Here’s a roundup of recent honors for some of KU’s best and brightest students:¢ KU juniors Jay Marshall Kimmel of Wichita and Cristina Avelina Fernandez of Washington, D.C. and Ascuncion, Paraguay, have been nominated to compete for Harry S. Truman scholarships, which provide up to $30,000 for college students who are preparing to become leaders in the field of public service.Both are majoring in political science and economics.Kimmel is planning a U.S. Foreign Service career as an analyst focusing on trade policy with developing nations. He has studied Uzbek, Uyghur, Russian and Turkish languages while at KU and will do an internship this summer with the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs in Washington, D.C.Fernandez’s goals include working as a Latin American specialist on policies related to empowering women. She is a U.S. Citizen who was born and raised in Paraguay and is attending KU through an exchange program with Catholic University in Ascuncion. She speaks Spanish, English, French and German.About 600 students nationwide have been nominated. After an interview process, 75 winners will be announced March 27.¢ The following students have been nominated for Barry M. Goldwater scholarships, which are seen as the premier undergraduate scholarship in science, engineering and mathematics: Stephanie Ann Hill, Shawnee sophomore in chemistry and biochemistry, Heather Marie Owen, Leawood junior in electrical engineering,Kyle Hesed, Pawnee Rock sophomore in biology, and Laura A. Stiles, Prairie Village junior in engineering physics.The scholarships provide up to $7,500 for tuition, fees, books, room and board. Winners will be announced in late March or early April.¢ Two KU students from Lawrence, Marie C. Hull, a senior majoring in Spanish, and Shuan Sheila Tsau, a sophomore majoring in psychology and human biology, are among the 20 students recently named as University Scholars. Students must be in at least their second year and have a 3.8 grade-point average.They must enroll in an interdisciplinary three-credit-hour seminar that allows them to integrate knowledge from fields of study outside their own. Each scholar works with a faculty mentor, a relationship that’s expected to continue until the student graduates.This year’s seminar is titled “The World from the Top of an Elephant” taught by Chris Haufler, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, and Marsha Haufler, professor of art history.