VIETNAM VETERAN BORGQUIST NAMED TEACHER OF THE YEAR.

Byline: SIMONE SCHRAMM Community columnist

Arthur N. Borgquist of West Hills was named California Teacher of the Year in the middle school category by the Veterans of Foreign Wars and won $500.

A $500 donation also was made to A.E. Wright Middle School in Calabasas, where Borgquist teaches.

The award is given to teachers who fought overseas.

Borgquist - who fought in the Vietnam War - was chosen by the VFW because of the citizenship lessons he teaches to his students.

``I wish you could all see how respectful my middle-schoolers are during (the) Veterans Day ceremony or Memorial Day lesson. These life-affirming lessons profoundly affect these young people and the future of America,'' he said.

Phillip Deutsch of La Canada High School is one of 40 finalists competing in the nationwide Intel Science Talent Search, which rewards young scientists for creating original research projects and encourages them to pursue science careers.

Phillip's chemistry project investigated unique methods of determining the shapes of molecules of substituted ethanes, which are colorless and odorless gases.

Winners will be announced in March.

English Professor Robert Chianese and Counseling Professor Janet Fish of California State University, Northridge, have been awarded Fulbright Scholar grants to lecture and study overseas.

Chianese went to Bulgaria to lecture in American studies at the University of Plovdiv. Fish will leave for Montevideo, Uruguay, to share research she has done on the cutting-edge preschool practices of a small town in Italy with educators at Catholic University in Montevideo.

David Castillo of Arleta has won a $3,000-a-year scholarship from the American Chemical Society, which encourages minority students to pursue undergraduate degrees in chemical science or chemical technology. He is one of only five California students selected for the honor.

Castillo, a senior at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, hopes to attend medical school.

Twenty-one California State University, Northridge, professors and four departments received a total of $50,000 from the university's Center for Community Service Learning to fund service-learning programs.

Incentive grants for $3,000 went to the departments of Child and Adolescent Development, Educational Psychology, Health Sciences and Marketing.

Grants of $5,000 went to: Annette Besnilian, family and consumer sciences; Vicky Jaque and Stephen Loy, kinesiology; Gretta Madjzoob, health sciences; and Janette Risk, North Valley/Porter Ranch YMCA.

Faculty Curriculum Development grants for $1,000 went to: Edith Chen, Asian-American studies; Irene Clark, English; Herman Debose, sociology; Paula DiMarco, art; Aki Hirota, Japanese; Clifton Justice, English; Virginia Kennedy, special education; Patricia O'Donnell-Brummett, sociology; Bridget Sampson, communication studies; Shane Stecyk, kinesiology; and Veda Ward, leisure studies.

Gang Prevention Initiative grants for $1,750 went to:

Robert Gustafson, cinema and television arts; James Hill, journalism; Lesley Krane art; Robert Lingad, computer science; and Robert Orona-Cordova, Chicano studies.