the experience magazine - spring 2011
DESCRIPTION
Warner Pacific unveils a new website full of possibilities.TRANSCRIPT
SPRING 2011
THE EXPERIENCEWARNER PACIFIC COLLEGE
The newWARNERPACIFIC.EDU
Warner Pacific College unveils a website full of possibilities.
Page 8
FROM THE PRESIDENTTHE EXPERIENCEMAGAZINESpring 2011
EDITOR / DESIGNER
SCOTT A. THOMPSON
503.517.1123
CONTRIBUTORS
GREGG BORROR ’83
DARBI (FANKHAUSER) JOHNSON ’00
JARED VALENTINE ’01
PHOTOGRAPHY
SCOTT A. THOMPSON
CODY HARROD
VICE PRESIDENT FOR
INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT
KEVIN M. BRYANT
503.517.1220
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF
MARKETING & COLLEGE RELATIONS
LANI E. FAITH
503.517.1369
DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI, CHURCH
AND PARENT RELATIONS
CINDY POLLARD ’03, ’08 (MMOL)
503.517.1026
“The Experience” is produced three times a year by Warner Pacific Col-lege for alumni and constituents. Opin-ions expressed are those of individu-al authors and do not necessarily re-flect official policies of Warner Pacific.
Warner Pacific is an urban, Christ-centered liberal arts college dedicated to provid-ing students from diverse backgrounds an education that prepares them for the spiritual, moral, social, vocational, and tech-nological challenges of the 21st Century. WPC is affiliated with the Church of God, Anderson, Ind.
Warner Pacific College2219 SE 68th AvePortland, OR 97215503.517.1020warnerpacific.edu
©2011 Warner Pacific College
With warm regards,
Andrea P. Cook, Ph.D.President
INSIDE
Creating a more dynamic way to tell Warner Pacific stories
One of the greatest privileges I enjoy as president of Warner Pacific College is getting to know many of the remarkable stu-dents who have chosen this community as the place to receive
their education. I wish I could bring along these very students as I travel around the country visiting with alumni and friends of the college so that people might hear these students describe for themselves the impact that Warner Pacific is having on their lives - and the impact they are having on us.
Since that is impractical, for the most part, we have to use various print and electronic media in order to share these stories. “The Experience” is certainly one avenue, but it can’t bear the burden alone.
The truth is, the world wide web is our great-est marketing and recruiting tool. It gives us the most flexibility and immediacy in order to tell the stories of Warner Pacific College to friends and prospective students in fresh and dynamic ways. This is why Warner Pacific has made the investment in a new website.
We needed a website that was easier to navigate and better reflects the essence of Warner Pacific College’s urban location and Christ-centered mission of serving the city. As such, our new site has a more urban look and feel, with new photography and innovative templates that will allow us to present college stories in more timely ways.
Since 2006, when our most recent website was created, the Internet has changed in dramatic ways. The popularity of social media sites like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter has grown expo-nentially, literally shaping world history. In addition, the emergence of smartphone technology has created an environment where users expect to receive information quickly and efficiently. More flexibility will allow us to keep you better informed and up-to-date on important events.
The new website is the result of hours of research and conversation involving our marketing partner Marah Creative, our own internal marketing department, and staff and faculty from both our traditional and adult degree programs. We also gathered insight from students and local community members for good measure. I believe that as you learn more about the web-site redesign from our cover story, and from visiting the site itself, you will find that it does a masterful job of capturing who we are. I hope it proves to be a valuable resource that you will visit time and time again.
President Andrea P. Cook, Ph.D.
Cover photo illustration by Scott A. Thompson
We needed a website that was easier to navigate and that better reflected the essence of Warner Pacific College’s urban location and Christ-centered mission of serving the city.
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INSIDE
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4 BART VALENTINE COURT Upon the retirement of WP men’s basketball coach Bart Valentine ’75, the college will rename the C. C. Perry Gym floor in his honor.
6 CHANGING LANES Following a series of painful setbacks, adult degree student Raeleene Akin-Hanset ’11 is helping others make the most of second chances.
8 THE NEW WARNERPACIFIC.EDU After months of preparation, Warner Pacific unveils a new website worth talking about.
1o CALLING IT GOOD We offer retirement tributes to choral director Dr. Tom “Doc” Miller and men’s basketball coach Bart Valentine ’75 from alumni who know them well.
11 THE ACCIDENTAL ARTIST Health professor Tom Kunke used to treat painting as a quiet hobby – that is until local art galleries started taking notice.
14 MASTERING THE ART AND SCIENCE OF SOUND Led by recording engineer Dean Baskerville ’84, a new class gives students an inside look at how professional audio recording is done.
15 FIRST PERSON: FINDING ROOM IN HEART AND HOME Seven years after facing a medical crisis with unborn twins, a couple now takes on the thrill ride of foster parenting. By Darbi (Fankhauser) Johnson ’00
DEPARTMENTS
4 College News
12 Alumni News / In Memoriam
THE EXPERIENCE Spring 2011
INSIDE
The Experience 4
After mentoring hundreds of athletes at the high school and college level over a 36-year career — 13 years of which were spent at Warner Pacific — varsity men’s basketball coach Bart
Valentine ’75 announced in January his retirement from coaching. He will continue to teach mathematics at the college.
As a tribute to Valentine, Warner Pacific College will officially rename the floor in C. C. Perry Gymnasium “Bart Valentine Court” following a restoration of the gym floor this summer. The floor will be sanded, refinished, and repainted in time for fall athletics.
“My focus has never been on winning games,” said Valentine, 58. “My desire has been that my athletes would learn lessons through our program that would make them successful in life.”
