California Teens Win Scholarships for Demonstrating Commitment to Their Communities; Hitachi Awards $27,000 in Scholarships to High School Students

Business Wire, May 15, 2000

Business Editors & Education Writers

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 15, 2000

Hitachi Ltd. announced the winners of this year's Hitachi Safety Scholarship competitions in Los Angeles, Orange and San Mateo/Santa Clara Counties.

The scholarship program recognizes the efforts of students who are working to provide solutions to make their neighborhoods safer places to live. This year, Hitachi offered a total of $27,000 in scholarship awards.

Los Angeles County (Held on April 22):

The grand prize winner of $5,000 scholarship award and a Hitachi VCR was Kristy Hughes, Claremont High School, Claremont, for "Every 15 Minutes," a program geared to curb alcohol abuse among teens.

The runners-up, who all received $1,000 and a Hitachi VCR as a prize were:

- Lillian Bowie, Foshay Learning Center, Los Angeles

- Rodney Croom, Long Beach Polytechnic High School, Signal Hill

- Vincent Puth, Long Beach Polytechnic High School, Long Beach

Orange County (Held on April 29):

The grand prize winner of $5,000 scholarship award and a Hitachi VCR was Annie Hsu, Sonora High School, La Habra, for "Safe and Sober Grad Night," a program aimed to encourage high school seniors to celebrate responsibly on graduation night.

The runners-up, who all received $1,000 and a Hitachi VCR as a prize were:

- Asha Goud, Edison High School, Huntington Beach

- Ngoc Hong, Los Amigos High School, Santa Ana

- Vandai Le, Westminster High School, Westminster

- Matthew Mueller, Estancia High School, Costa Mesa

San Mateo/Santa Clara County (Held on May 6):

The grand prize winner of $5,000 scholarship award and a Hitachi VCR was Paola Estanislao, Notre Dame High School, Foster City, for "Self-Esteem America," a nonprofit, youth-run organization that promotes high self-esteem in today's youth as a solution to dangerous teen issues.

The runners-up, who all received $1,000 and a Hitachi VCR as a prize were:

- Jennifer Cheng, Saratoga High School, Saratoga

- Marc Santamaria, Jefferson High School, Daly City

- Jennifer Stalzer, Notre Dame High School, San Carlos

Distinguished panels of judges in Los Angeles, Orange and San Mateo/Santa Clara Counties critiqued essays and listened to oral presentations from the outstanding high school seniors selected as finalists in the competitions.

Each student was asked to enhance a community safety program they are currently involved in by presenting a detailed plan promoting safety to a mock city council. Plan requirements included a description of the community safety program, an explanation of the value the program adds to the community, an activity timeline to support the program and a budget to implement the program's elements.

"All of the finalists are to be commended for the remarkable programs they have implemented within their communities to help make California a safer place," said Tetsuo Saito, Hitachi Ltd., senior representative. "Their innovative plans should serve as models for safe communities on a global scale."

The Los Angeles and Orange County competitions were cosponsored by the Los Angeles Times and the San Mateo County/Santa Clara County competition was cosponsored by the San Jose Mercury News.

Hitachi Ltd. is a demonstrated leader in the practice of corporate philanthropy in California for more than 10 years. The company has long been on the cutting edge of new technologies and applications in many areas, including electronics, electrical equipment and systems technologies. Hitachi has 66 group companies operating in the United States employing more than 18,000 people, including 4,000 in California.