FOUR DECADES OF PAIN: It had been...

FOUR DECADES OF PAIN: It had been 41 years since Vietnamese American actress Kieu Chinh had seen her brother Lan. But recently they reunited in Hanoi, where he told her in an embrace, “I have been waiting for you so long.” . . . The Studio City actress--one of the stars of “The Joy Luck Club”--kept a journal of her experiences during her first return to the homeland she left two decades ago (E1). She’ll talk about the trip on Channel 11’s “Good Day L.A.” this morning.

CLASS ELDER: When Maria Maturino walks down the aisle tonight at Plummer Auditorium in Fullerton, her 42-year-old son, Jose Manuel Maturino, a La Habra High School counselor, will hand over her high school diploma. . . . Maturino, 62, had dropped out of school at age 9 in her native Mexico to work in the fields. Seven years ago she took an English class and got so hooked she was determined to graduate. Says Maturino, whose diploma comes through independent study: “I just had to do it.” . . . She hopes to work as a bilingual or teacher’s aide.

COVER GIRL? Fountain Valley High sophomore Summer Altice heads for New York on Sunday for what could be instant stardom. She’s one of 10 finalists for the 1995 High School Cover Girl Model Search--out of 10,000 entries from across North America. The winner gets $10,000 and tremendous magazine modeling exposure. . . . Altice, who plays on her school’s varsity volleyball team, says there’s a tiny downside: “My boyfriend thinks I’m going off to New York and I’m going to forget about him.”

REAL BIG LEAGUES? Who says the fans are tired of baseball? While many major league teams struggle at the box office following the baseball strike, the recent College World Series at Omaha, Neb., set another attendance record. . . . The tournament drew 182,759 fans to 10 sessions at Rosenblatt Stadium, an average of 18,276. Saturday’s championship game--where Cal State Fullerton won its fourth World Series title by beating USC--drew a standing-room-only, single-game record of 22,027.