LDS Scene

Two Latter-day Saint girls have been named runnersup to Miss Indian America. First runnerup is Claralynn West, a White Mountain Apache Indian from Show Low, Arizona. Glenna Jenks, a Ute Indian from Roosevelt, Utah, is second runnerup. Jan Sekayumptewa, a Hopi Indian from Hotevilla, Arizona, received honorable mention.

Bruce Louthan of Kankakee, Illinois, and Marilyn Malone of Phoenix, Arizona, are winners of the Hayes Archaeological Scholarships to support research on Book of Mormon archaeology in Central America. Brother Louthan will compare early Mayan pottery with that of the Iron Age found in the Syro-Palestine area. Sister Malone will study Mesoamerican temples and note any resemblances to ancient temples found in the Near East. The scholarships are sponsored by Brother and Sister P. Kennan Hayes of Seattle, Washington.

Four members of the Church have been honored by the American Academy of Achievement. Receiving “Golden Plate” awards from the Academy were Sam D. Battistone, vice chairman of the board of Sambo’s Restaurants, Inc.; Mrs. Ivy Baker Priest, treasurer of California and former treasurer of the United States; James A. Jensen, curator of the Earth Sciences Museum at Brigham Young University; and Robert L. Rice, founder and president of Health Industries, Inc.

Brother and Sister C. Edward Geiger of San Diego, California, recently presented a first edition copy of the Book of Mormon to the University of California at San Diego. The book, still in excellent condition, was purchased from a rare book dealer in Chicago. It bore the inscription, “Hyram Crosby, No. 103.”

Two Latter-day Saint students at Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho, recently took second place honors at the Junior College National Forensic Tournament. The two, LaNice Waddoups and Debra Tibbitts, are both from Lost River Stake in Idaho and were third place winners in the national competition a year ago.

Ronald G. Hyde, executive director of the Brigham Young University Alumni Association, was recently installed as chairman of the board of the American Alumni Council. He will represent the Council at nine regional conferences to help the 1,563 member schools plan their alumni activities.

The Young Ambassadors, a Brigham Young University Program Bureau troupe, were seen this summer by over one million people throughout Central and South America. Highlights of their six-week tour included a 40-minute appearance on Argentine television in addition to a performance for the Secretaries of Education and Culture and 1,200 spectators at the São Paulo University Auditorium in Brazil. The tour also included major performances in Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, San Salvador, Columbia, Peru, Bolivia, and Uruguay.

The inability to hear should not be a deterrent to having fun—and it isn’t, as was recently proven when 28 deaf teens gathered on the Brigham Young University campus for a special workshop. Inspired by the “fun and spiritual experiences of youth attending priesthood youth conferences,” Dr. Ross M. Weaver initiated a similar workshop for deaf teenagers. Workshop activities included sports and recreation, vocational guidance, and spiritual and social discussions. Dr. Ray L. Jones, an assistant at the workshop, stressed that society “has imposed limitations on the deaf, but we have shown that with proper training, a deaf person can be just as successful as a non-handicapped person.”

LaNice Waddoups and Debra Tibbitts