[Elecraft] Sad day for amateur radio

[Thom R LaCosta]

On Wed, 20 Jul 2005, Paul Gates wrote:

> One other thing Thom.... When I got my Extra in 2002 @ 72 years old, there
> were Extra's who were unhappy about 5WPM.... So I said, "OK guys I passed a
> 13 WPM test for your information. And, let's get down to brass tacks.... I
> will take a 20wpm test and you guys take the theory exam for Extra." They
> did not go for it because they indicated that the exam would be too
> difficult. These are the same guys that were preaching we should make the
> Extra Class exam tougher!!

Yes, I have seen that kind of argument....but that's like arguing about whether 
the booze is 60 or 70 or 80 or 90 proof....it's still booze.  I think many of 
the people who are bemoaning the lack of a CW requirement are doing it because 
to them, it represents a dimunation of the skills required to join the ranks of 
amateur radio.

>From my vantage point, lowering entrance requirements is very much like the
recent moves in education....Montgomery County, Maryland recently decreed that
no student will receive a grade of less than 50 out of a 100 in any course. 
When I taught in a program for students who had never been sucessful in 
traditional school systems, my contract was not renewed because I insisted that 
students be able to perform basic math(addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) 
without the aid of a calculator.  I'm proud that not only did all of the 
students master the basic entry skills, but several of them thanked me for 
insisting that they meet the challenge and jump the hoops.

I, like many others struggled to master the code....I recall migrane headaches, 
a sense of dispair and total frustration....but, because I wanted to become a 
ham, I accepted the fact that I had to jump the hoops.

Sorry to be so long winded...I'm not really too happy realizing that as a 
society we think that milk shakes are nothing more than soft icecream served in a big 
wax cup.

Thom