9 Students Win Merit Scholarships

Nine Ventura County high school students were named recipients of National Merit Scholarships today in the first announcement of winners this year.

So far, about 1,100 scholarship winners nationwide--94 in California--have been selected. But by May, the list will grow to 6,900 students.

Although 14,000 students this year earned the title of National Merit Scholar, only half will receive scholarships from corporations, colleges and universities, or the National Merit Scholarship Corp.

The title goes to the highest scorers on the preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test, a college entrance exam. Students are also judged on grades, extracurricular activities and recommendations of school officials.

The names released today include only merit scholars who have received scholarships from corporations.

They are: Arco Foundation merit scholarship winner Erez M. Lev-On and Amgen merit scholarship winner Grace Ma, both of Thousand Oaks High School; Harris Corp. merit scholarship winner Deborah Pettit of Rio Mesa High School; Litton Industries merit scholarship winner Nishant Narayan of Moorpark High School; and Rockwell International merit scholarship winners Albert C. Chang of Westlake High School, Mandana Khoshnevisan of Newbury Park High School, Leena L. Shankar] of La Reina High School and Uday Mathur and Helen S. Yeh, both of Thousand Oaks High School.

Names of the remaining scholarship winners will be released in May.