August 2007 - arrl-odv - reflector.arrl.org

RE: Spanish Language Exams
by James Weaver 06 Aug '07

06 Aug '07

Joel, I believe you are correct as to the "rationale" (or irrationality) behind the Spanish exam flap. If it was French Canadians rather than Hispanics spilling over our border, no one would be up in arms over ham exams in Spanish. Bigotry lives. Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director ARRL Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040 E-mail: <mailto:k8je@arrl.org> k8je(a)arrl.org; Tel.: 513-459-0142 ARRL - The Reason Amateur Radio Is! Members - The Reason ARRL Is! -----Original Message----- From: Joel Harrison [mailto:w5zn@arrl.org] Sent: Sunday, August 05, 2007 11:36 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: RE: Spanish Language Exams The funny thing about this, Jim, and a good example of how the political environment changes peoples perception over time is how Spanish language exams came about in the first place. The government made tax forms and other federal forms available in Spanish for natives of Puerto Rico. The FCC also had commercial radiotelephone exams available in Spanish as well, but not Amateur Radio exams. Since this was the case the FCC was petitioned, back in the 70's I believe, to permit Spanish language Amateur Radio exams. It wasn't an issue then. Everyone thought it was a great idea and the FCC adopted it. Fast forward to 2007 and the current political environment surrounding illegal immigration and the slightest mention of "Spanish" in any context fuels a wildfire. Kind of makes me wonder what would happen if the IARU Region II Conference, being held next month in Brazil, was instead being held in the United States. IARU Region II requires all written documents to be distributed in both English and Spanish.for obvious reasons - most of the member societies are from Spanish speaking countries! If it were held in the U.S. and the written document requirement were known I'm sure a chat room flame would be out of control about ARRL hosting a conference and providing documents in Spanish. In any event, the matter at hand has absolutely nothing to do with the current political environment surrounding illegal immigration, it is about having one standard translation, approved by NCVEC, for all VEC's to use and the problem we're trying to address deals with Puerto Rico. Interesting times! 73 Joel W5ZN _____ From: James Weaver [mailto:K8JE@zoomtown.com] Sent: Sunday, August 05, 2007 10:10 PM To: w5zn(a)arrl.org; 'arrl-odv' Subject: RE: Spanish Language Exams This is equivalent to those who thought ARRL was petitioning to "move" automatic digital into the "CW" section of bands. It is easy for people who wish to remain unaware of facts to jump to wrong conclusions. There is nothing in the way of the misdirecting synapses in the brain. Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director ARRL Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040 E-mail: <mailto:k8je@arrl.org> k8je(a)arrl.org; Tel.: 513-459-0142 ARRL - The Reason Amateur Radio Is! Members - The Reason ARRL Is!

1 0

RE: Spanish Language Exams
by Bill Edgar 06 Aug '07

06 Aug '07

Joel, Thanks for the information. It would be interesting to know why the complainants are upset. - Bill N3LLR From: Joel Harrison [mailto:w5zn@arrl.org] Sent: Sunday, August 05, 2007 9:59 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: Spanish Language Exams I started receiving emails today complaining about ARRL's "push" to establish Spanish language Amateur Radio exams. The emails are apparently being generated from a W5YI story as well as a spot in the ARRL Letter about a motion ARRL made at the recent NCVEC meeting. Here's a bit of history and info for use in responding to any members that may inquire. FCC amateur radio exams have been available in Spanish since before the creation of the VEC program, back when the FCC administered all the exams. Remember that the FCC regulates amateur radio (and other radio services as well) in Puerto Rico where Spanish is an official language and only a minority of the citizens are fluent in English. The only current issue, and the purpose of ARRL's NCVEC motion, is whether there should be a single, standard version of the Spanish question pool (there currently isn't), or whether the longstanding practice of allowing any translation done by any VE team or VECs should be continued. We believe there should be one standard and only one translation. It's beyond me how our attempt at tightening the program by having one standard and one single translation based on the current English version is being misinterpreted as a "push" by ARRL to permit Spanish language exams when in fact they have been in existence for decades predating the VEC system. Of course, the current feelings over immigration certainly fuel a fire regarding anything Spanish these days. 73 Joel W5ZN

