2007

The new Alice Holst Theater at Pacific Union College was inaugurated in March with the world premiere of an unusual play called “Red Books: Our Quest for Ellen White.” Researched, written, and produced by a team of students and alums, this work proved to be an exceptional way to kick off the new theater’s career and sparked dialogue among individuals and community. It began over five years ago when Mei Ann Teo, the resident artist and artistic director of the PUC Dramatic Arts Society and Napa Valley Musical Theatre, heard a presentation on the Shakers’ relationship to their founder and the pattern of various generations’ reactions to iconic figures. The question was whether this applied to Adventists and their relationship through the years with Ellen White. So in 2006 Teo teamed with PUC students Eryck Chairez and Zach Dunn to concept a script. In the fall they cast the play, and with Chairez in the director’s seat, the team began production. The writers and cast members conducted, compiled, and re-enacted interviews in an organic process to determine which notes to include in the story. As Chairez wrote additional scenes to connect the voices, the script began to take shape. As...

Four Pacific Union College students came away from the annual SONscreen Film Festival in Simi Valley, Calif., April 12-14 with top awards for their films. Uly Mostrales, Brian Bazemore, TJ Gleason, and J.R. Rogers won Best Music Video, Best Drama, Best Documentary, and Best of the Fest (grand prize), respectively. The grand prize film, titled “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 in our lives. “Three Courses” was the work of PUC film and television students; Rogers, the producer, worked with director/writer Eryck Chairez, production manager and editor Brian Bazemore, and art director/writer Jackson Boren to create the film. The SONscreen Film Festival is 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. Since the festival debuted in 2002, a number of PUC students have received prizes for their dramas, public...

As part of its 125th anniversary celebration, Pacific Union College welcomes Dr. Jan Paulsen, president of the Adventist World Church, as a special guest speaker for Homecoming Weekend, April 20-22, 2007. On Saturday, Paulsen will speak for worship services at 8:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. at the PUC Church. At 3 p.m., Paulsen will lead a discussion with PUC students on “Let’s Talk,” a televised forum for young people to share their views on faith with church leaders. The second worship service and “Let’s Talk,” to be held in the Paulin Hall auditorium, will be broadcast live on the Hope Channel. The public is welcome to attend both programs....

Discoveryland Childrens Preschool has been voted “Best Child Care, Napa Valley” in the North Bay Bohemian, Best of 2007 issue. The first-place win is the result of the publication’s annual online poll, which invites the North Bay community to vote for favorite local businesses in several categories. Discoveryland, with programs in Angwin and St. Helena, is a state-licensed facility and is among the few centers in the upper valley to offer infant care. Discoveryland, an auxiliary of Pacific Union College, started in Angwin more than forty years ago as a preschool and teaching outlet for PUC students. In 2002 the Trinchero family donated a St. Helena facility where PUC opened a second Discoveryland. Today, the Angwin and St. Helena locations have nearly 100 children enrolled....

Fluorescent lights high above, people cheering on metal bleachers, a score board reading 0-0, and two red hoops looming on either side of the court. This is what met the PUC Pioneers men’s basketball team as they walked onto the court for their first game in the California Pacific Conference playoffs. Not only was it the first game of the 2006-07 season playoffs, it was the first playoff game for the men’s basketball team since joining the NAIA Division II and California Pacific Conference. Many factors contributed to the Pioneers reaching the playoffs this year. Scott Blunt, the team’s head coach, says that reaching the playoffs was the team’s goal from the beginning of the season. “We accomplished our goal,” says Blunt, “It was a successful year, and we have something to build on for next year.” Although the Pioneers lost the first playoff game to Simpson University, they ended the season proudly in the standing of sixth seed out of eight. In addition to keeping the playoffs as their goal, Blunt says the team was made up of exceptional players. He credits the team’s success to the respect they had for each other and the senior players’ leadership. Several...

