RESEARCH COMMITTEE REPORTS

FARMS is organized around research committees who largely determine the Foundation's program. The first fully-staffed committee is the twelve person panel on Book of Mormon-New World, chaired by John Sorenson. Its duties include evaluating research projects for technical adequacy, noting approaches or topics which might be fruitfully pursued, reporting on relevant research presented at professional meetings, responding to inquiries in their area of expertise, and otherwise serving as a panel of helpful scholarly resources. An evaluative and scholarly arm, not an administrative entity, the group's members vary in degree of involvement according to the time they feel they can spare from professional activities, ranging from "active bystander" to "enthusiast."

John E. Clark, who received his M.A. from BYU, will enter the Ph.D program in anthropology at the University of Michigan this Fall. He has served as archaeologist and laboratory supervisor for the BYU-New World Archaeological Foundation in San Cristobal, Chiapas, Mexico for several years.

Rex E. Cooper is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Chicago in social anthropology.

Brant Gardner is a Ph.D. candidate at SUNY Albany, emphasizing Mesoamerican ethnohistory in the anthropology department.

Boma Johnson received an M.A. from BYU and is an archaeologist with the Bureau of Land Management in Yuma, Arizona.

Thomas A. Lee, Jr., with an M.A. from Arizona and work toward the Ph.D. at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, is field director of the BYU-NWAF in Chiapas.

Andrew J. McDonald received his M.A. from the University of the Americas in Mexico and worked in the graduate program at the University of Texas. He is now employed as a computer specialist.

Fred W. Nelson, also a BYU M.A. graduate in archaeology as well as having a degree in chemistry, is Radiation Safety Officer at BYU and an internationally­reknowned expert on advanced scientific techniques applied to archaeology.

Steven Olsen, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Chicago in social anthropology is employed in the Arts and Sites Division of the LDS Church Historical Department.

Calvin D. Tolman holds an M.A. from the University of Utah in linguistics and is a printer.

Raymond C. Treat, a Ph.D. candidate at Arizona State University in anthropology, is director of the Zarahemla Research Foundation, Independence, Missouri.

Donald W. Forsyth has his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and is assistant professor of anthropology at BYU.

Bruce W. Warren is also an assistant professor in the department; his Ph.D. is from the University of Arizona.

From time to time additions and retirements will change the composition of the committee, but a high level of expertise will be maintained in order to ensure the work of FARMS on New World aspects of the Book of Mormon is conducted at a high level of responsible scholarship. A Book of Mormon-Old World committee is partially staffed. Other committees will be created as FARMS continues to develop.

Deadline for contributions, submissions, and inquiries for the newsletter will be September 20, 1981. Please send items to FARMS, Box 7113 University Station, Provo, UT 84602.