November 4, 2014

In this issue…

• Current News
• Family Updates
• Personnel Updates

Current News

Leeds professor to speak on C.S. Lewis Nov. 6

California Baptist University’s College of Arts and Sciences is hosting Dr. Mark A. Pike for a lecture on Nov. 6. Pike was recently appointed as the head of the School of Education at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom.

He will be speaking on the topic “C.S. Lewis on Post-Christian Culture and Faith,” at 3:30 p.m. in the Staples Room in the James Building. The event is open to all.

Pike, a dynamic British speaker, is also a professor in educational values and pedagogy. A high school teacher for more than a decade, Pike received his doctorate from Southampton University before rising rapidly through the ranks at Leeds. He writes and speaks widely on literary, moral and religious issues in education, and is the author of Mere Education: C S Lewis as Teacher for our Time; Citizenship and Moral Education: values in action; and Spirituality, Literature and Literacy, as well as more than 40 book chapters and peer-reviewed journal articles.

 

CBU students view “balance and majesty” of partial solar eclipse

California Baptist University students, faculty and staff peered through special glasses or looked through telescopes equipped with solar filters to view the partial solar eclipse Oct. 30.

Dr. Kyle Stewart, assistant professor of physics, with assistance from CBU’s astronomy club, arranged the event outside Mission Hall. Participants were able to see the moon partially blocking the sun.

“Solar eclipses are rare events to be able to witness,” Stewart said. “I think eclipses hold fascination for people because they are an extremely hands-on, visual way to think about the solar system.”

Amanda Snodgrass, a sophomore aviation flight major, had not previously seen a solar eclipse.

“It’s super cool,” she said. “It’s something you don’t see every day.”

Stephanie Lee, a senior biology major and president of the astronomy club, said it was a great event because it gave students an opportunity to view something they would not have known was happening otherwise.

“It’s amazing to see how an eclipse works and to get a glimpse of how the universe was designed,” she said.

Valarie Ramirez, a junior biology major, was grateful to have the opportunity to see the eclipse and the sun spots.

“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to be able to use a telescope like that,” she said.

Stewart commented that solar eclipses are rare events that enable viewers to learn about the motions of bodies in the solar system, like the earth, moon and the sun.

“It’s also a great way to think about the ‘big picture,’” he said, “and to give God the glory for the intricate balance and abundant majesty we see in the universe.”

 

CBU-Stanford wrestling event draws record crowd

Wrestling took center stage on California Baptist University’s front lawn Saturday afternoon, as the Lancers opened up their season against Stanford with the inaugural “Take It Outside” dual. While CBU fought hard before falling to the Cardinal, 27-9, the program put on a record-setting event as the standing-room-only crowd of 2,620—which included mixed martial arts legend and world champion Urijah Faber—helped set an attendance record for an outdoor collegiate wrestling dual.

To read the entire story, click here.

 

 

 

 CBU alum making an impact with Chick-fil-A

Adaobi Gwacham (’08) missed out on having a Chick-fil-A on campus while attending California Baptist University, but the business graduate is building a career with the popular restaurant chain.

Gwacham started working for Chick-fil-A when she was 18 and has worked her way up the ladder for the past 10 years. She started as a team member at Chick-fil-A in Chino Hills, in 2004 and worked the front counter, drive-thru and kitchen. She moved into leadership after a year and became the restaurant’s general manager after graduating from CBU. In 2010, Gwacham took a job in the corporate office as a grand opening supervisor for about year before taking her current position as a grand opening consultant and relocating to the Atlanta office.

Gwacham started as a nursing major at CBU and then switched her major to business. “CBU gave me the necessary tools to interact and be successful in a corporate environment,” she said.

As a grand opening consultant, she meets with owners and operators about their grand opening, provides them with marketing and operational tools and travels to support them as they get ready to open the restaurant.

Gwacham has higher aspirations. She says even in college her goal was to own her own business. And not just any business, but a Chick-fil-A franchise. One reason was because of the company’s purpose statement: “To Glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that has been entrusted in us and to have a positive impact in all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A.”

“Chick-fil-A is more than the profits,” she said. “It is about caring for the people and having a positive impact. I wanted to be a part of that and wanted to influence whatever community I will call home.”

Gwacham started the application process in 2013 and was selected this year to be the owner/operator for the Pasadena restaurant, which is under construction and scheduled to open in December. The company opens fewer than 100 restaurants a year.

She is also looking forward to moving closer back to family in Chino Hills and Corona.

“I am very blessed for the opportunity to have been selected,” she said.

 

CBU hosts Sphere training for disaster relief

Thirty-four participants attended Sphere Project training, hosted by California Baptist University’s School of Nursing Oct. 20-24. It is the second year the training has been offered.

