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@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@arrl.org; Tel.: 513-459-0142 ARRL - The Reason Amateur Radio Is! Members - The Reason ARRL Is!