We Continue to Support the Ordination of Women Into the Gospel Ministry
Posted on 20. Apr, 2010 by Staff in Campus, Editorial
Jean Sheldon can teach future pastors…
Heather Knight can lead a college…
Ellen White can found a religion…
But none could be an ordained minister in the Adventist Church.
The C2 continues to resist social injustice, everywhere.
The use of these images do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Jean Sheldon, Heather Knight, and Ellen White.
Student Art on Display at the RAG
Posted on 20. Apr, 2010 by Staff in Arts, Campus
Entering the Rasmussen Art Gallery right now is like being punched in the face with a marigold. It may be beautiful, and may make one feel warm and fuzzy inside, but at the same time, it leaves one a little dazed and disoriented. There are simply so many artworks that it is difficult to know where to start.
For what it is worth, looking at the winners of the sundry awards is a good point of departure. The graphic design winners are particularly worthwhile; Sianna Stewart’s Fast Forward is not only aesthetically sound, but also visually and philosophically complex, as with Enoch Tengler’s first-place Song of the Century, which looks better than ninety percent of movie posters one might see at a theater. Jasmine Kelley’s color photo Two Bikes practically defines color and texture juxtaposition, and Neil Soiland’s Starving Dog #1 is reminiscent of that National Geographic picture of the Afghani girl (you know which one, trust me), only with a dog. Generally, I am not much for realism, but Issac Lopez’s first-place watercolor Bay looks better than a good bit of the color photography, and his third-place drawing Paint Supplies has so much visual depth, I was afraid I might fall into it. In fact, one should definitely take a good look at all of Lopez’s works, particularly the amusingly disturbing La Muerte de Pollo.
But enough about the winners, as fantastic as they are. There are several other noteworthy pieces or artists that one should definitely not miss in the milieu of potential. Amador Jaojoco has a trio of paintings that dance smartly between cutesy and shocking, making for a mind-slapping experience all the more accented because of their pseudo-kitschy exterior. There is something incredibly right in the wrongness of Commode-o Dragon, and something incredibly wrong in the rightness of Dependent that continue to draw one’s eye.
As far as photography goes, Grant Ordelheide’s trio of scenic panoramas strike one as Aaron Copland set to photography. They are a celebration of that rugged natural beauty that makes up so much of the Western hemisphere, and particularly the stark Bonsai Rock deserves a long pause of admiration.
Mixed media collages have a tendency to go one of two ways: they either look like a bunch of random media mixed together, or they provide layers upon layers of meaning with an overtone of brilliance. Richard Hawkins’s Obama definitely falls into the latter category. Overt in its subtlety, profound without being too political, this piece is not only visually enticing, but worth a bit of reflection and closer reading.
If fantasy were a card hand, then Elizabeth Stottlemeyer and Nicole Hubbard have it in spades. From scratchboard to drawing to sculpture to painting, these two blend genre and medium like potions. One probably could not throw a stone in the gallery right now without hitting one of Stottlemeyer’s pieces, most of which should catch one’s attention for more than a glance-over.
One cannot speak of art at PUC be without mentioning Cabel Bumanglang, who not only has the best last name in the show, but also a wide variety of exceptional works. I do not have a great deal to say about Preying Mantis except that there is no way one can miss it, and that it is brilliant. It seems trite to say that his acrylic Anger captures the tension of, well, anger, but it truly does; not just the sort of rage-against-the-machine anger, but the sort of rage-against-the-dying-of-the-light anger, the kind that seethes and digs under the skin (be sure to check out Carrie Lam’s Somehwere Over the Rainbow and City or Nature? While you’re over there, though the juxtaposition might make your head look like Marc Cruz’s Skull of Many Colors—which is also worth a look). Bumanglang’s abstract sculptures are also mind-bending explorations of shape and texture that are worth getting closer to understand (but don’t touch!).