The Sphere Project was begun in 1997 by a group of humanitarian agencies to improve the quality of disaster response. The training program teaches the minimum standards that need to be met in order to deal with humanitarian issues after a disaster.

“What the Sphere standards were set up to do is provide a consistent minimum standard across the world in emergency response situations,” said Francis K. Horton III, a Sphere trainer and area director for Baptist Global Response (BGR). “There was a need among international organizations that normally, regularly respond to emergency situations to standardize things so that, No. 1, we’re all speaking the same language, No. 2, that we’re all providing the same kinds of relief and No. 3, so that the people who are in need are more likely to get what they need.”

Participants who completed the course included health workers and 29 CBU students. Horton and Ben Wolf, another area director for BGR, were the trainers.

Participants worked through the Sphere Project handbook, which covers the minimum standards for four areas: water, sanitation and hygiene; food security and nutrition; shelter and health. Exercises included setting up a refugee camp and creating a plan for how to respond to a certain situation.

Silvia Bolanos, a senior nursing major, took the training last year and again this year. Her dream is to work in the states for nine months a year and go on short-term missions for three.

“A lot of ideas have clicked, [but now] the ideas are more solidified,” she said. “I am able to create plans now so I have a better idea of how to respond to a disaster if it happened.”

The training also exposes students to the global aspect of the Great Commission, said Stacey Toro, assistant professor of nursing and coordinator for the project.

“There are many places that disasters occur and things happen in closed countries where people usually can’t get in, but health workers and emergency providers and disaster relief workers can,” she said. “We put on this training because we want to promote the Great Commission, a biblical world view, and give another aspect to our students who want to do that.”

Jamila Davison, an emergency room doctor from Tampa, Fla., also attended the training.

“I’ve learned how these disasters can open up doors for so much, (both) immediately and then long term,” she said. “It would be great to not only meet people’s physical needs but also their spiritual needs.”

Jessica Rosas and Monica Quintanilla, both third-year nursing majors, participated in the training to prepare for a possible mission trip.

“We learned a lot about how to work with people of different cultures and how to involve them in their own care,” Quintanilla said. “Our goal would be to help them keep their dignity as opposed to just providing for them and them becoming dependent.”

 

Family Updates

Waylon Baumgardner, website manager, presented research titled Moving to Git-based Version Control with Small Teams at the Higher Ed Web Association Annual Conference, which met in Portland, Ore. Oct. 19-22.

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Ana Gamez, associate professor of psychology, presented research Oct. 25 at the International Association of Chiefs of Police, Psychological Services Section in Orlando, Fla. Her topic was Ethical Standards Associated with the New Fitness-for-Duty Evaluations and Proposed Pre-Employment Psychological Evaluation Guidelines.

 

 

 

 

Dr. Jennifer Newton, associate professor of English, presented a paper titled Cleaning the House of the Soul: George Herbert’s Latin Poem ‘Martha: Mary’ in Theological and Literary Context at the Texas Medieval Association conference, held at the University of North Texas Oct. 3-4.

 

 

 

 

Dr. Dennis K. Bideshi, professor of biology and clinical microbiologist, was elected to serve another 5-year term as a member of the Ascoviridae study group of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV). The ICTV subcommittee is tasked with clarifying the nomenclature and phylogenetic relationships among ascoviruses, which are large double stranded DNA viruses with unique structural and biological features.

 

 

 

Dr. Mary Ann Pearson, associate professor of public relations for Online and Professional Studies, presented a paper titled Online Mentoring at the 7th Annual Mentoring Conference, which met at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque on Oct. 22.

 

 

 

 

Dr. Trevor Gillum, associate professor of kinesiology, co-authored an article with Jared Coburn, adjunct professor of kinesiology, and kinesiology graduate student Nicole Williams titled Static stretching vs. dynamic warm-ups: a comparison of their effects on torque and electromyography output of the quadriceps and hamstring muscles. The article was published in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness in October.

 

 

 

Dr. Charles Sands, dean of the College of Allied Health, conducted staff training in leadership development Oct. 7 for Sandals Church in Riverside. The session was the last of a four-part series conducted during 2014.

 

 

 

 

Dr. Veola Vazquez, associate professor of psychology, was awarded first place in the San Diego Christian Writer’s Guild Unpublished Manuscript Contest for her middle-grade novel The Nickel Nuisance. The expected release date for the book is February 2015.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Jong-Wha Bai, associate professor of civil engineering, attended the American Concrete Institute Fall 2014 Convention, which met in Washington D.C. Oct. 26-30. He participated in committee meetings and made a presentation titled A Probabilistic Model for Predicting Early-Age Deformation of Self-Consolidating Concrete. In addition, he conducted a seminar on seismic vulnerability and loss estimation of concrete structures for civil engineering students at Johns Hopkins University on Oct. 28.

