Nominations for Amateur Radio Newsline's Young Ham of the Year award (YHOTY) are due no later than Saturday, May 30. According to AR Newsline's Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, "We have not received any nominations for this year's award. Not a single one by e-mail. Not a single one by the US mail. Not even a phone call or e-mail asking for a nominating form."

Pasternak said that due to everything needed to take place in preparation for the award ceremony, "it is impossible to extend [the deadline] beyond [May 30]. Any nomination received electronically after midnight May 30 or postmarked after midnight on May 30 will be deemed ineligible. If no valid nominations are received by that cutoff date and time, the award program for 2008 will be cancelled." He defined a "valid nomination" as a nomination for "a youngster age 18 or younger who has made a major contribution in some way to the betterment of Amateur Radio. This can be through public service, technical development, contributions to the state of communications sciences, recruitment of new hams or whatever seems to be an accomplishment worth honoring. What is not acceptable are nominations that say something like, 'My 7 year old just passed his tech test so give him a radio.'"

The Young Ham of the Year award is open to any ham age 18 or younger living in the 50 United States, plus Puerto Rico and all Canadian provinces. A full set of rules, along with a downloadable nominating form is online. The form must have the required substantiating material attached to it. Mail the form and additional material to Amateur Radio Newsline, YHOTY, 28197 Robin Ave, Santa Clarita, CA 91350. For more information on the YHOTY program, please contact AR Newsline.