CAMPUS CHRONICLE ISSUE 6 - VOL XCII - JANUARY 28, 2016 PACIFIC UNION COLLEGE
PUC’S OWN YOUTUBE STAR PAGE 7
TO PURSUE HIGHER EDUCATION OR NOT? PAGE 9
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Letter From The Editor By Tara Hattendorf
The professors, staff and faculty of Pacific Union College guide us toward our futures, but the students are the lifeblood of our campus. Our voices form the discussions; our faces create the crowds. Our actions can make a difference in not just our school but also our community. We may come from many backgrounds, but are united in that we are here now. This issue of the Campus Chronicle is for a large part about our students, as well as our ideas that have the possibility of starting revolutions. Someday, it could be graduates from PUC running for public office, writing the laws and making a difference in the world. But we don’t have to wait to make a difference until we graduate: we are starting now.
News Blurbs By JJ Nash
About six months ago a drug king from Mexico—Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman—escaped from prison. President Enrique Peña Nieto announced on Twitter that he was finally captured on Jan. 8. According to The Associated Press, Guzman was captured during a shootout near his home state in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, that left a Marine wounded and five others dead. According to CNN, while on the run, Guzman had a secret meeting with Sean Penn in the Mexican jungle. He answered questions about his drug trade, revealing he has supplied more drugs than anyone in the word. According to a recent study of more than 880,000 births in Denmark, pregnant women do not have to worry about birth control pills being harmful to their baby. The study showed that the overall rate of birth defects for those who had the pill before getting pregnant, those who stayed on the pill in early pregnancy, and those who had never taken the pill was consistent. Brittany Charlton, an author of the study and a researcher in the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s epidemiology department, says their findings are reassuring and reaffirms previous research that found no increase in major birth defects. If you like cheap gas prices, then this is your month to get on the road. Two gas organizations that follow gas prices, GasBuddy and AAA, say that it will not be unusual to see gasoline prices under $2 in the United States. As a matter of fact, gas prices could drop to $1 per gallon in some areas. This has not happened since 1999. A few states already have the price of $1.75 per gallon. The reason for gas prices going down is due to oil prices falling about 25 percent since June. Stephen Moore from Fox says, “Oil prices are falling because of changes in world supply and world demand. Demand has slowed because Europe is an economic wreck.”
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QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? Email thhattendorf@puc.edu Editor-in-Chief Tara Hattendorf Assistant Editor Taylor Pittenger Layout Editor Taylor Smith News Editor JJ Nash Features Editor Janet Morales Fitness & Sports Editor Malek Sheen Opinion Editor Glorianne Besana Copy Editors Emily Mathe Kevin Tran Faculty Advisers Lynne Thew Michelle Rai Cover Photographs Taylor Pittenger Nikki Neumann Cover Design Manny Peralta
January 28, 2016
vol. xcii
Three Hundred Seconds Three hundred seconds is the fastest an officer could arrive on campus if a disaster occurred at Pacific Union College. With all the terrorist attacks and other attacks happening around the world and in schools, it is important to know how our campus and the Public Safety Department would handle a crisis. As mentioned last quarter by Andrea James, PUC follows the Cleary Act guidelines to ensure campus safety. A representative from the St. Helena police station assures PUC students that in an ideal situation it would take about five minutes to get to the PUC campus if a shooting or other disaster occurred. However, putting an exact time on when an officer would be able to arrive on campus is a difficult matter, the representative says, as it depends on the day and where officers are located along their drive. According to Sean Westenrider of Public Safety, if a shooting were to happen on campus his department would respond by calling the Napa Sheriff ’s Department. The Napa County Sheriff ’s Department is required to respond to our campus emergencies since Angwin is
By Ashley Camacho
in Napa County. The Napa County Sheriff ’s Department would then notify the St. Helena dispatch. The intensity of the situation determines if St. Helena officers would assist as well, at which point both departments would come to PUC prepared to deal with the situation. Dec. 2, 2015 was a scary day for many of us at PUC when the news headlined that a shooting had occurred in San Bernardino. Some of us knew individuals or had family members inside the Inland Regional Center where the shooting occurred. For those of us who didn’t know anyone involved in the shooting, we were scared for those at our sister campus at Loma Linda University and the Medical Center, which got a “code yellow” (bomb threat) at 2:40 p.m. on Dec. 2. A Loma Linda University student stated, “It could have been handled better,” on how LLU dealt with the “code yellow” threat. “They sent out emails about the shooter but the emails got to us late,” the student said. “We were all confused because we didn’t know what to do. There was fear traveling among us.” Westenrider reassures us at that at PUC,
Transparency Bill Passes Senate Students of Pacific Union College know well that food in the Dining Commons is expensive and the prices increase each quarter. The Student Senate Food Advisory Committee is investigating a claim by the management of Bon Appétit, which is contracted with the college to run the cafeteria, that Bon Appétit have not been receiving the funds due to the cafeteria. After reaching dead ends with Student Finance and Student Services to get clear information on the matter, Senate passed a bill Dec. 2 requesting transparency on the Bon Appétit contract and funding. The bill states, “Stakeholders are interested in identifying the monetary allocation — its source(s) and amount(s) — issued to Bon Appétit Management Company by Pacific Union
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Located between Fisher Hall and the Copy Center & Mail Room is the Napa County Sheriff ’s Community Office. “Public Safety has designed a response plan approved by the administration that would get implemented.” This is why everyone should register to get text or email alerts during a time of a disaster at http://notifyme.puc.edu. If one does not have a phone or an electronic device, Westenrider states, “We are working with the ITSS department to further our ability to contact students during an emergency.”
