High Life : A WEEKLY FORUM FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS : Scholarships Awarded to 24 Latinos

Two dozen Latino students from Orange County who will enter four-year colleges received $31,000 in scholarships last week from a foundation created to encourage secondary education among members of the ethnic group.

The Efren Herrera Scholarship Foundation was created six years ago by Herrera, a former kicker for the Seattle Seahawks and Dallas Cowboys, and Manuel Ramirez, presiding justice of the Appellate Court of San Bernardino, to raise money for college-bound Latinos. The founders were motivated in part by the high dropout rate among Latino high school students, which in 1988 was nearly 50%.

Two scholarship winners--Stephanie Dittmer of University High School in Irvine and Raymond Perez of Orange Lutheran High--each received $2,000 for earning the highest grade-point averages and SAT scores of the 24 recipients.

Nine students were awarded $1,500 each for achieving high grades and doing volunteer work in their communities. They are Christina Fernandez, Anaheim High; Richard Pimental, Fountain Valley High; Maria Mendez, Laguna Beach High; Yudis Coreas, Costa Mesa High; Magana Beatriz, Century; Marivel Bermudez, Anaheim High; Yolanda Rodriguez, Foothill; Adriana Florez, Buena Park High, and Rogelio Sanchez, Valley.

The $1,000 scholarship recipients were Jeffrey Byers, Capistrano Valley High; Lorena Gonzaliz, Villa Park High; Karen Hernandez and Christy Molino, Sonora; Cassandra Flenker, Dana Hills; Carmen Pelago, Garden Grove High; Brenda Barajas and Maria Negrete, Buena Park High; Eduardo Manzo, Saddleback; Ricardo Araiza, Century; Diana Argudin, Rosary; Gabriela Franco, Los Amigos, and Jason Flores, Kennedy.

All Latino high school students may apply for the scholarships, which have totaled $244,000 over the past six years.

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Student lockers at seven Orange County high schools will again be sniffed by dogs in random searches for drugs next year. In announcing their decision this month to continue the program, trustees of the Huntington Beach Union High School District said the searches received broad support last year from both parents and students.

High schools subject to the searches will be Edison, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Marina, Ocean View, Valley Vista and Westminster. The searches, conducted while students are in class, use trained dogs from the Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley and Westminster police departments. Huntington Beach Police Lt. W. Clyde Stuart, who supervised the searches last year, said the program served as a deterrent even though the searches turned up no measurable amounts of drugs.