Edwards a Winner

Repetition of the idea that Coach Edwards didn't have a decent season as a high school coach before being elevated to an assistant to Hal Mitchell at BYU certainly enhances the legend of a great man (see "Edwards to Retire After 2000 Season," fall 2000, p. 7). But Coach Edwards' success history has no need of such embellishment.

When I played for Coach Edwards at Granite High School in '60, we lost only two region games, by a total of 7 points. He had a first- and second-team All State end and quarterback, and two of us came to play at BYU. In 1958 he had BYU's famous Phantom, Eldon Fortie.

Coach Edwards was winning young men and games long before he got to BYU.

—David S. North, '65
West Jordan, Utah



Missing Olympian

I enjoyed your article about the BYU Olympians ("Personal Best," fall 2000, p. 48). I know of one more BYU athlete who competed in the 2000 Olympic Games.

Her name is Karoliina Lundahl, and she competed for Finland. She was easy to miss—at BYU she was known as Kartsi Leppaluoto (her nickname and maiden name), a shot putter on the track team (1990 and 1991). In Sydney she competed in the 75kg category of women's weightlifting. Unfortunately she didn't have her best performance.

This was Kartsi's second Olympics. She competed in the shot put in 1996.

—Laura Z. Middleton, '90, MOB '92
Provo, Utah



Student Research: Lake Work

While scuba diving during my sophomore year at BYU, my brothers and I found some interesting rocks at the bottom of a small lake south of Wendover, Utah. Being a geology major, I decided to do my honors thesis on how they may have formed. This involved extensive diving to collect samples. Alan L. Mayo, a geology professor, asked if, in addition to collecting my samples, I could discover the depth of a natural pond near the Salt Flats and collect some water samples for him from the bottom.

My brothers and I drove to the site. It looked more like a large mud puddle than anything else. I slowly waded out until I was floating on the surface. I began my descent. The water was thick with algae, and I descended into zero visibility. I could feel myself sinking but could not tell for how long or how far. It seemed like forever until I landed in soft ooze on the bottom. Holding my depth gauge flat against my face mask, I could barely make out the reading: eight feet.

That meant the pond was shallow enough that the water was the same throughout, and the bottom didn't need to be sampled. Of course there was no way of knowing that without my sinking into the murk.

I learned as a young student that research often doesn't turn out the way you expect.

—Benjamin R. Jordan, '99
Kingston, R.I.