4 County Students Receive Scholarships

Four Ventura County residents have been awarded partial scholarships, stipends and internship opportunities to study medicine and science at Cal Lutheran University.

The recipients are part of a group of eight selected as Irvine Scholars through the university’s Science Outreach Program, which started last year as a collaborative effort among Cal Lutheran, high schools and private industry.

The program is funded by the James Irvine Foundation, a nonprofit agency whose work includes keeping aspiring young scientists in the region.

The scholars, six incoming freshman and two transfer students, will enter Cal Lutheran this fall.

Each will receive $1,000 per year for tuition, a stipend for books and travel, and guaranteed internships at local biotechnological firms.

The winning county residents are:

* Stella Olson of Newbury Park, a transfer student from Ventura College who wants to study molecular genetics with an emphasis on disease diagnosis and cures;

* Daniel Franklin Geerson of Simi Valley, an incoming freshman from Royal High School who wants to link his lab experience with a career in medicine;

* Simi Valley resident Michelle Diaz, a graduate of Simi Valley High School who has an interest in cell and molecular biology;

* Rafael Marino of Thousand Oaks, an incoming freshman from Thousand Oaks High who would like to earn a doctorate in biomedical engineering.

The scholars represent the second phase of the program, which started in 1997 with a series of laboratory workshops at high schools throughout the county. The winners showed potential in those workshops and were recruited by the university.