COUNTYWIDE : Ventura High Junior Wins Moscow Trip
A Ventura High School junior has been chosen from among 257 students to represent Ventura County as a student peace ambassador to the Soviet Union.
Taj James, 17, was selected on the basis of an essay and an interview by representatives of the sponsoring groups--Physicians for Social Responsibility and Educators for Social Responsibility. This is the fourth year of the contest.
This year’s essayists were asked to write about opportunities that now exist for nations and individuals with the ending of the Cold War, said Robert Dodge, president of the Ventura chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility.
James will visit the Soviet Union this summer for three weeks. Cost of the trip is $3,000, raised by the two sponsors.
Four runners-up will receive awards of $100 each at a banquet Thursday at Harbortown Marina Resort Hotel in Ventura.
The four are Brooke Bernstein of Newbury Park High School; Lisa Firestone, Camarillo High; Todd Larsen, Ventura High School; and Stephanie Wong, Simi Valley High.
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