FARMS NEWS

FARMS director Jack Welch is jubilant over the enthusiastic response of readers. There is mail in the box every day: requests for information, welcomed contributions, expressions of support and gratitude. Over five hundred copies of different items from the Reprint Series and the Preliminary Reports had already been sent out by mid­October. "I estimate that there was a 20 percent response to the July Newsletter," says Jack, "and Howard Ruff thinks he's successful if he gets between a one and two percent response."

He was especially appreciative of the names to be added to the rrailing list. "Virtually everyone who ordered items also sent us the names of friends. One person asked us to put the names of fifty friends on the list for the next mailing."

He added particular thanks to those who had included voluntary contributions to the Foundation with their orders. "One of our goals is to provide reprints of significant papers at cost so that any good member of the Church anywhere can be associated with scholarly research -­ not just those with access to libraries. The more support the Foundation receives, the better we can meet that goal. Thanks!"

Some supportive comments from readers include:

"Your plan has an incisiveness and a vision that sets it apart. Good work!"--C. Terry Warner, Provo.

"You're continuing an excellent contribution to the kingdom."--Ted C. Hilton, LaCañada, California.

"I'm delighted that this kind of organization has come to light and I promise to help in my own humble way all that I can."--Marlan Walker, Henderson, Nevada.

"Please count me in!"--Nancy L. Williams, Orlando, Florida.

"Keep up the good work! ! ! "--Arthur DeHoyos, Provo.

"Somewhere I got this address and I would like some more information on Everything. I sure would like it."--Christopher Pinkley, Ventura, California.

Paul Y. Hoskisson and Stephen D. Ricks are two new valuable participants on the Ancient Near Eastern/Old World research committee of FARMS. Paul recently joined the BYU ancient scriptures faculty after completing his Ph.D. coursework requirements at Brandeis University and spending several further years of research at Tübingen, Germany, and Zürich, Switzerland. Paul specializes in Ancient Near Eastern Languages and Literatures, including Akkadian and Ugaritic. His dissertation is entitled, "The Cult in Mari."

Stephen, a recent member of the linguistics faculty at BYU, comes to us from Berkeley's Ph.D. program. His dissertation, "A Lexicon of Insciptional Qatabanian," reflects his broad background in classical and biblical studies, including specialties in Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic.

Gary Gillum, whose many talents are described below, is serving as chairman of the FARMS Book of Mormon/New Testament ccmnittee and will coordinate research on such intriguing Book of Mormon questions as the variant New Testament texts in 3 Nephi or the parallels between Romans 11 and Jacob 5. In announcing the appointment, FARMS president Jack Welch pointed out, "The common Hebrew origins of the Book of Mormon and the New Testament are not always completely understood. With the acknowledged expertise that Gary can bring to this project, we look forward to great advances in fruitful, insightful work."

FARMS's badly needed mail clerk and bookkeeper is Janet Twigg, recently of Bountiful and before that from the Bay area in California. She is a first-year graduate student in classics at BYU and plans to give her classics training a religious emphasis. Her prior part-time work as a bookkeeper equip her with some much-appreciated skills. She served a mission in Montreal.

Lynn Scott of Cincinnati, has also joined the staff as correspondence secretary. Lynn is in Provo while her husband attends Law School.

Garry Pace has come aboard as FARMS's public relations director. A second-year law student with prior business experience in sales and marketing, he will be coordinating and organizing a local network of representatives and spearheading our continuing fund-raising efforts.

Many thanks are due to Annette Corbridge who typed all of the mailing list onto computer tapes for easier handling. She is leaving for Denver but plans to remain active with FARMS.