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In the midst of their sorrow over the loss of four students in a tragic automobile accident, the Pacific Union College campus and Angwin community banded together to help another struggling family. The truck driven by Julio Martinez struck the four young men's car after it had turned sideways across the oncoming traffic lane. Martinez was in critical condition and in the ICU for some time with facial fractures, loss of teeth, hand injury and two broken legs. After several days, Martinez was out of ICU but still in the hospital. Meanwhile, Martinez's wife, Carolina, stayed at the hospital and only went home for short periods. Their 7-year-old daughter was cared for by Martinez's brother and his wife. In addition to the trauma, the accident posed financial challenges for the Martinez family, especially since he is self-employed. So the PUC Church members, the TLC Sabbath School class at the PUC Church, and Angwin Community Services collected money for the family, totaling $3,478.On November 25, PUC deans Bev Helmer and Kristi Horn and residence hall staff member Elaine Hoffman went to visit the Martinez family. Hoffman took the check, and Helmer and Horn brought some food for the family. The day...

When Thomas Peele recounted the Chauncey Bailey story to a full lecture hall at Pacific Union College, he detailed the story carefully and then explained how people had come together to make sure the story didn't die after Bailey's murder. Peele is an award-winning investigative journalist for the Bay Area News Group and is part of a team working on the "Chauncey Bailey Project." Bailey, a community journalist working for the Oakland Post, was murdered while working on a story about an Oakland organization called Your Black Muslim Bakery. "The killing is not about him," Peele told the group. "It's about the First Amendment." The Chauncey Bailey Project takes inspiration from the Arizona Project, a collaborative effort of journalists in the '70s to finish the work of Don Bolles, a reporter killed by a car bomb while investigating the Mafia. As Peele told the group at PUC, however, the Chauncey Bailey Project took on an additional — and unexpected — dimension when the group encountered information that created questions about the Oakland Police Department's handling of the case. Peele gave a thorough account both of the story about Bailey and the Bakery, and about the ensuing work of the Chauncey...

On Thursday morning, November 20, the PUC campus gathered for a memorial service celebrating the lives of four students who died in a tragic accident on Saturday night. There were many hugs, quiet greetings, tears, and N4 ribbons displayed on sleeves. An estimated 2,000 people were in the sanctuary, and well over a hundred who couldn't be present watched the service live online. The lives of Luke Nishikawa, Boaz Pak, Chong Shin and Simon Son were both grieved and celebrated through music, sharing and memories, and quiet. When PUC president Richard Osborn shared how he imagined what heaven would be like for these four, he called it "A celebration — that will begin today, even as we cry." Four friends of the students presented words in honor of each student, heartfelt memories of joy and laughter, jokes, deep conversations and lessons learned. Justin Kim shared in honor of Luke, a close friend of his. He honored Luke, whose goal had been to teach history at HMA, by giving a "class presentation" about the things he learned from Luke. "Luke taught me about strength, purpose, and persistence," he said. "With the strength passed on to me by my friend, I will...

The Pacific Union College campus mood has been somber since the devastating loss of four students on Saturday night. On Monday, the atmosphere on campus — from the classroom to the dining commons and the residence halls — has been subdued as many are quietly processing the tragedy. “They are processing it in the healthiest manner, and they are being very supportive of each other,” said Robert Kurtz, dean of Newton Hall, where all four of the victims resided. Kurtz and the other residence hall deans on campus have been working around the clock to ensure that students are receiving proper counseling. The load of caring for students has been shared with a community eager to help the college. There has been an outpouring of support from all over the Napa Valley and country. County and law enforcement organizations have called to offer additional grief counseling support, and individuals from the Valley and the Bay Area have called to see if we need more volunteers. When the college created an online message board for people to post thoughts and memories, notes of sympathy and encouragement came in from all over the country. Some of PUC’s sister schools have held special...

Updated: November 20, 2008 Four Pacific Union College (PUC) students died in a vehicle accident on Deer Park Road late Saturday night. The Napa County Sheriff’s Department identified the victims as Boaz Pak, 20, Luke Nishikawa, 22, Simon Son, 19, and Chong Shin, 20. The accident took place at about 11:45 p.m. on November 15. According to police reports, the four victims were in a Honda Civic driving down the hill on Deer Park Road when it collided with an oncoming vehicle at Sanitarium Road junction. The men were pronounced dead at the scene. According to some reports the four students had been at the college gym before making their way to Safeway in St. Helena to grab something to eat; the accident occurred on the way to the store. All the young men were well liked on campus and involved in outreach. Shin, Pak, and Nishikawa were all very involved in youth ministry at the Rohnert Park Korean Seventh-day Adventist Church. Son was involved in of a campus outreach program called Homeless Ministries. Just that morning, students say that Son had gone to the bay area with a group of students to feed the homeless.* “The PUC community mourns...