PRESS RELEASE: June 22, 2013 – Vol. VIII, No. 13
Ten Scholarships Awarded at JAVA Luncheon
California High School Graduates Excel in Competition
Calvin Ninomiya, Esq.
Falls Church, Virginia. Seven California high school scholars dominated the Awards announced at this year’s java Memorial Scholarship luncheon held on June 15, 2013, at the Harvest Moon Restaurant, Falls Church, Virginia. The remaining three scholarship winners reside in Arizona, Ohio and Washington State.
The selection of the awardees, which was made by the JAVA Scholarship Committee chaired by Dr. Ray Murakami, was distinguished by the interesting fact that six of the awardees were all males and all from California. In recent years, female applicants have tended to garner most of the $1,500 scholarships. Another significant difference this year was that no one from Hawaii was among the awardees.
The six male winners, identified alphabetically by name, residence, the school to which admitted, and the person in whose memory the prize was given, are: Keone Carrigan. Fresno, CA — University of California, Davis [Douglas Ishio Scholarship]; Luke Hatanaka, Arcadia, CA — Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA [Dr. Warren Tsuneishi Scholarship]; Harrison Jung, San Marino, CA — University of Southern California, Los Angeles [Ranger Grant Hirabayashi Scholarship]; Wes Okuhara, Sacramento, CA — University of California, San Diego [Betty Shima Scholarship]; David Satoda, Carlsbad, CA — University of California, Berkeley [Mike and Etsu Masaoka Scholarship]; and Jonathan Uesato, Saratoga, CA – Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA [Victor and Teru Matsui Scholarship].
The four female winners are: Kayla Hensley, Milford, OH — Wittenberg University, Springfield, OH [Phil Ishio Scholarship]; Lindsay Kageyama, Fremont, CA — California Polytechnic Institute, San Luis Obispo, CA [Joseph Ichiuji Scholarship]; Cassidee Kido, Paradise Valley, AZ — Duke University, Durham, NC [Orville Shirey Scholarship]; and Madison Yamane, Worden, WA — University of Washington, Seattle [Kiyoko Tsuboi Taubkin Scholarship].
Keone Carrigan
Fresno, CA
Luke Hatanaka
Arcadia, CA
Kayla Hensley
Milford, OH
Harrison Jung
San Marino, CA
Lindsay Kageyama, Fremont, CA
Cassidee Kido
Paradise Valley, AZ
Wes Okuhara
Sacramento, CA
David Satoda
Carlsbad, CA
Jonathan Uesato
Saratoga, CA
Madison Yamane
Worden, WA
Dr. Murakami expressed particular appreciation that six of the families that have established scholarship funds were represented at the luncheon. They included Mr. and Mrs. Michael Shirey, members of the family that provided the first JAVA scholarship, one in honor of Orville Shirey, who served as an officer with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team (RCT) continuously from its activation to its inactivation in 1946. Another attendee was Terry Shima, a 442nd veteran and Executive Director Emeritus of JAVA, who established a scholarship fund in memory of his wife, Betty. The widow of Dr. Warren Tsuneishi, Mrs. Betty Tsuneishi with members of her family were also present. Dr. Tsuneishi had been in charge of the Japanese collection at the Library of Congress.
Connie Ishio, widow of Phil Ishio, formerly with the MIS and the founder of JAVA, and in whose name a scholarship was established, also was present. In addition, the Ishios have established a second scholarship in the name of their son, Douglas Distinguished attendees also included Mrs. Susie Ichiuji, widow of Joseph Ichiuji, who served in an artillery unit that provided support to the 442nd, and former Secretary Norman Mineta, brother of Etsu Masaoka, and Michelle Amano, granddaughter of Mike and Etsu Masaoka, who were icons in the Japanese American community. Mike Masaoka also served with the 442nd.
The committee responsible for judging the applications reviewed a total of 26 applications and reported that, while it was relatively easy to identify the most likely winners, it was more difficult to decide the last few choices. The applicants were all very close in merit. The contest officials also noted that this year’s competition had entries from two students who were first in their respective class, and one applicant who had perfect scores in the Scholastic Assessment Test [SAT], i.e., 800 in critical reading, 800 in mathematics and 800 in writing.
CONTACT:
- Calvin Ninomiya, Esq. 301-652-8135 calvinnino@aol.com
- Terry Shima 301-987-6746 ttshima@comcast.net
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