Cape Girardeau native Anthony Nathan McDaniel of Memphis, Tenn., has been selected to participate in the 1993 Sony Student Project Abroad (SSPA).

McDaniel is one of 50 top students in the U.S. on an all-expense-paid trip to Japan. The trip began July 21 with a stop in San Diego, Calif. The group will return home Aug. 6.

A senior this fall at Craigmont High School in Memphis, he is the son of Edward R. and Barbra A. Hester McDaniel, formerly of Cape Girardeau. He is the grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Hester and Mr. and Mrs. Edward E. McDaniel, all of Cape Girardeau.

McDaniel attended the Close Up program in Washington, D.C., and Tennessee Boys State this year, attended Governor's School of Tennessee Studies in 1992, and participated in the 1991 Holocaust Seminar. He has worked as a page in both houses of the Tennessee legislature, and the Mid-South Model U.N.

He has received numerous academic honors, such as the Schering-Plough Award for Excellence in Science, DAR American History Medal, and was the runner-up in the "Expectations and Obstacles of President Clinton's Reign" essay contest.

McDaniel assisted in setting up the Press Filing Center for the White House during former President Bush's visit to Craigmont High School in September 1992. He also helped with public relations a grant given to the school by the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Sony project allows students who demonstrate keen interest and ability in science and math the opportunity to tour Japanese manufacturing facilities, visit historical and cultural points of interest, and stay with a Japanese host family.

McDaniel was nominated for the project by U.S. Senator Harlan Mathews of Tennessee.