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Release: April 10, 1995
Contact: Tom Krattenmaker (609/258-5748)


Princeton Juniors Melissa Schettini,
Melanie Schneck Named 1995 Truman Scholars

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Princeton University juniors Melissa Schettini
and Melanie Schneck have been named 1995 Truman Scholars, a
national scholarship for outstanding juniors committed to careers
in public service.

Schettini, of Towaco, N.J., and Schneck, of Potomac, Md., will
each receive as much as $30,000 to use for graduate studies and
the completion of their undergraduate degrees. They are among 70
juniors from 50 colleges and universities nationally to be elected
Truman Scholars.


Melissa Schettini

An economics major, Schettini hopes to pursue graduate studies in
either economics or public policy and, eventually, to become a
policy analyst in a field related to the alleviation of poverty.

Among previous awards and honors, Schettini in 1992 was named a
Coca-Cola Scholar, a National Merit Scholar, a Edward J. Bloustein
Distinguished Scholar, and the winner of the National Association
of Secondary School Principals Leadership Awards. In addition, she
was a 1991 winner of the Xerox Award for Superior Achievement in
Humanities and Social Sciences (1991).

Outside of her studies at Princeton, Schettini has organized and
directed several projects for the Student Volunteers Council while
serving two terms on the council's board. In addition to directing
a project to tutor children in Trenton, she has twice organized
the council's annual Hunger Banquet, which raises money for Oxfam
America.

She has also played on the women's club lacrosse team, been on the
debate team, served as co-coordinator of the student catering
agency, and participated in the Aquinas Institute, the
university's Catholic chaplaincy.

Last summer, Schettini was an intern for the Princeton alumni
community service group Project 55, working as an instructor at a
welfare-to-work training center in Connecticut. The previous
summer, she volunteered at a Florida camp for at-risk youth in a
rural migrant farm town.

Schettini is the daughter of MaryAnne and Louis Schettini of
Towaco.


Melanie Schneck

As an independent concentrator, Schneck has developed her own
course of study at Princeton -- "Science Policy in a
Constitutional Democracy." She plans to use the Truman scholarship
to pursue a JD and a PhD in constitutional law or public policy
before embarking on a career in science policy. She is
particularly interested in the constitutional issues raised by
advances in technology, such as the impact of technology on
individual privacy.

For the past several summers, Schneck has worked at the Department
of Defense, performing mathematics research and developing
analytic techniques. This summer, she plans to work in a policy
office at either the White House, the National Institute of
Standards and Technology, or the Department of Defense.

As extra-curricular activities at Princeton, Schneck has
volunteered for the Crisis Ministry, which distributes food to
needy families in the Trenton and Princeton area. She has also
been active with the Center for Jewish Life, chairing the Holiday
Committee and serving on the Projects Board. In addition, Schneck
has played violin in the Princeton Chamber Orchestra, played
intramural softball and volleyball, served as an officer of the
Princeton Quadrangle Club, and served on the Wilson College
Council.

Her parents are Paul and Marjorie Schneck of Potomac.

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