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The department of visual arts at Pacific Union College welcomes the community to their annual student art show, April 18-June 16. The opening reception is at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 18, in the campus’ Rasmussen Art Gallery.Several students will display original art pieces in the show, in a variety of media. Marina Maia, freshman fine art major, will have three pieces on display, all of which she completed during her winter quarter drawing fundamentals course.“One of them, done in pastels, is a surrealist piece of a blue eye melting into clouds,” Maia explains. “It was inspired by a photo a friend of mine sent me of his eyes. I told him that the undertones of his eyes reminded me of those in the clouds after the rain cleared, so I made this to prove it.”Professor Rajeev Sigamoney, chair of the department, says that the student art show is an opportunity for students to realize that what they’re doing is actually serious, professional work.“Often, it’s easy to think of college coursework as just an exercise in academia,” he says. “But when your homework ends up showing in an art gallery, gets seen by hundreds in the community, and receives criticism...

Last quarter, a few PUC physics students were given the opportunity to visit and assist with research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee. The idea was to give the students hands-on research experience in order to explore what research is like in a laboratory setting.PUC is one of three collaborative institutions working with ORNL and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to investigate X-ray-induced charge transfer.“This concept is not completely understood, due to lack of data,” junior chemistry major and trip participant Vola-Masoandro Andrianarijaona explains. “The research we’re doing seeks to better understand cosmic ray background.”To do this, there are two different sets of measurements that must be considered: the rocket measurement (aka: “all sky survey”) and the laboratory measurement. The former is done by NASA, the latter by ORNL, using the same rocket.“The laboratory measurement requires the ion beam to simulate the ions present in space that contributed to the data in the all sky survey,” Andrianarijaona details. “Then, the data from the all sky survey and the laboratory measurement will be compared to determine if the ion beam produces the same ions that are present in space.”While at ORNL, Andrianarijaona and her fellow PUC students...

Eventorum began as the brainchild of 2015 PUC alumnus David O’Hair. Over a breakfast conversation in Greece that summer, O’Hair proposed his idea to Howard Munson, chair of the department of history, and in January 2016, Eventorum became a reality. Today, the website, designed by students in a 2016 web design class taught by design professor Milbert Mariano, is a developing current events journal, highlighting student-written articles edited and vetted by the department of history.“Eventorum is an opportunity for PUC students to get additional academic writing experience on topics that interest them, are current with their lives, and can help better-inform our campus as a whole,” Munson explains.Once a quarter, he meets with his students, who pitch ideas to the room. Once everyone settles on a topic, they set a deadline, and begin their research and writing process. The end goal is one article per student each quarter—source footnotes required.“I stress the idea that our job is to draw attention to current events, with consciousness of relevant history, and to inform rather than advocate,” Munson says. “We strive to maintain objectivity and to avoid political polarization.”Though there is no monetary motivation for getting an article published on Eventorum, Munson says...

Last month, the department of music took several students on a field trip to Anaheim for the 2019 National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) convention. Asher Raboy, professor of music, vocalist, and PUC’s resident artist, organized the trip for two reasons. First, he wanted his students to gain insights into the kinds of employment opportunities that exist for music majors.“There are a lot of jobs in music,” he says, “but the traditional jobs—classroom teaching and performance—are getting rarer. It’s important that our students experience the wealth of modern opportunities so they can make wise choices about their futures.”Secondly, Raboy wanted his students to be energized by meeting successful professionals who are creative, energetic, and entrepreneurial by nature.“At worst, our students can find a new and powerful purpose to their major,” he says. “At best, they start to network and make connections that last a lifetime.”Though the event lasted six days, to avoid missing too many classes PUC’s students attended only for the weekend. During this time, they were able to attend concerts, talk with music professionals, listen to presentations, meet performers, and explore a plethora of products related to the music industry. NAMM exhibitors and presenters filled the entire Anaheim...

Earlier this year, the social work program at Pacific Union College was ranked the most affordable at a private school in California by humanservicesedu.org. In their 2019 101 Most Affordable BSW Programs in America rankings, humanservicesedu.org evaluated total program costs for both private and public institutions, selecting the schools with the lowest cost in each state. PUC comes in at more than $32,000 less than the state average for total program cost.On their website, humanservicesedu.org states, “As someone preparing for a career that involves saving lives, you’re not interested in saving dollars if it means compromising anything important in your education.” For this reason, they say, cost isn’t everything, “so you can be sure these programs are also top quality.”PUC is noted for being consistently ranked as a leading liberal arts college by U.S. News & World Report since 2009, providing exciting opportunities for undergraduate research, and offering an outstanding student-to-faculty ratio of 12:1.“Like its many other degree programs,” continues humanservicesedu.org’s website, “Pacific Union College’s BSW program is rooted in value. This program seamlessly blends classroom theory with research and practical experiences to produce a well-rounded course of study that’s designed to prepare you to work with a variety of...

