Quirky scholarships reward random attributes

Are you white and living in Hawaii? A Jewish orphan studying aeronautical engineering? Or maybe your mom, dad or grandma teaches school in Antioch? Alongside essay questions and SAT scores, UC’s application for aspiring students has become a virtual matchmaker for scholarship endowments, asking applicants everything from whether they are small-town mechanics, have ancestors from Pon Yup, China, or are interested in dairying, dry-land farming or dance. UC campuses handed out nearly 10,000 of these undergraduate scholarships totaling $36.5 million in 2014-15 — an average award of more than $3,500, according to its financial aid report.