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NEWS SERVICES |
NEWS
| For immediate use |
March 30, 2004 -- No. 182 |
Local angles: Highlands; North Logan, Utah
Photo availability: See end of release
UNC juniors Kalaskar, Young
win $30,000 Truman Scholarships
By L.J. TOLER
UNC-CH News Services
CHAPEL HILL -- Juniors Menaka Kalaskar and Claire Young of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have won Truman Scholarships, worth $30,000 each for their senior year and graduate school.
They were among 75 scholars the Harry Truman Scholarship Foundation of Washington, D.C., selected from 650 candidates nominated by colleges and universities nationwide, said Dr. George Lensing, English professor and director of the UNC Office of Distinguished Scholarships.
"By the end of their junior years, both of these young women have already established impressive records in anticipation of careers in public service," he said. They bring Carolina’s number of Truman Scholars to 27 since the first awards in 1977.
Kalaskar, (pronounced "MEN-uh-kuh kuh-LOS-kur") a political science and women’s studies double major, is the daughter of Shashikant and Shaila Kalaskar of North Logan, Utah, and a first-generation U.S. citizen. She plans to earn a joint law and master’s of public health degree, then work to address inequities in health-care systems at home and abroad -- especially in the area of women’s health.
Young, an international studies major with a minor in cognitive science, is the daughter of King and Janet Young of Highlands. She aims to earn a law degree and a master’s in diplomacy or public policy, focusing on international law and refugee issues. She wants to help resolve the plight of Palestinian refugees in the Middle East – a change she says is needed for peace in the region.
"We have such terrific students here, students who understand the 200-plus year heritage of this university and its service and engagement with people across North Carolina and beyond," said Dr. Nicholas M. Didow, an associate professor of business and chair of the UNC Truman Selection Committee. "Our two winners are particularly outstanding and noteworthy. Each holds great promise as a significant change agent for the rest of her life. Edward Kidder Graham would be very proud of them."
Graham, UNC president from 1913-1918, is known for telling North Carolinians, "send us your problems."
Congress created the Truman Foundation in 1975 as the federal memorial to the nation’s 33rd president. A trust fund in the U.S. Treasury supports its activities. Each scholar receives $3,000 for the senior year of college and $27,000 for graduate studies. Scholars also receive priority admission and supplemental financial aid at top graduate universities, leadership training, career and graduate school counseling and internship opportunities.
Scholars are chosen for outstanding leadership potential and communication skills, ranking in the top quarter of their class and being committed to careers in public service. The foundation chooses winners who likely will become change-makers and leaders. Students must have made significant public and community service contributions on and off campus.
Kalaskar and Young have almost-perfect grade-point-averages of nearly 4.0 and graduated as valedictorians from small public high schools.
Kalaskar was accepted to UNC for her freshman year but attended the University of Utah. She transferred to Carolina in 2002, as a sophomore. Both universities awarded her merit-based scholarships.
While at Utah, Kalaskar interned for the Democratic Whip in the Utah State House of Representatives. Some legislators expressed a need for better information on the status of bills. Kalaskar voluntarily organized interns to attend all committee meetings and hearings concerning bills important to the Democratic party. She compiled their reports and distributed the resulting document to Democratic legislators each morning. By popular request, the project continues today.
At Carolina, Kalaskar has tutored public school students through the federal America Reads program and works with the North Carolina Public Interest Research Group. She volunteers at a student-run health clinic for the uninsured, interviewing patients before their treatment by UNC medical students – and often, using her proficient Spanish. In this role, she wrote in her Truman application, "I realized it was possible to be involved in health care without a medical background."
Kalaskar’s interest in public health inequities grew, especially concerning the lack of adequate treatment for women in many areas worldwide. "I firmly believe that all persons have the right to basic health care services, even if they can’t pay for it," she wrote.
She holds two internships in the UNC School of Public Health, one involving a project funded by the Centers for Disease Control. The project aims to address social and economic factors that affect the ability of women in rural eastern North Carolina to obtain health care and live healthy lifestyles.
After graduate school, Kalaskar will seek work abroad with the World Health Organization, addressing evidence that women who are victims of violence are more vulnerable to HIV infection.
Then she’d like to work for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, still consulting on issues abroad but mostly working to improve health care in the United States: "In particular, I plan to work on health education within the Hispanic community."
Young came to UNC as a freshman in 2001 on a Morehead Award, a full, four-year merit-based scholarship that funds four summer enrichment experiences. She made the dean’s list her first four semesters and is in the honors program.
This year she is studying abroad at the American University in Cairo on a National Security Education Program Scholarship. It requires Young to fulfill a five-month service obligation to the federal government after graduating from UNC next year. Then she hopes to enter law school.
At Carolina, Young has volunteered as a teacher and mentor at a juvenile day reporting center in Durham, for adolescents who have been suspended from middle school. As a member of the Campus Y, a student group advocating social justice and positive race relations, she co-chaired a refugee awareness project last year. She has played flute in the university band and organized a clothing drive for refugees.
Young’s 2002 summer experience through the Morehead Award involved teaching English as a second language in Thailand. Before she left North Carolina, she raised $12,000 for a secondary project.
Once settled in a Thai village, Young wrote in her Truman application, she used most of the money to buy computers and install phone lines and Internet access at schools; she then taught residents how to use them. She also donated money to development projects and to a free medical clinic for refugees and migrant workers. She reported her expenditures back to all her donors.
Her interest in the Middle East began with the Sept. 11 attacks. "I was embarrassed and appalled at the apparent lack of understanding between the two cultures," Young wrote. "My experiences abroad have allowed me to see how truly prosperous the United States is, and I feel that I, as well as the American people, have both the opportunity and the responsibility to help the rest of the world."
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Photo URLs:
Truman scholarship faculty contact: Dr. Nicholas M. Didow, 919-962-3189, nick_didow@unc.edu; Dr. George Lensing, 919-962-4053, lensing@email.unc.edu
News Services contact: L.J. Toler, 919-962-8589, laura_toler@unc.edu