I would apologize for the relative disjointedness of this review, but frankly, content dictates form; there is so much potential energy inside RAG right now, merely setting foot inside might initiate some sort of art-pocalypse. After checking out some of the heavy-hitters, I recommend sitting down in the middle of the gallery and just taking it all in as some sort of harmonically dissonant orchestra of color. If you have a moment, even just a moment, dash into the Rasmussen Art Gallery, not just to support friends and peers, but to enjoy some truly worthwhile art.
The show runs until 4 May, and is open from 1-5pm on Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday.
Our New Brains
Posted on 12. Mar, 2010 by Staff in Editorial
We are living in an incredibly exciting time. The computer and the internet are the new printing press, the new technologies that revolutionize the way we obtain and process information, the way we communicate, the very way we think.
As with any revolutionary invention, we are living in a time of cultural flux. The internet is so new that frankly, we don’t have a clue what to do with it. Certainly we understand some of the things we can use it for, but culturally, at least, we are frequently unaware of the ways that it has reshaped who we are.
This issue is not meant to advocate that we all become Borg or androids, nor is it meant to advocate that we become isolationist Luddites. These are informative, speculative, and opinion pieces, all rolled into one (we’ve not yet followed categorical journalism rules; why should we start now?). Most importantly, they are meant to elicit a response—a dialogue.
The “Madison Johnson Incident” is wholly indicative of why we so desperately need this sort of dialogue. People claim that the whole thing was unethical, that it crossed lines of privacy and decency, but quite honestly, our internet culture is not so stringently defined. Precisely because of this ambiguity, we need to discuss. We need to explore what the internet does, how it changes who we are.
Perhaps the most exciting aspect of this whole phenomenon is that we can symbiotically define the ways that the internet defines us, even as it does so. We have the power to shape our culture, to decide what is appropriate and what is not, what is proper internet etiquette, how things change and why, and ultimately, who we are.
It is arguable that humans use technology as our own microevolutionary mechanism (For the record, this is not advocating either side of the Creation v. Evolution debate; we are simply saying that we use it to progress. Calm down.). Clothes have become an extension of our skin, swords and guns extensions of our teeth and nails, writing an extension of our mouths and ears—and now, the internet an extension of our minds. We, the intellectuals and academics of our generation, hold the power and responsibility to make certain that this is a change for the better.
Let the discussion begin.
i can haz learningz lol
Posted on 11. Mar, 2010 by Staff in Interview
Interview with Tammy McGuire, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Communication
Before we get started, not to be rude, but how long have you been teaching (Just so we can get a sense of the change in culture and media that you’ve witnessed)?
Let’s just say that I’ve been teaching before the internet was invented by Al Gore [laughs].
Sounds good. Realizing that this is a terribly broad question, how has technology changed the interaction between students and learning, particularly academics itself?
Let me just kind of go through some aspects of technology. One is access to the internet; that’s changed research habits. It used to be you that had to go physically to the library, go through the stacks, pick up materials—but now you don’t. Secondly, it has become a lot easier to get to information, but the thing is, there is so much information that it’s hard to filter what is credible. The problem with easiness is that it can lead to laziness. It’s easier for students to research, but it’s a lot harder to filter. You don’t have to go to a physical place to find out information. Before the internet, you simply could not wait until midnight to start your paper, because you didn’t have those resources at your fingertips. Another reason you couldn’t wait; even word processing is fairly new. Imagine having to write a paper where you couldn’t edit anything.
The other way the internet has been really helpful is that it is a lot easier to share information like grades, assignments. It’s a lot easier to contact students, and vice versa, because you don’t have to see them face-to-face; there is more instant feedback. The disadvantage is, perhaps for both ways, that there’s no place to hide from technology. You can go home, and you can still check your email at 10:30 at night; the problem is there are no boundaries. Students can ask questions at midnight, and the possibility exists, at least in their mind, that I could answer them.
Regarding students contacting professors: I’ve heard many professors say that they dislike email communication, because students tend to be unprofessional or even rude. Do you feel that is a disconnect between generations, or simply the nature of the medium?