Warner Pacific recruited Valentine in 1999 as athletic director and basketball coach to reinstate its intercollegiate athletics program, after its closure in 1992. Starting with four sports in 1999, the program grew to eleven sports by 2008.
From 2006 to the present, Valentine’s basketball teams have captured or shared the Cascade Conference regular season championship twice, won the conference tournament once, and made six consecutive trips
to the NAIA Division II national tournament. Valentine was the 2006 Cascade Conference Coach of the Year. In 2009, he stepped down as athletic director, but continued to coach.
“Bart Valentine has served as an example to our entire campus community in the ways he embraced Warner Pacific College’s urban mission,” said college President Andrea P. Cook, Ph.D. “Bart is a great coach and an exceptional role model. He has not only made his mark on our campus, but more im-portantly, on the lives of the young men he has coached and mentored.”
Valentine says he is proud that Warner Pacific’s athletics pro-gram has allowed a wide range of athletes, across all sports, to pursue the dream of a college education.
“The real payoff is seeing a young man or woman receive their diploma at graduation, knowing that without athletics, it probably wouldn’t have happened,” he said.
To make a donation toward the cost of refurbishing the gym floor, contact Kevin M. Bryant, Vice President for Institutional Advancement and External Relations, at 503.517.1220.
Players douse men’s basketball coach Bart Valentine ’75 after a thrilling 68 - 66 home victory against league rival Northwest University on Feb. 12.
COLLEGE NEWS
BART VALENTINE COURT
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Spring 2011 5
After a decade of study, graduation finally arrives for happy couple
Sandra ’10 and Clarence Sie ’10 say studying in Warner Pacific’s Adult Degree Program brought them closer as a married couple.
WP students help residents of local shelter search for work, gain self-sufficiency
Finding a job during a down economy can test the mettle of anyone, but for residents at Shepherd’s Door, the women’s and
children’s recovery ministry of Portland Res-cue Mission, self-confidence can be a work in progress. Many residents are recovering from histories of domestic violence, substance abuse, illiteracy and homelessness.
However, with the help of six Warner Pacific College students from the college’s Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) chapter, these women are learning practical job searching skills as a step closer to independence.
“One of the things we do in SIFE is teach,” said Dané Gilliland ’12, the WP student who has spearheaded the project. “Our goal is to help get them to where they have a stable job and can afford to pay for an apartment.”
The SIFE students began weekly visits to Shepherd’s Door in January. They had residents complete personality inventories measuring their preferences and areas of strength. Then came lessons about writing effective resumés
The final callAfter calling home games in C. C. Perry Gymnasium for 11 years, public address announcer Pat Bryant ’77 retired at the conclusion of the 2010 - 2011 men’s and women’s basketball seasons. He is pictured holding a commemorative “golden” microphone with his wife, Cindy (Kirchen) Bryant ’76,herself an avid fan of the Knights. We offer thanks for their faithful service to Warner Pacific athletics.
Sophomore Chris Meeker ’13 asks practice interview questions of a resident of Shepherd’s Door, the women’s and children’s recovery ministry of Portland Rescue Mission
and cover letters, answering questions during mock interviews, and filling out job applica-tions online.
One resident says the students have helped bring focus to her job search.
“We’ve brainstormed and researched what kind of jobs would be good, and what jobs wouldn’t be,” she said. “[The WP stu-dents] are a fresh set of eyes and ears. They come from a different perspective. “
For Shepherd’s Door staff, the work the WP students provide is a nice complement to the job skills training the residents already receive as part of Portland Rescue Mission’s ministry to provide women and their children a stable and nurturing environment.
“[The students] were interested in using the things they were learning and giving away their gifts, talents and time to help and encourage women,” said Melina Puente, the Lifeskills Specialist at Shepherd’s Door. “It was a win – win from a social and educational standpoint.”
When married couple Sandra ’10 and Clarence Sie ’10 first started
their college journey in 2000, they knew it would be a lengthy one. They took one class at a time at North Portland Bible College, in Portland, Ore., finally earning their two-year degrees in 2007. When they learned they could finish their bachelor’s degrees in 18 months through Warner Pacific’s Adult Degree Program, they jumped at the chance.
They began their human development majors at Warner Pacific in 2008 and final-ly graduated together in December 2010. They say the experience was challenging, but brought them closer as a couple.
“We both have different ideas when it comes to studying, but we worked that out,” said Clarence, a funeral director with Portland Funeral Services. “The together-ness helped us depend upon each other more.”
Sandra, who works in membership services at Kaiser Permanente, enjoys the sense of completion.
“That is very important to me,” she said. “I can’t stand to be in a process that is not complete.”
Sandra wants to pursue graduate school in counseling or social services and work with young women aged seven to 17. Clarence will start his embalming ap-prenticeship, which required him to earn a bachelor’s degree. He said ADP helped him in his work serving families that are grieving.
“[ADP] helps you with your relation-ships with other people, because you have learning teams and everyone has different personalities,” he said. “It’s fantastic.”
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Six years ago, Raeleene Akin-Hanset ’11 woke up in a hospital bed in Eureka, Calif. more dead than alive. An ex-boyfriend had assaulted her with a heavy flashlight, leaving her uncon-scious in an alley with multiple fractures to her face and most
of her teeth knocked out. How she made it to the hospital, she can’t say.
What she does remember is lying in her hospital bed and won-dering how her life had spiraled so out of control. The beating was just one in a series of traumatic experiences – including a battle
with drug addiction, a two-year stint in prison, breast cancer surgery, and the death of a child – that had shaped the first 36 years of her life. She had reached her limit.
“I prayed to God, ‘If you really exist, do what you got to do, but get me out of here,’” she said.
