Search

May 18, 2009 Off to China Blending the Chinese tale of Monkey with an original musical composition comes natural for PLU Music Professor Greg Youtz. The guy is not only a well-respected composer, but learning about and engaging the Chinese culture is a passion of his. “My head is constantly full of China,” he said about a love of a culture that began nearly 25 years ago and has since included many trips to the country. Getting a chance to take PLU music students to China is a perfect blend of

June 4, 2009 Helping those in need is a moral imperative, not necessarily a religious one How did Harold Lerass come to believe self-sacrifice is a moral imperative, not just a religious one? In this world, there are many people who need help, and for PLU student Harold Leraas, helping those in need is the greatest mission in life. “I guess I’d just like to see people better off,” he said. “If I can help make someone else’s life better, I guess that’s a pretty successful life.” He doesn’t

July 23, 2009 One-on-one: Behrens By Barb Clements Being a marine biologist is a pretty good gig. And why wouldn’t it be? There are obvious perks, Michael Behrens admits, to having a job where diving is part of the package. Seeing creatures swim by as they hunt for food in the Galopagos is a nice benefit, as well as diving in the rocky shoals of Washington state, which he counts as among the most beautiful places on earth. For PLU Assistant Professor of Biology Michael Behrens diving gives him

September 1, 2009 1:05 p.m. – Mr. McNeese’s gym Class The eighth-grade PE class taught by Dan McNeese ’06 is short one player for a game of pickleball, so McNeese, 26, joins a team and starts swatting at the ball. McNeese says that, as a beginning teacher, he doesn’t get much in pay. But he absolutely has the best job he can think of. On the way back into the gym, McNeese greets Steve Holmfeldt, who was his football coach when McNeese attended Cascade. “At first thought I wanted to teach high

September 1, 2009 Knee deep in love When Linnea Olson came down to her top-two college choices, one was near her hometown of Rochester, Minn. Another was across the country in the Pacific Northwest. So, she decided to surprise herself and do something different. She came out west to PLU. Linnea has always loved the outdoors and considers Minnesota one of the more beautiful places she’s been. But when she came to the Pacific Northwest, it was like nothing she imagined. She loves the trees. She

December 1, 2009 Care “PLU grads are really needed in tough areas. People out here in the world need people who care.”Eric Pfaff ’09 opened PLU’s first bike co-op two years ago as a way for students to quickly and sustainably run errands around campus. Pfaff graduated from PLU, signed up for the intensive non-profit training provided by Teach for America and is now teaching fifth grade in a low-income school in Tulsa, Okla. No doubt he’s encouraging his students there to hop on a bike and ride

December 1, 2009 Human Rights “I don’t care where you live or what your government is or what your religious beliefs are. You’re a human being, and that means, at a minimum, you need food, water, shelter, health care, freedom.”The end of the world is a place Ingrid Ford ’97 knows well. A graduate of PLU’s School of Nursing, she went on to work for Doctors Without Borders for six years, providing medicine to remote villages in Sudan, HIV/AIDS awareness to children in Kenya, even sanitation and

March 22, 2010 Starkovich named provost By Greg Brewis Steven P. Starkovich has been named provost and dean of graduate studies through the 2011-12 academic year. Provost Steven P. Starkovich He had been serving as acting provost this year during the sabbatical leave of Patricia O’Connell Killen. She is returning to her alma mater to become academic vice president at Gonzaga University in Spokane. Starkovich first came to PLU in the fall of 1992 to teach one course in the physics department as

May 10, 2010 www.youtube.com/watch?v=18ANB9w73E4 The Dead Gentlemen return to PLU – Ben Dobyns ’01, Don Early ’00, Matt Vancil ’01 and Steve Wolbrecht ’99. The Dead Gentlemen filmmakers return to PLU By Barbara Clements Once upon a time, there were five Lutes, who had a passion for gaming, and making up silly stories and movies when they should have been studying for finals in 1999. While looking for another excuse to not study Matt Vancil, Ben Dobyns, Don Early and Steve Wolbrecht, created a

July 31, 2010 PLU Women win D-III Ultimate National Championship By Steve Hansen Before Angelica “Geli” Boyden ’11 and Marissa Lyons ’10 came to PLU, they had never thrown a disc before, let alone played the sport of ultimate. “Actually, I threw the disc a few times,” Boyden” admits. “I sucked.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiSNTx5U924 Angelica Boyden ’11 is one of 17 women on the PLU women’s ultimate national championship team Since then, a few things have changed. For starters, they can