The following is an article from The Optimist paper published 10/12/1962. Can you identify these people?
(In case you can’t quite focus on the text above, here is a translation)
By JIM HAVEN
On September 26, it was announced publicly that twenty-two Ann Arbor High seniors had become semi-finalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program. This group is the largest from any single school in Michigan, and probably among the top twenty schools in the nation. Approximately 33,500 juniors in 2,200 schools in Michigan took the qualifying examination last March. Of these some 550 be-came semi-finalists. Semi-finalists from Ann Arbor High are John Bareham, Frank Benford, Russ DeJong, Bill Denning, Chip Elgass, Dorothy Eliot, Louise Elving, John Fitts, Mary Frisinger, Dick Hantula, Jim Haven, Betsy Kirchen, Bill Lampe, Marie Louis, Jacquie Olds, Karen Seashore, Eve Stevens, Jeff Swope, Laura Van Vlack, Ron Westrum, Juanita Wheeler, and Charlotte Wolter.
The semi-finalists will next submit a lengthy written application and take the three hour scholastic aptitude test of t h e College Entrance Examination Board on December 1st. Finalists will be selected on the basis of their test results and from the re-commendations of their high schools. From the finalists will be chosen the Merit Scholars, each of which will then receive a Merit Scholarship. This four year award, covering the students’ undergraduate years, ranges from $100 to $1,500 per year.
The Merit Scholars are chosen not because of financial need, but because of their outstanding abilities and achievements. How-ever, the stipend they receive is based on thir ability to met college expenses. The names of Merit Scholars will be announced in April. The Merit Program was established in 1955 with grants from the Ford Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Last April the Ford Foundation announced an additional grant to continue the pro-gram through 1970.
National Merit Semifinalists: left to right—seated: Louise Elving, Karen Seashore, Eve Stevens, Jacquie Olds, Marie Louis, Charlotte Wolter. 2nd row, standing: Dorothy Elliot, Laura Van Vlack, Mary Frisinger, Jeff Swope, Russ DeJong, Richard Hantula. 3rd row: Bill Denning, Ron Westrum, Bill Lampe, Jim Haven, John Bowman, John Fitts, Chip Elgass, Frank Benford. Missing are Betsy Kirchen and Juanita Wheeler.