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The SonScreen Film Festival, a screening and showcase event for filmmakers, took place at the end of April. Created by the North American Division of the Seventh-day Adventist church, this annual event highlights Adventist and Christian young people and adult professionals in media and film. This project began in 2002 with the goal of nurturing Christian filmmakers in their craft, career development and their spiritual life. For the first time the film festival took place in Simi Valley, California home of the Adventist Media Center. Stephen Eyer, visual arts instructor at PUC and a member of the executive planning committee for SonScreen, attended the festival with six PUC students and three other visual arts professors. Eyer felt that exposing students to the materials already in place was a good idea. “It is good for students to see what the church has and realize there is a place where they can make powerful stories,” he said. Attendees had the opportunity to meet filmmakers and people in the professional world. When participants were not watching film screenings they could attend workshops for directing, editing, producing, and screenwriting. Film student Tim de la Torre thought the weekend was useful for making connections. “The...

During President George W. Bush’s four-day visit to California, Angwin unexpectedly became the center of the media's attention. After days of press speculation as to where Bush would land for his brief visit to the Napa Valley, military helicopters touched down at the Angwin Airport on Friday—contrary to numerous presidential advance team reports. As of Friday, Pacific Union College officials had received confirmation that the president would not be arriving in Angwin, despite practice landings earlier in the week. With Angwin out of the picture, the valley swirled with rumors that the entourage would be arriving at a St. Helena elementary school, where practice runs had also been held, or at a private resort. But around 6 p.m. Friday, a train of law enforcement vehicles began zipping up Howell Mountain Road and towards the airport. Close to 8 p.m., helicopters could be heard roaring through the dark sky. Ten minutes later, a motorcade sped past a modest gathering of citizens who had caught on that the president of the United States would be driving through their quiet little town. The excitement continued early Saturday morning when residents noticed a number of cars making their way to the Los Posadas State...

PUC students brought their life experiences before peers during student week of prayer. The third week of spring quarter featured nine students who spoke about the six different spiritual disciplines, inspired by Richard Foster’s book, Streams of Living Water: Celebrating the Great Traditions of Christian Faith. Student speakers related stories from their own lives to the book and challenged their friends to use their gifts and talents for God. Students Jordin Montgomery and Martin Surridge started the week out strong. They reminded students that others struggle for freedom and then told students how they can make a difference. Jordin and Martin’s conviction extended into Nicole Wilson and Krita Brieno’s talks on Tuesday. Both Nicole and Krista encouraged students to accept their talents. Nicole said, “Embrace those gifts God has put in your heart and do something about them—take action.” On Wednesday morning, Solomon Mendoza enthusiastically shared with students how important it is to give your heart to Christ. He said, “I was excited about this topic because it is the most profound study—God becoming a man.” He talked with students about letting go of their preconceived ideas about their lives and not to settle for a cottage when God is...

Dr. Victoria Mukerji, associate professor of visual arts at Pacific Union College, has been awarded a prestigious Fulbright scholarship to teach at Goa University in India for six months. Mukerji applied for the highly competitive scholarship over nine months ago, but hardly told a soul—she was so sure she didn’t stand a chance of winning that she didn’t even tell her parents that she had applied. She says she has dreamed of getting a Fulbright scholarship since she was a little girl (her parents had friends who were Fulbright scholars), and the news that she had been chosen cheerfully took her by surprise. “I’m very, very happy,” she said. The Fulbright Scholar Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and aims to foster understanding between countries through scholarly exchanges. Each year about 800 scholars from the United States are awarded lectureships to schools in more than 150 participating countries. In return, about 800 international scholars are sponsored through the program to teach or conduct research in American universities. Mukerji will be returning to her first love in India. Although she was raised in the United States, her father is Indian and she has spent the majority of her...

This April brought the usual flood of alumni and special events for Homecoming Weekend, but it also brought a new level of involvement from current students with an SA-sponsored Heritage Week leading up to Homecoming. SA president Juliana Dalotto led the campus in the week-long celebration of the past, complete with students dressing up in era costumes, lunchtime music, and evening movies from each decade. Students also made displays showing old photos of their dorms. The highlight of the week was colloquy on Thursday, when Helen Lee, PUC’s second-oldest alum and a graduate of the Class of 1936, told tales from her student days at PUC. “Though we get old, we were young at one time,” she said, “and we were not much different than young people now.” Students were in stitches over the stories and remarks of this 92-year-old veteran missionary and even gave her a standing ovation. Lee concluded with some passionate advice for PUC students: “I hope that each one here leaves knowing how to differentiate between ‘pitcher’ and ‘picture,’ when to use ‘lie’ and ‘lay,’ and when to say ‘you and I’ and when to say ‘you and me.’” When the laughter died down, she added,...