2 1

RE: Spanish Language Exams
by James Weaver 06 Aug '07

06 Aug '07

This is equivalent to those who thought ARRL was petitioning to "move" automatic digital into the "CW" section of bands. It is easy for people who wish to remain unaware of facts to jump to wrong conclusions. There is nothing in the way of the misdirecting synapses in the brain. Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director ARRL Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040 E-mail: <mailto:k8je@arrl.org> k8je(a)arrl.org; Tel.: 513-459-0142 ARRL - The Reason Amateur Radio Is! Members - The Reason ARRL Is! -----Original Message----- From: Joel Harrison [mailto:w5zn@arrl.org] Sent: Sunday, August 05, 2007 9:59 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: Spanish Language Exams I started receiving emails today complaining about ARRL's "push" to establish Spanish language Amateur Radio exams. The emails are apparently being generated from a W5YI story as well as a spot in the ARRL Letter about a motion ARRL made at the recent NCVEC meeting. Here's a bit of history and info for use in responding to any members that may inquire. FCC amateur radio exams have been available in Spanish since before the creation of the VEC program, back when the FCC administered all the exams. Remember that the FCC regulates amateur radio (and other radio services as well) in Puerto Rico where Spanish is an official language and only a minority of the citizens are fluent in English. The only current issue, and the purpose of ARRL's NCVEC motion, is whether there should be a single, standard version of the Spanish question pool (there currently isn't), or whether the longstanding practice of allowing any translation done by any VE team or VECs should be continued. We believe there should be one standard and only one translation. It's beyond me how our attempt at tightening the program by having one standard and one single translation based on the current English version is being misinterpreted as a "push" by ARRL to permit Spanish language exams when in fact they have been in existence for decades predating the VEC system. Of course, the current feelings over immigration certainly fuel a fire regarding anything Spanish these days. 73 Joel W5ZN

2 1

RE: [arrl-odv:15867] Re:Spanish Language Exams
by Joel Harrison 06 Aug '07

06 Aug '07

I haven't seen anything from the ARRL team that attended the meeting yet, Tom. We usually do receive a copy of the trip report from the conference so I know it will be forthcoming. I didn't feel there was any urgency in expediting the report. Occasionally we have an ARRL Officer attend with staff, but chose not to this year for a number of reasons. The meeting is usually rather boring and nothing happens other than a lot of disorganization, but the Spanish language issue, which really isn't an issue in this context, caught the attention of a few from the W5YI Report who aren't aware that Spanish language exams have been around for decades and given the current political environment surrounding illegal immigration is fanning the flames about it. Just as a bit of additional information for everyone, although I don't think we want to dwell on this now as it would just agitate the situation, the FCC rules do not prohibit a VEC team that is fluent in any language other than English from translating an exam and providing it in that language. If a VEC team was fluent in Farsi, for example, they could translate the exam and administer it to an exam candidate in Farsi. That would probably fuel a chat room comment from someone that ARRL supports terrorism! Anywho, I'm sure Harold will expedite our receipt of a trip report when he sees these emails. I'm quite interested in reading Maria's comments about how the NCVEC responded to our motion they voted down! My spin - ARRL's position and attempt is to tighten things up by having one standard and one translation based on the English version, but NCVEC rejected it. Joel -----Original Message----- From: Tom Frenaye [mailto:frenaye@pcnet.com] Sent: Sunday, August 05, 2007 9:23 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:15867] Re:Spanish Language Exams At 09:58 PM 8/5/2007, Joel Harrison wrote: >I started receiving emails today complaining about ARRLs push to establish Spanish language Amateur Radio exams. The emails are apparently being generated from a W5YI story as well as a spot in the ARRL Letter about a motion ARRL made at the recent NCVEC meeting. I couldn't find any reference to the NCVEC meeting in the last two copies of the ARRL Letter. The W5YI web site has their story at http://www.w5yi.org/ama_news_article.php?id=203 Is there an ARRL trip report available from the recent meeting in Gettysburg? In the past they have been circulated to the Board. Sounds like we are doing the right thing in trying to move to one Spanish version - a web story on the meeting and this issue sounds like the right step to take. -- Tom ===== e-mail: k1ki(a)arrl.org ARRL New England Division Director http://www.arrl.org/ Tom Frenaye, K1KI, P O Box J, West Suffield CT 06093 Phone: 860-668-5444

