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On October 4, 2010, the Pacific Union College Board of Trustees voted to end the college’s consulting contract with Triad Communities and instead pursue opportunities for PUC’s property outside of an Ecovillage project. “This decision comes after more than a year of careful study and consideration,” says Dr. Heather Knight, president of PUC, who spent much of her first year on the job assessing the development project. “After speaking with various community leaders and given the current economic landscape, I feel this is not the best plan for PUC right now.” PUC is still committed to selling land that is not currently in use by the college and that is considered non-essential to PUC’s core mission. This is in accordance with a 2002 board resolution to liquidate non-essential assets to ensure that the College has resources to meet its current financial obligations, as well as to achieve its long-term financial objectives for its future growth and development. These goals include growing the college’s endowment, providing more scholarships for students, increasing faculty and staff compensation, and enhancing the campus infrastructure and facilities. Selected property surrounding and east of the airport will be sold, as is, through a broker, with appropriate restrictions...

Aside from a drizzly Sunday morning, most of the weekend stayed gorgeous and sunny, providing a perfect backdrop for the 2010 Pacific Union College Parents Weekend, October 15-17. More than 100 families from all over the United States arrived on campus, eager to see how their students were faring after four weeks of school and also to get a glimpse of college life. “Parents Weekend is a great opportunity for parents to come and see what life is like on campus and see what we do, how we live, and see our friends,” says student Rayna Duran, a business major. Her mother, Jan Duran, agrees. “You get to bond with your children in their environment. So they are actually hosting you as opposed to you doing all the hosting for them at your home. They love being able to give to us in a way that we always give to them.” The event started on Friday night with the Presidential Dinner in the newly renovated Dining Commons on Friday night. Families were treated to a special dinner with the administration and the president; later in the evening, President Heather Knight gave a speech on “The Adventist Advantage,” her philosophy on...

Pianist Joy Muth Fackenthall will perform a concert at Pacific Union College as a part of the college’s Fine Arts Series on Saturday, October 23, at 7 p.m. in Paulin Hall Auditorium. The program will include selections from Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and Saint-Saëns. Fackenthall will be accompanied by Dr. Rachelle Berthelsen Davis, violin, and Joel Dickerson, piano. Joy earned her Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from Pacific Lutheran University, and a Master of Music in Piano Performance from the Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington. She teaches piano lessons through PUC's Music Department. PUC's Fine Arts Series invites the Napa Valley community to share in culturally rich musical experiences featuring outstanding soloists and chamber ensembles—some of the best and brightest of the musical world with repertoire that enrich, entice, excite and entertain. Admission to the concert is free, however, donations are accepted. Suggested donations of $10 per person can be made at the door. For more information, call the PUC Music Department at 707-965-6201....

As part of its Fine Arts Series, PUC’s music department will host two piano concerts this month at Paulin Hall Auditorium: Joy Muth Fackenthall and John Covelli. Pianist Joy Muth Fackenthall will perform on Saturday, October 23, at 7 p.m. The program will include selections from Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and Saint-Saëns. Fackenthall will be accompanied by Dr. Rachelle Berthelsen Davis, violin, and Joel Dickerson, piano. Fackenthall earned a bachelor’s degree in piano performance from Washington State University and a master’s in music performance from Western Washington University. She teaches piano lessons both privately and through the college’s Paulin Center for the Creative Arts. Internationally acclaimed pianist John Covelli will perform on Saturday, October 30, at 7 p.m. The program includes selections from Copland, Lizst, Beethoven, Paul Ben-Haim, Debussy, Griffes and Gottschalk. Covelli is an international prize-winning pianist, having won two of Europe’s most prestigious piano competitions—the Queen Elizabeth of Brussels and the Busoni International Piano Competition. A Chicago-born prodigy, his career has spanned the realms of orchestral involvement, solo piano performance, and conducting in a variety of ensembles. He is a popular guest conductor, master teacher and chamber player. Covelli is also the founding conductor of the Belleayre Festival Orchestra...

The Pacific Union College religion department kicked off the school year with its annual spiritual retreat on the weekend of October 1-3. This was a weekend of fun, fellowship, and communion with God in the picturesque location of PUC’s Albion Field Station on the Mendocino coast. “This trip is often the highlight of the year for our theology majors,” says Leo Ranzolin, religion department chair. The weekend’s bonding started on Friday afternoon with a two-and-a-half hour drive from PUC. The road to Albion twists and turns in sinuous curves hugging spectacular cliffs. Upon their arrival at Albion, the students and their guests were treated to a healthy meal at the Albion cafeteria. Freshman religion major Abraham Navarro, noted, “[The food] kept getting better and better.” To kick off the Sabbath, religion and theology students provided a vespers in the recently renovated laboratory building. Theology sophomore Samantha Angeles delivered a moving message on the importance of wisdom. Fellow theology major Jason Whitley, commented, “I loved her sermon. It was a great reminder of what is important for those of us going into ministry.” The Sabbath morning church service was no disappointment, either. With the winding Albion River visible through the windows,...