By Tara Hattendorf
College and how that allocation is utilized to provide students with quality food service that maximizes their financial investment.” Senate is asking for information to be released to the Food Advisory Committee and to Senate itself in order to make informed decisions about future monetary allocations. The bill was reviewed by Ad Council on Jan. 25. The Ad Council meeting was positive, and a committee is being created to address the concerns the bill brought up. The Student Senate has passed many bills this academic year for the benefit of students. At the direction of Student Services, Senate is isAll students are welcome to attend Senate suing a survey for students to answer regarding meetings every other Wednesday at 9 p.m. cafeteria prices as part of their investigation. in the Fireside Room unless otherwise announced.
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Mike Scott: Crafting the Storytellers of the Future By Chris Vance
Beneath Andre Hall works an explorer. When one strolls past the reverse side of Andre, one may hear a double door frequently spitting out the sound of tinkering and the smell of saw dust. If opened, the passageway reveals a sprawling workshop interlaced with humming steam pipes. This is the lair of Mike Scott. Scott performs women’s dorm maintenance for Pacific Union College, but he has not always done so. From sculpting, to inventing, to running his own restaurants, Scott has pursued his desire to learn more about the world. Scott has always hunted for tactile tasks that entertain him, add flair to the lives of others and earn a stable income. His latest endeavor is an ambition six years in the making. His hands spoke of firm excitement when I sat down with him to discuss his latest creation: the Pop-in Pop-out Illustrated Storybooks. Just as parents trick their children into eating suspicious leafy green substances by buzzing their lips and zooming the fork backand-forth, the Pop-in Pop-out books entertain young minds while subtly teaching them how to structure a story. The concept is simple: give children a series of illustrated pages, allow them to arrange the pages in whatever order they choose and then have them write their own story based on their page alignment. This method is similar to story-boarding, the process that film directors use to visualize each shot of a movie. When asked how the Pop-in Pop-out Book assists children in learning, Scott responded, “Children are natural storytellers, but not all are artists. Allowing them to arrange illustrated pages gives them an opportunity to write naturally.” Pictures bypass the language barrier. A child from any culture and language can look at a Pop-in Pop-out Book and recognize the potential for change. A perforated pad of blank story cards can be torn out, written on, and arranged into plastic pockets on each page. Each step of the process allows a child to engage the storybook with their hands, rath-
er than just their eyes. Scott also emphasized the order of the pages as a memory challenge for developing brains. Keeping track of what order the pages are in while teasing out a story that makes sense can be difficult. As Scott said, “It’s not the easiest method for a child to write a story, but don’t we want our young students to be challenged?” The idea for the Pop-in Pop-out Books first came to Scott while he was relaxing in bed after a day of hard labor. He realized that he worked among students every day. He said, “I’m surrounded by PUC, Prep, the elementary school … what idea or product can I introduce into this educational environment? Then I thought, why not make a mechanical storybook with pages that can be rearranged?” He threw together a working model by cutting out illustrations from books and gluing note cards to each page. Next came the design of the book itself. Several obstacles arose for Scott to ponder as he repaired broken utilities and furniture: the pages of the book needed to be flexible and durable to withstand the inevitable jerky motions of young hands. They needed to be easily cleaned and child friendly. Both the pages and story cards needed to swap smoothly from one position to another. Over time, Scott tweaked his design, opting for sturdy synthetic pages and designing a new style of closed binder rings to hold the Pop-in Pop-out pages together. Once the initial structure was satisfactory, Scott was ready to give his idea physical form. Relying on wisdom from his multifaceted background, Scott has sought help for every stage of project construction. In his words, “There are people out there who can do things that I can’t. I’ve always looked for people who are more clever than me to take it to the next level.” While Scott knows how to sculpt, he required artists to create the pictures in the Pop-in Pop-out Books. Without delay, he picked up the phone and called PUC’s Visual Arts Department for recommendations.
