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CORVALLIS - Oregon State University student, faculty and administrative leaders will host a special event in Portland on Tuesday, May 12, to help Asian/Pacific American students in area high schools begin preparing for college.

The event, "Education After High School: Exploring the Opportunities," is aimed at students in grades 9-12. It will run from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the Legin Restaurant, 8001 S.E. Division St. in Portland.

"We are inviting Asian-Pacific American students, their parents and community leaders to learn more about what it takes to begin preparing for a four-year university, regardless of what university that may be," said Louan Johnson, marketing assistant at OSU.

Scheduled speakers include OSU President Paul Risser; keynote speaker Phyllis Lee, director of Multicultural Affairs at Oregon State; Sho Shigeoka coordinator of the new Asian-Pacific American Education Office at OSU; and James Chang, career adviser from Career Services; Larry Griggs, director of the Educational Opportunities Program; Janet Nishihara, academic coordinator for EOP; and Ronault L.S. Catalani, an attorney from Portland who is on OSU's Board of Visitors for Minority Affairs.

A panel of OSU students will discuss their own college preparations and their experiences at Oregon State. They also will answer questions from the audience. Panelists include:

• Jenny Lee, an OSU junior majoring in business, and a 1995 graduate of Valley Catholic High School. She is communications coordinator for the Asian-Pacific American Student Union.

   

• Katy Yen, a senior in psychology, and 1993 graduate of Valley Catholic High School. She is president of the Asian-Pacific American Student Union.

   

• Matthew Sagayaga, a freshman in human development and family science, and a 1997 graduate of Saint Anthony Junior-Senior High School in Maui. He is on the Asian/Pacific American Education Office Advisory Board.

   

• Vong Ratts, a graduate student in counseling from Yakima, Wash., and a member of OSU's Laotian Student Association.

   

• Shreekar Bhattarai, a sophomore in public health, and a graduate of Tigard Senior High School. Bhattarai is a member of the Hawaii Club, a residence hall assistant, and a reporter for the OSU student newspaper, The Daily Barometer.

Information will be provided at the event on admissions, financial aid, housing, support services for students and other topics by request. For more information, contact Sho Shigeoka, 541-737-9033.