[CW] Code test speed

[Donald Chester]

For those contemplating any kind of FCC code test speed above 5 wpm, I say 
dream on.  Don't forget the FCC's rationale behind the code speed reduction.

Some would-be hams claimed to have physical or mental "handicaps" that 
prevented them from passing the 13 and 20 wpm code tests.  Under the threat 
of a lawsuit under the recently-passed Americans with Disability Act (ADA), 
the Commission granted code-speed waivers to those with physicians' notes 
attesting they had a disability that precluded them from passing the regular 
code test, allowing them to test at 5 wpm.  When it became apparent that 
many, if not the majority of these waivers were bogus,  based on false 
claims and the lack of knowledge on the part of 99% of practising physicians 
regarding anything related to Morse code, the FCC "solved" the problem by 
getting rid of the higher speed tests, simply granting everyone a "waiver."

Once the US went to 5 wpm, an international domino effect occurred, perhaps 
due to lobbying efforts by NCI, and now most other countries (except those 
that have already eliminated Morse testing altogether) have jumped on the 5 
wpm bandwagon.

How long before someone with a "learning disability" or other mental 
deficiency will use the ADA to sue for elimination of the theory part of the 
test?  This has already happened in the public schools, where so much of the 
available resources are being spent to benefit "handicapped" students, that 
average and gifted students are being neglected due to lack of funding.

Don K4KYV

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