2007

For the first time, PUC held its annual Senior Film Festival at the Cameo Cinema in St. Helena. Both of the June 3 screenings, which featured five short films written and produced by seniors in the film and television program of the visual arts department, were filled to capacity. Use of the local movie theater as this year’s venue allowed the students to showcase their work to a broader audience. Stephen Eyer, instructor in film and television, was excited about the festival’s turnout. “There is something magical about experiencing movies together as a community,” said Eyer. “It was great to see students, faculty, and staff from the college, as well as many local community members coming together to enjoy these stories.” Also on display was the program’s new 20-foot mobile production trailer, the brainchild of festival producer and senior film and television major J.R. Rogers. The trailer, outfitted with all the equipment necessary to perform multi-camera and off-campus shoots, was open to the public for tours. “People were amazed and astounded at what PUC has done with the film program and with the trailer,” said Rogers referring to the trailer as well as the numerous awards that student films have...

On Friday, June 1, more than 70 students and faculty filled the Alice Holst Theater in Stauffer Hall to celebrate the release of Quicksilver, the annual student art and literary journal at Pacific Union College. At the event, guests indulged in homemade ice cream and strawberries while Quicksilver contributors gave a poetry reading. Zach Dunn, a senior television and film major, acted as master of ceremonies for the event. He wore sunglasses and black clothes in classic beatnik style and led the audience in snapping their fingers after each reading. This year, student editor Elizabeth Rivera decided to publish the the journal with a color cover. She wrote to alumni who were published in past Quicksilver journals,requesting donations. Alumni, along with Main Street Books in St. Helena, donated $600 toward the publication. For Rivera, the most rewarding part of editing Quicksilver was “seeing people pick it up and read others’ works slowly, seeing that there is an artistic community at PUC, and being able to encourage that.” Quicksilver, established in 1933 as Crater Verse,features poems, short stories, essays, collages, paintings, and photography. While it is a student publication, faculty and staff poetry has been featured in past issues. Issues of...

On Saturday, May 26, the Pacific Union College visual arts department will host the opening reception for the senior thesis projects exhibition in Rasmussen Art Gallery, from 7 to 9 p.m. The thesis projects will be exhibited through June 17. This year’s exhibit includes photo-documentary work on diverse subjects from vineyard workers to skateboarders to an autistic girl. Students have also created fashion and art photography, a website, a cookbook and posters about revolutionary leaders. Senior visual arts majors work on their senior thesis projects all year long. They choose a subject and work closely with a faculty advisor to create what art professor Thomas Morphis calls “an ambitious, consistent body of work.” Rasmussen Art Gallery is located on the Pacific Union College campus. The gallery hosts six shows each year and features work from invited artists as well as from faculty and students. ...

President George W. Bush has nominated Colonel Loree K. Sutton, a Seventh-day Adventist, for appointment to the grade of brigadier general. Colonel Sutton is commander of Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center at Ft. Hood, Texas. She assumed command of the center in July 2005. "Colonel Sutton would be the first female Adventist to ever obtain that rank," said Gary Councell, associate director of Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries located at the Adventist world church headquarters in Silver Spring. He added, "Only 8 percent of people ever make colonel and out of all the general officers less than 1 percent make it to brigadier general." Colonel Sutton has received numerous awards including the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal, the Order of Military Merit and the Defense Meritorious Service Medal. She has served in a variety of operational positions both in the states-side and overseas, including deployment to Operation Desert Storm. Sutton holds a medical degree from Loma Linda University and a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Pacific Union College....

Following a riveting presentation on the human rights violations of prisoners in Guinea Conakry, Pacific Union College students, faculty, and staff donated $18,745 to aid a prisoner advocacy program. Kim Osborn, a young social activist who graduated from PUC in 2004, spoke to the campus in March about her past work in the western African country and her decision to return after hearing reports about further violations in the prison system. According to Osborn, the International Committee for the Red Cross recently stated that about 27 percent of the 800 men, most of who have been illegally detained, are severely malnourished. “If things continue at the rate they are going, one in ten men entering this prison this year will die because of starvation,” said Osborn, who helped to establish the prisoner advocacy program in Guinea Conakry. She encouraged the college to give donations to go towards medical aid and for court processing fees. It costs $50 to hospitalize a malnourished prisoner and save their life and only $15 to put someone through the court system so that they can be released. “If everyone here donated the amount that you spend on one Guigni’s sandwich, think of the amazing thing...

