Westside : 8 Named Merit Scholars

Five Westside area high school seniors are among 1,800 students nationwide being awarded $2,000 scholarships each by the National Merit Scholarship Corp.

The scholarship recipients were selected from a group of 14,000 students across the nation as part of the corporation’s annual competition to identify talented students.

The Westside winners are Ali Binazir of University High School, Brendan C. Fournier of Loyola High School, Stephen M. Levinson of Crossroads School, Dawnalyn K. Murakawa of Brentwood School and Quinn M. Eastman of Palisades High School.

Three Westside residents who go to school elsewhere also were honored. They are Gregory Engel of Beverly Hills, who attends the Buckley School in Sherman Oaks; Michael J. Stern of Los Angeles, who attends the Armand Hammer United World College in Montezuma, N.M., and Michael P. Markmiller of Malibu, who attends the Viewpoint School in Calabasas.