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Workers' Memorial Scholarships awarded for 2005

(Salem) Three Oregon students received Workers' Memorial Scholarship awards presented by the Department of Consumer and Business Services, Occupational Safety and Health Division (Oregon OSHA) for the 2005-2006 academic year.

The Workers' Memorial Scholarship is open to any high school graduate, graduating high school senior, GED recipient, current college undergraduate or graduate student who is a dependent or spouse of an Oregon worker that has been fatally injured, or permanently disabled, while on the job.

Three scholarships of $4,700 each were awarded. The award recipients are:

• Jillian Becker of Molalla. Becker's father died in October 2003 as the result of overexposure to toxic substances during thermal spray welding. She graduated from Molalla Union High School in 2003 and also attended Clackamas Community College. Becker attends Albertson College in Caldwell, Idaho as a History major, and is currently pursuing a career in teaching.
   
• Annette Maready of Eugene. Maready's father died in a work-related accident in 1985 when Annette was three months old. She is a 2003 graduate of North Eugene High School. Maready attends the University of Oregon with a major in Philosophy with future plans to enter the University of Oregon Law School.
    
• Natasha (Whitaker) Kilfoil of Monmouth. Kilfoil's father became permanently paralyzed during a logging accident in 1974. Natasha was born in 1984, and went on to become the valedictorian for Central High School in Independence in 2002. She also received the Workers' Memorial Scholarship award in 2002, 2003 and 2004. Kilfoil attends Oregon State University with a dual major in Forestry Management and Economics, pursuing a career goal of working in forest management.

Award recommendations are made by Oregon OSHA's Safe Employment Education and Training Advisory Committee, an advisory group comprised of stakeholders from business, organized labor and government. Applicants must be Oregon residents receiving fatality benefits, a dependent or spouse of a fatally injured worker, or be the dependent or spouse of an Oregon worker who has incurred a permanent total disability and whose claim for workers' compensation benefits has been accepted.

Oregon OSHA presents annual scholarships to assist in the post-secondary education of spouses or children of permanently disabled or fatally injured workers. The Workers' Memorial Scholarship was established by the 1991 Legislature at the request of the Oregon AFL-CIO with support from Associated Oregon Industries.