Pacific Union College announces Dr. Ron Graybill as the speaker for the 2019 lecture of the Percy and John Christian Civil Rights Conference Center. Graybill has served his communities in a variety of ways over the years—professor, journalist, communications specialist, historian, editor, and pastor—and will draw from these varied experiences as he presents on his topic, “James Edson White: Flawed Hero.” The lecture will take place on Saturday, March 9, at 4 p.m. in PUC’s Paulin Hall. This event is free and open to the public.“I’ll be presenting on the paternalistic racism which characterized most social action by whites during the late 19th century,” Graybill explains. “To do this I will be examining closely the story of the life of James Edson White, with emphasis on his pioneer evangelistic, educational, and humanitarian work among Mississippi Blacks during this era.”Much of his lecture will be an elaboration of the premise of his book, Mission to Black America, originally published in 1971 with a second, updated edition released in February 2019. “James Edson White’s evangelism story has significant application to current issues,” Graybill says. “We are in an era when the long-standing racism of much of American society has come more obviously...

The faculty of the department of visual arts at Pacific Union College invites the community to the opening reception of their 2019 faculty art show in the Rasmussen Art Gallery on the PUC campus in Angwin. The reception begins at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 16, and is free and open to the public. The art will be available for viewing through March 17. Faculty with art in this year’s show are: Amy Cronk (mixed media); Cheryl Daley (ceramics); Jayme de la Torre (sculptural assemblage); Brian Kyle (photography); Milbert Mariano (design); Bob Pappas (ceramics); Cliff Rusch (photography); Tom Turner (watercolors).“We are a department filled with diverse faculty, specializing in different disciplines, who make the student experience at PUC one of a kind,” says Rajeev Sigamoney, department chair and associate professor of film and television production. “Coming to the faculty show allows students to get to know our faculty better, as well as exposing both them and the community to what we’re all about here in the department of visual arts.”This 2019 event is the 25th annual faculty art show, highlighting the diverse talent and experience of those who shape the experiences of the next generation of artists.“Faculty in visual arts...

A previously undocumented letter penned by Ellen G. White, co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, has been discovered in the archives at Pacific Union College. Last week, several scholars reviewed the letter and confirmed the incomplete document was indeed in Ellen White’s handwriting. “Judging from the scholarly stir that followed, I would say that is a significant historical find,” says Katharine Van Arsdale, PUC’s official archivist and the document’s discoverer.Four years ago, Van Arsdale found what appeared to be a letter from Ellen G. White in a small metal cabinet designed to store maps. She noted the letter, dated May 9, 1882--one month after PUC began officially holding classes--was incomplete and lacked a signature, although someone had written in pencil the author was Mrs. White.“I regularly took that letter with me into classes as one of several artifacts illustrating the history of PUC and the stores of its archives,” Van Arsdale says. “I would show it to the students as something ‘probably’ written by Ellen White.”Last week, Van Arsdale presented to a class of freshmen for James Wibberding, associate professor of applied theology and biblical studies. During the class, she asked Wibberding if he happened to know, from the course...

In late January 2019, several PUC classes assisted local agencies with a government-required Point In Time (PIT) count of the homeless in Clearlake, California. Students in Human Behavior in the Social Environment developed their basic client assessment skills; those in Program Evaluation conducted research on an existing community program; and students in Statistical Methods studied how statistics can provide insight into local communities and play a role in securing and directing resources. The Principles of Counseling class was invited to take part for hands-on experience.“Research shows when we take classroom skills and bring them into real world experiences, our students, college, and community all benefit,” says Christy Mantz, instructor of social work and service-learning coordinator. “Students are able to see a need first-hand, utilize critical thinking skills to solve community or agency problems, and then act using theories they’ve learned in the classroom to address the community issues.”According to Mantz, in 2018, Lake County reported 615 homeless persons to Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the federal entity which requires the PIT count. Of those 615, 591 were unsheltered due to a lack of emergency or temporary shelter in Lake County.As the students surveyed people experiencing homelessness, Mantz says they heard...

Pacific Union College’s Vox Pro Musica, directed by Jenelle Westerbeck Anderson, and Orchestra, directed by Rachelle Berthelsen Davis, embarks on their winter tour to Southern California next week. All events are free and open to the public.Anderson will lead Vox Pro Musica in several pieces, including William Dawson’s famous Ain’a That Good News! and a Moses Hogan spiritual, We Shall Walk Through the Valley in Peace. Additionally, the choir will sing Durufle’s Ubi Caritas. The latter’s text reads:"Where there is charity and love, God is there. The love of Christ has gathered us together, Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Let us revere and love the living God. And from a sincere heart let us love one another."“This is a beautiful a capella motet based on medieval chant,” explains Anderson, “with a text that reflects the overarching theme of all the choir's sacred music this year: Peace and Community.”Orchestra, led by Davis, will perform Ernest Bloch’s Concerto Grosso No. 1 featuring soloist Nathan Kim on the piano. Antonio Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Cellos in G minor highlights soloists Aaron Baluyot and Andrew Caster. They will also perform works by Bach and Telemann, as well as several hymn arrangements.Performances...