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This spring, Pacific Union College unveiled the Malcolm and Eileen Maxwell Scholar, a program that honors high school seniors who have demonstrated high academic achievement, a commitment to Christian service, and outstanding leadership skills. Each year, up to five scholars will be chosen, and recipients will receive $10,000 towards their freshman year at PUC with the opportunity to renew the scholarship. Students applying for the Maxwell Scholar Program must be accepted to PUC and meet GPA and test-score requirements. As part of the process, students must write an essay, submit a resume outlining service and leadership activities, and send in letters of recommendation by the scholarship deadline, May 1, 2009. Finalists will be announced in June. The Maxwell Scholar Program honors Dr. Malcolm Maxwell and his wife, Eileen, and their commitment to Adventist education. Dr. Maxwell was the first alumnus to serve as president of PUC, and he had the longest tenure at 18 years. Dr. Maxwell, son of famed Seventh-day Adventist author Arthur S. Maxwell, graduated from PUC in 1956 with degrees in theology and biblical languages. He completed his master of arts in systematic theology at Andrews University and earned his doctorate in biblical studies at Drew University....

On February 15, an estimated 2,000 spectators, braving a downpour of rain, lined Howell Mountain Road to catch a glimpse of World Champion Lance Armstrong and the 2009 Amgen Tour of California. This year, the race passed directly in front of Pacific Union College, drawing hordes of students, faculty, and staff to the street with signs, cameras, and umbrellas. Some PUC alumni made a special trip to Angwin for the occasion. Kit Kohler, class of 2003, and Jakki Raines-Kohler, class of 2005, got into the spirit of the tour by traveling from their Palo Alto home to Angwin by train, ferry, and bus; the last leg was a grueling and wet bike ride up Howell Mountain Road. Several alumni traveled from as far away as Colorado to watch the event with their alma mater. To read more about the Amgen in the Napa Valley, read the Napa Valley Register story. See a gallery of Amgen's ride through Angwin. The Amgen Tour of California, a professional cycling race, began in Davis on February 14 and concludes in Escondido on Sunday, February 22. Sixteen of the world's best professional teams race over a statewide course of more than 750 miles. Stage One...

Pacific Union College's weekly colloquy program has long been a time for students and faculty to congregate and enjoy fellowship, dynamic speaking, and music. This quarter, however, some changes have been made to the format. These changes, including cutting the praise singing, are part of the administration's plan to make colloquy a more distinctive experience. "By having colloquy in the church, the assumption is that the service is always religious, but we are trying to deal with a broad range of programs," says President Richard Osborn. "We felt that by having a more quickly paced program, greater interest would develop with a focus on broad campus and community issues. I'd like to see colloquy be a time when our entire college community gets together to hear news about campus, to gain new perspectives on social, political, and spiritual issues, share the joys and sadness in our community, which we saw at the memorial service for the Newton 4, and comes together to support each other." A new feature entitled "Tell Me Something I Don't Know" has replaced the musical segment. During this time, our academic dean Nancy Lecourt dialogues with various students and faculty concerning rather astonishing bits of departmental...

From in front of the Capitol to a big-screen TV in the Campus Center, people from PUC watched with interest as the United States welcomed its 44th president. Of course, most of the students, faculty and staff had to watch the events from afar. Some spent the morning at the Cameo Cinema in St. Helena, which broadcast the event live, free to the community. Others watched on the big screen in the cafeteria or in the Campus Center. But several individuals from campus traveled across the country for the event. Aubyn Fulton, professor of psychology, was in D.C. in person with his family. Student Chelse Chavez was there as well by last-minute luck, with former student Adrianne McNaughton; and student Desiree Quijano was present as well. Fulton and his wife and three children arrived in D.C. Sunday afternoon and caught (from a bit of a distance) the second half of the concert and speakers at the Lincoln Memorial. "The highlight for me was Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen singing 'This Land is Your Land' which literally took my breath way." On Monday, they participated in the Martin Luther King Jr. Day service projects. Tuesday morning the family got up at...

In the fall of 2008, Pacific Union College brought back the language course in beginning Mandarin Chinese, now taught by native Mandarin speaker Jun Liu, who is originally from Beijing. The class is now in its second quarter, and the group studying the language enjoyed a special celebration in honor of Chinese New Year's Eve, the most widely-celebrated of the traditional Chinese holidays. Liu hosted the class and some friends, including biology professor Brian Wong and modern languages department chair Sylvia Rasi-Gregorruti, at her home on Sunday, January 25. After some delicious home-cooked Chinese food and sweets, the students learned how to play mah jong, a game that originated in China and is played with tiles.This celebration was one aspect of the class's goal to explore elements of Chinese culture, in addition to learning practical usage of everyday Mandarin. The third section of this year's Mandarin course will be offered in the spring quarter....

