Search - Lainey S. Cronk

Dr. Amal Harsha de Silva, Director of Health for Sri Lanka, visited Pacific Union College and St. Helena Hospital on Tuesday, April 11, during his family’s vacation in the U.S. De Silva toured the science departments of the college, including a special visit with the nursing department’s programmable medical mannequin, SimMan, as well as taking a tour of St. Helena Hospital. De Silva’s interest in the college and hospital stems from the connection between Pacific Union College and the Associated College of Health Sciences, which opened in Sri Lanka in 2003 as part of an effort to increase the number of qualified nurses in that country. Dr. Julia Pearce, the former chair of the Pacific Union College nursing department, was instrumental in helping the new school develop its curriculum and in advising the school’s administration about Western healthcare training standards. Pearce spent a week in Sri Lanka when the school opened, participating in the ceremonies, bringing 200 pounds of books and materials with her, and helping with curriculum preparation. Three years later, in January of 2006, Pearce returned for the first graduation—with another 100 pounds of books. “I never thought I’d get father than Phoenix!” Pearce laughs. “So this is...

At the all-school colloquy on April 6, Pacific Union College President Richard Osborn presented alumnus Jake Scheideman with a check for $8,388. About two months earlier, Scheideman shared at a colloquy program about his housing project in Nicaragua (see “A Spontaneous Gift: Students Send $8,000 to Nicaragua” ). At the end of his story, students, faculty and staff made donations and pledges toward funding one of the houses in the Nicaraguan village, which cost about $6,000 each to build. On April 6, the total amount was presented to Scheideman and the St. Helena Rotary Club, which oversees the project. “This is humbling, and outstanding!” Scheideman said. He hopes to use the money to fund one of the houses in the most recent building phase, which will be completed at the end of May. “We can all do something,” Scheideman told the audience. “As educated Americans we have a responsibility to do something for our world—and it’s fun!”...

In 10 high-energy performances from February 16 to March 5, three PUC students brought audiences a hilarious presentation of Shakespeare’s works—all condensed into a two-hour performance. Senior television & film and history major Zach Dunn, sophomore English major Caleb Rasmussen, and senior math major David Kanter formed The United Shakespeareans and took on The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), a comedy in two acts written by The Reduced Shakespeare Company. Directed by PUC alum Jim Smith and produced by Resident Artist Mei Ann Teo, Complete Works featured the three actors taking on a wide assortment of roles as they portrayed, dissected and turned upside-down such characters as Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Julius Caesar, Hamlet and a host of other classics from one of the most beloved playwrights of all time. It’s no surprise that all three of these students are more or less obsessed with Shakespeare. The skill—and endurance—with which they flew through scores of costume changes, songs, dances and a frantically paced synopsis of Hamlet was enough to verify their delight in this opportunity to present all of Shakespeare’s histories, comedies and tragedies in one performance....

For college teachers who have to fit their research endeavors around a busy teaching schedule, an endowed research professorship is a priceless opportunity. This year one of our own professors, Greg Schneider of the psychology and social work department, has been enveloped in just such an opportunity, provided by the Walter C. Utt Endowment. Even now he is engrossed in researching and writing on the history of Methodism and its influence on politics and family, following the research he presented in his influential 1993 book, The Way of the Cross Leads Home. The role of Utt professor is allowing Schneider to focus his time and energy on research and writing while teaching one class per quarter. “I realized that this would probably be the last big gift that would allow me to work on something of this scope and wanted to develop a topic that had been latent in my research and earlier book: the rise of evangelical political activity and influence,” Schneider explains. “If it weren’t for the Utt Chair this project would be dead in the water.” Awarding an endowed history professorship to a psychology and social work professor may seem a little unusual. But Schneider explains that...

Judith Pizarro is still a student, but her name has been showing up in national news. Now studying for her Ph.D. in health psychology at UC Irvine, this 1997 PUC graduate did a master’s project on Civil War veterans that is now catching the eye of the media. When Pizarro first heard about the grant from the University of Chicago for Civil War data, she thought, “This is funny—what could you do with that?” But the more she looked into it, the more she realized what a solid, accessible data source the university’s information provided. For 15 years, the National Institute of Health has funded the University of Chicago in amassing Civil War data, and the painstaking medical assessment interviews that the government did on the Civil War veterans are an invaluable resource. So with two colleagues, Pizarro set out to explore the effects of traumatic war experiences on nervous and physical disease and mortality among the veterans. Their discoveries, which indicate that post-war health was influenced by the level of military trauma experienced and the age of the soldiers, seem also to reflect the more recent experiences of Vietnam soldiers. “We don’t have access to these kinds of records...