Hoping to bring new educational opporunities to young students, PUC staff member Mike Scott created interactive storybooks with the help of PUC students. Scott referred to students as “gems on campus being polished.” Rather than going to a professional organization, Scott found talented students and faculty to craft his dream. For the illustrations, Scott hired Allison Kurtz, Michelle Hashimoto, Michelle Jellitich and Ashley Quackensbush, all PUC alumni, who each illustrated their own book. With help from the Business Department and marketing, Scott built up a company: Storyrider Books. A website gained shape from meetings with the Computer Science Department. As more people were brought into the creation process, Scott decided the time had come to see what children thought of his books. Through PUC’s Education Department, Scott set up a test exercise by filling a PUC Elementary classroom with kids in order to gauge reactions from both students and teachers. After covering a few simple instructions, Scott set the Pop-in Pop-out books loose, hoping for a positive outcome. He received more than he expected. “The first experience with kids was pandemonium,” Scott said. “The kids loved it. The teacher was shocked.” The young children were thrilled, and more importantly, the books worked. Twenty-three children entered the classroom and 23 unique stories left. Further tests in St. Helena yielded similar results. Continued on page 6 …
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January 28, 2016
Hoverboard Trend and Laws Hoverboards — seen by millions on television, YouTube and social media — have lawmakers scrambling to catch up as consumers take their expensive new toys to the streets. The hoverboard gained popularity near the end of 2015, largely because of its use by celebrities in music videos and on social networks like Twitter and Instagram. Hoverboards have recently made national headlines, as reports roll in of the boards causing injuries and catching on fire. In response, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has launched an investigation into the overall safety of the product. PUC announced Jan. 21 that Hoverboards are temporarily banned on campus due to safety concerns. Hoverboards go by many names: Swegways (in the U.K.), sky walkers, future foots, minisegways or the catchy “self-balancing twowheeled board.” Hoverboards do not actually hover. They work by using sensors to detect your movement, and they use gyroscopes to counterbalance and control the speed of the wheels. You lean forward to go faster, backward to brake and twist your feet to turn. There is some debate over who invented the hoverboard, but it was definitely made in
By Andrea James
China. Chic Robotics is commonly believed to have invented what is now called the hoverboard, but they named it the Smart S1. The S1 debuted in August of 2014, and that fall Chic took it to China’s largest trade show, the Canton Fair. The product flew off the shelves, and before long other manufacturers began selling identical products — often using Chic’s images and promotional videos with a new logo hastily Photoshopped over Chic’s due to the lack of patent enforcement in China. This phenomenon of manufactured viral marketing has happened over and over again with the hoverboard (and numerous other technologies), as the same product is slapped with different names, logos and a superficial touch-up of new paint and different hubcaps. The rapper Soulja Boy even started his own line of what he called “Soulja Boards” in red and green. The price of a hoverboard (or whatever they are rebranded as) varies widely, from around $500 up to $1800. As hundreds of thousands of consumers take their shiny new boards to the streets, new laws have begun rolling out in response. London was first to ban the use of hoverboards on public property, and New York fol-
J.R. Rogers Named New Fire Chief The Angwin Community Council recently announced that J.R. Rogers, one of Pacific Union College’s staff members, is the new fire chief of the Angwin Volunteer Fire Department (AVFD). J.R. Rogers is the director of enrollment at PUC, but he has been working with AVFD for 12 years. He first became interested in the department during his freshman year at PUC. One of his friends decided to join the academy and told him about it. He immediately knew he wanted to join as well. “It’s every boy’s childhood dream to become a firefighter,” says Rogers. He has been volunteering for the fire department ever since. During the Valley Fire, the AVFD main-
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Hoverboards are being banned for safety reasons across the nation and on PUC’s campus. lowed suit soon thereafter. Recently California issued a law — effective Jan. 1, 2016 — which requires hoverboard riders to be at least 16 years old to ride on public property. Riders must also wear a helmet and can only ride on streets where the speed limit is under 35 mph. Riders can only ride 15 mph and only in the bike lanes. It will be left up to individual cities and counties to decide whether hoverboards will be allowed on sidewalks. Violators of the new law or those who ride under the influence will pay a $250 fine. The California Highway Patrol plans to monitor the new law over the next five years and give a final report in 2021.
