Student from NM wins Rhodes scholarship

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) - A University of Arizona student from Albuquerque, N.M. is among the 32 men and women from across the U.S. who have been selected as Rhodes Scholars for 2010.

Justine Schluntz, a grad student in mechanical engineering and a nine-time All-American in swimming, will get all expenses for two to three years of study at the University of Oxford in England. She and the other winners were chosen from 805 applicants endorsed by 326 different colleges and universities.

Schluntz says she started crying when she found out she had won.

She says she's looking forward to her time in England researching the viability of harvesting the energy from ocean tides to use as a renewable energy resource.

The value of the Rhodes scholarships averages about $50,000 per year.