Dr. Amal Harsha de Silva, Director of Health for Sri Lanka, visited Pacific Union College and St. Helena Hospital on Tuesday, April 11, during his family’s vacation in the U.S. De Silva toured the science departments of the college, including a special visit with the nursing department’s programmable medical mannequin, SimMan, as well as taking a tour of St. Helena Hospital. De Silva’s interest in the college and hospital stems from the connection between Pacific Union College and the Associated College of Health Sciences, which opened in Sri Lanka in 2003 as part of an effort to increase the number of qualified nurses in that country. Dr. Julia Pearce, the former chair of the Pacific Union College nursing department, was instrumental in helping the new school develop its curriculum and in advising the school’s administration about Western healthcare training standards. Pearce spent a week in Sri Lanka when the school opened, participating in the ceremonies, bringing 200 pounds of books and materials with her, and helping with curriculum preparation. Three years later, in January of 2006, Pearce returned for the first graduation—with another 100 pounds of books. “I never thought I’d get father than Phoenix!” Pearce laughs. “So this is...

At the all-school colloquy on April 6, Pacific Union College President Richard Osborn presented alumnus Jake Scheideman with a check for $8,388. About two months earlier, Scheideman shared at a colloquy program about his housing project in Nicaragua (see “A Spontaneous Gift: Students Send $8,000 to Nicaragua” ). At the end of his story, students, faculty and staff made donations and pledges toward funding one of the houses in the Nicaraguan village, which cost about $6,000 each to build. On April 6, the total amount was presented to Scheideman and the St. Helena Rotary Club, which oversees the project. “This is humbling, and outstanding!” Scheideman said. He hopes to use the money to fund one of the houses in the most recent building phase, which will be completed at the end of May. “We can all do something,” Scheideman told the audience. “As educated Americans we have a responsibility to do something for our world—and it’s fun!”...

Godfrey Miranda, a 2005 PUC graduate, returned to share his original musical composition with students at the first colloquy of spring quarter. His homecoming featured a successful first performance of In the Beginning: a Symphonic Suite. Performed by the PUC Orchestra and conducted by Rachelle Berthelsen Davis, this five-part movement is based on the five themes of John Milton’s book Paradise Lost. The theme of each movements portrayed a section of the book using both visual and sound elements. The text and graphic representations displayed on the overhead screen followed the story behind each movement. One movement featured a jazz duet between the clarinet and flute representing Satan’s temptation of Eve at the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Before the first and fourth movement, Miranda’s enthusiasm for the subject barely kept him in his seat and he jumped up to explain the emotions and thoughts tied into each individual work. This was the first time Miranda heard the entire piece played live (he composed it using his computer and synthesized instruments), and his excitement was evident before and during the performance. When the performance ended Miranda’s reaction was pure joy. “Oh wow! That was rich,” he said. “The...

Imagine living in a 25-foot trailer, with knowledge that at the end of the year, you’ll have to move out and somehow find a job. Citizens of Waveland, Mississippi have been surviving like this for the past seven months. Since Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on the Gulf Coast last year, 75 percent of the businesses in Waveland, which is located about 30 minutes from New Orleans, have remained closed, and the lingering residents possess little hope for the future. Youth pastor Jon Cicle from the Pacific Union College Church and a group of 16 volunteers journeyed to New Orleans and Waveland during spring break to take part in continued efforts to get the Gulf states back on track. PUC student Jaylene Chung and her parents provided the crew with a nice surprise by unexpectedly joining up with them in Waveland. While most experts are estimating that clearing the devastation and rebuilding will take at least three to five years, the group of PUC students, high school students, and sponsors did their best to make a difference in the lives of some grateful families. From removing broken toilets and appliances to clearing debris washed in from massive flooding, the group worked...

PUC alumna Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson recently published her first book-length translation, Rainbow Over Hell. Currently a free-lance writer, this 1997 PUC graduate shares with English-readers the true story of a man transformed from an assassin to a Seventh-day Adventist pastor. Written by award-winning Japanese author Tsuneyuki Mohri, Rainbow Over Hell was printed by two major Japanese publishing houses in 2005 and is now available for the first time in English. Rainbow Over Hell describes Saburo Arakaki’s journey after joining a group of militants at 18 during the 1944 war in Saipan. After the final surrender of Saipan he was arrested for assassinating two men thought to be corroborating with the U.S. Air Force, and was sentenced to death. During his time in prison he discovered the Bible and was so transformed by his new faith that his own warden petitioned for his release. In 1954 Arakaki received a full pardon from President Eisenhower and returned to Japan, where he became a Seventh-day Adventist minister. Fujimoto-Johnson sees the story as valuable on two levels. “This book is historically significant as a Pacific War account, but just as importantly, it’s also a message of hope.” She adds, “It was a privilege to translate...