2007 OSURA Scholarships

•  Daniel Bai ($1,000), a junior majoring in Honors Biochemistry and Biophysics. Daniel worked for two summers on a research project funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The project is aimed at providing doctors and drug designers the tools they need to combat neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's.

He also finds time to volunteer at the Regent Retirement Center—giving lectures on his native China—and is a teaching assistant in Honors Chemistry, an OSOSU senator, chair of the Inter-Cooperative Association, and a College of Science ambassador. He plans to be a doctor.

Wrote Bai in his essay: “My experience at the Regent helped me understand the mental challenges that extroverted senior citizens face. Each year, millions of them are isolated in retirement homes with little family attention. That leaves them susceptible to depression and Alzheimer's Disease.”

•  Cathy Couey ($500) is a junior majoring in Human Development and Family Science with an option in Gerontology. She has had a long history of working with the elderly and at risk students—as a caregiver for the Visiting Angels organization in Albany , a resident assistant at the Oaks retirement center in Lebanon , and a reader/mentor for the Smart Program at the Green Acres. “My deepest desire is to improve the quality and delivery of elder care in anticipation of the gray wave of baby boomers,” she wrote in her essay to OSURA. “I have striven as a caregiver to preserve the autonomy and dignity of elders, even though the standards of co-workers and supervisors were often lower and less respectful.”

•  May Beth Heininge ($500) is a full-time junior at the OSU Cascade Campus in Bend , studying Human Development Family Science with a Gerontology option. She has worked for over 15 years as a nurse in hospitals in both Oregon and California . She wants to use her work as a nurse to begin a new career as a human services case manager. “Healthy aging is multi-faceted and I believe education is the key,” he wrote. “I would like to implement a variety of classes within the community for seniors to participate in and understand that they can live a fulfilling life in spite of the challenges life can bring. The areas she considers important to healthy aging include nutrition, exercise, the brain, and socializing. “The brain is like any other muscle,” she says. “If you don't use it, you'll lose it.”