COMMUNITY NEWS PROFESSOR GETS FULBRIGHT GRANT FOR QUAKE STUDY.

Gerald Simila, a geological sciences professor at California State University, Northridge, earned a Fulbright scholar grant to lecture and conduct research on earthquakes in Costa Rica. He received a similar grant in 1995.

He will leave March 1 and will spend three months at the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory in Heredia, installing equipment and seismic software for earthquake detection and analysis. He'll also work to analyze the fault lines and other earthquake hazards.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, nominated 14 local students for admission to U.S. Service Academies in the Class of 2010.

The nominees include: Cameron Alexander Funk of Glendale and Pieter Miller and Soo Ho Park of Burbank, who plan to attend the Military Academy at West Point; and John Wagner of Glendale and Yngwie Marroquin of Burbank, who plan to attend the Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, N.Y. Schiff nominated William McIlvaine III of Burbank for both the Merchant Marine Academy and the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md.

Applicants require a nomination to attend the Military Academy at West Point, the Naval Academy, the Air Force Academy or the Merchant Marine Academy, usually coming from a congressman. The U.S. Coast Guard Academy at New London, Conn., doesn't require a nomination.

Members of the Ventura County Credit Union raised $5,580 and donated more than 300 pounds of supplies to FOODShare Inc., Ventura County's food bank.

``FOODShare's goal is to see that no one goes hungry, and we're pleased that our members responded so generously,'' credit union President and CEO Carol Harris said. ``We've worked with FOODShare for several years, and it's become one of our most rewarding community partnerships.''

The Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees recognized three people last week for helping to save a man's life in November.

Gurbux Singh, 62, of Chatsworth collapsed while playing badminton in the Pierce College gym. Mohammad Shariff, who works for the college's community service staff, and Gilbert King, 45, of Northridge, a dentist also playing badminton, began to administer CPR.

Sheriff's security officer Michelle Roberts, 28, of Lancaster came to the scene and used the campus' defibrillator to get Singh's heart started. Singh then went to a local hospital for surgery.

``Quick response, that's what saved my life, and that Pierce College had a defibrillator,'' Singh said.

Alumnus Robert S. Behl, a biomedical innovator and entrepreneur, has created a $25,000 faculty endowment for entrepreneurship at CSUN's College of Engineering and Computer Science.

The Robert S. Behl Faculty Award of Entrepreneurship Education Endowment will help faculty members in the college obtain knowledge and skills required to further their understanding of entrepreneurship. It will advance entrepreneurship education and training in the college, university officials said.

Behl earned his bachelor's degree in engineering from CSUN in 1969. He is CEO and chairman of the board of Percutaneous Systems, Inc., a company focused on treatment of kidney stones and other urologic problems.

Students of Kester Elementary planted a tree, read poems and sang songs Friday to commemorate the death of Pauline Zacuto Simon of Van Nuys. For 10 years, Simon had read to the students every week as part of the school's ``Wonder of Reading'' program.

Her husband and children were at the commemoration. They're also volunteers in the program.