1 0

[arrl-odv:15867] Re:Spanish Language Exams
by Tom Frenaye 06 Aug '07

06 Aug '07

At 09:58 PM 8/5/2007, Joel Harrison wrote: >I started receiving emails today complaining about ARRL�s �push� to establish Spanish language Amateur Radio exams. The emails are apparently being generated from a W5YI story as well as a spot in the ARRL Letter about a motion ARRL made at the recent NCVEC meeting. I couldn't find any reference to the NCVEC meeting in the last two copies of the ARRL Letter. The W5YI web site has their story at http://www.w5yi.org/ama_news_article.php?id=203 Is there an ARRL trip report available from the recent meeting in Gettysburg? In the past they have been circulated to the Board. Sounds like we are doing the right thing in trying to move to one Spanish version - a web story on the meeting and this issue sounds like the right step to take. -- Tom ===== e-mail: k1ki(a)arrl.org ARRL New England Division Director http://www.arrl.org/ Tom Frenaye, K1KI, P O Box J, West Suffield CT 06093 Phone: 860-668-5444

1 0

Spanish Language Exams
by Joel Harrison 06 Aug '07

06 Aug '07

I started receiving emails today complaining about ARRL's "push" to establish Spanish language Amateur Radio exams. The emails are apparently being generated from a W5YI story as well as a spot in the ARRL Letter about a motion ARRL made at the recent NCVEC meeting. Here's a bit of history and info for use in responding to any members that may inquire. FCC amateur radio exams have been available in Spanish since before the creation of the VEC program, back when the FCC administered all the exams. Remember that the FCC regulates amateur radio (and other radio services as well) in Puerto Rico where Spanish is an official language and only a minority of the citizens are fluent in English. The only current issue, and the purpose of ARRL's NCVEC motion, is whether there should be a single, standard version of the Spanish question pool (there currently isn't), or whether the longstanding practice of allowing any translation done by any VE team or VECs should be continued. We believe there should be one standard and only one translation. It's beyond me how our attempt at tightening the program by having one standard and one single translation based on the current English version is being misinterpreted as a "push" by ARRL to permit Spanish language exams when in fact they have been in existence for decades predating the VEC system. Of course, the current feelings over immigration certainly fuel a fire regarding anything Spanish these days. 73 Joel W5ZN

1 0

[arrl-odv:15859] ARRL v. FCC (BPL Appeal) Reply Brief as filed
by w3kd＠aol.com 03 Aug '07

03 Aug '07

Greetings. Yesterday afternoon (the deadline), the WilmerHale firm filed our reply brief in the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. A copy is attached. I think it is a great job. Thanks to Ed Hare for his input into the language of parts of it as well. You will note that this brief focuses largely on the FCC's unprecedented failure to protect mobile stations from interference if the BPL operator reduces its radiated emissions by 20 dB below the Part 15 maxima, even if harmful interference persists thereafter. This represents, likely, our best chance of obtaining a remand. The reply brief also hits very hard on the inapplicability of the 40 dB per decade of distance extrapolation factor applied to BPL system measurements. I was disheartened?when I read?the briefs of the?FCC and their intervenors on this subject, because they seemed to justify holding up on?revisiting the 40 dB/decade argument,?but I think that the argument in this reply brief addresses and rebuts?the FCC's and their intervenors' arguments very well indeed. This brief avoids the trap that the FCC and the intervenors attempted to?set for us by their argument that the FCC specifically found that BPL will not normally cause interference, so there is no Section 301 violation, and FCC's technical conclusion is entitled to great deference by the Court. We did not spend time arguing whether or not the FCC made a correct?technical factual finding. Had we done so, the Court would simply defer to the FCC. So, this brief is surgical. I hope you will agree that this is a good brief. As Jon Frankel said this morning in an e-mail to the WilmerHale team and me: "In a perfect world, these briefs would trigger a remand. As it stands, we will probably have to beat them senseless at oral argument." That pretty much sums it up. 73, Chris W3KD ________________________________________________________________________ AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at AOL.com.