By Janet Morales
tained constant communication on road closures and evacuations with the community. Even now when they receive a call, Rogers, who manages the social media for the AVFD, posts some information about the call so the community stays informed. “We really appreciate the support of the community and PUC,” he adds. Interested in joining the AVFD? Classes began January 13th and will finish at the end of May. It’s a six-month program with different courses, some of which Rogers will teach, and you’ll receive hands on experience. “We would love for them to join a drill so they can see what it’s about and give them a little more J.R. Rogers, who was a great help during the Valley Fire, is now the AFVD Fire Chief. information of the department,” says Rogers.
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Continued from page 4 … Pushed by the waves of stories scribbled out by fledgling writers, Scott has begun attending educational trade shows. While he feared the Pop-in Pop-out book would be lost in the sea of new educational products, the colorful illustrations and unique design attracted the eyes of attendees who offered further advice on product creation and distribution. “I wasn’t aware of the potential the product had,” said Scott. As he explored the possible directions he could take Storyrider Books, plush toys, stickers and a print-on-demand service began
Campus Chronicle
to take shape. After years of meticulous thought, designing and extensive collaboration with both the students and professors of PUC, Scott has declared the Pop-in Pop-out book ready to be unleashed upon the world. In his words, “I’m aiming for reaching as many schools as possible.” To that end, Scott has sought out members of the Film Department and marketing to create a crowd-funding campaign to pay for mass production. What started out as a small thought nipping at his mind has turned into a fully realized product which will help propel
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the next generation of storytellers forward. Scott expects the Kickstarter campaign to go live during the spring. From there, he wishes to delve into the possibilities of new Pop-in Popout books, with the additions of subject-specific books and 3-D printed characters. Scott believes that future iterations of Storyrider Books products will be an ideal project for student employees. In his words, “PUC has become my laboratory: my place of learning, experimentation and discovery. We all have an innate drive to better ourselves as human beings.”
Don’t Let Your Textbooks Break the Bank College tuition is a struggle that students all over the country can relate to, but while many students get scholarships, grants and loans to help with tuition, textbook costs usually come out of pocket. Introductory information for new and transfer students suggests that each student’s budget be about $500 per quarter for textbooks, although costs really depend on your major. Nursing is by far the most popular and expensive major on campus, with the course packet costing about $1,100 each quarter. However, the packet includes a full box of books and access codes, and many students keep all of their supplies for future reference. Pacific Union College’s goal is to provide every student with the opportunity to learn, so the College Bookstore has options for students to buy or rent new or used books, with advertised rental savings of up to 80 percent. However, store manager José Rivero cautions students to always compare prices because new rental book savings can constitute no more than 30 percent, and the student will not own the book. The good news, according to Rivero, is that PUC gives each student $1,000 each quarter to charge textbooks, supplies and apparel to their account, so that everyone has the opportunity to purchase what they need, and have the option to pay later. Several students said that they always compare prices to find the least expensive option before buying or renting, though some stu-
dents said that they prefer buying because they are able to keep the book for as long as necessary without feeling rushed by a due date. Conversely, Rivero said that some students rent their textbooks because they prefer not to deal with the hassle of trying to sell books back. Despite all of this, many students still choose to outsource when obtaining their textbooks. Another popular textbook option includes buying or renting from Amazon or Chegg, or participating in book-sharing programs. One student utilizes the copies of the textbook in the library. “I printed out the whole textbook at the library because the free PDF was online, but I don’t really like e-books,” said sophomore pre-physical therapy student Laurant Panggabean. E-books, or electronic books, are a rising trend for students, because they are more likely to update information quickly, and they’re more easily portable on a laptop, tablet, or smartphone. The downside to e-books is that not all textbooks have been published in electronic format, and sometimes the e-book has very different page numbers from the print copy, making cross-referencing material more difficult. Of course, some students and teachers complain that it’s more difficult to take notes on e-books, as well. Similarly, more and more older texts are coming out of copyright, and becoming a part
By Dominique Townsend
Student Kellianne Holland studies hard, surrounded by her many textbooks for the quarter. (Photo by Kaitlin Darnell) of the public domain, and can be easily accessed for free online, either as PDF files or as shared documents. These seem to carry a lot of the same stigmas of e-books, however. Always check with your professor if going an electronic route, renting, or buying used because some classes require access codes that are only valid for the first purchaser, and will need to be purchased separately. The important thing to remember when textbook shopping, is that no one solution is right for everyone, or for every class, but no student should ever miss out on learning because of the expense of a textbook, since there are so many options available for a much lower cost.
