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Four FBISD students named corporatesponsored National Merit scholars Community Reports Four Fort Bend ISD students recently were announced as cor porate-sponsored National Merit scholarships winners by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC®), according to a press release from the district. The FBISD students are: • Owen J. Chen, Clements High School, Probable career field: Computer Science • Preston C. Keen, Elkins High School, Probable career field: Biochemistry • Rudransh B. Pathak, Clements High School, Probable career field: Computer Science • Gabr iel L . X iong, Clements High School, Probable career field: Computer Science Funding for these National Merit Scholarships is provided by corporate organizations that represent nearly all sectors of American industry. Chen’s scholarship is funded by Aspen Technology, Inc. and Keen’s by Air Liquide America. Fluor and Chevron provided scholarship funds for Pathak and Xiong, respectively. Amounts of the awards are not disclosed but can range from $1,000 to $10,000 with most awards set to renew for up to four years of college. This is the first announcement of the 2025 National Merit Scholars by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. The second announcement of scholarship winners is expected on May 7, 2025, the third announcement will come out June 4 and the final group of winners will be announced July 14. High school juniors entered the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program when they took the 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®). This served as the initial screening. In September 2023, more than 16,000 semifinalists who were identified as the highest scorers were designated from across the nation. They make up less than one percent of all senior high school students in the country. To become a National Merit Scholarship winner, semifinalists had to complete a detailed application, which included writing an essay, plus providing information about their extracurricular activities, awards, and leadership positions. Semifinalists also had to be recommended by a high school official and earn SAT® or ACT® scores that confirmed their high performance on the qualifying test.
Fort Bend / Southwest • Volume 50 • No. 18 • $1.00 Visit www.FortBendStar.com
Commissioners, county attorney spar over redistricting vote By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
A years-long battle over Fort Bend County voting precincts took a new and acrimonious turn last week as commissioners and the county attorney sparred over which legal firm should be hired to consult in the drawing of precinct lines. The April 22 meeting of Commissioners Court saw some of the sharpest words in many months as commissioners revisited an item that had been held over from a previous meeting. At that March 28 meeting, a divided court failed to approve an item to transfer up to $60,000 to the county’s elections office dealing with
the redrawing of the county’s voting precinct lines. The item was meant to correct a problem that Texas Rep. Matt Mogan, a Republican whose 26th District includes portions of Fort Bend County, brought to the county’s attention in a letter in February. That letter (published largely unedited by the Fort Bend Star Independent newspaper) said that many of Fort Bend’s voting precincts were illegally under state law because they had too few voters. In the March meeting, Precinct 3 Commissioner Andy Meyers, a Republican, and Precinct 4
SEE VOTE PAGE 2
Fort Bend County commissioners and County Attorney Bridgette SmithLawson exchanged sharp words over the proposed hiring of a law firm in a redistricting issue last week. Here, the commissioners are seen at an earlier meeting. File photo
AREA HINDUS HOLD VIGIL FOLLOWING KASHMIR ATTACK
Members of Fort Bend County’s Hindu community held a vigil at Sugar Land Memorial Park on Saturday in response to the recent terrorist attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Contributed photo
By Juhi Varma SPECIAL TO THE STAR
Editor’s note: Kashmir is a politically disputed territory that straddles parts of India and Pakistan. Disputes over the territory, which include large populations of Hindu and Muslim adherents, date back as least to the 1947 partition of the Indian subcon-
tinent following British colonial rule. Islamism is a political ideology that is distinct from the Muslim faith. Fort Bend County includes a large South Asian population which includes both Hindus and Muslims, as well as other members of other faith traditions. On Saturday, April 26, more than 300 members of Fort Bend County’s Hindu community gathered at Sugar
Land Memorial Park to hold a solemn vigil in response to the recent terrorist attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir, where 26 men were murdered, and more than 20 others were injured. Held at the 40-foot Remembrance Tower, the vigil served as a call for unity and vigilance. “The dead do not ask for our
tears alone,” said Yajat Bharghav, a 22-year-old student at the University of Houston. “They ask for our strength, not strength born of anger, but of clarity … We must defend our lives, our communities,
SEE VIGIL PAGE 4
Libraries host disasterpreparedness workshops for families in May Community Reports In collaboration with AmeriCorps Texas, the Fort Bend County Health & Human Services Department, and Sewa International, Fort Bend County Libraries will host a series of free Disaster-Preparedness Workshops for children and adults throughout May at library locations throughout Fort Bend County. Families will learn ways to become better prepared and work together as a team during emergency situations, such as hurricanes, floods, winter storms, heat waves, and pandemics. Learn about resources that are available inside and outside the home and
develop a plan of action to implement during such times. Each workshop will include one session specifically for children and one session for adults. While adults are attending their workshop, children may remain and participate in special activities. The children’s session is recommended for youth ages 6 to 11 years, but children of all ages are welcome. In this 30-minute session, children will learn about disasters and ways they can help their families during
SEE WORKSHOP PAGE 4
Fort Bend County Libraries will host a series of free DisasterPreparedness Workshops for children and adults throughout May. Courtesy Fort Bend County Libraries