It’s probably both, if I can chicken out and say that. The communication is much more informal. People are starting to email like they text. It’s very informal, very short. For a different generation, that comes across as less professional, less formal, which can sometimes come across as disrespectful. I know students are not meaning to be disrespectful when they start an email with “Hey,” but it is evidence that more education has to be done with how one can come across as professional. Of course, the other problem is people calling at all hours of the day. I don’t know if a lot of teachers text, but we all have cell phones. A lot of students don’t start their academic lives until eleven, twelve, one or two, at night. Then, because they can contact us, they do so—or try, at least. Sometimes I feel that students get a little irritated when they don’t have an immediate response.
Let’s look at it this way. It probably will be archaic to capitalize the lone ‘I’. That’s my prediction. But it’s sort of the easy way to look at it as a generational thing. What I’m finding as I read studies about technology is that even younger teachers who text find that when they get emails that are in texting form, they also see it as unprofessional. I’m not so sure it’s generational. I think it’s contextual; I think there’s a context where texting is seen as completely appropriate. I think that the younger students who use texting all the time don’t see the conflict, but for those who haven’t used texting and cell phones—at one time it was even email—there’ s a clear perception of where the line of professionalism is.
So, it seems like a question of normative communication. Is there an etiquette that people are missing?
I think the texting culture is still developing its norms. What’s the appropriate context? Do you text someone to break up with them? Do you text someone to fire them? It’s called “structuration theory”: resources are made by the people who use them, and are used by the people who make them. That’s where norms are—the rules in between. The problem is that there is this big disconnect where nine out of ten professors see texting in class as inappropriate or rude; I don’t know how many students would see it as inappropriate or rude. So this is a clash of norms.
Is it sort of like the appropriate time to check Facebook? Most teachers have banned cell phones, but some still allow people to use their laptops to “take notes.”
It’s interesting how you use “scare quotes” when you said “take notes.” I know teachers seem stupid, but they know what’s going on. There’s a lot more multitasking going on, but students also checking the weather, a little IM-ing, keep up on Facebook, and listening, and maybe taking a note or two here or there. I’ll tell you what the internet culture has done: it’s changed the way you have to teach in order to engage your students—and, I think, fairly dramatically. One, things have to be more visual in order to capture people’s attention. Two, lessons have to be faster paced. In “teacher school,” they used to say that you had to change every twenty minutes, do something different, change the pace. Now, that time is so much shorter. The third thing is that there’s a bullet-point mentality. If you can’t put it in a bullet point, then you have to work so much harder to engage students.
Do you find that there is a vast difference between students who can remember not having the internet (such as this year’s seniors) and those who have always had it (like many of the freshmen)?
There are some differences, but I don’t know that they’re huge differences. Students are very good with technology, so I think one thing that teachers need to do more is build into class ways that students can use their technology. In projects: now we have students who can make videos. It doesn’t take them six weeks to make videos; it takes them hours. I guess there can be more expectations about how to convey material. I would say that one notable difference over the last ten years or so is that there’s much more of an attachment to technology. Having a cell phone, being able to text—to even have a fifty minute class where one is separated from that seems often to be a little disturbing to students. It’s not that people can’t concentrate, it just seems like there are more interesting things to do.
So, obviously, technology has changed the way you do academia and education.
The advent of technology has made the whole plagiarism and cheating thing really interesting. Now there are sixteen-hundred more ways to cheat; eight-hundred of those that have to do with technology, professors know nothing about. The opportunity to plagiarize is so easy now, I think there needs to be a lot more education there. Those challenges have increased. It’s not that students cheat more; it’s that there are different ways to do so that extend beyond writing ink on one’s hand.
Here is my theory about what’s going on with what I see as a disconnect between the older generation and the younger: I’m not a luddite, I have technology, but I’m not attached to my cell phone. I can leave it in my office overnight, or not know where it is for days, but that is not true for much of the younger students. I was playing basketball the other day, and one of my students was about to go in, when all of a sudden she says, “Where’s my cell phone? “ Another one of my teammates is waiting to go in, crouched down by the scorekeepers’ table, and she’s texting. I don’t understand the compulsion to text in class, but my students, they want to be connected, and an immediate connection.
