NORTHRIDGE : Scholarships OKd for 2 Killed in Quake

A student-sponsored effort to set up scholarships in honor of two students who died in the Northridge Meadows Apartments complex in the Jan. 17 earthquake has borne fruit.

The Associated Student Senate on Tuesday approved a measure that would set up two scholarships of at least $1,000 annually in the names of Jaime Reyes and Manuel Sandoval, two Cal State Northridge students who lost their lives when the apartment complex collapsed.

Sixteen people died when the second story of the complex, located a short distance from the campus, crashed into the first floor.

Sandoval, 24, a computer science major born in Mexico, had recently moved into the apartment with Reyes, 19, and Reyes’ girlfriend, Myrna Velasquez, 18, who also died in the collapse.

Reyes apparently died while trying to shield Velasquez from the rubble. A fourth roommate survived the collapse.

The scholarship resolution was sponsored by student senator Tadzio Garcia, a senior in music, who said he introduced the measure to assuage his own feelings of fear after the quake. He said the deaths of Sandoval and Reyes struck a deep chord with CSUN students, many of whom also live in multi-story apartment complexes near the epicenter.

Associated Student administrators said the first scholarships will likely be awarded next semester through the campus financial aid office. The money will come from student fees.

CSUN students pay fees to the Associated Students each semester. A portion of the fees go for financial aid. That portion was recently raised from $1 to $2 per student per semester, increasing the amount available for scholarships.