For the small theatre company at Pacific Union College, January brought a memorable week inspired by the expertise and creativity of three theatre professionals - an artistic theatre director from Serbia, the dean of the CalArts school of theater, and a co-artistic director of Theatre of Yugen. On January 4, Dijana Milosevic, artistic director of Dah Theatre Research Centre of Belgrade, Serbia, did a cast workshop on campus. She worked with the group in PUC's Dramatic Arts Society (DAS) that is preparing to perform "Clay Feet/Wire Wings: The Space Between" in February. Two days later, DAS enjoyed a lecture and demonstration with Erik Ehn and Jubilith Moore. Ehn is a playwright and dean of the School of Theatre at the California Institute of the Arts and has a long list of playwriting and drama leadership roles, including working with Theatre of Yugen and helping found the Regional Alternative Theatre Movement. Jubilith Moore is co-artistic director of Theatre of Yugen, an experimental theatre company in San Francisco, The tie between these, as seen in a January 9 open process session at PUC, was the Theatre of Yugen's week-long residency at PUC. During their week on the PUC campus, Theatre of Yugen...

Most of the Pacific Union College students who go on to medical and dental school attend Loma Linda University. In the spring of 2008, 19 of the 168 students graduating from the LLU School of Medicine were from PUC - more than from any other single school (Andrews and Walla Walla came in second at 16 each). Also, 19 of the 92 DDS graduates from the LLU School of Dentistry were PUC alumni. Alum Jennifer Clark was the 6,000th LLU dentistry graduate. No doctors march from PUC, since the school's focus is undergraduate degrees. But for a long time PUC has taken pride in giving pre-medical and pre-dental students a strong preparatory education. The statistics indicate this is turning out well. PUC graduates have high rates of acceptance to pre-professional programs, and our medical school acceptance rates are in the top ten percent in the nation. PUC senior biology students have also averaged in the 93rd percentile over the past 10 years on the national Major Field Test....

Christmas vacation found several Pacific Union College staff members headed to Egypt with a group of PUC Preparatory School students. The group's goal was to bring some sparkle and service to the Adventist churches in Egypt - where the conference is small and faces a challenging existence. The group spent time at various churches, leading out in the preaching, music, and Vacation Bible School style programs for the kids. The students were a part of it all - even the preaching - supported by sponsors, including youth pastor Jon Thornton, vice president for advancement Pam Sadler, marketing and enrollment counselor Scott Callender and his wife Jenn, and Prep teacher Heather Denton. Sponsors were impressed with the work the students put in. "They have a spirit of service that all ... can be very proud of," Thornton said. "The students were great," Callender recalled. "I was especially proud of them [when they preached] because had to work with a translator, and they did really well." The churches in Egypt are tiny and few. To go to church on Sabbath, the members basically have to take a work day off; Egypt's "holy day" that everybody has off is Friday. "They really have...

"I'm at an age when many professional musicians are jaded," Asher Raboy reflects. "The talent, enthusiasm, caring, intellect, youth and energy of the [PUC] students have taken me away from the jaded and kept my own approach to music fresh and fun." That's why Raboy, long-time director of the Napa Valley Symphony and part-time director and music teacher at Pacific Union College since 2006, is now working with PUC's music department as a full-time resident artist. In fact, he says, being at PUC has "restored a lot of my faith and taken the cynicism away - it's taken about 10 years off my life." Raboy's impressive music career includes serving as the music director of the Napa Valley Symphony since 1990; traveling as a guest conductor and conducting ballets, symphonies, and youth orchestras; and composing, lecturing, writing, and teaching. Raboy continues to compose and direct; he just had a piece played in Binghamton, New York, with another scheduled for eight February performances by the Toronto Symphony. At PUC, he has created a community of music and learning and students are anxious to be a part of it. "Asher Raboy is the most amazing teacher I have ever had," said senior...

Bringing together the work of three minimalists, Traces & Margins opens a world of encaustics, mixed media, and paint from Emily Clawson, Eleanor Wood, and Rebecca Archey. Their work will show at Rasmussen Art Gallery in Angwin from January 10 through February 15, with the opening reception on Saturday, January 10, 7-9 p.m. Admission is free of charge. Emily Clawson, a member of International Encaustic Artists, uses imagery from the natural world in her encaustics. She is a former Pacific Union College student and a graduate of the Academy of Art University in San Francisco; she is represented by Tercera Gallery in Palo Alto and received first place in non-representational painting at the 2008 ArtSpan Benefit Show in San Francisco. Eleanor Wood works in mixed media and shows her work at Don Soker Contemporary Art in San Francisco and across Europe and the United States. Rebecca Archey, another California artist and a PUC graduate, will be showing some of her vibrantly colorful minimalist paintings. The Rasmussen Art Gallery regular hours are 1-5 p.m. Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The gallery is located on the campus of Pacific Union College at One Angwin Avenue in Angwin. For more information, call 707-965-6303....