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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...

Back when Stauffer Hall was known as Paulin Hall and housed the music department, a small auditorium was located upstairs, its stage and high ceiling infused with years of music. More recently, offices were built over part of the stage, and the remaining space served as a class and conference room for the English department and for some years as a test-taking space for the Counseling Center. Now the 75-year-old room is entering a new phase. The office walls on the stage were torn down and the motley assortment of chairs, whiteboards and shelves was carted out. The tired white of the walls gave way to violet primer, followed by rich coats of elegant crimson paint. The high ceiling with its massive dark beams and the many windows with their small panes and topped with arching yellow glass perfectly complement this new look. The theatre will provide the drama program with a much-needed “sacred space” that’s dedicated to their needs. The theatre is small, but the department will work with that. “With a smaller space you can do things that are a little edgier, you can take risks,” explains drama program director Mei Ann Teo. Students have an opportunity to...

The first all-school colloquy of winter quarter was held in the church on January 11 and was a special service commemorating the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr. Students provided a reading of Langston Hughes’ piece “Democracy” and special music from the Gospel Choir. The guest speaker for the program was Ronald Pollard, Greater Los Angeles youth director for the Southern California Conference and founder of Heritage Missions, a short-term missions program that targets urban SDA youth who attend public schools and encourages them to be socially responsible citizens through global mission service. In his presentation, Pollard took a look at King’s life, following the story of his childhood, family, education, and civil rights leadership. Talking about King’s willingness to die for what he believed in, Pollard recounted how his mother had worked endlessly as a single mother to allow her children to be what they dreamed of. “If [King] could die for what he believed, I can live for it,” she would say. To students, Pollard said, “The challenge is that you will say ‘My life is bigger than just me.’” Pollard remained on campus to speak for the vespers program on Friday as well....

Bert Simmons’ sickly face stares up from a hospital bed in a spacious room. Nearby, a baby in a white onesie lies in an infant warmer unit. “They’re not very beautiful,” laughs Nancy Tucker, chair of the Pacific Union College nursing department, as she looks at the two $30,000 manikins in the nursing Simulation Lab. The adult patient simulator arrived in August of 2005 and took up residence in a space that is now called the Simulation Lab. The lab has undergone a series of developments and improvements, including the recent addition of the SimBaby infant manikin. The purpose of this area is to provide a realistic hospital setting in which students can practice their nursing skills on high-tech manikins—a resource that nursing programs are utilizing more and more as clinical time in hospitals is harder to come by. “We feel that this is the wave of the future,” says Tucker. The lab houses the manikins in hospital beds, their compressors and monitors, and a control room on the other side of a one-way window, where instructors manipulate the manikin’s reactions, including changes in heart rate, respiration, and vocal responses. The lab space also includes a mock nurses’ station set...