Pacific Union College’s 15th annual Malcolm Maxwell Golf Classic, a charity event that raises funds for PUC scholarships, took place at the Silverado Country Club May 16. The tournament, which is PUC’s biggest community event, raised $50,000 for the second year in a row. In recent years, the Malcolm Maxwell Golf Classic, named for the former president of the college upon his retirement, has become a major source of funding for PUC student scholarships. Proceeds go to “Golf Scholarships,” which are awarded yearly to students based on need. One hundred and forty-four golfers teed up in teams of four under a cloudless blue sky, beginning at 10:30 a.m. and rotating holes until they had all finished the course at around 4 p.m. Teams kept their own score throughout the 18-hole tournament and turned in their scorecards at the awards dinner. The scores were tallied while the golfers ate and took part in live and silent auctions. When the results were in, the winners were announced and given their prizes. The day-long event was funded completely through donations and sponsorships, allowing all proceeds to go directly to student aid. PUC holds the event for more than fundraising purposes. For any college,...

Film and television majors of the visual arts department of Pacific Union College will present four short films at the Cameo Cinema in St. Helena on the evening of Sunday, June 3. Seating is limited for the two showings at 6 and 8 p.m. and admission is free. The festival will feature the award winning film, “Three Courses,” which won the Best of Fest award for the 2007 SONscreen Film Festival, a destination for established and up-and-coming Christian filmmakers to share their creative work, gain exposure, and network with other media and film professionals. Three Courses is the story of three different couples who find, lose and re-establish love over the course of dinner in an elegant restaurant. It is not only a love story dedicated to the different paths that relationships take, but is also a love letter to the art and food culture and the role that it plays in the most important moments of our lives. Other films include “Shallow End,” “Thunder & Lightning” and “Journey of Healers.” The visual arts department of Pacific Union College offers majors in fine art, photography, graphic design, and film and television, and minors in art history and fine art. It...

In a nation of more than 75 million people, the Egyptian Seventh-day Adventist Church has only 834 members, as of January of this year. Such a small group can use as much outside encouragement as they can get, and that is exactly what 17 PUC students and three sponsors set out to give during PUC’s spring break, from March 22 to April 2. Although the students were tired from winter quarter finals, they were energetic about their goal: an eleven-day trip that aimed to support and invigorate the churches of Egypt through VBS, Pathfinders, and musical programs. During their time in Egypt, the group stayed in Cairo for two weekends and visited small villages in Upper Egypt during the week. They led church services, donated money to the churches they visited, and spent a lot of time with church members in their homes. “We drew a crowd,” say Laura Irwin, a social work major at PUC and one of two student leaders. “Foreigners aren’t common in the villages we were in. People would pack into the church to find out what was going on. The people were incredibly friendly and hospitable.” According to Samir Berbawy, the president of the Egypt...

In its second year, the Herber Family Endowment presented ten Pacific Union College professors with grants to aid in professional development. The college announced this year’s recipients at the annual Faculty Awards program on April 26. This year, the awards will finance a range of research pursuits. Bryan Ness, professor of biology, will use the grant to support his efforts in writing a new textbook over the summer. Rachelle Davis, assistant professor of music, will attend a Mark O’Conner San Diego Strings Conference. Other projects include cancer prevention studies, linguistic research, and various professional workshops. Established by St. Helena physician and PUC alumnus Steve Herber, his sisters Sandra and Susan Herber, and his father Ray Herber, this endowment will annually provide faculty with professional development grants to facilitate teachers in their quest to achieve and sustain innovative, quality instruction....

Victoria Mukerji, Ph.D., returned to Pacific Union College this spring after teaching in India for six months as part of the Fulbright Scholar Program. Before coming to teach at PUC nine years ago, Mukerji spent almost twenty years doing fieldwork as an anthropologist in India. This experience led her to apply for a Fulbright grant to return to India and teach at Goa University in the city of Panjim. She was curious to experience the culture in Goa, which is an ex-Portuguese colony and a unique area of India. “It was time to fly the coop for a while,” says Mukerji, who is a professor of visual arts and communication at PUC. “You can’t call yourself an anthropologist and stay in Angwin your whole life.” Mukerji wanted to develop a media and culture curriculum for Goa University. However, when she arrived, she found that the university did not have the funding to accomplish this goal so she took on a teaching position in the sociology department. She also sat on committees for several thesis projects and conducted workshops in documentary and media. She believes that the most valuable part of her time in Goa was the perspective she gained. “The...