1 1

RE: [arrl-odv:15862] FW: FW: FedEx shipping of catalog orders
by Bill Edgar 03 Aug '07

03 Aug '07

WAY TO GO!!! Let the system work for HQ and not HQ work for the system. Hearty congratulations to the team. - Bill Edgar N3LLR From: Kramer, Harold, WJ1B [mailto:wj1b@arrl.org] Sent: Friday, August 03, 2007 3:34 PM To: arrl-odv Cc: Bloom, Jon, KE3Z; Breen,Katie, W1KRB; Brower, Hugh; Campanello, LouAnn; Capodicasa, Steve; Durand, Don; Hobart, Mary K1MMH; Hurtado, Amy KB1NXO; Inderbitzen, Bob, NQ1R; Kramer, Harold, WJ1B; Murray, Micah; Proctor, John, K1JMP; Shelley, Barry, N1VXY Subject: [arrl-odv:15862] FW: FW: FedEx shipping of catalog orders Here's some good news on a Friday afternoon. Through the work of the Web/Siebel Integration Team, we have added a major enhancement to our shipping options. The on-line catalog check-out will now allow customers to select one of the FedEx shipping options that we support, which are: . US/Canada - standard overnight, 2-day . International - international priority, international mail service Rates for these services will now be acquired directly from the FedEx Internet gateway in real time. In addition, staff will no longer have to manually find the shipping charges when Web customers choose FedEx options. Rates are, of course, contingent on FedEx being able to supply a given service to the specified shipping address. I believe that this new enhancement will provide much improved customer service by providing the actual shipping cost in real time rather than having to call us to determine the price. Again, good job to the team who I have cc'ed on this email to the Board. 73, Harold

1 0

RE: [arrl-odv:15862] FW: FW: FedEx shipping of catalog orders
by James Weaver 03 Aug '07

03 Aug '07

Harold, excellent news and progress. My congratulations to the team, et al. Jim Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director ARRL Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040 E-mail: <mailto:k8je@arrl.org> k8je(a)arrl.org; Tel.: 513-459-0142 ARRL - The Reason Amateur Radio Is! Members - The Reason ARRL Is! -----Original Message----- From: Kramer, Harold, WJ1B [mailto:wj1b@arrl.org] Sent: Friday, August 03, 2007 3:34 PM To: arrl-odv Cc: Bloom, Jon, KE3Z; Breen,Katie, W1KRB; Brower, Hugh; Campanello, LouAnn; Capodicasa, Steve; Durand, Don; Hobart, Mary K1MMH; Hurtado, Amy KB1NXO; Inderbitzen, Bob, NQ1R; Kramer, Harold, WJ1B; Murray, Micah; Proctor, John, K1JMP; Shelley, Barry, N1VXY Subject: [arrl-odv:15862] FW: FW: FedEx shipping of catalog orders Here's some good news on a Friday afternoon. Through the work of the Web/Siebel Integration Team, we have added a major enhancement to our shipping options. The on-line catalog check-out will now allow customers to select one of the FedEx shipping options that we support, which are: * US/Canada - standard overnight, 2-day * International - international priority, international mail service Rates for these services will now be acquired directly from the FedEx Internet gateway in real time. In addition, staff will no longer have to manually find the shipping charges when Web customers choose FedEx options. Rates are, of course, contingent on FedEx being able to supply a given service to the specified shipping address. I believe that this new enhancement will provide much improved customer service by providing the actual shipping cost in real time rather than having to call us to determine the price. Again, good job to the team who I have cc'ed on this email to the Board. 73, Harold

1 0

[arrl-odv:15862] FW: FW: FedEx shipping of catalog orders
by Kramer, Harold, WJ1B 03 Aug '07

03 Aug '07

Here's some good news on a Friday afternoon. Through the work of the Web/Siebel Integration Team, we have added a major enhancement to our shipping options. The on-line catalog check-out will now allow customers to select one of the FedEx shipping options that we support, which are: * US/Canada - standard overnight, 2-day * International - international priority, international mail service Rates for these services will now be acquired directly from the FedEx Internet gateway in real time. In addition, staff will no longer have to manually find the shipping charges when Web customers choose FedEx options. Rates are, of course, contingent on FedEx being able to supply a given service to the specified shipping address. I believe that this new enhancement will provide much improved customer service by providing the actual shipping cost in real time rather than having to call us to determine the price. Again, good job to the team who I have cc'ed on this email to the Board. 73, Harold

1 0