LORMAN — The following Lauderdale County residents were among 619 students named to the 2005 fall semester honor roll at Alcorn State University: Shiyecca Gardner, Ava Brookins, Jimaria Garner, Audrea Harrison, Torey Parker, Tiffanee Spates and Candice Wynne.

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HATTIESBURG — Gail Olivia Sims has been named 2005-06 Most Outstanding Freshman Female of the Year at the University of Southern Mississippi. She will be recognized Thursday during a Founders Day ceremony on campus.

Each year one male and one female of the freshman class at USM is recognized by the national honor society Omicron Delta Kappa. Recognition by ODK is a mark of highest distinction and honor.

Sims is a 2005 honors graduate of Enterprise High School. At USM, she received the Luckyday Foundation, Academic Excellence and Honors College scholarships. She is a cheerleader and a member of the Freshmen Associates, the Freshmen Council, the Baptist Student Union and The Legacy. She volunteers at Wesley Medical Center and attends First Baptist Church of Hattiesburg.

Sims is the daughter of Dudley and Jane Sims of Meridian.

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Tricia Elizabeth Driggers of Bailey has been selected by the Nursing Scholarship Committee to receive the first Bonnie Earley Scholarship at Meridian Community College.

This $2,800 award is funded through the MCC Foundation by Dr. G. Dan Van Cleve, director of cardiovascular surgery at Rush Heart Institute. Earley, a former nursing instructor at MCC, is an acute care nurse practitioner. Van Cleve chose to fund this scholarship as a means of honoring Earley for her dedicated work with heart surgery patients and her commitment to education.

Driggers is a 1989 graduate of Menchville High School in Newport News, Va. She is married and the mother of three children. A third-semester student in the Associate Degree Nursing Program, Driggers works part-time as an emergency room employee. She is a member of the Organization of Student Nurses and MOSA, the Mississippi student nursing association. Her plans are to pursue a bachelor of science degree in nursing.

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LaTisha Ann McLaughlin of Waynesboro has been selected to receive the Meridian Daylily Society Scholarship at Meridian Community college. This $1,000 award is funded through the MCC Foundation by the area horticulture group.

It is their intention to promote an interest in gardening and encourage students who choose to study horticulture.

McLaughlin is a 1997 graduate of Wayne County High School. She is a sophomore in the Horticulture Technology Program. McLaughlin serves as secretary for the Horticulture Club, volunteers with March of Dimes, and works part time. Her goal is to own her own greenhouse and landscaping business.