Latino students will receive 33 scholarships

| Friday, July 28, 2000 10:00 PM PDT ∞

EDWARD SIFUENTES
Staff Writer

ESCONDIDO ---- The Beca Foundation tonight will award scholarships totaling more than $69,000 to 33 Latino students from throughout San Diego County.

"This will be the most scholarships we have ever given out," said Minerva Gonzalez, vice president of the foundation, which started presenting a single scholarship of $1,000 more than 15 years ago.

"Our goal is to promote gifted Latino students getting into the health services field," she said. "We have been very fortunate to have so many partners helping us make these students productive members of society."

Beca is Spanish for scholarship. The awards will be given in two categories: medical and general.

Students are selected on the basis of their service to the community, willingness to give back, grade point average and financial need, Gonzalez said. The foundation has given out more than 160 scholarships to students who have become successful professionals and returned to help the foundation, as Gonzalez, a former recipient, has.

One of the students who will receive a scholarship tonight is San Marcos High School graduate Milenka Meneses, whose parents, Ana Maria and Gonzalo, were both doctors in their native Bolivia before coming to the United States.

Milenka Meneses, 18, shares her parents' dream of becoming a doctor and has earned a Beca Foundation scholarship that she will take to UC San Diego, where she hopes to enter the premedical program. She has also received the Millennium Scholarship, which is part of Bill Gates' $3 billion scholarship program, through the Hispanic Scholarship Foundation. Gates, the richest man in the world, is the founder of Microsoft.

Milenka Meneses, who overcame learning disabilities at an early age to graduate with a 4.0 grade point average from San Marcos High School this year, will be one of the speakers at the scholarship banquet, along with Silvero Haro, who also received the Millennium Scholarship and graduated from Hilltop High in Chula Vista.

"I want to talk about my life, my family and all the people who helped me," she said. Her parents, both of whom work in the medical field and are still looking to gain their credentials to practice medicine in this country, are very proud.

"I'm very happy that my daughter is being given this recognition," said Ana Maria Meneses, Milenka's mother. "She has made us very proud."

At the dinner, the Beca Foundation will also give its Padrino Award and Presidential Award, given to organizations and individuals who have contributed to the foundation's success. A representative from Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, Lorena Gonzalez, a former Beca recipient, will also present an award to students on his behalf.

The scholarships awards banquet will be held at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido. Entertainment will be provided by La Fiesta de Danzantes de San Diego, directed by Yolanda Chacon-Benites. Cocktails will be served at 6 p.m., followed by dinner and the awards ceremony. Information: (760) 471-5465.

Contact Edward Sifuentes at (760) 740-5426 or esifuentes@nctimes.com.

BECA awards 33 scholarships

North County Times

The BECA Foundation awarded more than $69,750 in scholarships to 33 recipients for 2000. They are:

Charlie Arroyo, Rancho Buena Vista High School graduate, to attend UC Davis to study public relations;

Jose Barraza, Hilltop High School graduate, to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to study biochemical engineering;

Maribel Beaz, Carlsbad High School graduate, to attend UC Santa Barbara;

Angela Brambila, Eastlake High School graduate, to attend UC Irvine to study biology;

Juan Caballero, to continue attending CSU San Marcos to study biology;

Maria Caballero, San Marcos High School graduate, to attend Palomar College to study fashion design;

Andres Calderon, San Marcos High School graduate, to attend UC Davis;

Bernardo Castro, Eastlake High School graduate, to attend UCLA to study engineering;

Leslie Carrillo, Escondido High School graduate, to attend University of San Diego to study medicine;

Nicole Edwards, Escondido High School graduate, to attend UC Berkeley to study business administration;

Rachel Garza, Vista High School graduate, to attend Point Loma Nazarene to study education;

Ana Gutierrez, San Dieguito High School graduate, to attend University of San Diego;

Cindy Gutierrez, Vista High School graduate, to attend CSU San Marcos to study business;

Randy Hernandez to continue attending CSU San Marcos to study history;

Sonya Huecias, Torrey Pines High School graduate, to attend Loyola Marymount University to study international business;

Claudia Ignasio to continue attending CSU San Marcos to study history;

Milenka Meneses, San Marcos High School graduate, to attend UC San Diego to study medicine;

Tanya Montes, Eastlake High School graduate, to attend San Francisco State University to study education;

Gabriel Morales, La Costa Canyon High School graduate, to attend CSU San Marcos;

Marcos Olivo, Center City High School graduate, to attend Palomar College to study computer science;

Vera Paige, to continue attending Palomar College to study nursing;

Mayra Parra, Chula Vista High School graduate, to attend San Diego State University to study nursing;

Wenceslao Pena, Castle Park High School graduate, to attend Stanford University to study biotechnology;

Francisco Ramirez, Valley High School graduate, to attend Palomar College to study optometry;

Maria Refugio, Poway High School graduate, to attend Palomar College to study nursing;

Francisco R. Rivera to continue attending Mesa College to study radiology;

Elizabeth Rodriguez, San Pasqual High School graduate, to attend Palomar College to study education;

Martha Rodriguez, Castle Park High School graduate, to attend University of the Pacific to study dentistry;

Christina Salas, Rancho Buena Vista High School, to attend UC Irvine to study Chicano studies;

Shalem Uribe, Torrey Pines High School graduate, to attend University of Southern California;

Aida Vasquez, to continue attending CSU San Marcos to study education;

Maritza Villegas, Vista High School graduate, to attend Cal Poly San Luis Obispo to study biology;

Sergio Villegas, Castle Park High School graduate, to attend Cornell University to study pre-medicine.

7/29/00