Four area students win National Achievement scholarships

Four students from Central New York will receive college scholarships through the National Achievement Scholarship Program, it was announced today.

The program is a privately financed academic competition established in 1964 to honor academically outstanding black students.

The scholarships, totaling more than $2 million in a competition conducted by the National Merit Scholarship Corp., are given to 800 high school seniors nationwide.

The local winners all were awarded $2,500. The students, their schools and their probable college majors are:

* Steven Ali, East Syracuse-Minoa, academia

* Adhana I. Asfaw, Manlius Pebble Hill School, chemistry

* Cameron A. Buck, Jamesville-DeWitt High School, physical therapy

* Petra Tiiso McGinty , Nottingham High School, social science

Students are initially identified for scholarship consideration by their scores on the PSAT exam. Other qualifications are academic record, a recommendation from their high school , SAT scores and an essay.