PUC Chronicle

Issue date: 2/26/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Bradley Ehrhardt Chinese New Year was celebrated at PUC on Saturday in Alumni Hall. People of many different races attended the event. This year was the Year of the Pig, and in fact the rare year of the Golden Pig.

The Chinese New Year was celebrated by 400 students, faculty members and people from surrounding towns. The event was held on Feb. 24 in Alumni Hall from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m.
The Chinese New Year celebration has been going on since 1995 in the local community and used to be held at the Salvation Army. But it has been attracting more people every year, which prompted the move to PUC last year.
Chenn Qian Zhou, professor and department head of mechanical engineering, said this was the first year students put together the whole celebration, complete with singing, dancing, games, a raffle and skits.
The NWI Chinese School and the community chorus contributed performances to the event.
"I am very proud of the students and their hard work," Zhou said.
Jianye Shao, a senior majoring in electrical engineering, controlled all of the decorations. He said about 30 students worked together in planning the event.
"Since there are a lot of Chinese students here, it feels amazing to bring something familiar to them from home," Shao said.
"This is one of many programs on campus that took a lot of energy putting together. It is a wonderful opportunity for students to understand other cultures and people," said Melinda Dalgarn, vice chancellor of student affairs. "
The Chinese New Year differs from the Western New Year because the dates it is celebrated on varies from year-to-year. But it always occurs in January or February. The Chinese New Year celebration stretches over a period of 15 days and each day centers around a different theme.
Summer Huesng, a senior majoring in electrical engineering and an exchange student from south central China, said there are many different traditions in different parts of China but a very popular food tradition is dumplings.
The Chinese calendar has 12 different animals, making a different animal represent each year. It starts with a rat and ends with a pig. This is the year of the pig.
Nick Xu, a graduate student, believes something critical happens when the animal representing his birth year comes around the cycle again.
Chancellor Howard Cohen thinks it is interesting to see the pig in China represent a loyal, strong friend for life.
"The only pig I know from American culture is Wilbur from Charlotte's Web. Having two new years has been really good to me," Cohen said.
Dinner and karaoke were also included in the festivities.

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