Four Students Win J. Scott Fleming Merit Awards

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Four students at the University at Buffalo will receive the J. Scott Fleming Merit Awards for leadership and volunteer efforts that promote student involvement and the student experience.

The award winners -- Carissa Begonia of Orangeburg; Neil Amol Gholkar of Phoenix, Ariz.; Daniel Hall of Wantagh, and Ariella Levine of East Meadow -- will receive a certificate and a $500 check.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, the largest and most comprehensive campus in the State University of New York.

The award, named for a former executive director of UB's Office of Alumni Relations, is presented by the University Student Alumni Board, student affiliate of the alumni association, and is the only student-to-student award at UB. The awards will be presented at the UB Alumni Association's Celebration of Excellence annual awards dinner on April 23. Recipients also will be recognized by the Leadership Development Center and the UB Office of Alumni Relations at the 2004 Pillars of Leadership Reception on April 27, in addition to being invited with their parents to a luncheon at UB President John B. Simpson's home prior to the award ceremony.

Carissa Begonia is a senior with a double major in communication with a certificate in advertising and public relations, and business administration with concentrations in marketing and finance. She is a diversity advocate for UB Office of Student Multicultural Affairs and assistant marketing coordinator for Sub Board I, Inc., a student organization designed to enhance the quality of student life at UB. She has been vice president of the Filipino American Student Association and recently served as a peer educator through the Leadership Development Center.

Neil Amol Gholkar is a sophomore majoring in biomedical sciences with a minor in Spanish and biochemical pharmacology. He has been a resident advisor since August 2003 and is co-founder and a volunteer for the Student Training in Attitude & Responsibility (STAR) program at LaSalle Middle School in Niagara Falls. In addition, Gholkar volunteers at Weinberg Campus Nursing Home in Getzville and is a member of the Association for Pre-Medical Students.

Daniel Hall is a senior majoring in psychology with a minor in Italian. He is president of the Residence Hall Association, has been a resident advisor, a UB student admissions recruitment specialist through the Office of Admissions, and served as national communication coordinator for the Residence Hall Association in 2002-03.

Ariella Levine is a senior majoring in communication. She is secretary of the Residence Hall Association, served as vice president of membership for the National Residence Hall Honorary and for the South Lake Village Council. During the summer of 2003, Levine assisted students as an orientation aide for new student programs.