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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. ...

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...

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...

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...

African-American cultural emphasis took place February 1 through 3. The Black Student Forum organized the programs for colloquy, vespers, and church. Each program featured music from The Voices of Zion, the gospel choir on campus. Thursday’s colloquy also included interpretive signing to a song entitled “We Should Praise” and a multimedia tribute to black Americans. Dr. David Taylor was the speaker for each program. Taylor is the former chair of PUC’s religion department, and at present he serves as an associate dean of religion at Loma Linda University. On Thursday, he emphasized that loving other people means recognizing and embracing their unique backgrounds. On Friday and Sabbath, he spoke on the importance of looking at our memories and staying a part of the church. Taylor presented his thoughts in a way that impacted people of all cultural backgrounds on the PUC campus....

To start winter quarter off right, students, faculty and staff turned their thoughts toward the divine during the daily “Winter Revival” meetings from Wednesday, January 17, to Sabbath, January 20. The speaker was Terry Swenson, the Loma Linda University chaplain. For each meeting, Swenson chose a different role that we as humans are familiar with, and then described God in those terms. In his talk for Thursday morning, Swenson compared God to the Lion King, recounting a scene from Disney’s “The Lion King” in which a pack of hyenas corners Simba and his playmate, Nala. The two baby lions are helpless in the face of the hyenas until Simba’s father, Mufasa, shows up with a roar to save the day. Using this example, Swenson made the point that God is the most powerful force in the universe, and He wants to use His power on our behalf if we will only accept it. Swenson connected easily with his audience by telling such familiar stories. Student Elisabeth Reeves said, “I like the fact that he made sound effects because they kept my attention better. I enjoyed his stories because they were easy to remember. Who can forget the Lion King?” Other...

The artistic minds of Pacific Union College’s faculty have once again produced an exhibit of variety, depth and beauty. Every year, the visual arts faculty members display their creative work in the Rasmussen Art Gallery, making it clear that as they teach art to students, they continue their own exploration in the field. This year, several contract teachers and artists from other departments were invited to participate and are among the 11 artists who are represented in the show. The “New Work” exhibit had its opening on Saturday evening, January 13, welcoming a diverse mix of student, faculty, and community visitors. The exhibit contains themes from diverse minds. The floor space of the gallery is filled with sculptures, and two faculty members displayed art in the form of film. The walls hold oil paintings, photographs, graphic images, and even a philosophical digital collage. One thought-provoking section is Thomas Morphis’s series of multi-media collages that explore the existence of struggle in life. Another series that offers a glimpse into campus life is Tom Turner’s photo display of the new photography lab, the construction of which he has overseen in Fisher Hall over the past year. The visual arts department offers majors...