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January 28, 2016
PUC’s YouTube Star: Tochi Nwosu When sitting next to someone in class, you don’t always know who you’re sitting by or who they might become. You can be sitting by a complete stranger, or the next billion-dollar inventor. Sometimes you think you know someone but really, you have no idea. For instance, one day during my freshman year, I was sitting by a friend of mine, Tochi Nwosu. I saw him looking at YouTube before class started and I noticed something. He wasn’t on there watching someone else’s videos; he was there looking at his own personal YouTube account and tracking his statistics from follow count, to views, likes, dislikes and subscribers. When I asked him about his account, he blew me away. I thought he was just an average YouTuber, just posting videos about random things, and at most had 100 subscribers. I was wrong. Nwosu’s YouTube profile, SwagFoulNation, has an impressive résumé. He has a staggering 100,134 subscribers with the numbers continually growing, and his total combined views is at 13.7 million. His videos mainly document his reactions to viral videos, and he has featured other students from PUC like Jeremy Brown and Stephanie Jin. So let’s get to know PUC’s Mr. YouTube a little better through a short interview I had with him.
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By Jordan Delarmente
How long have you been doing/posting videos on YouTube? Nwosu: “I have been doing YouTube for about four to five years. I started in high school when I had a lot of free time and I was watching some YouTube videos, and one day I decided to start doing videos because it looked pretty fun.” How did you come up with your channel name, SwagFoulNation? Nwosu: “Swag Foul is something that Jeremy and I started freshman year. It basically means to do something super embarrassing. It was an inside joke within our group of friends and when I was deciding to pick a name, I just added ‘nation’ after it.” Where do you get your ideas for your videos? Nwosu: “I got inspired and changed my style of videos from the Magnus Channel and friends back in Maryland on the Gattor Martin Channel.” Along with studying biochemistry and being pre-med, he does some extracurricular activities, such as being involved with Student Senate as a quasi (senator representative), being a volleyball intramural champion and so much more. But what makes this guy accumulate views that are in the 10,000-400,000 range per video? What makes this guy so popular?
PUC student Tochi Nwosu runs his own YouTube channel with over 100,000 subscribers. The answer is his personality. His reactions are genuine, and when the video he’s reacting to isn’t so exciting he’ll make hilarious comments about that video. He also best represents his viewer demographic — teens to young adults — because he uses language and slang that is recognizable. The second reason why he’s so popular is the quality of his videos. He has a high quality camera with a microphone so you can hear him clearly. Finally, he truly enjoys what he’s doing, and he does it for his fans and the 94,000+ subscribers who are joining his nation. If you ever catch yourself procrastinating, need a laugh, or just want to support a fellow colleague, join his nation: SwagFoulNation.