There are two types of communication: synchronous, and asynchronous. I don’t have to answer emails, letters, or voicemails right away; that’s asynchronous. I think students who have cell phones and are texting see it as synchronous, where the older generation sees it as if someone texts me, I don’t have to respond right away. For the younger generation, however, not to respond right away would be inappropriate or rude. That explains why, when the phone rings, you have to pick it up, why when you get a text, you have to pick it up. And that tension creates a lot of misunderstanding. It creates misunderstanding the other way, too; if I don’t’ respond to an email, it comes across as if I’m ignoring; there’s that expectation of an immediate, almost synchronous response. We want to Google it, want to Wikipedia it; we want to know something now.
So as with most things, there are always elements in which technology both constrains and enables us.
Melissa Totton – Social Vice President
Posted on 23. Feb, 2010 by Staff in Campus
Why are you running for this position?
I like being involved with my community and for the last three years my community has been here at PUC. I have tried to get involved in various ways, for example, I’m on the paper staff this year and last year I helped Scotty with various activities. I really want to make a difference and do something on this campus.
What are your qualifications?
The Social VP requires a lot of organization in that you have to be meticulous about planning because you don’t want to schedule conflicting events, you have to plan events that people will want to come to, and simply you need to care. If you don’t care no one else is going to. So, for qualifications I have become well organized. I keep a calendar and am pretty good at keeping track of dates. As for planning events people would want to go to, part of who I am is making sure people are taken care of, I am a people pleaser and want everyone to have a good time. I feel it is important to be sensitive to people’s needs that way. I wouldn’t plan something that I wouldn’t want to go to and in that regard it shows that I care about doing something for the student body and creating something students would enjoy.
How would you like to improve the Social VP position?
I think we have a lot of fun stuff that has been going on this year such as ice-skating and the Welcome Back Party, I think Chris is doing a good job. I can’t make promises about what I would do because it would obviously depend on budgeting and scheduling. But, something I would like to work on is saving money and giving the student more bang for their buck by having more events on campus. If students don’t have to pay as much for an event they are more likely to come.
How often do you plan on having events?
By events I don’t mean a huge party every week, because that’s just not feasible, but I would like to communicate better on the events that are going on. I want people to actually get the message. One thing that I like about this school is that they have clubs where students can find a small group they identify with but I would like to bring the entire campus together so that you can interact with even more people. For example, Game nights, karaoke, and scavenger hunts. Though I would like to be sensitive to conflicts with other campus events I plan on doing two medium sized events a month. Events that are a little larger than the ones that are every weekend. Things that people can get a little more excited about.
How do you plan on advertising for events?
Though methods such as Announce emails are important I am a believer in word-of-mouth. If you look back things like bikini/boxer caroling they don’t happen through the bulletin board they happen through people getting excited and saying “I’m going to be there how about you?” So, I’m hoping to generate an enthusiasm that motivates people.
Do you feel you connect with the student population?
I don’t know every single person and I’m not in every single club but I am sensitive to the needs of others and I want people to have a good time. In that regard, I think that I have the ability to connect to the student population. I am a PUCite and I know what it is like to be here. From classes and teachers to college relationships I am connected to what’s happening and can relate to the students through common experience. Can I connect? It all depends on if I am given the chance to do so.
Aaron Doyle – Video Yearbook Editor
Posted on 21. Feb, 2010 by Staff in Campus
What do you view as the role of your office?
My goal is to create a high quality publication that accurately represents the year at PUC. I hope to include not just the people who put themselves out there, but to include everyone ranging from the hermits who coop themselves in their rooms, to people who work all day, to people who go to all the social activities. In the video yearbook, I’ll have it separated into the different aspects of PUC life. For example, I’ll do a parody of the TV show, “Dirty Jobs,” to show the most unpleasant jobs that students have on campus.
I also plan to release updates throughout the year on the progress made on the video yearbook.
What qualifies you to fulfill the role?
I’m a film major, I have made a couple movies and multiple commercials, and I am a writer, so I have a lot of good ideas that are constantly flowing out.
What do you think an SA officer should be?
A person.
What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?
25 to 30 miles per hour.
