Search - Kimberly Weeks

Forget the palatial gardens of Paris and the wonders of the Louvre—that is so last year. This year the honors program opted instead for Italian villas and cozy cafés as the site of its annual Summer Term Abroad. The two-week trip to Italy was for the class “Beauty,” a required class for honors students that examines different concepts of beauty within the Western aesthetic tradition, particularly in the visual arts.Previous to its trip to Europe, the honors class met informally to prepare for the class. The students then traveled to many cities and towns throughout Italy to learn on location about artists and writers from Michelangelo and Di Vinci to Aristotle. While the class visited Venice and Rome as well as several coastal towns, the class spent the majority of its time in Florence, Italy, visiting cathedrals and museums like the Santa Maria del Fiore and the Academia.According to professor John McDowell, head of the honors department and trip sponsor, Italy was the perfect place for the students to learn about the history and art of the period they studied. “Florence is a great place for the students to see the shift from the classical models of the Renaissance period...

For the second year in a row the St. Helena Star was named one of the state’s best newspapers by the California Newspaper Publisher Association. According to the paper’s editor, this year’s win was due in large part to the reporting skills of PUC alum Jesse Duarte. In an article entitled “Star Again Honored for Excellence,” St. Helena Star staff writer David Stoneberg details the awards and specifically credits Duarte for the Star’s success. Also, Stoneberg quotes publisher Doug Ernst as saying that Duarte’s article in the December 28 edition was ‘insightful’ and that “Jesse tracked down the story and did a wonderful reporting job.” The newspaper received several awards for its stories of news events in 2006 in a competition in which there were about 300 daily and weekly newspapers entered. Among the awards received was an award for general excellence for a weekly paper with circulation under 4,300. The Star received the General Excellence award for the December 14, 21 and 28 editions. Featured on the front pages of the winning editions were a piece about the lack of flood funding in St. Helena, coverage of a trial in which a judge ruled against Peter Mennen in a...

In July, 25 young students spent a week on the campus of Pacific Union College, solving crime, debating issues related to global trade, and creating artistic masterpieces. This renaissance of activities was part of the PacificQuest program, an annual event inviting young students, grades 7-10, to participate in college-level courses. This year, the program’s core class was on genetics. Bryan Ness, professor of biology, taught students how forensic scientists use genetics and biology to analyze crime scene evidence. Ness even fabricated a “whodunit” scene and asked students to employ their newfound knowledge of genetics to solve the crime. Students also took a second course, choosing the areas of global business or digital art. In the global business, taught by business professor Dan Madrid, students learned about trade between nations, national corporations and how the world of business changes society. In the art course, taught by graphic design professor Cliff Rusch, students received hands-on training in the digital arts. The nights were no exception to learning and creativity, featuring various interactive activities. On Monday night students learned about the Ethiopian culture from Adu Worku and took part in games and food. On Tuesday evening, students tested their knowledge in the “College...

For the first time, the annual Seventh-day Adventist Nurse Educators Conference was held at Pacific Union College. Nursing instructors from several Adventist institutions traveled to PUC to participate in this year’s conference, entitled New Directions: The Changing Face of Nursing Education, which was held June 26-28. The annual event is structured to offer nursing educators practical resources that they can develop to help students, inform them about developments in media and medical technology in the field of nursing, and allow them to network and serve as a sounding board for one another regarding current issues in nursing education. During the course of the conference, nursing educators heard from various presenters including Wynelle Huff, vice president for Delivery of Care at Adventist Health, and Marilyn Hermann, dean of the School of Nursing at Loma Linda University. Presentation content included information on media advances in the field of nursing and panel and group discussion on “Politically Charged Issues,” with an emphasis on students who fail nursing programs. With so many factors playing a part in nursing education today, it can be hard to maintain balance and structure. In her introduction to the panel and group discussion held on the final day of...