Life at PUC

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...

The world premiere of “Red Books: Our Search for Ellen White,” an original production by Pacific Union College faculty and students, will take place on March 3, 2007, at the new Alice Holst Theater in Stauffer Hall. “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, forgotten and the impact on a faith community. The show is the brainchild of Mei Ann Teo, PUC’s resident artist and San Francisco-based director. Teo, who is also a PUC alumna, was first inspired to create a play on White more than five years ago while listening to a presentation on the Shakers’ relationship to their founder. In 2006 she teamed with PUC students Eryck Chairez and Zach Dunn to collect interviews and concept a script. In the fall they cast the play, and with Chairez in the director’s seat, the team began production. As the writers compiled interviews, the actors were asked to participate in sifting through the notes by performing them...

Lisa M. Beardsley spoke about the question, “Why did God Create Satan” for this year’s biennial Heubach Lecture. Beardsley, the associate director of education and executive secretary of the Adventist Accrediting Association for the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, explored the intriguing realm of human choice and numerous related issues. Beardsley’s topic, a question that both children and adults have pondered throughout history, focused heavily on the connection between free choice, love and happiness, a relationship that she summed up in the statement, “Happiness is love freely given and freely received.” Beardsley’s travels throughout the world have allowed her to witness atrocities in places like Rwanda, where choice is the privilege of a few, exercised on the lives of many. Beardsley is the first female lecturer in the history of the Heubach Lectureship Series, which began in 1998 when PUC established an endowment in honor of Paul C. Heubach. The lectureship, which is funded by friends of Heubach, hopes to examine the great central truths of Christianity in light of the character of God by using simple language—“in terms understood where people live.” The goal for each lecture is to leave the listener with a clearer comprehension of God, and...

Husbands, sisters, mothers, fathers, friends. These are only some of the people lost to cancer on a daily basis. By the time you have finished reading this paragraph, another person in the United States will have died from cancer, the most common forms of which are prostate and breast. Statistically speaking, everyone has been or will be touched by the destructive and prevalent disease, a disease that invades our lives and our bodies yet remains without a cure. While the world continues its search for a cure, a great deal of research has moved towards the preventative aspect. Dr. Brian Wong, a biology professor new to PUC this academic year, has been researching and testing various methods of cancer prevention during the past sixteen years. Since his doctoral dissertation in 1990, Wong has researched the effectiveness of Chinese herbs in combating, or at least slowing, the growth of cancer cells. Two of these herbs, which have shown promising lab results, are found commonly throughout China in roadside ditches. Testing performed on mice has yielded delayed cancer cell growth of up to five or six weeks when taking certain levels and combinations of the herbs, which is the equivalent of about...

African-American cultural emphasis took place February 1 through 3. The Black Student Forum organized the programs for colloquy, vespers, and church. Each program featured music from The Voices of Zion, the gospel choir on campus. Thursday’s colloquy also included interpretive signing to a song entitled “We Should Praise” and a multimedia tribute to black Americans. Dr. David Taylor was the speaker for each program. Taylor is the former chair of PUC’s religion department, and at present he serves as an associate dean of religion at Loma Linda University. On Thursday, he emphasized that loving other people means recognizing and embracing their unique backgrounds. On Friday and Sabbath, he spoke on the importance of looking at our memories and staying a part of the church. Taylor presented his thoughts in a way that impacted people of all cultural backgrounds on the PUC campus....

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...