What is your favorite color?
Black and blue, like a bruise.
What types of changes do you want to make?
I’m not exactly sure what changes I want to make since Ryan Poledo’s video yearbook (last year’s) was excellent. It was exactly what the students wanted. I just hope to produce something of the same quality or higher.
What style of video yearbook can we expect?
My style of video editing is loud and fast, and my filming style is quick. Film majors will know what that jargon means. For everyone else, that means “Something that will definitely grab your attention.”
Loni Johnston – Diogenes Lantern Editor
Posted on 21. Feb, 2010 by Staff in Campus
The duty of your office is pretty obvious: make a yearbook. Do you have any ideas for what you want to do with that?
As of right now, I have some ideas, but with yearbook, ideas change. It depends on how the school year is progressing and the vibe of the school. Not only that, but as a designer, you see one idea and it triggers something else, so you just kind of have to weed through the ideas until you find one that makes you feel really good inside. As far as ideas that I can tell you about … not really, because it’s going to change, so I don’t want to say that it’s going to be one thing, when it’s not. Something that I’m planning on doing is having a wider variety of writers and photographers for the yearbook; I think with a lot of different perspectives come a lot of different stories and ways of interpreting our year at PUC.
Can you describe your typical design style?
I like clean, and I get excited about design that has purpose and makes sense—things are there for reasons that are clever, or make people really satisfied with the way things look.
For those of us who aren’t as graphically-minded, yearbook might sometimes seem like you just put pictures in a book. Can you explain what’s really behind all of it?
It’s not just about the placement of things, it’s the whole concept behind it. A yearbook that has some sort of clever or interesting theme is going to be a yearbook that’s way more successful than something that’s way more successful. There are different ways of wording things; there’s imagery—visual connectivity.
A lot of my ideas will probably come from what people have done in the past and how I can make it a little more successful. A lot of times yearbooks don’t focus on sports, but I think sports is one of the things that a lot of people really love about PUC. I would try to bring that out a little more, makes sure that teams are featured. I want to capture how we are as a collective group and tell different people’s stories. Getting other people’s inputs and perspectives will contribute to tell the story of what PUC is like.
Amador Jaojoco – Funnybook Editor
Posted on 21. Feb, 2010 by Staff in Campus
What do you view as the role of your office?
The best way I can explain the role of my office is by explaining the “product” I want to create.
I view the Funnybook as a candid picture of the campus. In some ways, I view it as a caricature of the face of PUC. It’s one of the only publications that allows people to really put their individual personalities out there, forming a mosaic of what the PUC student body really is.
Aside from being funny and entertaining, I hope to make it a highly effective publication that acts as both a directory and a picture book. You can expect to not leave it sitting on your shelf collecting dust.
The Funnybook and the yearbook share a number of qualities. They are both kind of like time capsules, but have different personalities. While I see the Funnybook as a caricature of PUC, I see the yearbook more as a family portrait. Both serve important purposes.
Basically, I view the role as an opportunity to bring the characters of PUC to print.
What do you think it means to be an SA officer, in general?
An SA officer is first and foremost a representative of the student body. It is every officer’s job to stand up for what students believe in and want.
What qualifies you to fulfill the role of Funnybook editor?
I love student life, the café, meeting new people and hanging out at the Grind. When I make the Funnybook, I’d like to capture the essence of all the things students love.
On a more practical level, I’m a graphic design major. My educational experiences have given me the skills necessary to make a Funnybook. The publication process is very technical and requires a lot of tedious work and skill behind the scenes to get out to the students. My goal as Funnybook editor is to create a Funnybook that is easy to read, fun to flip through, and aesthetically pleasing.
I used to be the editor of the San Gabriel Academy yearbook from 2004-2005, and my academy won an award for best layout and copy during the PUC Publications Workshop. In 2005-2006, my academy won the award for Best Overall Yearbook.
I was also the editor of the school news paper my senior year. When I first took over the publication, it was not in a very good state. Although my team’s lack of formal journalistic training and experience brought hardships, we overcame them and produced a quality paper that brought the school good publicity. The experience taught me how to be flexible and how to work with tight deadlines.
