JAPANESE AMERICAN VETERANS ASSOCIATION

                     (1749 Old Meadow Road, Suite 500, McLean, VA 22102 (Bob Nakamoto, President)

CONTACT:  Terry Shima 301-987-6746; ttshima@comcast.net

 PHOTO:  Photo accompanies this press release.                                                                                   

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 SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1EIGHT $1,500 SCHOLARSHIPS AWAIT APPLICANTS

IN JAVA’S 4TH ANNUAL MEMORIAL AWARDS PROGRAM

Calvin Ninomiya, Esq and  Dr  Ray Murakami, JAVA

Bethesda, Maryland.  At a time when the costs of a college education are spiraling ever higher, and the importance of post-high school education is seen as even more apparent, the new chair of the JAVA Memorial Scholarship Program, Dr. Ray Murakami, announces welcome news for this year’s secondary school graduates and their parents.  The 2011 Program will offer eight $l,500 scholarships, two more than last year.

The Program continues to honor the memory of Orville Shirey, Douglas Ishio, Sunao Phil Ishio and Kiyoko Tsuboi-Taubkin, for whom scholarship funds have been separately established.  Again this year, there will be a special scholarship honoring Teru Kamikawa Matsui.  Also, a separate scholarship has been funded for Mary Kozono.  Newly established funds now exist memorializing Joseph Ichiuji and Grant Hirabayashi.

Basically, the same rules that applied last year will be those that govern the 2011 program.  To be eligible, the entrant must be a graduating high school student this year, and he or she must be related lineally to a person who served in the U.S. Army’s 442^nd Regimental Combat Team, the l00th Battalion, and associated units, during the second World War, the MIS, or a Japanese American who has served, or is serving, in our nation’s armed services.  Those related to a regular member of JAVA may also apply.  JAVA has found heretofore that most applicants are grandchildren of qualified veterans.  Overall, this means that the pool of eligible applicants is restricted, and increases the chances of those who are eligible to receive an award.

JAVA officials have found that its Program has recently attracted applicants who have been among the top students in their schools.  They expressed hope that this year’s competition will prove to be similarly competitive and attractive.  At the same time, given the number of awards, the chances of any entrant to receive one of them remain excellent.

The competition is now open, and eligible applicants are urged to submit their entries as soon as they are able to meet the criteria.  One of those is that the application must be accompanied by a copy of a letter from an accredited college, university, or some other institution that provides post-high school education or training, that the entrant has been admitted to begin his post-high school studies this year.

Since the Program has attracted students from a wide diversity of schools and locations, Dr. Murakami pointed out that comparing the records of the applicants has not been easy.  For that reason, and in order to enable the Awards Committee to differentiate between applications, the competition also requires that each entrant submit an essay of 500 words or less on the subject: “What winning a JAVA scholarship award will mean to me.”

Although applications may be supplemented with recommendations and information about the entrant’s extracurricular activities, the submission of such materials is not required.  However, a photo of the applicant should be included with the materials submitted.

The panel that will be reviewing the entries this year are: Sue Okubo, a Ph.D. economist, formerly with the Department of Commerce; Ed Wakayama, Ph.D., who is an Assistant Secretary in the U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services, and Calvin Ninomiya, Esq., former Chair of the Committee.

The deadline for the receipt of completed applications is Saturday, April 30, 2011.  This date permits those students who are awaiting admission at institutions that provide notification as late as April l5, to include more easily such documented advice with their entries.  Any applicant who has been admitted to more than one institution and is uncertain as to which school to enter, should provide the required admission information and simply ask to defer notification as to where the awards check should be sent.

The announcement of the winners will be provided at a JAVA luncheon on June 18, 2011.

Complete details about the Program and the terms and conditions of the contest are spelled out in materials that be appearing on the JAVA website – admin@javadc.org,  the JAVA round robin, and its quarterly newsletter, The Advocate.  The official application form should be downloaded from the website.

Individual inquiries may be sent to Dr. Raymond Murakami, JAVA Scholarship Program Chair, 6921 Pyle Road, Bethesda, MD 20817 [Mary2mur@aol.com].