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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...

On September 7, 2010, the Pacific Union College Board of Trustees confirmed Dr. Dave Lawrence as the college’s new vice president for financial administration. Lawrence officially started his appointment on September 13, in time for the new academic year. Most recently, Lawrence was university controller at Loma Linda University, where he managed and coordinated the daily activities of the University’s accounting and finance functions, internal control, investment management, chart of accounts administration and provided budgetary control of Loma Linda University’s $250 million budget. Furthermore, Lawrence provided oversight of all financial reporting, implemented accounting and financial policies and procedures, coordinated cash flow and collaborated with the information technology department in reference to financial systems application, internal audits and tax reporting. Additionally, Lawrence served on the Financial Operations Committee, the Risk Management Committee, the Human Resources Operations Committee, the Investment Management Committee, the Web Steering Committee, as well as the Plant Operations Committee at LLU. He is also an active member of NACUBO and WACUBO and has published in the Journal of Adventist Education on topics related to school finance. Lawrence also served as an assistant professor at Loma Linda University’s department of health policy and management where he taught courses in...

This July nine missionaries from PUC—one professor, six current students, and two recent grads—journeyed to Guatemala for a 15-day evangelism drive organized by ShareHim ministries and sponsored by The Quiet Hour radio program. The group stayed in the northeastern town of Flores from July 9-24. From that hub, the missionaries fanned out each day and each one preached a solo evangelistic series. It was a daunting challenge for the missionaries, many of whom were preaching for the very first time. “It was scary when they asked me to be the leader,” says Charo Caballero-Chambers, a PUC modern language professor and official group leader, who had never preached before. “But I [prayed], and I felt like this was what God was really calling me to do.” At the close of the trip, 36 Guatemalans decided to give their lives to God in baptism at a nearby lake. In addition, Caballero-Chambers reports that she has since received calls from pastors in the area who say that in the successive weeks many more decided to be baptized in response to the evangelistic efforts. “They tell me, ‘You have planted the seeds, and we will continue watering,” she says. The mission provided an especially...

At the Seventh-day Adventist General Conference session in Atlanta this summer, visitors to the Pacific Union College exhibit booth were confronted with a tough decision. They had to choose between donating money to an organization that mentors children in California, providing shoes for families in Ethiopia, or building a village in Nicaragua. "They are all such good causes!" said one visitor to the booth. "I don't know how to choose!" Some wanted to give to all three charities—a generous spirit that was helped by the fact that PUC was giving them the money to donate. For this General Conference PUC eschewed the usual giveaways that dominate convention exhibits and allocated $5,000 for student ministries instead. The decision of how to distribute the money was left in the hands of visitors, who were given wooden tokens that could be dropped into one of three boxes representing the ministries. At the end of the 10-day session, PUC would count the tokens, each representing 50 cents, and then write checks to the student ministries for the amounts collected. The project fits in with a culture of giving and volunteerism that is deeply ingrained at PUC. "It's just another example of how PUC has...

Pacific Union College was ranked among the region’s 10 best baccalaureate colleges by U.S. News and World Report’s annual “America’s Best Colleges” issue—one of the best-known and most reputable sources for college rankings. This is PUC’s 17th consecutive year on this list, which was released online this week. In addition to the recognition for outright quality of education, PUC was also ranked number two in the region for ethnic diversity, and number three for value. "Pacific Union College is again thrilled to be recognized as one of America's Best Colleges by U.S. News and World Report,” says PUC president Heather J. Knight. “This recognition highlights PUC's ability to make a distinctive impact and to deliver superior performance over a long period of time.” PUC, ranked number 10, is in a category for institutions that focus on undergraduate education and grant fewer than half their degrees in liberal arts disciplines. The ranking evaluates more than 1,400 American colleges and universities. Regionally, PUC competes among colleges in 15 western states, stretching from Hawaii to Texas. High scores are based on such elements as peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, and alumni giving. Ethnic diversity is evaluated...