PUC Faces and Advice to Future Students How do people hear about PUC? People come from all over the world to attend this Seventh-day Adventist college here in the northwestern part of America for many reasons, such as our nursing program or yearlong sunshine (most of the time). Most of the students hear about PUC from either their Adventist church, family members or from Adventist academy teachers. Interestingly, we have a few students who hear about PUC in stranger ways, proving that God is still working wonders around the world. The students fea-
tured below tell their stories of how they came to PUC and offer advice to other students. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” — Jeremiah 29:11 (KJV)
By Sara Toussaint
working at he KFC drive-thru when she met an African American woman, who was wearing a grey sweater with red lettering of PUC and “Pacific Victoria Wright, Senior Major in Exercise Sci- Union College” writence & PT (B.S.) ten underneath. VicOne student, Victoria Wright, has an amaz- toria was looking at the woman while taking ing story on learning about the college at a the money for the meal and thinking about KFC drive thru. One night, Victoria was t asking her about the college because she had
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been thinking about going to college for the past few months. So Victoria asked about PUC, and the woman said, “It was a great school. I got lots of connections and one thing I could not have done without PUC is get as many jobs that I have. I worked at the Travis Heart Center, a military hospital and several other places.” The mystery PUC alumna majored in both exercise science and biology, which is similar to Victoria’s plans of becoming a physical therapist. Meeting and talking to this alumna led Victoria here to PUC. Advice: “Rent your books early. Have a plan for food. It will be rigorous but worth it.” We have a few students who were interested in going to UC’s and other public universities but God had other plans for their lives, leading them to this Adventist university. “There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand.” — Proverbs 19:21 (KJV)
to PUC by God, and says, “I am glad I am here.” Advice: “To new students, my advice: if you want a closer relationship with God, have fun safely, make trustworthy friends, have guidance throughout college, have a quality education, and make memorable experiences. This is the place. As a second year college student, I love this place. I do not have any negative thoughts about this college. I learn and have a good time. Yes, it could be away from home but this will also be your home. You will not regret coming to this college. Pray and may God lead you in his will.” We also have students on campus who were born and raised in Angwin and have decided to attend this college because it was either closJesus Morales, Sophomore Major in Matheer to home, closer to family or near nature. matics (B.S) “Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be In November 2013, one student’s church glad;....(12) Let the field be joyful, and all that in Los Angeles had a presentation about PUC is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood and why this was a perfect college. It was also rejoice.” — Psalm 96:1112 (KJV) the first time he ever heard the name Pacific Union College. Morales’ plan was to attend Amanda Garcia, Sophomore Major in EnviUC Santa Barbara but in December of the ronmental Science (B.S.) same year, he received a letter from PUC tellOne student, Amanda Garcia, has lived in ing him to apply. One Sunday night in Decem- Angwin for nine years. When she was preparber, he applied and soon received news that he ing for college, she heard both good and bad was accepted. Jesus, who was planning on at- things about PUC. But, she still wanted to attending UC Santa Barbara, was brought here tend this college because her brother and sister-
The Year of the Vegan Once again, as the old year gets left in the dust and the new year hits us like an unforeseen stop sign, many people try to better themselves by making a New Year’s resolution. Though there are a select few strictly opposed to New Year’s resolutions, a new year gives people the resolve to try and break bad habits and start new ones. So for this new year, I made a resolution to become a vegan.
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in-law both attended the college and it was closer to family. Advice: “PUC is a hard school that pushes a person to think critically and thoroughly, which makes a person well rounded in all areas of knowledge. And it is a college that is just enough in nature that you can enjoy God’s creation. Every PUC student works hard, but if they put God in the center and have faith in themselves school will work out!” PUC has over 1,600 students who chose to attend PUC or God made the decision for them. We are blessed to have everyone back this in 2016. Welcome to our new students! We have so many wonderful, friendly, happy, on-fire-about-God type of people on this campus. If you know anyone who is trying to make a decision about college, tell them about PUC. We would love to have more students joining the PUC family. Have a great year! We will be praying for you, and God bless you and your family. “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.” — Ephesians 2:19 (KJV)
By Malek Sheen
A vegan is person who sacrifices their comfort to refrain from the utilization of all animal products — from milk to a leather jacket. A vegetarian is one who does not eat meat according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. So while not eating meat, fish or fowl, a vegetarian can still consume dairy products such as yogurt, ice cream or cheese. A vegan cannot. To be clear, I was already a vegetarian for mul-
tiple years before this decision. I became a vegan for all of those good reasons about health, the environment and the animals. A vegan, according to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, has a lower chance of getting Type 2 Diabetes, cardiovascular disease and even cancer. In terms of the environment, according to the U.N., the meat industry as a whole contributes more to global warming than all the
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The Pacific Café sells a variety of healthy, vegan and gluten-free foods for students with specific dietary needs.
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motor vehicles on the planet. Finally, as a vegetarian or vegan, you save the lives of 50–150 animals a year and do your part to prevent animal cruelty. Bon Appétit has even made it easier to be a vegan at this school. Some meals in the cafeteria are specifically marked with a “v” so you know they are vegan-friendly and for lunch you can always go to the sandwich deli in the cafeteria and order something vegan. For lunch and dinner, the dinning commons also offers a “Wellness” section, which always provides a tasty vegan meal, and you can snack on some fresh fruit at the produce section when you are hungry but not ready for a whole meal. Last but not least, Bon Appétit is bringing
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back their vegan burritos this quarter to make it easier to get a vegan breakfast when you are in a hurry. Now, I won’t lie to you, these past couple of weeks of being a vegan have been pretty rough. It’s a life of always trying to find out the ingredients in what you’re eating and sometimes, at least just starting out, forgetting you’re a vegan and accidently eating a slice of pizza. But in the end it’s worth it. It’s worth it because veganism is about harmony — harmony with your body, with the planet, and with all living beings. So if you are looking for a resolution to better yourself and make a positive change, there is no better time than now.
