PEF selects 10 to receive Scacalossi Scholarships

FORTUNATE FATHER — PEF President Roger Benson and Division 177 Council Leader Charlie Kelefant congratulate member James Arey, after Benson selected his name in the Division’s annual scholarship award drawing in July. Arey’s daughter Joanne is one of five children of Division 177 members who will benefit from the $500 academic scholarships.

Winners receive $4,000 over four years
PEF selects 10 to receive Scacalossi Scholarships

By SHERRY HALBROOK
PEF’s Statewide Scholarship Committee has picked 10 outstanding students — all the children, step children or legal wards of PEF members — to receive 2001 Joseph Scacalossi Scholarships.

Each student will receive up to $4,000 over the next four years, in annual $1,000 installments.

“This competition always attracts hundreds of excellent candidates, and this year was no exception,” says PEF Executive Board Member Charles McAteer, the committee’s chair.

The committee, which also includes PEF members Kartikey P. Adhvaryu, Robert Harms, Maureen Hogle and John Prince, judges the applicants on their academic achievement, community service, honors and awards, employment and extracurricular activities.

Each member of the committee independently rates each scholarship application without knowing who submitted it. They combine their scores for each application and award scholarships to the 10 students with the most total points.

The program is named in the memory of Joseph Scacalossi, a PEF activist who helped organize and lead the union in its early years. He was council leader of PEF Division 245 at the state Labor Department in New York City. He died in 1988.

This year’s scholarship winners are:
• Faizan Arshad, the daughter of Hassaan Arshad, a PEF Region 11 senior social services management specialist at the state Office of Temporary Disabilities Assistance in New York City;

• Joanna Dickey, the daughter of Michael Barna, a PEF Region 9 social worker 2 at Rockland Psychiatric Center;

• Daniel Riley, the son of Teresa Barnwell-Riley, a PEF Region 3 community mental health nurse at Finger Lake Developmental Disabilities Services Office;

• Lindsay Boris, the daughter of Louise Boris, a PEF Region 8 associate computer programmer analyst with the state Workers’ Compensation Board in Albany;

• Tyson Evenson, the son of Donald Evenson, a PEF Region 8 income maintenance specialist 2 at the state Office of Temporary Disability Assistance in Albany;

• Laura Fortes, the daughter of Juan Fortes, a PEF Region 10 veterans’ counselor at the state Office of Veterans Affairs in New York City;

• Tracy Scott, the daughter of John Scott, a PEF Region 8 heating plant equipment specialist 2 at the state Office of General Services in Albany;
• Anshul Shah, the son of Arjay Shah, a PEF Region 12 environmental engineer 3 at the state Department of Environmental Conservation on Long Island;

• Christopher J. Valente, the son of Christopher G. Valente of Hopewell Junction, a PEF Region 9 dentist 2 at the state Office of Children and Family Services; and

• Emily Williams, the daughter of Brenda Williams, a PEF Region 3 labor services representative 1 at the state Labor Department in Rochester.
“This is a terrific program and I encourage our members to have their sons and daughters who are high school seniors and college freshmen next year apply,” McAteer says. “Look for the 2002 scholarship applications next winter in The Communicator.”

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New DeBow Scholarship for PEF women

PEF has created a new Jean DeBow Women in Leadership Scholarship to honor the memory of the union’s late vice president, Jean DeBow, and highlight her efforts to raise the involvement of women in PEF and the labor movement.

Any woman in a PEF leadership role, such as a division steward, who is pursing a post-secondary education in an accredited program in labor studies or a related field could apply for the $2,000 scholarship.

One scholarship will be awarded annually at the PEF convention.

The applications will be available in late spring and due August 1.

Among other things, applicants will be required to submit a brief essay on how they intend to use their education and this award as PEF leaders.

Winners will be selected by the PEF Statewide Scholarship Committee

— Sherry Halbrook