UNLV student vying to be Colgate ‘singing sensation’
UNLV student Erika David, 19, is one of five semifinalists in the running to win a recording session with a Grammy-winning producer in the Colgate MaxFresh Video Music Competition hosted by MySpace.
More than 300 entrants submitted audition videos for the competition, which also will award an opportunity to perform an original song at a music event in New York City.
In her audition video, David performed Alicia Keys' "If I Ain't Got You."
People can view contestant videos and vote in the contest at www.myspace.com/colgatemaxfresh. There also are three judges: Bryan-Michael Cox, the producer who will work with the winner; Tito El Bambino, Reggaeton recording artist; and Danyel Smith, editor-in-chief of Vibe magazine.
The winner of the competition will be announced May 26.
In other news:
* Dorothy Drago, 79, of Las Vegas is featured in the Muscular Dystrophy Association's online series "ALS: Anyone's Life Story." Throughout the month of May, the series will feature 31 people who have learned to live with ALS. May is national ALS Awareness Month. To view the online series visit www.als-mda.org/anyone/als_stories.html.
* Sixteen students of the University of Nevada School of Medicine were recognized by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation. Among the honorees for the Humanism and Excellence in Teaching Awards were Julian Almeyda-Perez, an internal medicine resident in Las Vegas; Richard Baynosa and Parker Fillmore, surgical residents in Las Vegas; and Shawn Rowles, a pediatrics resident in Las Vegas.
* The College of Southern Nevada honored five students at the Outstanding Student Awards Ceremony May 1 at the college's Cheyenne campus. The students recognized by their departments are: Yischeli Martinez, education; Anthony Robertson, business administration; Bob Hansen, engineering; Gordie Greco, human behavior; and Ivie Iredia-Reese, counseling.
* The Epicurean Charitable Foundation of Las Vegas recently contributed $240,000 to the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute and $20,000 to the Foundation for an Independent Tomorrow.
Scheduled to open later this year, the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute will conduct research on memory disorders and neurodegenerative brain diseases and provide services to individuals affected by Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease and ALS, among other conditions.
FIT, a nonprofit organization, assists unemployed and underemployed Nevadans toward financial stability through education, training and employment preparation.
* The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation received the Bronze Quill Award for Special Publications for the 2007 JDRF Hope Gala program book from the International Association of Business Communicators/Las Vegas Bronze Quill Awards.
The foundation's book honored Nevada children living with juvenile diabetes. In addition to the Bronze Quill award, the program book received the Award of Excellence for photography and the Hope Gala campaign received the Award of Merit.
* The Nevada chapter of the March of Dimes awarded a total of more than $75,000 in grants to help Nevada organizations in educating women on healthy pregnancies and healthy babies. The grant recipients include: the health care training and certificate program of Health Insight/Nevada Covering Kids and Families; the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders/Healthy Babies Summit of the Nevada Public Health Foundation; the Comenzando Bien Chats of Nevada Hispanic Services; the WIC Outreach/Prenatal Education/Oral Health program of the St. Mary's Foundation; the Centering Pregnancy program at University Medical Center; and the Wells Family Resource & Cultural Center.
If you know of a worthy candidate for this column, mail information to Newsmakers, Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125-0070, or send faxes to 383-4676.