It was an unusual scene at the Rasmussen Art Gallery on Saturday night, October 2, as groups of people huddled around the main show room, shoving and rolling expensive pieces of art. The creator, Michael McGinnis, stood casually by as people of all ages took turns handling his work. The show, “Superplexus: Sculptural Labyrinths,” is meant to be tactile as it features a series of three-dimensional spherical mazes navigated by a ball bearing. The largest sculpture, the Superplexus Vortex, is nearly 4 feet tall and is priced at $30,000, and the smallest is 8 inches in diameter and available for purchase where toys are sold. Also accompanying the Superplexus are prototypes and drawings, showing the creative journey from idea to completion. McGinnis estimates having spent more than 500 hours on the Vortex. McGinnis, who teaches sculpture and three-dimensional design at Santa Rosa Junior College in California, began designing complex and intricate mazes as a child. He designed and built his first three-dimensional puzzle—a rough ancestor of his acclaimed Superplexus—as a high school junior in Petaluma in 1979. It took over 20 years of numerous revisions to turn that early maze into a marketable form and eventually a stunning work of...

Campus Ministries hosts PUC’s Fall Revival this week, with four special worship services happening at various times in the PUC Church Sanctuary. The featured speaker is Kietrich Germany, the associate pastor of Oakland-Market Street Seventh-day Adventist Church. Germany came to the Lord as a child, inspired by the love of his mother and the faith of his father. He felt that his life was interwoven with God’s presence, and that despite his youthful wanderings, God would not let him go. He became involved in preaching as a teenager, and after one special encounter at prayer conference he felt God’s call to devote his life to pastoral service. He has since studied for ministry at Oakwood and Andrews Universities, and describes his approach to ministry as “a beggar telling other beggars where I found bread.” Fall Revival begins Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Sanctuary, then continues with Thursday events at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. Friday the program concludes with a special morning service at 9:40 a.m. and a final program with Germany at 8 p.m....

Students, faculty, and staff packed the Pacific Union College Church on Thursday, September 23, for the annual Opening Convocation, an annual ceremony to mark the start of a new school year. This year’s ceremony featured Dr. Carol Geary Schneider, president of the Association of American Colleges and Universities. She spoke on the importance of a liberal arts education. Schneider described the shift occurring in higher education towards an emphasis on growing students into responsible members of a global society with intercultural knowledge, a great sense of teamwork, information literacy, creativity and innovation. Naming PUC’s diversity and Adventist heritage as paramount assets to a liberal arts institution, Schneider told the students that the knowledge they gain here will prepare them to become healers of a broken and divided world. “We have our ideals in one hand and a can-do spirit in the other,” she said. “With them, we will have what we need to be part of a just and equitable society.”...

After a quiet summer at PUC, the campus has come back to life as the 2010-2011 school year officially began on Monday, September 20. As students begin classes last week, early registration figures indicate that enrollment will increase this year compared to 2009-2010; it will be the college’s second consecutive year of growth. “It was exciting to see that there were [students’] cars double-parked all throughout the Winning parking lot,” said Scott Callender, PUC’s director of enrollment. “We’re definitely on track to see an increase this year.” The bustle on campus began Wednesday the 15th as PUC welcomed hundreds of new students to campus on Freshman Move-In Day. Freshmen eagerly made their way in to their first college dormitory rooms with the aid of parents and friends. PUC faculty, staff, and student leaders also provided assistance, volunteering in an annual tradition known as “Porter Power.” These campus volunteers helped new students carry in boxes and furniture and offered information and advice about campus life. “We've eagerly anticipated the arrival of our many freshmen, and they finally arrived!” said Lisa Paulson, vice president for student services. “We are going to have a great school year!” Over the weekend the new students...

Pacific Union College welcomed over 130 Pacific Union Conference academy newspaper, yearbook and video yearbook editors September 7-9 to learn the skills required to produce high quality publications from professors and working professionals in the college’s 20th annual Publication Workshop. The program offers an in-depth and multi-faceted approach to teaching students publication skills. “In addition to excellent instruction in video, graphic design, communication and writing, student leaders are able to network with each other and form a support group that (hopefully) lasts beyond their time at the workshop,” says program co-director Michelle Rai. “We also have a spiritual component to the workshop, from our Christian instructors to our praise and worship services. Our goal is to show students that they can serve God in any profession and with any communication medium.” The workshop offered more than 50 different seminars to students and their sponsors. Students chose to follow specialization tracks in journalism or yearbook writing, newspaper or yearbook design, newspaper or yearbook editorship, photography and video yearbook editing. A few course titles included: “Photoshop Tips and Tricks,” “Copy Editing,” “Editorial Writing,” “Hands-On Mood Boards” (inspiring the publication’s theme, color, layout, type and images), “Photo Essence” (how to get the most...