Most college students would jump at the opportunity to travel Italy for five weeks of summer and call it academic credit. That is exactly what a group of seven PUC Honors students did from June 30-July 28, but this dream educational opportunity was a little more complicated than it sounds. The seminar entitled “Beauty” is a required component of the Honors program that explores the concepts of art and aesthetics in one of the most historically appropriate locations in the world—Florence, Italy. Students examine questions of how beauty shapes people and their views of the world and gain an understanding of the development of what is perceived as beautiful in the Western world. Every day of the course was a highly purposeful adventure. Students left the campus of Villa Aurora, the Italian Seventh-day Adventist college where they lived, early in the mornings to visit an array of museums and tour famous places such as Rome, Cinque Terre, Assisi, San Gimignano, Pisa, Lago di Garda and Venice. Afternoons were filled with three-hour art history lectures and discussions of art philosophy. Evenings were no less intensive, as students were assigned between 80 and 200 pages of philosophical readings and response writing almost...

As seagulls squealed and misty veils cooled the nights, shutters snapped—these were the sights and sounds of 2010’s digital art photography class at Pacific Union College’s Albion Field Station. One-week sessions at the college’s remote coastal facility offered students of all ages, abilities, and cameras the chance to begin or advance their photography skills, with the lovely Mendocino coast as a backdrop. Under the tutelage of Gilbert Muth, professor emeritus of biology and the station’s director, the 11 beginner-to-intermediate students enjoyed a scenic tour of the surrounding coastal area, including the communities of Albion and Mendocino and the nearby Albion River. This year, the class emphasized landscape and nature photography, as well as the uniquely quaint architecture of the area. In nearby Fort Bragg, flashes found inspiration at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens. Returning to the station’s laboratory, participants learned how to improve their photos via Photoshop, in anticipation of each evening’s critiques. This culminated in Friday morning’s student slide shows, which allowed the presenters to demonstrate their digital works of art and all their hard work for the week. “Typically, the first photos on the first evening of Digital Photography need a lot of improvement,” admitted Muth. “However, by...

It is an exciting time for Floyd Hayes, professor of biology, as he takes a leading role in a new project to protect nesting grebes, some of northern California’s most elegant fresh water birds. “I'm really excited about the project because I'll be able to spend a lot of time out on Clear Lake getting intimately familiar with these elegant birds,” says Hayes. “[They] have some of the most spectacular courtship displays in the avian world.” Hayes will be responsible for managing $50,800 from a grant from the National Wildlife Federation to monitor and conduct conservation efforts toward breeding grebes at Clear Lake—California’s largest freshwater lake, about two hours’ drive from PUC. He and his collaborators will conduct weekly surveys during the nesting season to locate grebes and measure their reproductive success. A few selected PUC students who are aspiring field biologists will have the unique opportunity to assist Hayes in his research. The team will also post buoys and barriers to break up waves in the vicinity of colonies and reach out to local stakeholders through presentations and distribution of printed materials, which will inform locals of the hazardous impact of boat wakes and recreational fishing on grebes’ floating...

For PUC English professor John McDowell, the long days of summer began in the cool of 4:15 am, local Jordan time. From June 23-July 28, he participated in the Madaba Plains Project at Tall al ‘Umayri, an archaeological dig sponsored jointly by several Seventh-day Adventist colleges and universities. Thanks to a 2010 Herber Grant, McDowell was able to serve as this season’s lead photographer, post online weekly updates, and write articles of creative and human interest. Why might an English professor receive a grant to work as an archaeologist? “I know archaeology is a long way from English,” McDowell says, “but there are artificial divisions. Archaeology is trying to write a story about a past. It’s connected to not only the biblical past, but also our own past. You try to get the story right, as much as possible… it’s fragmentary, you have to put it together.” In the field, sewing the narrative together requires an early start to the day’s labors, due to the scorching dry heat of Jordan. Dig participants sift strata in five-meter-by-five-meter squares—five centimeters at a time. However, before beginning the next level, a top plan must be drawn and numerous measurements taken. After all, once...