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In its second year, the Herber Family Endowment presented ten Pacific Union College professors with grants to aid in professional development. The college announced this year’s recipients at the annual Faculty Awards program on April 26. This year, the awards will finance a range of research pursuits. Bryan Ness, professor of biology, will use the grant to support his efforts in writing a new textbook over the summer. Rachelle Davis, assistant professor of music, will attend a Mark O’Conner San Diego Strings Conference. Other projects include cancer prevention studies, linguistic research, and various professional workshops. Established by St. Helena physician and PUC alumnus Steve Herber, his sisters Sandra and Susan Herber, and his father Ray Herber, this endowment will annually provide faculty with professional development grants to facilitate teachers in their quest to achieve and sustain innovative, quality instruction....

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...

The new Alice Holst Theater at Pacific Union College was inaugurated in March with the world premiere of an unusual play called “Red Books: Our Quest for Ellen White.” Researched, written, and produced by a team of students and alums, this work proved to be an exceptional way to kick off the new theater’s career and sparked dialogue among individuals and community. It began over five years ago when Mei Ann Teo, the resident artist and artistic director of the PUC Dramatic Arts Society and Napa Valley Musical Theatre, heard a presentation on the Shakers’ relationship to their founder and the pattern of various generations’ reactions to iconic figures. The question was whether this applied to Adventists and their relationship through the years with Ellen White. So in 2006 Teo teamed with PUC students Eryck Chairez and Zach Dunn to concept a script. In the fall they cast the play, and with Chairez in the director’s seat, the team began production. The writers and cast members conducted, compiled, and re-enacted interviews in an organic process to determine which notes to include in the story. As Chairez wrote additional scenes to connect the voices, the script began to take shape. As...

Four Pacific Union College students came away from the annual SONscreen Film Festival in Simi Valley, Calif., April 12-14 with top awards for their films. Uly Mostrales, Brian Bazemore, TJ Gleason, and J.R. Rogers won Best Music Video, Best Drama, Best Documentary, and Best of the Fest (grand prize), respectively. The grand prize film, titled “Three Courses”, is the story of three different couples who find, lose and re-establish love over the course of dinner in an elegant restaurant. It is not only a love story dedicated to the different paths that relationships take, but is also a love letter to the art and food culture and the role that it plays in the most important moments in our lives. “Three Courses” was the work of PUC film and television students; Rogers, the producer, worked with director/writer Eryck Chairez, production manager and editor Brian Bazemore, and art director/writer Jackson Boren to create the film. The SONscreen Film Festival is a destination for established and up-and-coming Christian filmmakers to share their creative work, gain exposure, and network with other media and film professionals. Since the festival debuted in 2002, a number of PUC students have received prizes for their dramas, public...

As part of its 125th anniversary celebration, Pacific Union College welcomes Dr. Jan Paulsen, president of the Adventist World Church, as a special guest speaker for Homecoming Weekend, April 20-22, 2007. On Saturday, Paulsen will speak for worship services at 8:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. at the PUC Church. At 3 p.m., Paulsen will lead a discussion with PUC students on “Let’s Talk,” a televised forum for young people to share their views on faith with church leaders. The second worship service and “Let’s Talk,” to be held in the Paulin Hall auditorium, will be broadcast live on the Hope Channel. The public is welcome to attend both programs....

Discoveryland Childrens Preschool has been voted “Best Child Care, Napa Valley” in the North Bay Bohemian, Best of 2007 issue. The first-place win is the result of the publication’s annual online poll, which invites the North Bay community to vote for favorite local businesses in several categories. Discoveryland, with programs in Angwin and St. Helena, is a state-licensed facility and is among the few centers in the upper valley to offer infant care. Discoveryland, an auxiliary of Pacific Union College, started in Angwin more than forty years ago as a preschool and teaching outlet for PUC students. In 2002 the Trinchero family donated a St. Helena facility where PUC opened a second Discoveryland. Today, the Angwin and St. Helena locations have nearly 100 children enrolled....

Fluorescent lights high above, people cheering on metal bleachers, a score board reading 0-0, and two red hoops looming on either side of the court. This is what met the PUC Pioneers men’s basketball team as they walked onto the court for their first game in the California Pacific Conference playoffs. Not only was it the first game of the 2006-07 season playoffs, it was the first playoff game for the men’s basketball team since joining the NAIA Division II and California Pacific Conference. Many factors contributed to the Pioneers reaching the playoffs this year. Scott Blunt, the team’s head coach, says that reaching the playoffs was the team’s goal from the beginning of the season. “We accomplished our goal,” says Blunt, “It was a successful year, and we have something to build on for next year.” Although the Pioneers lost the first playoff game to Simpson University, they ended the season proudly in the standing of sixth seed out of eight. In addition to keeping the playoffs as their goal, Blunt says the team was made up of exceptional players. He credits the team’s success to the respect they had for each other and the senior players’ leadership. Several...

The Dramatic Arts Society of Pacific Union College has extended its run of the play “Red Books: Our Search for Ellen White.” There will be four more performances beginning April 3, 2007. More than 600 people attended the first run, booking nearly every show to full capacity. Due to the continued interest in the show, Mei Ann Teo, resident artist and “Red Books” producer, decided to add another week of performances in addition to taking it on tour in the fall to select locations. “Red Books” explores the Seventh-day Adventist community’s relationship with its founder, Ellen G. White. Using excerpts from some 200 interviews with current and former Adventists, the play travels through four generations of a religion and their perspectives on White to create a riveting discussion about icons—why they are built, destroyed, and forgotten and the impact on a faith community....

When film and television major J.R. Rogers graduates from Pacific Union College this June, he will leave behind a mark that anyone in the 125-year history of the college would be proud of. In addition to his senior project of producing the video version of the three weeks of prayer this year, which he anticipates will soon be broadcast to millions via the Loma Linda Broadcasting Network, Rogers has begun developing several projects that will allow the growing visual arts department to continue offering top-level opportunities to its students. Rogers has been both in and around the field of broadcast production for nearly 13 years. He is responsible for obtaining program information for each week-of-prayer, transferring that information into an appropriate film script, organizing the crew and making sure that the film aspect of each program runs smoothly and on time. “I decided to make my senior project work around my abilities,” says the Southern California native. “Most seniors shoot a film or a documentary. That’s not something that I’m good at, so I decided to make my project something that I could do and do well.” Something else that Rogers does well is follow his visions. With the help...

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...