The Changing American University Dreams Life is a series of decisions through which one achieves upwards momentum. At the basis of these decisions is a motivation not only to sustain oneself financially, but to join the ranks of the consumer class in pursuit of the elusive American dream. Everyone has their story, and everyone has their journey — and those words ring true here at Pacific Union College, one of the most diverse campuses in the nation, as much as anywhere else — from the Ivy League rejects, to the first-generation college students, to the first generation immigrants. Everyone is here to receive a high-quality education and a college degree, two necessities which are the foundation of a successful life — or are they? At the fourth GOP debate last year, Sen. Marco Rubio — one of many Republican contenders for the RNC nomination who up until recently was saddled with over $150,000 in student loan debt — argued in favor of vocational training claiming that “welders make more money than philosophers. We need more welders and less philosophers.” While his argument was laced in the rhetoric of an agenda to push against affordable fouryear colleges, he may have a point. A college degree is one of the biggest investments anyone will make in their entire life, and I’m not simply speaking about the massive
price tag — shackled to millions of Americans in the form of a student loan debt creeping its way to $1.3 trillion. I’m also talking about how every year spent in an undergraduate program is one removed from being in the workforce, where you could potentially be earning $30,000 to $40,000 annually and working your way up some form of corporate ladder. Rubio and other presidential hopefuls have all spoken out against the fixation with fouryear college, arguing that it’s not the only way to make a successful living in the United States. We need to eradicate the stigma from trade and vocational education, because a four-year program is a huge investment and the returns are no longer guaranteed to be in your favor. Forbes and many other finance-based publications are also joining this movement, arguing that college degrees are not sound investments and the positive returns are the result of character development in the formative years spent in university, versus any degree or diploma. As a result of this fixation, university classrooms across the country are being filled with generations of apathetic student bodies looking for easy programs, easy teachers and shortcuts to a degree that vaguely promises some form of financial stability for the years to come post-graduation. “I’ve never met anyone here
By Josh Tobing
A four-year college like PUC may not be the right decision for all American students. (Photo by Charnise Jones) who actually likes what they’re studying,” are the words of one PUC Residential Assistant. These words echo through my head as I walk through campus and sit in classes and seminars in which students are often times asleep or affixed to an electronic device. This rampant apathy is not only destroying the academic excellency many campuses around the nation seek to boast, but it ultimately cheapens the value of a university education and degree in the long run — acting counterproductively to the goals of many. For those who are unhappy in their programs and unsuccessful in an academic environment, there is an alternative, and it may even claim superiority within the coming years.
10
Campus Chronicle
Social Media: The Age of Reading Steve Jobs, one of the founding fathers of Apple, did not intend his projects to be answers to problems. He was creating a need for a certain product in the market. Technology today is being aggressively integrated into the lives of people in their homes and at work. Some see it as a new age and others as a downward spiral. One of the biggest arguments against the rise of tiny glowing screens is the loss of reading in culture. This is an understandable concern, but when scrutinized carefully, the upward spike in social media and handheld conversation has made reading the central component to American culture today. Technology’s effect on social norms, ethics and communication has created a greater need in society for reading and writing, or rather scrolling and typing. The release of a new type of cell phone, the touch screen, was initially directed at adults and businessmen. But when the youth of the nation grabbed hold of it, a new era took place. Facebook, Yik Yak and Twitter are three major social media platforms with one thing in common, they are fueled by what people write. Originally beginning in the hands of the teenagers, the apps are spreading their roots into the lives of politicians, movie stars, parents and even grandparents. Being able to read and
“The mass quantity of writing being published over social media has affected the quality and worth of writing.”
