Orange Coast College students Susie Han...

Orange Coast College students Susie Han and Erin Tripp competed in

the Orange Empire Chef’s Assn. competition held at the Holiday Inn in

Buena Park. Han and Tripp, students in the school’s culinary arts

program, placed third in the dessert section of the competition for

their six plated desserts with a Middle Eastern theme ... Orange

Coast College dance instructor Marie de la Palme won two major awards

in the professional division of the fifth annual Dance Under the

Stars Choreography Festival at the McCallum Theatre Institute in Palm

Desert earlier this month. De la Palme, a resident of Newport Beach,

has been teaching ballet at OCC for 12 years and started dancing

professionally at age 18. She received the $5,000 grand prize for her

solo work, “Le Coeur d’Illumine,” and received a $1,000 award for the

best duet. It was the first time that a solo work has won that award

... Matthew McKinlay, son of Scott McKinlay and Donna Farmer of

Newport Beach, was awarded the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate

Achievement Program Scholarship. McKinlay, who is a senior majoring

in professional aeronautics at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

in Prescott, Ariz., received funding from the program, which prepares

eligible undergraduate students with an interest in collegiate

teaching and research to pursue graduate studies leading to a

doctoral degree ... Erin Scherfenberg was named account coordinator

for The Peterson Group, a full-service marketing communications

agency headquartered in Newport Beach. Scherfenberg is responsible

for coordinating numerous projects for Houston-based Waste Management

Inc. As part of her new position, Scherfenberg will be responsible

for executing client projects by coordinating activities with the

agency’s copywriting, art and production departments, scheduling

production, writing agency/client correspondence and helping to

ensure that project components are completed on schedule ...

Ribapharm Inc. announced earlier this month the appointment of David

M. Lawrence to vice president of business development. Lawrence,

previously vice president of business development at Watson

Pharmaceuticals Inc., has more than 20 years of commercial, corporate

and real estate banking industry experience. Ribapharm is a Costa

Mesa-based biopharmaceutical company that seeks to discover, develop,

acquire and commercialize innovative products for the treatment of

significant yet unmet medical needs.

* NEIGHBORS spotlights achievements in the community. Please

direct noteworthy information to Christine Carrillo via fax at (949)

646-4170, or send e-mail to christine.carrillo@latimes.com.