Since that eventful day, Akin-Hanset’s life has been on a new trajectory. She is now a student in Warner Pacific’s Adult Degree Program. Given that she never attended high school – earning a GED instead – the fact that she will earn her bachelor’s degree in early 2012 is a major personal victory.
Akin-Hanset says her degree will enhance her work as an advo-cate for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault in St. Helens, Ore. And having been there herself, she believes it is her responsi-bility to help other victims get connected with the resources and support they need when their lives have been shattered.
“I’ve slowly been able to put my pieces back together and I want to help others do that,” she said.
Rough rideA self-proclaimed “wild child” in her youth, Akin-Hanset grew
up in Eureka and was legally married in 1984 at the age of 15 to her 19-year-old boyfriend. She didn’t go to high school, becoming a mother instead. By the time she was 18, Akin-Hanset had two baby boys, DeVon and Sean Hartzell. Her husband became abusive, however, and the two separated (they didn’t officially divorce until 2006). The couple decided to grant custody of the boys to their great-aunt, who lived in Redding, Calif.
“I decided it made me a better mom to have my kids raised in a Christian home where they could be provided for,” Akin-Hanset said. “Neither one of us could provide for these children.”
Three years later, Akin-Hanset had a daughter, Courtney, as a result of another relationship. She also had a serious drug habit that led to a two-year prison sentence for accepting stolen goods.
When she was released, Akin-Hanset reunited with her boyfriend and daughter in Las Vegas. Life was improving, until she developed breast cancer in 1998 at the age of 29. She had successful surgery, only to learn ten days later that Sean had died unexpectedly back in California.
After the funeral in Redding, Akin-Hanset went home to Eureka to grieve with her parents, against her boyfriend’s wishes. When she returned to Las Vegas weeks later, she discovered Courtney’s father had taken their daughter and moved out. She had no idea where they were. The news threw Akin-Hanset into a fog of depression
and substance abuse that lasted a number of years. It was during this time that she took up with another boyfriend, the one who would later attack her.
“What I remember of those years was just staring at a wall and not seeing anything. I was just dead inside,” she said.
Hope on the horizonFollowing the domestic assault in 2005, Akin-Hanset stole away
to Oregon to hide. She landed in St. Helens, Ore., then relocated to Longview, Wash. to attend Lower Columbia Community College. She stayed sober, found a job on campus, and started getting good grades. When she received a letter saying she had made the Dean’s list, Akin-Hanset was afraid she had done something wrong.
“I called my dad and said, ‘I don’t know why I’m in trouble.’ He said, ‘No, honey, that’s a good thing,’” Akin-Hanset said.
After earning her transfer degree, Akin-Hanset returned to St. Helens. No longer fearing her former boyfriend, she created a per-sonal webpage on the Internet with the hope that Courtney might seek her out. Sure enough, in 2008, Akin-Hanset’s then 17-year-old daughter found the webpage and contacted her. Later that year, the two had a tearful reunion at Portland International Airport.
“I hadn’t seen my daughter in 10 years,” said Akin-Hanset. “The minute she turned the corner my heart stopped. There she was. I knew she was my baby girl.”
That same day, Akin-Hanset’s newest boyfriend, Charlie Hanset, proposed. They were married in 2009, with DeVon serving as best man and Courtney as maid of honor.
Last year, Akin-Hanset enrolled at Warner Pacific and now travels three hours round trip every Tuesday from St. Helens to attend courses at the college’s satellite campus at King’s Way Christian School in Vancouver, Wash. She says she is one grateful person.
“I make it a point to wake up and thank God for another day,” she said. “I thank God for saving my life.”
The Experience 6
Following a series of painful setbacks, ADP student Raeleene Akin-Hanset ’11 is helping others make the most of second chances.
ChangingLanes
By Scott A. Thompson
STUDENT LIFE
Photo courtesy of Raeleene Akin-Hanset
Scott A. Thompson
Cody Harrod
Ballard qualifies for national NAIA marathon championships
Leah Ballard ’12 earned a spot in the women’s
marathon competition at the 2011 NAIA Track and Field Championships, to be held in Marion, Ind. in May. Ballard qualified for the meet when she finished with a time of 1:32:30 — thirty seconds within the national standard — at the Geoduck half-marathon in Olympia, Wash. on Jan. 20.
Mattsen named All-Conference
Kelsey Mattsen ’12 has earned First Team All-
Cascade Conference honors for the second consecutive season. The biology major from Portland averaged 16 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.
She ranks second in career scoring at Warner Pacific with 1,188 points. She was also an
NAIA Scholar Athlete.
Ballard
Spring 2011 7
ChangingLanes
WP team teaches business planning skills at Church of God in La Ceiba, Honduras.
A five-member mission team from Warner Pacific spent a week in Hon-
duras in January presenting a seminar on the essentials of business planning for 28 eager students at the Church of God in the coastal city La Ceiba. The team included business professor Dr. Roger Martin ’94, business administration majors Caitlyn Mc-Call ’11 and Jordan Garfield ’13, ministry major Sarah Whitman ’14, and Martin’s wife, Pauline. The results of a post-seminar survey showed a 100 percent comprehen-sion rate among participants. Martin was impressed.
“We were talking about [starting] barber shops, selling purses on the Internet,” said Martin. “The people were wonderful.”
In addition to assisting with the business seminar, the students on the team also built and painted shelving for a small library in the private school the Church of God op-erates. Martin hopes to repeat the business planning seminar, as well as add lessons in management and finance, during a follow-up trip in 2012.
MISSIONS
THE ARTS“Antigone” asks what it means to be human.
Which do you fol-low when human
law conflicts with divine law? That was the central question posed by WP students who performed Sophocles’ classic drama “Antigone” (pronounced an-TIG-o-nee) in Novem-ber, in a version adapted by Bertolt Brecht.
