[jQuery] Autocomplete Question

I am using jquery.autocomplete in a search for schools. I have
optional fields (referenced as extraParams) which allow the user to
narrow the search to a specific state and city.

This part works fine. If the user selects a state and city and then
initiates the search be entering a value into the autocomplete field,
then everything works well.

My issue is that I need to execute the search and return results to
the autocomplete field when the user selects a state (and nothing has
been entered into the autocomplete field).

Obviously, I have an onChange event in the State field which can
trigger the search event, but I don't know how to manually cause the
search to occur (passing a wildcard for the value of q).

Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated.

TIA