I was able to assist this year’s Funnybook Editor, Stephanie Ward, in the creation of the 2009-2010 publication. The opportunity familiarized me with the creation process and gave me insight as to how I might do things differently.
What types of changes would you make?
It’s a secret! The general principle behind the changes I want to make have to do with functionality—improving the form, availability, and readability of the Funnybook. Of course, it will also look awesome!
What do you hope to get out of this experience?
I hope my level of skill and creativity will bring a successful publication to the eyes of the PUC student body, and hope that the experience will contribute to my growth as a designer and artist.
Divya Joseph – C2 Editor
Posted on 21. Feb, 2010 by Staff in Campus
What do you see as the duty of your office, and how do you intend to fulfill that?
The role of C2 is that we are the voice of PUC, and we tell the stories of what PUC thinks; we tell PUC what’s happening in PUC, and we tell the outside what’s happening at PUC; we put face and color and words to PUC. Very early on, I realized that I’m very good with people. I can put people at ease when I’m doing interviews, and I’m able to write a story about anything. I know nothing about American sports, I’m not going to lie—but I can still write a mean sports story. I can write it, and I can write it like I know it. Because of my networking skills I can work far and wide at PUC and put more stories and people out there that we don’t know.
My favorite part of journalism is telling stories; feature stories are my favorite. I love telling people stories that they don’t know. One of my favorite stories was the when the Believer’s Club had a rock concert on my high school campus [I went to a public school], and there was this band that had a guy with a poster just waving it up and down. I went to him and asked him what he was doing—and he was dumb and deaf. He could read lips, and he told me that their family was on the street; they had turned around and wanted to be a force that was praising god. So they took their only skill, which was rapping; he couldn’t do that, and he said “If all I can do is get up there and make motions, then I’ll do that in any way.” I was so fascinated that I could give words to his thoughts. If I could do that with a mute person, then we can do that with the stories in PUC. That’s why I feel like my networksing skills and my ability to get to more people will benefit the newspaper.
Obviously, we’re rather invested in what you plan to do with the paper. What sort of changes do you plan to make? What do you want to keep the same?
I want to establish the basic different aspects: news, feature, and sports—[teasingly] I can cover sports. There are endless possibilities with opinion and editorials. One may think that there’s no news at PUC, but there’s news. It might be small in quantity and magnitude, but it’s still news to us. I would write reviews about local places and events. The biggest thing that I want to establish is to have really good photographs. They don’t simply say a picture is worth 1000 words for no reason. I want to bring back pictures into the layout as a big part of our layout.
We’re also rather invested in the website. What do you plan to do with that?
My first concern is for the newspaper itself. I know print media is a dying art, but I’m kind of old school. Nevertheless, I do plan on keeping the online, because in order to survive, you have to keep with the trends—and the trend is online. My full focus will be on the print, however, and then branch out. I do appreciate what you’ve done, and I do like the website, but my first priority is the print media. If I could, I would keep that as well.
We’ve been trying to feel out what exactly the school wants, between macro and micro, interviews and editorials. Where do you plan to fall on that scale, at least, at first?
In the areas of news and feature, we will be micro; we will talk about specific issues: here’s the who, what, when, how. In the area of editorial, that’s when we can open up and articulate opinions. I’m not saying I’m reducing the content of opinion and editorial that you’ve had. They’ve been good, and I am keeping that—but I’m adding to it. Proportionally—and I don’t know how long the paper will be—news maybe one-to-two pages; feature, maybe two depending on demand; opinion two-to-three; and sports, one, maybe two based on demand; and then another page of arts and entertainment.
You have some great ideas. What makes you ready to implement them?
I’ve done this before. I’ve been editor-in-chief before. I had to write a story in 9 minutes, once, because we were going to print, and I was covering a game just as it ended. I know how to factor in the errors that will come. I feel like this is my second chance at it [being editor-in-chief]; the first time is a learning experience—you’re always learning—but I’m more refined, now. I have a better chance of making it the best that I can possibly make it.
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