Hi Christy.

I for one do not hate no-code techs, but rather feel that by deleting CW 
completely from the Amateur Radio Service, the FCC has done us a 
disservice.  I do feel that it is a skill that still has merit and should 
be recognized as an achievement at some level.  What I will go along with 
is that not possessing CW proficiency should not bar operators from HF 
altogether.  I am okay with that, but I am concerned that the International 
Amateur Radio community has thrown the baby out with the bathwater, and I 
think there is a middle position that is the correct one and far more 
reasonable than either extreme.

I do feel that the U.S. is guilty of dumbing down Amateur Radio as they 
have much of our public education system.  I would feel much more 
comfortable with the change if they had left the requirements in for one 
class of license.

For those who feel that there should be no requirement for CW proficiency 
on any frequency, I will openly disagree, not because I think pandamonium 
will result as some allude to, for I have never subscribed to that line of 
thinking, but merely because it is a worthwhile skill, just as there is a 
requirement for someone taking an Extra class license to know a little 
something about satellite communications.  I've never used a satellite in 
my life, but I am not advocating removing those questions from the question 
pool.  It is a fact that in any learning endeavor, there will be material 
that you will learn, but choose not to actively use.  Because we each 
choose to zero in on different things, that is what brings diversity to 
life.  But if we choose minimalist thinking in deciding what should  be 
required to represent excellence in amateur radio, or education in general, 
then we diminish the richness of what is reflected in our population 
through diminished opportunity.

That is not a value judgement on you or anyone else who is a participant in 
amateur radio, for I truly do not have an issue with those who choose not 
to go on.

I am 46 years old--quite a way from retiring.  I expect to work until age 
70, so I still have quite a bit of productive time left.  There are things 
that I will not tackle either, but that doesn't mean that I shouldn't know 
at least a little something about them.  What I see as a real problem in 
ham radio is that some people have gotten a little mean-spirited towards 
newcomers that have come in under different requirements, and I personally 
think that is the wrong approach.  I am much more a believer in positive 
motivation than negative motivation, and there is a motto that I adopted a 
number of years ago that I try to live by.  I am not always successful at 
it, but I try.  That motto is "Rudeness is never excusable."  Telling 
somebody that they are not a real ham is rude and disrespectful.  The FCC 
decides who is and who isn't qualified to hold a ham radio ticket, and 
while I don't always agree with their criteria, I nonetheless would never 
bring that into the way that I interact with fellow hams of any class of 
license with or without CW proficiency.

I think my concern with the  direction of Amateur Radio is that I worry 
that the pendulum has swung too far, and that CW will be devalued to the 
point where there is no spectrum for it and most people won't see it as 
anything worth striving for, and that would just be a darned shame.

So Christy, I hope that you won't take my disagreement with the present FCC 
action as any indication of what I think of you as a fellow ham.

73, de Lou K2LKK