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It was 5:52 p.m. on January 12, 2010, just one hour after a massive earthquake had hit Haiti, and Timothy Wolfer wrote an impulsive but sincere post on his Facebook page. “Any one want to help a poor documentary film maker buy a ticket to Haiti?” For most other people, the comment would have been nothing more than an offhand shot in the dark. But Wolfer, a Pacific Union College film and television major with experience filming in humanitarian crisis zones, was so serious that immediately after posting, he began packing his bags. Six hours later, an anonymous donor supplied Wolfer with two airplane tickets. Recruiting a friend to assist, Wolfer headed to the airport that weekend. All flights to Haiti were cancelled, so he did the next best thing: landing in the Dominican Republic, Wolfer hitchhiked with his camera equipment across the border into Haiti—a wasteland of devastation and uncertainty. Now exactly one year later, the resulting film, Adopting Haiti, will be released to a worldwide audience online on Wednesday, January 12. Mattoid Entertainment will screen the film exclusively on www.hulu.com. The documentary follows the story of Maison des Enfants de Dieu, an orphanage in Haiti. Through a friend’s...

After being named a best value in higher education earlier this year by U.S. News and World Report, Pacific Union College announces a new program to make an Adventist college experience even more affordable. Starting fall 2011, incoming PUC students will receive scholarships guaranteed for all four years. The Four-Year Guarantee will award an incoming student anywhere from $1,000 to $7,000 per year, based on cumulative high school GPA for new freshmen and college GPA for transfer students. The amount awarded upon admission is renewable for the next three years, meaning a student could receive a total award ranging from $4,000 to $28,000. Furthermore, students who boast both a high GPA and outstanding ACT or SAT scores will be eligible for the premium President’s and Dean’s Scholarships. These scholarships award students $32,000 to $36,000 over the course of four years. “PUC is changing the way we award our scholarships so that right up front students will know that PUC is giving them substantial financial help,” says Scott Callender, PUC’s director of marketing and enrollment. “The fact that they’re renewable will also make it easier for families to plan financially for the future.” In addition to the Four-Year Guarantee, PUC is...

Business department chair Wally Lighthouse spoke to a group of over 60 Rotarians and guests at the December 9 meeting of the Napa Sunrise Rotary Club. The group meets at the Silverado Country Club in Napa, Calif. His talk, entitled “Economic Forecast 2011,” was well received by the enthusiastic attendees. Lighthouse discussed next year’s outlook in areas such as employment, retirement and debt trends, tax policy and inflation. “He was very informative,” said Doris Gentry, the club’s public relations officer. “[It was] a heavy topic but important to all of us.”...

Last school year REVO PUC, an annual student-run awareness and fundraising event, raised over $5,000 to help combat podoconiosis, a debilitating foot condition that is especially prevalent in Ethiopia. Last month those donations reached the African nation and are already making a difference. According to a recent letter from the Tropical Health Alliance Foundation, REVO’s partner on the project, over 2,000 Ethiopians are currently receiving treatment for the disease and 7,000 pairs of shoes have been donated in a matching program by TOMS Shoes, thanks in part to the student efforts at PUC. Students involved with REVO spend much of the year planning a major event each spring, to benefit a special philanthropy project chosen each year. The event raises funds through student donations and a sale of donated goods. It also generates awareness for the chosen issue through an all-year publicity campaign and a variety of smaller events throughout the school year. In addition to the funds raised by REVO, PUC also hosted a visitor participation booth at last summer’s Seventh-day Adventist General Conference session in Atlanta, Ga. Visitors to the booth allocated over $1,300 in additional funding to go toward the project. “It goes to show you how...

Ever since Rayna Duran was young she has had a great passion for wanting to help people, but prior to joining the Make-A-Wish Foundation she didn’t know how to put her passion to actions. There were two events that helped Duran solidify her future for helping people. The first was seeing a movie called My Sister’s Keeper, about a young girl’s terminal illness and how it affects her family. “This movie cut me to the core and I was able to safely say I wanted to work with children in the hospital and volunteer my time to help them out,” said Duran, a junior business major at Pacific Union College. The second event was a Jonas Bothers concert she attended. “I respect them very much for their ability to stand strong for what they believe in,” said Duran. “Nick Jonas sang a song, ‘A Little Bit Longer’ which was a song about his diabetes and also to inspire young children who are having a difficult time medically that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.” The movie and concert had such a profound effect on Duran that she knew God was showing her the path that he...