Gabrielle Meador ’12 (pictured) played the title character, who seeks to properly bury the body of her brother, Polyneikes (Daniel Young ’14), after he is banished from the city of Thebes and killed in battle. However, she faces a death sentence following the decree of Thebe’s tyrant king Kreon (Sam Palmquist ’13).
“ ‘Antigone’ grapples with a wide array of tensions: divine law versus human law, woman versus man, death versus life, love versus hate,” said director Robin Gordon. “We wanted audiences to consider what it means to be human and how we can possibly retrieve our humanness after we’ve lost it.”
ATHLETICS
BACK TO BRANSONAfter a 1 - 4 start to the 2010 - 2011 Cascade Conference schedule, things
were looking dire for the Warner Pacific men’s basketball team. Then the team rallied and won 11 out of its remaining 13 conference games
to finish with a regular season record of 12 - 6 and a third place finish in the conference standings. It was good enough for one of the last remaining at-large bids to the 2011 Men’s NAIA Division II Tournament, held March 10 - 15 at The College of the Ozarks, located near Branson, Mo. It was the sixth consecutive year the men’s team had gone to the tournament.
In the opening round game, the Knights upset eleventh-seeded Northwest College (Iowa) 94 - 83 on March 10, but lost to McPherson College (Kan.) 58 to 77 in the second round the next day.
For his regular season efforts, senior Webster Moreland ’11 (pictured) was voted First Team All-Cascade Conference and NAIA Second Team All-American. The forward from Fairfield, Calif. led the Knights with 16 points and 8.3 rebounds per game.
NEWS NOTES
The new warnerpacific.edu
There are moments when it is time to shake things up, and Warner Pacific has done just that with a brand new website that will present a totally new and dynamic marketing tool for the college.
Why a new site? One reason is due to the way the college itself has changed since launching its most recent website in 2006. The college has witnessed new construction on its Mt. Tabor campus, a tripling of enrollment between its traditional and adult degree programs, and – most importantly – the emergence of a clearer sense of its role as an urban, Christ-centered college.
At the same time, the Internet has undergone radical growth. It is the primary resource prospective students – whether traditional or adult degree – use to find information about colleges. And users expect to find content quickly and efficiently. If a college website doesn’t measure up, people will look elsewhere.
Last fall, Warner Pacific’s Executive Director of Marketing and Col-lege Relations, Lani Faith, partnered with local web design firm Marah Creative to start planning a new college website that would better capture Warner Pacific’s urban identity, while also improving the ability to display vital news and college information in a way that was more current and nimble than the old website could provide.
“We wanted to improve our ability to tell our story, meet the chang-ing needs of current and future students, and lead the way in how to showcase a college community online,” said Faith. “You’ll find a lot of ‘sameness’ among college websites on the Internet, and we were de-termined to go a different direction. Warner Pacific’s Christ-centered, urban mission is unique and rich with opportunities for our students. The website needed to capture that.”
Marah Creative is a Portland-based company operated by siblings Adam Kohler and Kelsey Drake. Prior to this process, the two admit they didn’t know much about Warner Pacific, even though Kohler lives in the nearby Montavilla Neighborhood and walks in Mt. Tabor Park frequently. However, as they learned more about the college, they were not only impressed but energized by its commitment to being “In the City, for the City.” For example, when Drake learned about a mentoring program the college has created to help improve graduation
rates among Portland high school students, she was sold.“Having a college actively take that stance in an area nobody else
seems to be acknowledging, I remember telling Adam, ‘We have to get this job,’” said Drake.
Kohler and Drake felt the website not only needed to capture the learning opportunities that Portland provides students, but also the spirit of service that permeates the college community.
“It’s being Christ-centered and being out in the community and showing compassion with people who need compassion,” said Kohler. “It’s more about the lifestyle of service.”
As part of the research process, Drake met with a number of focus groups representing current students, staff, faculty, alumni, and commu-nity members to learn what their wishes were for a fully functional site. Through all of those conversations, the themes of academic strength, diversity, and community became clear.
“To me if someone is going to ask why traditional or adult degree students should attend Warner Pacific, it’s the urban benefit and also the close-knit community that they’re going to get here,” said Drake. “You don’t find these qualities at every college in the area.”
This website captures in a fresh and exciting way the qualities of Warner Pacific that will give future students a renewed sense of possibility for their lives.
The web team, which included Marah Creative and members of Warner Pacific’s marketing team, wanted the visual elements of the new website to reflect the eclectic mixture of districts surrounding Mt. Tabor, from boutique shops and trendy restaurants to working-class neighborhoods. The website also features images from Portland-based photographers David Papazian and Jared Birt that are meant to capture the imaginations of prospective students.
“We have a lot of first generation students, both in our traditional and adult degree programs, and we want them to realize that there is a place for them at Warner Pacific — that an affordable, academically-challenging, and Christ-centered education is within reach,” said Faith.
In addition to the artistic appeal of the website, it also is extremely functional. The home page caters to prospective students by making it easy to locate traditional undergraduate and adult degree programs, along with athletics and alumni pages. It also displays the schedules of upcoming events, feature stories, and other college news.
Current students, faculty, staff, and parents will be able to click to custom designed “dashboards” that will display news specifically catered for them. The website will also allow for more videos, student blogs, and podcasts – staples of the new Internet diet.
Ultimately, the goal of the website is to communicate the impact a college experience at Warner Pacific can have on students, and those they will serve through the course of their careers.
“We are essentially marketing hope,” said Faith. “This website captures in a fresh and exciting way the qualities of Warner Pacific that will pro-vide future traditional and adult degree students a profound sense of possibility for their lives. A new possibility really can change everything.”
