Visitors from around the world will feel right at home at the 2002 Winter Olympics, thanks to the extensive translation support BYU's population is uniquely qualified to provide.

The large number of returned missionaries at BYU, many of whom served foreign missions, means a large supply of foreign language assistance during the Games, said William Eggington, BYU linguistics professor.

"I think BYU will assist significantly in providing language services for the Games," Eggington said. "A lot of it will be in the background and won't be obvious, but it will be of great assistance."

Olympic Family Assistance

Although there are no statistics listing the number of BYU student volunteers, BYU has accounted for a large portion of the recruitment interest, said Maureen Sweeney, of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee's International Client Services.

"I would say BYU and the U(niversity of Utah) have contributed similar numbers," Sweeney said. "We have a very young group of volunteers compared to other games I've worked with."

Sweeney, who also worked on the 1996 Atlanta Olympic committee, said the response for volunteers was much higher here than it had been in Atlanta.

Sweeney said that, at this time before the Atlanta Games, her staff was still actively recruiting Atlanta locals due to the lack of response.

For the Salt Lake Games, the International Client Services has a staff of 18 paid, full-time employees and about 550 volunteers, who speak a total of 14 languages.

Sweeney said these volunteers will be classified as "language specialists," who will aid in translation for people in the "Olympic family" -- or, in other words, any Olympic athlete, coach, national team member, IOC official or accredited media representative.

The language specialists will aid in translation for specific areas such as drug testing, press conferences, "flash quotes" for the Olympic venues' interactive kiosks and medical security.

Sweeney said the demand for volunteers far outweighed SLOC's need.

"The interest level and enthusiasm has been so great," Sweeney said. "Key individuals like Professor Baker have played a great part in helping our efforts."

Professor Joe Baker, a recently retired German professor at BYU, was part of SLOC's volunteer selection team. Baker helped integrate SLOC's computerized language tests into BYU's oral testing software. As a result, much of SLOC's testing occurred on the BYU campus.

"BYU has been very, very supportive of the recruitment offers," Baker said. "We have a long tradition of volunteerism and service."

Thanks in part to these efforts, SLOC's foreign language positions were all filled by December 2000.

Non-Olympic Family Assistance

Other BYU staff members have contributed language assistance help in other areas of the Games.

Russian professor Donald Jarvis has acted as a volunteer recruitment coordinator for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The church plans to open a large media center in the first floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in Salt Lake City, which will ideally remain open throughout the Games.

Jarvis said the volunteers will be instructed to answer specific questions about the church for visitors, but not to actively proselyte.

"We're going to be inundated with journalists," Jarvis said. "We ought to give those journalists the opportunity to get information on the church from those supporting its position."

Eggington, on the other hand, has been asked to form a task force of volunteers to work with "non-Olympic family" individuals, which includes those people not directly associated with the Olympics or its operations.

"Right now, we're pulling together a number of interpreters to work on call," Eggington said.

Eggington's work, however, was disrupted following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. The resulting increase in security has resulted in less opportunity for volunteering efforts.

"One way to increase security is to decrease complexity, and with fewer volunteers, the complexity is decreased," Eggington said.

However, Eggington said he feels the students at BYU have provided, and continue to provide, valuable Games-time assistance. He said the week off from school will allow even more volunteer efforts to be possible.

Eggington, who also organized language task forces for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, said BYU has more than adequately provided language support for the Salt Lake Olympics.

"We have a unique language resource here," Eggington said. "I think BYU has met its goals in providing language services."



Copyright Brigham Young University 8 Dec 2001