Today’s college students may not have experienced torture, child slavery, or imprisonment for religious beliefs. But it’s happening today; and the need to help in whatever way they can has driven PUC students to establish and lead an active chapter of Amnesty International (AI) on the campus. With service and ministry options that range from World Missions to singing for shut-ins, PUC students are consistently involved in making life just a little better for people in need. But three and half years ago, students approached faculty members with the wish to address more political issues of human rights in the U.S. and internationally. The result was that PUC linked up with Amnesty International, a widely respected human rights organization started in the early ‘60s by a British lawyer and now boasting 1.8 million members worldwide. Amnesty International continues to emphasize its original focus of “forgotten prisoners”—people imprisoned for their political or religious beliefs—while expanding to tackle other human rights issues and violations of every shape and size. Members of PUC chapter of AI are working to spread information about injustice and social issues, as well as taking direct measures—mostly through writing letters—to make a difference. Student leaders run monthly meetings...

Jake Scheideman, owner of St. Helena Cyclery and an active member of the St. Helena Rotary Club, is eight years into a project that has come to include many Napa Valley residents and now, in a spontaneous contribution of almost $8,000, the students of Pacific Union College as well. During a February 16 presentation to an all-school colloquy at his alma mater, Pacific Union College, Scheideman told his story of how a bicycle store owner in the Napa Valley came to be building houses in Nicaragua. After graduating with a business degree in 1990, Scheideman took a bike trip through Central America. He fell ill in the small village of Empalme de Boaca in Nicaragua and was nursed back to health by a local family. Promising to return someday, Scheideman went home to start his career. But it wasn’t until Hurricane Mitch ravaged Honduras and Nicaragua eight years later that Scheideman found himself compelled to look up his old friends in Nicaragua. He went back to visit and soon was immersed in helping the village of Empalme de Boaca. He started with a plan for a simple baseball field, but the baseball field became a full baseball stadium—“a field of...

On December 18, the San Joaquin Country Club in Fresno, California, was bustling with friends celebrating the 90th birthday of artist and Pacific Union College professor emeritus of art Vernon Nye. His former students brought paintings, at his request; their artworks, along with several of Nye’s, leaned against the walls and the many windows in informal gallery style. Meanwhile, there was a perpetual line of friends, family members, and former students waiting to get a moment’s conversation with the hero of the event. When the convivial milling around was interrupted for a segment of speeches, PUC President Richard Osborn stood to make a special presentation to Nye. Osborn read a letter on behalf of PUC Vice President for Student Services Lisa Bissell Paulson, in which she said, “You are an absolute wonder of a man. Gifted and talented beyond compare, your life has been a gift to us all. Your beautiful and astonishing pieces have graced our homes, our calendars, our mantels...and most importantly, our lives.” Osborn then presented Mr. Nye with a special tribute, announcing that the classroom in the Rasmussen Art Gallery has been dedicated as the “Vernon Nye Lecture Hall.” The honor is certainly well placed. There...

Caps, gowns, and the school banners decorated the annual Senior Recognition Colloquy on Thursday, February 9. Academic Dean Ileana Douglas presented the 345-member Class of 2006, mentioning class statistics such as numbers of student missionaries, youngest to graduate, and candidates for high academic honors. “There is no future in any job—the future lies in the man or woman who holds the job,” she reminded the class. “The torch has been passed to you.” The guest speaker for this year’s Senior Recognition was chaplain Sam Leonor of La Sierra University. With humorous anecdotes and an energetic charisma, Leonor talked about the achievements and successes that we celebrate at such events as graduation. “The danger is that we begin to see our identity in these things,” he said. “We see value as based on our level of achievements, and the things that are important to God get moved down the list.” Leonor encouraged students to do their best and finish their college experience with a flair, but also to dedicate their lives to building the kingdom of God here, now. “May God give us the courage to give our lives to building the kingdom of God and proclaiming the One to come,”...

“People say the Nobel Prize is the stamp of achievement in the science world,” said Sydney Brenner. “But I don’t think it’s the prize that really counts; it’s what we do in our scientific lives.” Brenner, presenting a lively sense of humor in his gruff British accent, gave a lecture on How to Win a Nobel Prize at Pacific Union College on Monday night, January 30. He was the 8th scientist to present for the Breakthroughs in Science lecture series, coordinated by the biology department. Brenner, age 75, won the Nobel Prize in 2002 for his work on genetic regulation of organ development and programmed cell death, and he has a long history of highly influential research, including pioneer work in genetics and molecular biology and discoveries that have been significant for medical research. In a lecture that included scientific references but was also peppered with humorous anecdotes and illustrations to keep the broad range of attendees engaged, Brenner talked about the discovery and exploration of DNA, the issue of contemporary people’s “misplaced sense that we can achieve everything by high technology when we actually just need to think practically,” and the importance of realizing that “you are much more...