 

 

 

Dr. Jolene Baker, associate professor of kinesiology, and Dr. Nicole MacDonald, professor of kinesiology, presented a posted titled Knowledge and Readiness of Inter-professional Education in Athletic Training and Advanced Practice Nursing Students at the Association of Schools of Allied Health Professions Conference, which met in Las Vegas Oct. 22-24.

 

 

 

Dr. David Bishop, assistant professor of software engineering, successfully defended his dissertation for the doctor of science degree in information systems at Dakota State University.

 

 

 

 

Dr. Jacqueline Gustafson, dean of the School of Behavioral Sciences, contributed a chapter to a book recently published by Cascade Books. The chapter, titled The Whole Story: Revisiting the Unspoken Complexities of Adoption, appeared in the book The Spirit of Adoption.

 

 

 

 

 

CBU’s department of languages and literature co-sponsored the 2014 Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association annual conference, which met Oct. 31-Nov. 2 in Riverside. As part of CBU’s participation, the department presented two sessions on Christianity and literature at this secular conference. In addition, presentations from CBU included: Manya Wren, adjunct professor of English: When There Is No Room in Hell: A Re-examination of Socio-Political Themes in Two of George A. Romero’s “Dead” Films; Arlene Drachslin, adjunct professor of English: A Dracula Translation of Female Characterization: One Voice, Two Heroines in Bram Stoker’s Dracula and the First Silent Film Adaptation, Drakula halála; Tracee Auville-Parks, adjunct professor in English: Poetry, Jazz, and Forgiveness; Dr. James Lu, professor and chair of modern languages and literature: Two Tales of a City: Riverside’s Magnificent Mission Inn and Desolate Chinatown; Dr. Gretchen Bartels, assistant professor of English for Online and Professional Studies: A great sufferer—my doll”: The Tension of Medical Maternity in Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands; Robert Sapunarich, graduate student: Grace in the Maelstrom: Calvinism in Moby-Dick; Dr. Laura J. Veltman, associate professor of American literature: The Christ-Haunted Classroom: Flannery O’Connor, Faith, and Pedagogy; Tara Anderson, graduate student: From in between the Mountaintops: A Look at Langston Hughes’ “Christ In Alabama”; L. Maggie Fanning, lecturer in English: Shifting Boundaries: Two Literary Explorations of the Edges of 1960s America; Erika Travis, assistant professor of English and behavioral sciences: Saints’ Names & Sacred Moments: The Persistence of Religion in Ender’s Game; David Isaacs, assistant professor of English: “Be Some Other Name”:  Naming and Supernatural Intervention in Gene Lien Yang’s American Born Chinese and Boxers & Saints; Dr. Owen Staley, lecturer in modern languages and literature: Lucianic Satire and the Invention of America; Dr. Thomas Schneider, assistant professor of English for Online and Professional Studies: Chaucer, Mimesis, and the Fantastic in A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Dr. Tim Luther, professor of political science: Ghostly Demarcations: Derridean Specters in Clint Eastwood’s Westerns; Irina Renfro, assistant professor of modern languages and literature: Sumarokov’s Hamlet: The Religious Redemption of the Female Characters in the Context of Russian Cultural Code of the 18th Century; and Leontine Armstrong, adjunct professor of English: Diana’s Emotions: Transformations in Transition for the Goddess.

 

Dr. Jacob Lanphere, assistant professor of environmental science, presented research titled Stability and Transport of Novel Engineered Nanomaterials in Aqueous and Subsurface Environments at the monthly Natural and Mathematical Sciences Colloquium Oct. 22.

 

 

 

 

 

Kimberly Tallo, accounts payable, and Justin Holcomb were married Oct. 24 at the Grove Community Church. Holcomb is recovering from myocarditis, a viral infection that attacks the heart. The couple had originally planned a wedding at the Mission Inn before Holcomb’s hospitalization but have now rescheduled for March 20. They extend their thanks to the CBU family for the prayer support they received during his illness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve Morris, adjunct professor of education, recently accompanied his 92-year-old father on the Eastern Oregon/Portland honor flight. Honor Flights is an organization whose mission is to fly all WWII veterans to Washington, D.C. to see the WWII Memorial. More than 50 veterans, averaging 91 years in age, participated in the flight. Upon their return, their service was recognized by military members and passengers at the Portland International Airport (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvMRsLjl-2c).

 

 

 

 

Jersie, aged 5, and Jaysie, aged 3, attended the CBU-Stanford wrestling match last Saturday with mom Courtney Collette, financial aid administrative assistant. Both girls both now say they want to be wrestlers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No Personnel Updates this issue