(L to R) Marah Creative’s Kelsey Drake and Adam Kohler partnered with Warner Pacific College Executive Director of Marketing and College Relations Lani Faith to design the college’s new website.
The Experience 8
Warner Pacific unveils a website full of possibilities
COVER STORY
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warnerpacific.edu
UPCOMING EVENTS
ONLINE GIVINGBUTTON
FEATURE STORIES AND NEWS
PROMINENTLY DISPLAYED
CONVENIENT SEARCH OPTION
EASY-TO-FIND PROGRAMS IDENTIFY WHAT
YOU’RE LOOKING FOR VIBRANT
PHOTOGRAPHY
AT A GLANCE
“DASHBOARDS” FORSPECIFIC USER GROUPS
A TAGLINE THAT SPEAKS TO BOTH TRADITIONAL
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS AND ADULTS ALIKE
Spring 2011 9
We offer personal tributes for choral director Dr. Tom “Doc” Miller (retiring after 36 years at WP) and math professor and men’s basketball coach Bart Valentine ’75 (retiring
from coaching) from alumni who know them well.
CALLING IT GOOD
My day started at 6:45 am. I rolled out of bed and helped my wife pack lunches, make breakfast, get the kids ready, and hurry out the door in time to drop my 7-year-old son off at school. Then
I’m off to a full day’s work in the Student Affairs Office at Warner Pacific College, where I spend my day encouraging, correcting, teaching and lovingly parenting college students as they navigate through life.
When the work day is over, I rush back home for a quick wrestle with the kids and dinner.Then it’s back to campus for a 6 p.m. basketball practice where for two intense hours, alongside my dad, I help encourage, correct, teach, and lovingly parent our team.
Back home. I kiss the kids goodnight and then do the dishes with my wife so we can start this all again tomorrow.
Teaching life lessons from the hardcourtby Jared Valentine ’01
When my classmates and I walked into college our first day, we were filled with self-doubt, excitement and curiosity about the kind of people we would become. Some of our first
clues emerged as we got to know our professors. We would learn from their knowledge, experience, teaching techniques and their personalities.
After meeting several of my first year professors, I told my mother, “If I can learn everything these people want to teach me, this year could change my life!” Little did I know how profoundly that would be true because of one man, choral director Dr. Thomas “Doc” Miller.
Having spent my entire life singing in choir, I was sure there wasn’t much more I could learn. Was I ever mistaken. The first lesson Doc taught me was the importance of musical interpretation — translating the composer’s heart and the lyricist’s mind. Once the notes are mastered, the rhythms solidified, and the markings memorized, the real work began.
Doc knew how to make the music his own and how to communicate it to his choirs. Such interpretation can translate into other aspects of life, such as finding a spouse, living for a specific God-given purpose, or even knowing how to understand people and scripture.
Doc also demonstrated a safe blend of spiritual and academic life. Many
Dr. Thomas “Doc” Miller
They say the best fathers aren’t those that tell a son how to live. They live and let their sons watch. I’ve never reflected on this until now, but I have become my father.
My father, Bart Valentine ’75, is retiring after 36 years of coaching, thirteen of which he spent at Warner Pacific. He is an excellent bas-ketball coach. He has won many games and championships and has earned plenty of accolades, but winning is not what he values, nor what he does best. My dad is at his best on the basketball court, encouraging, correcting, teaching and lovingly parenting players.
My father is the most doggedly focused coach players have ever seen. He sets his mind on a goal and doesn’t give up until it’s complete. He is gracious to a fault. We’ve watched as opposing coaches and players with the toughest backgrounds imaginable yield to his love. He is at his best when all others have lost hope. No matter how many points we were behind, he stayed positive and kept working hard. These are the lessons he taught us as our coach.
Now we are the coaches, teachers, and parents. We have faith in our goals, we give grace instead of judgment, and we hope instead of despair. Dad, thank you for walking before us. Thank you for sharing your life with us. Thank you for being our coach.
Interpreting music and life with excellenceBy Gregg Borror ’83
Jared Valentine ’01 is the interim assistant dean of student affairs and the associate head coach of the men’s basketball team at Warner Pacific.
Gregg Borror ’83 is senior pastor of Mt. Park Church in Lake Oswego, Ore.
Bart Valentine ’75
professors were no-nonsense educators who projected the sobriety of our college experi-ence — and we needed it. Yet, it was refreshing for us to find in Doc all the seriousness of a competitive music program (we scored the highest marks at regional and national con-ferences), while also having a blast rehearsing hard music with discipline and integrity.
Life is a blend of fun and the serious, the sad and the victorious, the tame and the dangerous, the spiritual and the physical. It is a challenge to keep it all in balance.
Finally, Doc taught us to strive for and expect excellence. He believes music can bring hearts close to Jesus and elevate minds. Excellence is a hard taskmaster, but the rewards are vast. Working over the years with Doc — now my friend, Tom — I have always been reminded of the joy of striving for the very best.
FACULTY NEWS
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FACULTY PROFILE
11Spring 2011
The Accidental Artist
Tom Kunke is a popular health professor best known for teaching classes like nutrition, team sports, and golf at War-ner Pacific since 1991. Yet, few have known that Kunke is also
an award-winning painter. One of his abstract oil paintings – a work entitled “River Town” – earned the Juror’s Award for Outstanding Artistic Merit at the 2010 Radius 25 exhibition, sponsored by the Salem Art Association, in Salem, Ore., last summer. It was the first time the self-taught artist had shown his work beyond a small group of friends and family.
“Art was a way to work to use a different part of my brain when I got home from work,” said Kunke. “It was just an outlet. I never expected to have people put [my art] up on their wall. It was a couple of years before I showed anyone anything.”
