So why, exactly, does an Internet advertising agency give engineering scholarships? Good question. Here's the answer.

Since 2003, StraightForward Media has executed all its charitable giving exclusively through college scholarships. In 2003, we began awarding the Dale E. Fridell Memorial Scholarship, the Get Out of Debt Scholarship and the Mesothelioma Memorial Scholarship. As years pass and our charitable giving increases, we create new scholarships for different types of students. In 2004, we added the Art School Scholarships, Nursing School Scholarships, Vocational-Technical Scholarships and Teacher Scholarships.

That we believe in investing in young people (and not-so-young people returning to school) is the primary reason we've chosen college scholarships as our preferred vehicle of philanthropy. But it's not the only reason. In addition to helping deserving students make it through college, we've also discovered some of our best interns and translators through our scholarship programs.

Lastly, we also find scholarships to be an excellent way to memorialize those we love. Our first scholarship, the Dale E. Fridell Memorial, is named after my late grandfather, whose biography is available on the scholarship site that bears his name. Since the scholarship's inception, my family and I have received hundreds of warm emails from families worldwide who have read that biography and found inspiration in his life, and later, his struggle with Alzheimer's Disease.

That brings us to 2005, which has thus far been another outstanding year for our agency. And as before, we're committed to a corresponding increase in our charitable giving, and that means more scholarships. In 2005, we've launched our Science Scholarships, Medical Professions Scholarships, Law School Scholarships, Law Enforcement Scholarships, Liberal Arts Scholarships, Media & Communication Scholarships, Business Scholarships, Minority Scholarships and -- you guessed it-- the Engineering Scholarships. We'll also be announcing three more memorial scholarships this summer, and -- last but not least -- we've increased both the amount and frequency of the Dale E. Fridell Memorial. It's now a quarterly scholarship, and the award is $1,000 per quarter.