College Scholarship Won by Lifeguard

Mark Plascencia, a Newport Beach lifeguard, has been selected as the winner of the 1997 Don Burns Scholarship.

Plascencia, 24, began his career with Newport Beach as a cadet lifeguard in 1989. He started work as a seasonal lifeguard in 1990 and was honored as Lifeguard of the Year in 1994.

The $500 scholarship was created by the city in 1994 to honor Don Burns, a former lifeguard who held education in high regard.

Plascencia, a graduate of Orange Coast College, will attend Biola University in La Mirada this fall as a computer science major.