Quote of the Week

"We are thrilled that the commission recognized the superior, student-centered learning experience that distinguishes Pacific."

— Maria Pallavicini, The Record, July 17, 2019

Examples of how University of the Pacific was represented in the news media in recent days:

"University of the Pacific receives eight-year reaccreditation," The Record, July 17, 2019: Interim President Maria Pallavicini was quoted in this story about Pacific receiving an eight-year reaccreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior College and University Commission. "We are thrilled that the commission recognized the superior, student-centered learning experience that distinguishes Pacific," Pallavicini told The Record. "They praised our core values and the hallmarks of a Pacific education, including student engagement with faculty and staff, applied learning, community service, and how well we prepare our students for the future."

"Stevens, ex-colleagues took different paths in retirement," The Associated Press via The New York Times, July 22, 2019: Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy and University of the Pacific's McGeorge School of Law were mentioned in this story on the death of retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. "This summer, Kennedy taught at the University of the Pacific's McGeorge School of Law program in Austria, a practice of his for decades," reads a portion of the story. "He's taught in some capacity for the California school since 1965." The Associated Press story was reprinted by hundreds of news outlets.

"Scientists are using data to help firefighters," KFBK, July 15, 2019: The School of Engineering and Computer Science's Rick Hutley was interviewed for a story on how data scientists help firefighting efforts. "Today, we have pretty sophisticated and pretty accurate models," Hutley told KFBK. "If the weather forecaster tells you it's going to rain this afternoon, there's a pretty good chance it's going to rain and you should listen to that. And it's the same thing with wildfire prediction. The models get more and more sophisticated over time. We have access to more and more data, which feed those models. And, let us say, those models themselves become more sophisticated." The story was aired several times on KFBK and also aired on KOGO-AM (Sa Diego).

"Why Guy: Why do people pronounce them 'Ammond' instead of 'Almond'?," ABC 10, July 17, 2019: History's Ken Albala helped ABC 10 with an explanation of why there are two pronunciations of "almond" in the Central Valley. He told the station's "Why Guy" feature that  "the pronunciation locally may actually have to do with the large number of Dutch settlers in Ripon about a century ago, and the word is 'amandel' ... also pronounced that way in other parts of California ... ." Albala also mentioned the joke about farmers shaking the L out of "almonds" with machines that shake the trees to harvest the tasty nut.

"How 'right to shelter' proposal will impact California, cities," KCRA (NBC, Sacramento), July 19, 2019: McGeorge's Clark Kelso was interviewed for this story on homelessness in Sacramento. "Do adults have a constitutional right of access to public thoroughfares, to public streets and sidewalks, to a public bench? In the abstract, the answer in clearly yes," Kelso told KCRA. "But the reality of homelessness is not my classroom hypothetical. The reality is people who are homeless and sleeping outside at night can be, and oftentimes are, a danger to themselves or others. When you're a danger to yourself or others, government does have the power to act." The story was broadcast elsewhere: "How 'right to shelter' proposal will impact California, cities," KSBY (NBC, San Luis Obispo), July 19, 2019.

"Does Egypt have the best falafel in the world?," BBC Travel, July 15, 2019: A passage from Ken Albala's "Beans: A History" was used in this story. About eating broad beans in Egypt, Albala wrote that it "seems to be a conscious act of nationalism. Ful medames (or simply fūl, a stew of cooked fava beans) is an expression of identity for modern Egyptians who choose to resist the onslaught of contemporary breakfast foods; it is a way to remember who they are."

"10 Things You Didn't Know about Dean Foods CEO Ralph Scozzafava," MoneyInc.com, July 19, 2019: Alumnus Ralph Scozzafava, the CEO of Dean Foods, was the subject of this feature. No. 2 on the list is that he attended Pacific. "Initially, Scozzafava went to the University of the Pacific where he studied business," reads a portion of the feature. "For those who are unfamiliar, the University of the Pacific is a private university that can be found on the West Coast where it has not one, not two, but three campuses in the state of California. It should be mentioned that the University of the Pacific was chartered in July of 1851, thus making it the oldest of the chartered universities that can be found in the state."

"How it started: First jobs in football for all 32 NFL head coaches," ESPN, July 18, 2019: Alumnus Pete Carroll '73, '76 was one of the NFL head coaches mentioned in this feature. The story mentions Carroll's problem with punctuality when he was a graduate assistant coach working with Pacific's receivers, but that "Be early" is now one of his rules in coaching the Seattle Seahawks. "That's why one of the rules of the program is to be early ... because I found that you could coach that," Carroll told ESPN. "That you could get better at it. So I have forever tried to help our guys understand the appreciation of respect and how respect is part of that, setting your schedule properly and having your priorities in order and all that kind of stuff. That was really what I needed to learn."