Kunke originally began experimenting with watercolors in the late 1990s and transitioned to oil painting about six years ago. He says he is intrigued by the textures that he can create using only a palette knife to build multiple layers of paint on the canvas. He will typically work on a given piece on and off for months.
“I paint something I really like, then I paint over it,” said Kunke.
“Then I put it in a closet for a couple months. Then I take it out and paint over it again. I just pile on paint until I get something that I like.”
Kunke has only taken one art class in his life, a course entitled “Art for Elementary Teachers” when he was studying education at Oregon State University in 1985. Even then, Kunke’s work stood out.
“[Art] is honest, sensitive, and expressive, that’s what we work on,” said Kunke’s former OSU professor James Kirk. “There isn’t anyone more honest, and there was no one in the class who was more sensitive to the world around him [than Tom].”
Kunke’s success at the Salem art exhibit has caught the at-tention of Portland-area galleries, which have asked him to send photographs of his work. Adding to the recent good news, the life-long bachelor is engaged to be married in April and plans to visit many world famous art museums in Italy during his three-week honeymoon in May.
To view mores samples of Kunke’s oil and watercolor work, visit the Warner Pacific website at warnerpacific.edu.
Health professor Tom Kunke used to treat painting as a quiet hobby — that is until art galleries started taking notice.
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ALUMNI NEWS
August 19, 2011
THIRTEENTH ANNUAL
TOURNAMENTG LF
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CLUB GREEN MEADOWS VANCOUVER, WASHINGTON
Register online atwww.wpcknights.com
The Experience 12
The Office of Alumni, Church, and Parent [email protected]
IN MEMORIAM Ronald W. Kyker ’55 died in Lubbock, Texas on Jan. 15, 2011. He was born in Hanford, Calif. in November 1935 and grew up in Bakersfield, Calif. He attended Pacific Bible College (now War-ner Pacific College). He married Betty (Gray) Kyker ’58 in 1956. He served in the U.S. Army from 1958 to 1960.
The Kykers settled in San Luis Obispo, Calif., where Ron worked as an optician until retiring in 2008. Survivors include his wife, Betty; his sister, Juanita (Kyker) Adams ’55; a brother ; two sons and a daughter ; and several grandchil-dren and great grandchildren.
60’sJay Shoup ’61 was welcomed into Warner Pacific’s Golden Torch So-ciety during 2011 Alumni Week-end upon recognition of his 50th
anniversary as an alumnus. Shoup lives near Nashville, Tenn. and de-livers travel trailers from factories to dealerships around the country.
70’s Lonnie “Ted” Bratton ’77 resides in Portland and recently became a chaplain for Nursing Home Ministries.
Greg McKelvey ’77, the band director at Battle Ground High School and Chief Umtuch Middle School in Battle Ground, Wash. was among a number of music teachers thanked by Grammy Award winner Esperanza Spalding when she accepted the award for best new artist at the 2011 Grammy Awards on Feb. 13. The jazz bassist and singer grew up in Portland and was a member of a youth band directed by McKelvey 15 years ago.
80’s In March of 2010, Samuel Monk ’08 transferred to Medtronic as a Principal Design Quality Engi-neer in the Spinal and Biologics Division.
00’s Erika (Robertson) ’00 and Chris Trautman ’01 gave birth to their second child, daughter Savannah Joy, on March 11, 2011. Savannah joins big brother Jackson, 2. Erika is the associate director of en-rollment at Warner Pacific. Chris is an insurance broker at Basin Insurance Associates.
Joseph Miller ’07 has earned a master of arts degree in socio-cultural anthropology from the University of Durham, in England.
Heather McClendon ’08 is in graduate school in England at the University of York studying film, television and society.
Heidi Jones ’09 and Jason Hiller ‘08 were married in Edmonds, Wash. on January 8, 2011. The couple now lives in Tennessee,
Help us spread your good news
Alumni Weekend 2011 was a wonderful success. I want to thank all of the alumni and guests who enjoyed a busy weekend of activities.
I want to thank all of the faithful volunteers, those on stage and behind the scenes, who made each event run smoothly.
Alumni UpdatesIt is my goal to see the Office of Alumni, Church, and Parent Relations be a vital resource for alumni. We have a “Warner Pacific Alumni” group page on Facebook that I encourage you to join.
Also, we depend upon our readers to send us alumni updates for “The Experience” magazine. Our e-mail has been quiet during the last few months. If you have good news to share — such as a wedding or baby announcement, new job, retirement, anniversary, or any other accom-plishment — e-mail [email protected] and I will be sure to have your note printed in the magazine.
2011 Golf Tournament moves to warmer dateTo take advantage of Oregon’s typically warm summer weather, we have moved the Warner Pacific Golf tournament to August 19, 2011 at Club Green Meadows in Vancouver, Wash. The“shotgun” start is at 1:00 p.m. You can already register on the WP Athletics website at www.wpcknights.com. I hope to see you there.
where Jason is in the Army.
Gretchen (Robertson) ’08 and Dominic Bossio ’08 welcomed the birth of their daughter, Jemma Janell, on October 2, 2010, in Portland. Gretchen is a senior enrollment advisor in Warner Pacific’s Adult Degree Program and Dominic is the Regional Ac-count Manager for Pacific Crest Building Supply.
CORRECTION: The Winter 2011 issue of “The Experience” stated that Calvin Fowler ’72 holds the record of 48 for the most points scored by a Warner Pacific player in a men’s basketball game. In fact, the record is held by Ryan Bjornsgard ’93, who scored 56 points in a 132 - 134 loss to Northwest Christian College on Jan. 24, 1991. We regret the error.