The Dramatic Arts Society of Pacific Union College has extended its run of the play “Red Books: Our Search for Ellen White.” There will be four more performances beginning April 3, 2007. More than 600 people attended the first run, booking nearly every show to full capacity. Due to the continued interest in the show, Mei Ann Teo, resident artist and “Red Books” producer, decided to add another week of performances in addition to taking it on tour in the fall to select locations. “Red Books” explores the Seventh-day Adventist community’s relationship with its founder, Ellen G. White. Using excerpts from some 200 interviews with current and former Adventists, the play travels through four generations of a religion and their perspectives on White to create a riveting discussion about icons—why they are built, destroyed, and forgotten and the impact on a faith community....

When film and television major J.R. Rogers graduates from Pacific Union College this June, he will leave behind a mark that anyone in the 125-year history of the college would be proud of. In addition to his senior project of producing the video version of the three weeks of prayer this year, which he anticipates will soon be broadcast to millions via the Loma Linda Broadcasting Network, Rogers has begun developing several projects that will allow the growing visual arts department to continue offering top-level opportunities to its students. Rogers has been both in and around the field of broadcast production for nearly 13 years. He is responsible for obtaining program information for each week-of-prayer, transferring that information into an appropriate film script, organizing the crew and making sure that the film aspect of each program runs smoothly and on time. “I decided to make my senior project work around my abilities,” says the Southern California native. “Most seniors shoot a film or a documentary. That’s not something that I’m good at, so I decided to make my project something that I could do and do well.” Something else that Rogers does well is follow his visions. With the help...

Lidia Dima, a student from Romania, has wanted to be a nurse ever since she was baptized into the Adventist church at the age of 18. She has long dreamed of returning to her village, Banesti, to build a church. Lidia came to PUC in 2005 not knowing anyone and not knowing much about the college. For the first year, she felt lonely and even considered dropping out of school several times, but she says her goals kept her here. Then, she says that God began to help her with her loneliness. She discovered a radio station that the St. Helena Adventist church broadcasts. They played the song “Be Still My Soul” every morning as she was getting ready and gave her courage for the day. She also met Karen Widmer, who invited her to go on walks and even to spend New Years Eve with the Widmer family. This friendship showed Lidia God’s care for her. Lidia has also struggled financially since she entered the nursing program. Even with two on-campus jobs, there were many times she didn’t know how she would make the next payment, but she trusted God and watched Him provide for her every need, often...

The world premiere of “Red Books: Our Search for Ellen White,” an original production by Pacific Union College faculty and students, will take place on March 3, 2007, at the new Alice Holst Theater in Stauffer Hall. “Red Books” explores the Seventh-day Adventist community’s relationship with its founder, Ellen G. White. Using excerpts from some 200 interviews with current and former Adventists, the play travels through four generations of a religion and their perspectives on White to create a riveting discussion about icons—why they are built, destroyed, forgotten and the impact on a faith community. The show is the brainchild of Mei Ann Teo, PUC’s resident artist and San Francisco-based director. Teo, who is also a PUC alumna, was first inspired to create a play on White more than five years ago while listening to a presentation on the Shakers’ relationship to their founder. In 2006 she teamed with PUC students Eryck Chairez and Zach Dunn to collect interviews and concept a script. In the fall they cast the play, and with Chairez in the director’s seat, the team began production. As the writers compiled interviews, the actors were asked to participate in sifting through the notes by performing them...

Lisa M. Beardsley spoke about the question, “Why did God Create Satan” for this year’s biennial Heubach Lecture. Beardsley, the associate director of education and executive secretary of the Adventist Accrediting Association for the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, explored the intriguing realm of human choice and numerous related issues. Beardsley’s topic, a question that both children and adults have pondered throughout history, focused heavily on the connection between free choice, love and happiness, a relationship that she summed up in the statement, “Happiness is love freely given and freely received.” Beardsley’s travels throughout the world have allowed her to witness atrocities in places like Rwanda, where choice is the privilege of a few, exercised on the lives of many. Beardsley is the first female lecturer in the history of the Heubach Lectureship Series, which began in 1998 when PUC established an endowment in honor of Paul C. Heubach. The lectureship, which is funded by friends of Heubach, hopes to examine the great central truths of Christianity in light of the character of God by using simple language—“in terms understood where people live.” The goal for each lecture is to leave the listener with a clearer comprehension of God, and...