PUC, Land and Values

Jerry,

I just finished reviewing the article/letter on the Save Rural Angwin
website and it has all the marks of being written by Duane Cronk. I
do not know if you know Duane, local retired gent who also has a
website that is opposed to PUC.

http://www.angwinreporter.com/index.html

Opinions are like earwax, everybody has some, even if they don't
admit it. I have lived here and worked here and seen financial
pressures and there are many reasons and excuses as to why PUC is
stagnant and all the California community colleges and UC campuses
are overflowing. One of the largest reasons, to me, is that Adventist
families are not sending their kids to SDA colleges, and academies
for that matter. Certainly not at the percentage level of years ago,
and that is a problem. It is a very difficult problem to address and
face head on from inside a school that needs higher enrollment.

The SDA church is a young church that continues to evolve and mature.
That process of change included paying for the intelligentsia of the
church to get terminal degrees at non-SDA universities starting back
in the 1960's. And we are proud to have these people as professors in
our schools and doctors in our hospitals and teachers in our
academies and pastors in our churches and then, surprise, surprise,
they do not line up to send their kids to SDA schools but instead
send them out to "better" schools.

It used to be that Adventist families desired their kids to be in
"the best SDA school", now we are seeing more and more, parents
placing kids in "the best college" and SDA is just one possible
criteria among many, and not the top criteria. Like I said an
evolving and developing church.

And (this is me wandering off on a tangent here) the North American
SDA church is dividing more and more into fundamentalist members and
pluralist members. The "old school" (my folks come to mind) will not
attend the SDA schools since we are so liberal and the more liberal
often think we are not open minded enough. What a balance to attempt
by Dick and the other administrators. And these topics and focusing
on minor topics keep some families away. As the church evolves and
matures it will continue (in my lifetime) to be interesting just what
"Adventist" looks like in 20 years.

And all the above is related to land, and land use and land sales and
vineyards and wine and values and perception and it is impossible to
please them all. But I give the leaders of PUC full credit for trying
to do the best in trying times to position the college for the future
both financially and socially to serve a changing church.

OK, enough for tonight. Craig