no.6
By Eryn Pongs
write within the boundaries of technology has become one of the most time consuming and important aspects of life not only for teens but for people of all ages. Unfortunately, many things observed on these sites are vulgar, but still become the most popular phrase of the week if enough people like and share them. The increase in the use of reading and writing within technology has made changes to what is socially normal and accepted. Long paragraphs of text are dedicated to people’s beliefs of what is right and wrong. Ethical ideas and opinions have been blurred because of the use of technology to argue. The art of speaking and arguing rhetorically is all but gone out the window when it comes to controversial subjects. Long arguments on gun laws, refugees and politics can be seen on Facebook making no difference in the world. When was the last time a Facebook strike spurred people to action? Opinions are puked all over social media with no action to follow them. The mass quantity of writing being published over social media has affected the quality and worth of writing because of how easy it is for someone to argue a belief and forget about it the next day. Who wins? Who was right and who was wrong? It is difficult to choose the correct path when there are so many to follow. Despite the ethical blur, every argument online was written and read by the public. Text messages and calls are made at every hour of the night or day without ceasing. Because communication is efficient and timely, the relaying of news across the United States happens in minutes rather than hours. Handheld devices have alerts and warnings for news flashes and updates. People no longer have to rely on the television for outside information, they can read it out of their pocket. Televisions are fighting to compete with handheld devices
Today sudents are able to use mobile devices to read, write and interact with others. They are not just for playing games and sharing photos. (Photo by Kaitlin Darnell) by becoming more like computers, able to access the internet. This is because people crave reading. Whether it is news, friends, family or weird facts, human beings naturally want to feel connected and accepted. Therefore, they must read and see what is happening in the world. Although the technological craze originated with teenagers, it has spread to all generations, creating a giant web of communication centered on reading and writing. Apple, Microsoft and many other companies have succeeded in creating a shift in society. Whether it be for individual people or the advancement of business function, people in the United States of America will read texts and computer screens daily. Even though technology has brought the nation closer together, meaningless debates over right and wrong have blurred the lines of proper argumentation, indirectly causing words to become meaningless. When people claim technology has destroyed reading and writing in culture today, they are wrong. Yes, the quality and weight has suffered, but reading and writing have never been more abundant in a culture than today.
January 28, 2016
vol. xcii
11
Create Your Own Conspiracy Theory
By Jonathan Salvador
NOUNS
VERBS
ADVERBS
ADJECTIVES
TIME/EVENTS
QUANTITY
PEOPLE
Government
Lie
Secretly
Despicable
Doomsday
$0.10
George Washington
Freemasons
Hide
Methodicall
Deceitful
Judgement Day
$10
Pope Benedict
Area 51
Deceive
Inconspicuously
Secretive
Christmas
$500
King Hammurabi
Dinosaurs
Conceal
Forcefully
Totalitarian
Easter
8 Months
Queen Elizabeth
Society
Perpetuate
Hatefully
Egotistical
Independence Day
10 Years
George Bush
Aliens
Clone
Obviously
Oppressive
New Years Day
100 Years
Leonardo Da Vinci
Sasquatch
Tax
Unintentionally
Dark
Halloween
10,000 Years
Jay-Z
Chemtrails
Destroy
Sadly
Elite
9/11
100,000 Years
Rihanna
Vaccines
Nuke
Unfortunately
Exclusive
2012
1,000,000 Years
Walt Disney
GMO
Conspire
Delibrately
Rich
1999
10,000,000 Years
Justin Bieber
Casinos
Calculate
Unflinchingly
Poor
100,000,000 Years
Steve Jobs
Aztecs
Eradicate
Openly
Religious
1,000,000,000
John Lennon
Egyptians
Steal
Daringly
Pagan
National Catfish Day National Braille Literacy Month National Accordion Awareness Month
1,000,000,000
Mr. Rogers
Fill in the blanks with the words above. (_________) ago there was a (_________) that would (_________) the (_________) so that (_________) could (_________). Thought history they would continue to (_________) because they didn’t want (_________) to (_________) their (_________). To this day the (_________) insists that (_________) but it is a lie. They just don’t want (_________) knowing about their (_________) otherwise they would lose (_________). That’s why (_________) only cost (_________) and (_________) are banned. Don’t trust the (_________). They are a (_________) (_________) that would (_________) to keep their (_________). Don’t be like the rest of the ignorant sheep. (_________) is fictional! (#Illuminati confirmed.)
Campus Chronicle
12
no.6
From Diogenes Motion Pictures: A Dollar
https://youtu.be/7VnP8zOc398
Do you create? Send your videos to dmp@puc.life!
Nerf Gun War
• Feb. 7:
Super Bowl Party in Campus Center
SA election packets due
• Feb. 10:
Senate meeting (open to all students)
• Feb. 13:
Basketball Senior Night
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10
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UN
%
T ON
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• Jan. 30:
TR A VIGNE
S
SA election packets available in Campus Center
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• Jan. 28:
PIZZERIA
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Upcoming Events
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