COMMUNITY NEWS CLU SELECTED FOR 9TH YEAR AS GOOD SCHOOL FOR LATINOS.

THOUSAND OAKS - California Lutheran University has been selected for the ninth consecutive year by The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education as one of the best schools in the nation for Hispanics.

The list, published annually by the magazine, is based on a comprehensive survey and an examination of the literature and catalogs of more than 2,500 institutions, and it includes schools with programs that offer ``solid opportunities for Hispanic students.''

The university received a $400,000 grant in 2003 by The James Irvine Foundation that has been used to emphasize inclusion, cross-cultural interaction, global awareness and respect and for diversity.

WOODLAND HILLS - The Los Angeles Pierce Symphonic Winds, known as the L.A. Winds, are attending the 58th annual Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Conference this month in Chicago.

It marks the first time a community college-based band from California has been invited to the conference, which draws 15,000 people and is sponsored by music publishers and instrument makers from all over the world.

The band includes 115 musicians of every age, with the youngest at 14 and the oldest member in her 70s. Some have been with the L.A. Winds since it started two decades ago.

The group has performed all over the world, and locally performs concerts for seniors, elementary school students and at a high school band festival. The band also performs each summer on July Fourth at Warner Center.

BURBANK - John Burroughs High School choir students Alex Lenarsky, Michael Vargas, Michelle Reyes and Katie Trimble were selected to perform at the recent 2004-05 Southern California High School Honor Choir concert.

The Burbank students were chosen from more than 500 students from the region who auditioned to perform. Of those, 240 students were selected for three choirs.

Lenarsky was selected for the Mixed Honor Choir, Vargas for the Men's Honor Choir, and Reyes and Trimble for the Women's Honor Choir.

The concert drew 1,200 people at the Venice High School Auditorium.

NORTHRIDGE - Greg Lacy, a senior at California State University, Northridge, has been recognized for his creation of an interactive CD-ROM the size of a business card designed to be used as an actor's resume, including a biography, head shots, commercial clips and other work samples.

Lacy's CD-ROM, called a ``Digital Profile, tied for first place last month in the Best of Show category at the California State University 14th annual Media Arts Festival. That award was a first for CSUN.

Lacy also earned the Rosebud Award, making CSUN the winner of the statewide festival's top multimedia honor for the second year in a row.

``I chose to make this CD-ROM because my roommate is an actor who is like my brother,'' said Lacy, a multimedia major at CSUN's Cinema and Television Arts Department. ``I wanted to do something that would help him get his name out there, so I came up with this idea.''

More than 200 entries from CSU students from 18 campuses were screened at the three-day festival.