Cindy Pollard ’03, 08 (MMOL)Director of Alumni, Church, and Parent Relations
ALUMNI WEEKEND
Winter 201113
2011Each year during Alumni Weekend, Warner Pacific honors a select group of alumni for outstanding career achievements. Meet this year’s recipients.
Distinguished ALUMNI
2011 Alumni Ministry AwardRev. Sam ’45 and Adele (Gwinner) Hooker ’64 The Hookers were partners in the pastoral ministry, serving Churches of God in Oregon, Oklahoma, and Washington over a career spanning 42 years. They were two of the earliest students to attend Pacific Bible College. In Oregon, the Hookers served Eastside Church of God and Woodstock Church of God, in Portland, and First Church of God (now River Street ChOG) in Newberg. Sam is Pastor Emeritus at Mt. Scott Church of God. From 1963 to 1978, Sam also served as a member of the Warner Pacific College Board of Trustees. Adele, who originally enrolled at Pacific Bible College in 1940, completed her degree in 1964. She later became an educator and author, producing several Christian books exploring prayer and everyday miracles.
2011 Young Alumna AwardKerri Cissna-Heath ’01A religion and Christian ministry major at Warner Pacific, Kerri Cissna-Heath ’01served as student chaplain during her sophomore and junior years, and student body president her senior year. Kerri credits many Warner Pacific faculty and staff for serving as mentors in her life and encouraging her to explore higher education administration as a calling and career. She earned a master of education degree in college student affairs from Azusa Pacific University. She currently is the Director of Housing and Residence Life at Pepperdine, supervising 11 professional staff and 115 paraprofessional staff, and overseeing a multi-million dollar budget. In addition to her career in higher education, Kerri and her husband, Zac, co-founded Inspired Life Films and produced their first film, “The River Within,” in 2009, with a micro-budget of only $40,000. The film was profit-able and the Heaths plan to film their second feature later this year.
The Hookers
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2011 Distinguished Alumnus Legacy AwardCarl Cecil Buckle ’76
Carl Buckle ’76 spent 45 years as an ordained minister of the Church of God, serving several congregations in Colorado, California, Nevada, and Oregon from 1963 until his retirement in 2008. He originally enrolled at Warner Pacific in 1959, but left early in 1962 when his first child, Bernie Buckle ’85 was born. Buckle’s first pastorate was at First Church of God in Center, Colo. As a bi-vocational minister, Buckle also taught math at Center High School. He finally graduated from Warner Pacific in1976. He also holds a master’s degree in philosophy from California Graduate School of Theology. In 2001, Buckle accepted an associate pastor position at New Hope Community Church in Portland, where he helped launch the School of Ministry and started the “Second Wind” ministry to senior citizens. He counts sixteen Warner Pacific alumni or current students in his extended family.
2011 Distinguished Alumnus Award for Professional AchievementRandall Hall ’91
Randall Hall ’91 is an award-winning musician, Fulbright Scholar, educator, and clinician who is considered one of the leading interpreters of contemporary music for the saxophone. Randall’s musical styles range from classical to cutting-edge electronic. He has performed in concert halls in North America, Europe, and Asia, and has worked with some of the most innovative composers for the saxophone working today. Since 2005, Randall has served as an assistant professor of music at Augustana College, in Rock Island, Ill., where he teaches saxophone, improvisation and composition, music theory, and woodwind methods, among other subjects. He and his wife, Vicki (Thompson) ’94 live in Bettendorf, Iowa with their children, Hannah, 15, Rachel, 13, and Rylon, 6. Ph
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ALUMNI PROFILE
The Experience 14
Mastering the art & science of soundProfessional recording engineer Dean Baskerville ’84 gives WP students an insider’s look at how great audio recording is done.
To record a live audio performance at a professional level, recording engineers
face a host of technological and ar tistic challenges. When soundwaves leave a mi-crophone, they travel a veritable gauntlet of cables, converters, and “preamplifiers,” all of which influence the quality of sound that emerges on the other end.
Understanding how to control these vari-ables is the focus of a new course at Warner Pacific taught by Dean Baskerville ’84, a Portland-based recording engineer who has worked with the likes of Sheryl Crow, Ever-clear and Pink Martini, in addition to other artists. Baskerville wants to give students a thorough introduction to sound recording using a mixture of physics, professional editing software, and tricks of the trade.
“I tell the students that we have to learn the ‘Bach before we rock,’” said Baskerville. “We have to learn some basic principles, …[from] pre-production, to recording, to overdubbing, to mixing, to mastering, and then to actually manufacturing the product at the end or get-ting it ready for digital download.”
The class became a necessity after the college installed a long-awaited recording studio directly beneath McGuire Auditorium in late 2009. WP music department chair
Jennifer Cameron approached Baskerville about teaching a class to train students on how to use the equipment. It was an easy yes for Baskerville, who also teaches recording techniques at Clackamas Community College.
“They wanted somebody who was from the field to come in and give a real world perspective of the industry,” said Baskerville, who records both from his home studio in Oregon City, Ore., as well as a number of
high-end recording studios around Portland. Baskerville got into recording when he
was a student at Warner Pacific in the early 1980’s, going so far as building a small analog recording studio in the basement of one of the former houses on campus. He also par-
“They wanted somebody from the field to come in and give a real world perspective of the industry.”
Above: Dean Baskerville ’84 (second from left) with members of his first recording class at WP, including (left to right) Mark Chandler ’10, Kaeli Varnell ’13, Lana Bui ’12, Brook Burdette ’10, and Andrew Vulgan ’13. Right: Lana Bui ’12 works the controls in the recording studio.
ticipated in recording sessions as a member of the band Rushing Wind, which was comprised of a number of WP alumni. Baskerville’s first professional recording job came in 1986 do-ing bass overdubs at a local recording studio. He’s been at it ever since.
