AMHERST, Mass. - John Alderete, a University of Massachusetts graduate student in linguistics, has been awarded a $40,000 Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship for Minorities. Alderete, who completed his dissertation last month and will receive his Ph.D. in May, is one of 25 minority scholars nationwide to receive a Ford fellowship in the 1999 competition. Linguistics is the study of the nature and structure of human language.

AMHERST, Mass. - Elizabeth A. Dale, director of business and facilities services at the University of Massachusetts Campus Center/Student Union Complex and an adjunct faculty member in the department of hotel, restaurant, and travel administration, has been named a 1999-2000 American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow. She is one of 34 Fellows selected this year.

AMHERST, Mass. - University of Massachusetts graduate student Ana Maria Diaz-Marcos has been awarded Spain''s Asturias Joven (Young Asturians) prize by the Principado de Asturias (regional government of Asturias) for her collection of short stories "The Affections of Heat." The prize, which is awarded annually to a young writer of the Asturias region of Spain, includes a monetary gift of $1,800 and publication of the collection.

AMHERST, Mass. - Caroline J. Sunshine, a senior psychology major and honors student at the University of Massachusetts, has received an honorable mention on the All-USA College Academic Team, compiled by the national daily newspaper USA Today. The team was announced in the Feb. 25 edition of the paper.