News Scrapbook 1985

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JUl 241985

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P. C. B f.11. I 888 isions of Vietnam . Art1§Ts' exhibition recalls a tour of duty Harry Lee Martin II STAR-NEWS James Rocha ha taken his Viet- nam e pericncc and embedded them on canvas. said. "The intent is to trigger some kind of emotional response or reac- tion," he explained. ' Whatl'm try- ing to do 1s set up a mood." reception in honor of the opening of the "War Dreams" exhibition in Founders Hall, at USD. Hermsen expects a ma ked degree of support from the com munity toward the project

viewpoint and is not intended to be a political statement. "I just want them to sec it on human terms," he said. "These are very personal ,,•orks; they're more emotional than anything else." According to Roch&, the pain- tings that are being shown in the exhibition are the last he will com-

The mtent of th works, however, i not to d mn the Unit d States or rck.indl unpl asant memories. Ac- cording l Rocha, the painting represent an effort to help people r lize that the war involved not only nation , ammunition and 1d I but !so human bcJngs Rocha, an n I tant prof · r of art at the Ul!ll' rs1ty of San Diego, is currently preparing torusplay hi works in a shoy.ing on the cam- pu of the chool The exprr ·Hmistic painting are purpo ly vague a to the manner in which they . hould be inter- preted, ccording to Rocha. "You're primarily dealing with emotions and emotional response rather than reality," h explained. The works , which are on a much smaller cale than Rocha normally paints, feature a variety of colors. Moreover, the mixed-media pieces are i nbed with basically in- decipherable words and phrases. ' "They are kind of like lead-ins or messag ," he explain d . "The writing refer to events, places, siluatlons...what have you" The pamting . themselves, are vague; but, at the same time, they have a pecific purpose, Rocha

Between 1966 and 1968, Rocha served nearly one year of duty in Vietnam. It wasn't until several· months ago, however, that he decided to express his emotions on canvas In that time, he has painted, ac- cording to his own estimations, bet- ween 40 and 50 p· ccs detailing his tour of duty in Vietnam. "My goal is to take something like this and turn it into something positive," he explained. together of different events," he ;.__ added . Rocha's pieces also united hirp- with Tim Hermsen, a writer who had served with the Marine Corps during the Vietnam war. Rocha met Hennsen at an art show that was held at the San Diego Veterans Center. Hermsen had detailed his war experiences in writing. "We decided we'd like to do omething (together)," Rocha said. On July 27, the product of their collaboration will be on view at a in understanding his time spent in the military, he said. "I was a lot like a coming

"I think people are prepartd at this point to examine some issues that haven't been closed," Henn-

" ... These are very personal works; they are more emotional than anythin else... "

sen said.

the plete detailing his Vietnam

"Although the theme (of showing) is Vietnam, the :,ulJJect of a lot of people," he added. Rocha emphasized that the ex-

experiences.

He acknowledges, however, that the works acted as a catharsis "You can't put it away until you

The artworks have aided Rocha matter cuts across the experiences

represents one man's confront it." he said.

h1bition

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Ooranne D ll•STAA·NEWS VIETNAM MEMORIES: Jim Hermsen (above) and James Rocha are two Vietnam War veterans who have taken their combat experiences and plac- ed them on paper and canvas. The work of the two men will be on display at the University of San Diego in a showing entitled "War Dreams."

OCW'SIDi: C.A.LIP'ORNIA 13LAl)I: TRIBUNE

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Son Diego, CA (Son Diego Co.) Son Diego Union (Cir. D. 217,324) (Cir. S. 339,788)

JUL 25 1985

/ Reagan names USDJawprof u~ of s;J"-;~ Scboo1 rroress-0~ Law been appointed b a~d Siega11 bas to the,·~-'- . Y President Reagan ""'lU IUllSJOO OU the B. al~ the U.S. Constitution icentenni- ef Justice Warren Bur . be chairman of tb ger w1IJ 1'hlcb ·u e commw,·o WI develop acti I . , n memorate the . v hes to eom. tution in 17 fra~g of the Consti- 17•. .87 and its ratification in Siegan, who lives . • teaches constitut.i aJ ~n La , Jolla, Where be is · 8 . 0 . 0 . aw al USO sor of Law and r;::ill!Sbed Profes- Economics Studies tor of Law and Among other m~mbe , member . . rs of the ,23- of the H~~,oo W,\ 11 . Speaker Senate President~ Tip O:Nei//, Thunnond Tern Strom Bieba/, I an

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Encinitas man's work on display SA~ - •·war Dreams " an could · t b t h exhibition by USD alumnus 'Tim ences fna~iefn~~- 15 combat experi- Navy destroyer off the ~oast of Viet- Hermsen and" sistan prol'essor of Once he began to express his feel fam. termJen found himself m the art James Rocha will show at USD's ing b t th h . · renc es. ermsen was wounded Founders Gallery July 27 to Sept. 9. tha~ :o ~~ece: .w~r e pa:~ted more three ti'!1~s in 13 months. Hi~ most The gallery i O kd n1 , . m O mon 5 senous miunes came m Apnl 1968 from 10 a m to 5 g en wee ays o Y . \\ nter Timothy Hermsen, a Marine when he and a fellow Marine were hit l_:le~ms~n's w1i ti~~~ and Rocha's ~~at~::~na~~ i~Tit' th :.~ t~c 5 ~~d onm~i~ in a North Vietnamese ambush. pamtmgs _are t~e r~.sult of their com- combat experiences as an inian- Rocha, 37, said their combined bat experience m \, ietna~.. tryman, complement Rocha's paint- work shows that "we are finally com- It took Rocha, an Encm1tas resi- ings. dent, more than a decade before he While Rocha fought the war from a ~i~t~oaf!Ps with our feelings about /"'

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JUN 261985

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,~--L:::::.-::.:.--_-.,.-~--~--_-_-__ ---_-_-_-_-.,..-... -... -_-_~_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_~~-------------------------~--~------~---~-- USD beginning·work on new 76,000-square-foot addition

A major building project is currently underway at the Unj_wrsity of San,Diego. Site work for a 76,000-square-foot structure has begun near the main area of the campus. The new, two-story edifice will house a delicatessen, game room and student-affairs' of- fices, said Al Bores, the project manager at the university. Bores explained that many of the existing facilities on the campus are inadequate to serve USD's current enrollment of 5,200 students. 'We'll also have a cafeteria large enough to seat 1,000 students,'' he said, referring to the project. Ac- cording to Bores, the new facility will consolidate existing food outlets on the campus. These, in turn,

he added. The structure, which was designed with a Spanish facade in order to blend with existing buildings at the school, is expected to be completed in the sum- mer of 1986, according to Bores. The projected cost for the structure is $9.7 million, he said. In addition to the construction currently in pro- gress, representatives of the university have sub- mitted a conditional-use permit application to the City with hopes of building new dormitory facilities near Via Las Cumbres, Bores said. Although he wouldn't comment any further about the project, Bores added that the plans for the struc- ture are currently being reviewed by the Linda . 1 . Commit,><=-~-

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to the University of San Die~o Doranne o,U•STAA·NEWS

CHANGES·. The \Jni"ers·1ty of San o· 1ego has begun an extensive expansion proiect that will see a new tudent-affairs center built on the • ,_ __ ,Yte 1a an

I The new facilities are expected to alleviate some o the current overcrowding at the school. us,_________________ ____.....,-~ be conv,

· to offic

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