University. A native of Peru, Rosario (Charo) Cabellero-Chambers, M.A., will teach Spanish for PUC's modern languages department. Cabellero-Chambers comes to PUC from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. PUC's largest department, nursing, welcomes three new teachers. Carol Williams, R.N., M.S., will work as PUC's skills lab coordinator. Carel Clay, R.N., M.S.N., will teach pediatric nursing. And...

In a rare public appearance, acclaimed writer Chaim Potok lectured at Pacific Union College on Monday night, February 16. Fortunately, the organizers of the lecture moved the event to a larger venue-the college's church sanctuary-in order to seat the more than 1,200 students, professors, and Potok fans. The lecture was part of the Longo Lecture Series, founded in 1992 by Lawrence D. Longo, M.D., in honor of his parents, Frank and Florine Longo. Dr. Longo wanted to benefit students with a quality public discussion of religion and society, so he established the lecture, intended to be an annual event. The lecture committee, with Dr. Longo's approval, chose to stage the event biannually in order to have the necessary funds to invite internationally eminent guests. Potok in his lecture described his difficult-but inescapable-quest to be a "storyteller," a surprising decision for a boy growing up in a Jewish Hasidic tradition. He said, "I remember telling my mother, 'I want to write stories.' She looked at me and said, 'That's wonderful. You can write stories on the side when you are not working as a brain surgeon." According to Potok, "Nothing is sacred to the novelist." A good novelist can take a...

This summer, July 12 -16, Nike and Pacific Union College will present a volleyball camp for girls ages 12-18. The camp is offered at major universities throughout the United States, and this is the first year it has come to the Napa Valley. Lori Endicott-Vandersnick, member of the US Olympic volleyball team in both 1992 and 1996, will teach many of the sessions. Participants will develop important volleyball skills, achieve a new level of play, and-most important-gain added self confidence. The program will offer both a general skills camp and a setter specialty camp. While the curriculum is designed to be challenging, past participants have come away with a new excitement about the game. The resident price for campers is $455, which includes room and board. Campers will stay in the dormitories of PUC's campus, located in Angwin, California, (north Napa Valley) and will eat their meals in the PUC dining hall....

Wednesday, April 29, two key issues were discussed at Pacific Union College's regular meeting of the board of trustees: faculty wages and the possible sale of PUC property. The board voted to increase salaries and benefits for faculty and staff to the mean paid by similar Christian institutions in the area. The increased wages are contingent on raising additional funds, which is as yet an unresolved discussion. As for the sale of land, no definite decisions were made. The board simply voted to meet again on June 15 after more dialogue. College president, Malcolm Maxwell, has established an intranet newsgroup for continued dialogue among campus employees and students, and he encourages response from the school's constituency. The Finance Committee did, however, favor the concept of selling land in order to "establish an endowment to maintain the fiscal integrity of the institution, to fund an increase in faculty salaries, and to retire college debt, and." But after further deliberation, the board decided that more discussion and feedback was needed before a decision could be made....

It's become a summer tradition at Pacific Union College to see 5th-12th graders working on their lay-ups, their jump-shots, and their ball-handling. This summer, PUC, located in Angwin (north Napa Valley) will host the fourteenth annual Lavin Basketball Camp, offering two camps. The boys' camp will take place July 26-31, and the girls' camp will take place August 2-7. Cap Lavin began his Lavin Basketball Camps to provide boys and girls the skills to become better high school and college basketball players. Sessions are taught by top experts, including Steve Lavin, UCLA basketball coach (national rookie coach of the year). What's more, campers learn to enjoy the game itself in a fun, disciplined environment. Gene Keady, head coach at Purdue University, said, "I think the Lavin Basketball Camp is the finest camp in America." All the camps include clear instruction in basketball fundamentals, with an emphasis on both defense and offense. The games played at the camp will be refereed by a staff of instructors with NCAA Division 1 experience. And because life is not all basketball, there will be time for swimming, highlight films, and a few surprises....

Contemporary Christian singer, Patty Cabrera, will bring her high energy music to the Pacific Union College Amphitheater on Saturday, September 20, 1997, at 4:00 p.m. Cabrera graduated from PUC in 1991, and each return is an event worth taking in.Of her music, Cabrera says she is "a product of her environment where music is concerned." She grew up with Salsa, Merengue, R&B, and Motown; and her second album, Always & Forever, released on Curb Records, reflects these influences.Cabrera's been busy since the release of her debut, self-titled album in 1991. In 1996, People selected Cabrera as one of the 50 most beautiful people. In 1995, she actively participated in the internationally televised Billy Graham Crusade in Puerto Rico, co-writing the theme song for the event and appearing in two videos. In 1994, Cabrera sang the national anthem for opening night of the Republican National Convention.Still, despite recent accolades, Cabrera's faith remains her highest priority. She describes her faith as "a process of learning how to stay open to hear what God says."...