Cotton had a strong prejudiced against women too. He failed almost every
woman that tried to take any of the ham exams. It was so bad that I know
some people who used a relative's mailing address as their address so they
could take the exam in the Chicago office instead of the Detroit office. I
lived just within the regional district of the Detroit office, and I didn't
have any relatives at the time in the Chicago district. I know a woman who
could copy 20 wpm very comfortably, but when she took the code exam in the
Detroit office, Cotton told her she failed the 13 WPM code test. She was so
angry because she absolutely knew she had copied everything perfectly for
the entire duration, not just for one solid minute. I went to take my First
Class Radio Telephone license exam, and Cotton wouldn't let me take it; he
told me it was a waste of his and my time because there is no way a blind
person could ever use the First Class Radio Telephone license. Eventually,
I took the exam and passed it, no thanks to Cotton!
Today, fortunately, we don't have to put up with that kind of crap, and if
we ever ran into another Cotton type person, we would have solid grounds
for a law suit, and he/she would lose his/her job. So, from that
standpoint, the good old days weren't so good! <lol>
Ron, K8HSY
At 02:12 PM 6/3/2013 -0700, you wrote:
>Oh yes, Mr. Cotton!You had him too? I had him in Columbus, Ohio once. As I
>left where the exams were givin, I said to myself, "if I never see you
>again, it'll be too soon. I wonder if that sour apple is still alive!
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Ronald E. Milliman
>Sent: Monday, June 03, 2013 12:57 PM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: I passed!
>
>Re the current FCC ham exams...
>
>The exams that are given today are quite different from the ones that I
>took, and frankly, the once today I would find a bit challenging without
>doing a fair amount of preparation, but I suspect the ones some of us old
>timers took, many of you younger hams would find pretty challenging too.
>
>All of the exams I took had diagrams or schematics on them. I remember
>trying to describe to the FCC Examiner in the Detroit office, circuits in
>sufficient detail that he could draw them out for me, and that was one hell
>of a challenge. When I took my Advanced and Extra exams, my objective was
>to do so well on the other questions that I could just skip the diagrams
>and still pass. Fortunately, that strategy worked. I passed the 20 wpm code
>test, but I sure wouldn't want to take it today! At one time, many years
>ago, I could copy around 35 WPM, but today, I'd be lucky to copy 10 or 15
>WPM. <lol>
>
>I sure think the flexibility in taking the FCC ham exams that exists today
>is a huge improvement. Since I lived within 75 miles of the nearest FCC
>field office, I was required to take my exams at the field office. The
>first time I took my own reader, but the FCC Engineer in Charge wouldn't
>let me take the exam with my own reader; he made me take the exam with one
>of the FCC people that were there. Nobody liked that FCC Engineer in Charge
>of the Detroit office. I'll never ever forget his name which was Mr.
>Cotton. He was one of those people that if he even smiled, his whole face
>would probably shatter! <lol>
>
>Ron, K8HSY
>
>
>
>At 01:51 PM 6/3/2013 -0400, Zach Shifflett wrote:
>>Nothing oo awful surprising, though there were more questions about
>>electronic components than I thought there would be. I don't have a
>>background in electronics, or electrical engineering, so those were
>>the questions I found most challenging.
>>Zach
>>
>>On 6/3/13, Harvey Heagy <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>> Congrats Zach. Glad you passed. I remember how I felt when I got my
>>> first
>>>
>>> license in 1984. I'm sure you will enjoy the hobby. 73.
>>> Harvey
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Zach Shifflett" <[log in to unmask]>
>>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>>> Sent: Sunday, June 02, 2013 11:51 PM
>>> Subject: I passed!
>>>
>>>
>>>> Hey all,
>>>> Just wanted to drop the list a line and let everybody know I passed my
>>>> exam! Thanks for all the great suggestions from this list, I had a
>>>> great experience.
>>>> I called the veq ahead of time and had him get a diagram free exam.
>>>> He and the rest of the veqs were great, and it was a really cool
>>>> experience. I got to go hang out at the club's shack, and my y/l and
>>>> I met some interesting folks.
>>>> I'll let the list know when I get my call sign, and hopefully I'll see
>>>> some of you guys on the air soon!
>>>> Zach
>>>
>>
>Dr. Ronald E. Milliman, retired Professor Western Kentucky University
>Ph: 270-782-9325
>Email: [log in to unmask]
>
>Chair, American Council of the Blind Public Relations Committee
>
>Chair, American Council of the Blind's Monthly Monetary Support Program
>(MMS) Committee
>
>President: South Central Kentucky Council of the Blind (SCKCB)
>
Dr. Ronald E. Milliman, retired Professor Western Kentucky University
Ph: 270-782-9325
Email: [log in to unmask]
Chair, American Council of the Blind Public Relations Committee
Chair, American Council of the Blind's Monthly Monetary Support Program
(MMS) Committee
President: South Central Kentucky Council of the Blind (SCKCB)
|