Students say they have great respect for Baskerville’s credentials, but also appreciate how down-to-earth he is.
“Given that Dean has so much experience
in the indus-try, every little detail is some-thing that I can learn from,” s a i d D e a n Ober ’13 , a dual worship arts leadership and music theory composi-tion major. “There is all the little nuance that separates the amateurs from the pros.”
Baskerville would eventually like to create a second, more advanced course at the college in which students would record a professional demo with a local artist that they recruit and manage. In the meantime, he is enjoying the task of giving students a fun and purposeful introduction to recording.
“It is more than just understanding where to put the key into the ignition,” Baskerville said. “They actually know a little bit about what’s under the hood.”
Scott A. Thompson
There was a day about seven years ago that I was pregnant with fraternal twins, named Blake and Carter. Their lives were in great danger because their blood and nutrition systems
were entangled. Blake was getting too much blood and Carter too little.
My husband Michael ’99 and I decided that I would undergo a surgery that would separate the problem blood vessels so that each boy could survive on his own. Our doctor would do this through a small incision in my stomach and into my womb, using a laser and a scope that were the size of the inside of a ball-point pen. Incredible.
The day before the surgery, I asked them if I could please be put to sleep for the surgery, but they told me they needed me to be awake, in case there were complications. Mike and I might face the decision of having the doctor tie off Carter’s umbilical cord so that Blake would have a chance to live, or leave the boys as they were, in which case they would both most likely die.
What kind of choice is that for two parents to make? Tie off one son’s lifeline to save the other, or leave him alone and give them both a slim to none chance of making it? Sure, we prayed hard, but a text message from God sure would have been nice on that one. THANK GOD the procedure went as planned and we did not have to choose either way.
Baby Carter held on for another five weeks post-surgery and then passed away in utero. Blake was born normally and last year he turned a healthy, happy 7-years-old. (He has since been joined by younger brother Tyler, 5).
There are SO MANY choices out there that we humans should not have to make! And now Mike and I find ourselves with another difficult one.
Last year, we accepted our first foster baby, Evie, in our home for two months. We were madly in love with that baby girl and wanted her to know Jesus above all else. However, she didn’t stay long because a relative had expressed interest in adopting her.
About a month later, we received our next placement, Gracie, She’s been with us six months now and has us around her finger! Life couldn’t be better here at the Johnson home. And it looks like our baby girl’s case is going to move toward adoption at a record pace.
One Sunday when I was holding Gracie in church and singing, I still had Evie heavy on my heart. I know we poured love into her for two months, but where was her future going? I knew nothing about her new family. Will she ever finally get adopted? Who is going to teach her about Jesus? And the tears began.
Fast forward a few weeks later. I get a text message from my social worker. She asks if she can drive down to visit. Last time she wanted to visit in person it was to tell me that our first baby would be leaving our home. She remembers to write, “Don’t freak out. It’s a good visit.” She knows me too well.
Tyler lays on the floor with his Star Wars guys and I play with the baby, wondering what the situation could be. Things are going well with Gracie. Did they forego the adoption policies all together and decide to let us have her?
Then the social worker arrives. She points at my baby stroller.“How’d you like to get a double stroller?” “What are you talking about?” “Evie is available and everyone wants you to have her back.” I threw my head back in disbelief.
“How did this happen?” She explains that the birth family wants Evie
to go back to us and that the next foster family in line is not so favorable. But no pressure.
My emotions told me to scream, “Yes, we’ll take her!” But the other side reminded me that we would be welcoming back the drama of weekly visits with drug addicted, mentally ill parents and wishy-washy adoption plans for probably years to come. We would have twin babies, twin toddlers, twin teenagers, twin wedding gowns, everything!
Then I remembered. We would also have the chance to change two lives instead of one. We would get to rescue two innocent orphans
out of the pits of addiction, instead of one. We would get to introduce two little girls to Jesus, instead of one. We would get to watch two big brothers fall in love with two little sisters, instead of one.
If there’s a couple strong enough to do it, I think we just might be able to. And if there’s a God who can help give us the strength to do it, we’ve learned over and over and over again that He can.For a God who has given my wonderful Michael and me so, so, so much in return for us giving Him so very little, what better way can we pay Him back than by taking care of those who are so heavy on His heart?
It’s just that I have to ask Mike first.
Reflections on Faith, Living, and LearningFIRST PERSON
By Darbi (Fankhauser) Johnson ’00
Finding room in heart and homeSeven years after facing a medical crisis with their unborn twins, a
couple now takes on the thrill ride of foster parenthood.
Darbi (Fankhauser) Johnson ’00 is an exceedingly busy and happy mom in Lacey, Wash. The Johnsons’ medical ordeal with twins Blake and Carter was originally featured in the Fall 2003 issue of “The Experience.” The archived story is available at warnerpacific.edu.
Spring 2011 15
(Top) Zona (Stevia) Gray ’59 , Carol (Adkins) Bayne ’58, and Anita (Mayhack) Hicks ’58 at the Pacific Bible College luncheon.
(Above) Bishop Steven Holt ’91 offers the sermon during the Alumni Weekend worship service, Feb. 12.
(Top right) WP Students hold Bart Valentine masks during the Knights’ 68 - 66 overtime victory versus Northwest University, Feb. 12
(Right) Chuck Olan ’55, Lois (Lester) Olin ’55, Iris (Mendenhall) Goff ’49, and Mary (Mendenhall) Knight ’56 at the Pacific Bible College luncheon.
Photos by Scott A. Thompson
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ALUMNI WEEKEND — Feb. 11 - 12, 2011