E.T. Was in the Future So He Couldn’t Just Call Home

It’s a vintage Boy Scout gag, but he fell for it. “They gave me a rucksack and put me out in the mountains,” Steven Spielberg told some 400 Scouts chosen as hometown correspondents at the 12th National Scout Jamboree at Ft. A. P. Hill, Va. “(They) told me to bring some snipe home.” The boys laughed as he told the story of spending 2 1/2 hours hunting the legendary bird. “Mercifully, I saw flashlights and heard someone calling out my name. The Scout leaders got me out and said: ‘Welcome to the Boy Scouts of America.’ ” Later, the movie producer addressed about 70,000 Scouts, leaders and visitors who had gathered for the evening ceremony in an amphitheater and to see him awarded the Distinguished Eagle Scout award for his work in films and his involvement in scouting. “I think the proudest moment of my entire life was when I became an Eagle Scout,” he said. And, although he said being a Scout “taught me how to speak out,” Spielberg, 41, confessed that being in the public eye makes him uncomfortable. “Believe it or not, this is not exactly the easiest thing for me, getting out in front of people to talk,” he said. “But I like talking to you guys. You’re the best. You’re the Scouts. We’re brothers.”

--Six Southeast Asian leaders joined Sultan Hassanai Bolkiah of Brunei to mark the coming of age of the sultan’s 15-year-old son, Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah. The snooker-loving prince sat impassively on a throne in the sprawling palace of one of the world’s richest men as the 400-year-old ceremony unfolded, replete with gongs, cymbals and attendants carrying lances, swords, shields, candles and personal regalia. Indonesian President Suharto, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, Philippine President Corazon Aquino, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and Thai Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan sprinkled scented water on the prince to bless him. The ceremony was televised live Wednesday night and Thursday.

--What does it take to get your name affixed to medical buildings at the University of Utah Medical School? Apparently a gift of $16.3 million won’t make the grade. J.L. Sorenson, 68, who built a fortune estimated at $360 million in the medical equipment business, made the donation in June and officials at the state-supported university at Salt Lake City agreed to name the medical facility for him. But faculty, students and Utah lawmakers protested that such a step is generally restricted to business and private colleges. Sorenson told university officials in a letter that he would understand if they decided the name change was not feasible. And he said they could keep the money.