Calling all college students and high school seniors!
The ARRL Foundation Scholarship Application Deadline is February 1!

Will you be nominated to receive one of the prestigious ARRL Foundation
Scholarships? Only a week remains until the application period for the
2012 scholarships closes on February 1.

Each year the ARRL Foundation awards dozens of scholarships to young
hams pursuing higher education. The total of those awards tops $80,000!
Several hundred of the country’s top high school and college students
vie for awards ranging from $500 to $5000.

It’s easy to apply!

All the selection criteria, application forms and instructions can be
found on the web at www.arrl.org/scholarship-program. Some
scholarships have geographic criteria, others have a preference for
field of study, and still others have no curricular or residence
requirement.

The fundamental requirement is that an applicant be active FCC-licensed
radio amateur. The application process is completely electronic,
including the required academic transcript.

If you know a young ham who is attending college or is a high school
senior, let them know that the deadline is only a week away.

Any questions may be emailed to . But do it soon!
Time is running out!

73, Cliff K0CA

--------------------------------------------------------------------
ARRL Midwest Division
Director: Cliff Ahrens, K0CA

--------------------------------------------------------------------

I can see your TEE PEE a rockin, but no one is a knocking.

The way I see it, you have a real serious problem on your hands.
The only people getting involved in Amateur Radio today is the children of Radio Amateurs.
The problem is that the internet and cell phones has replaced amateur radio and no one is interested in sitting in their dad's basement in some dark corner - listening to other people talk, when they can do the same thing, for almost no investment - with their cell phones and no one else can hear them talk, unless they want them to....

Instead of trying to give away money, you need to start recruiting real hams into the hobby. I'm not talking about these educated dummies, who can regurgitate the answers to a 35 question, multiple guess test, long enough to get their ticket and then does nothing with it. I'm talking about real hams who makes 30 or more real contacts on the HF a month. Not check into nets and give their call signs and say no comments.

Even the lifestyle of most of the members of most of the clubs that I have visited is lack luster at best, with maybe 5 real hams out of a club of 100.
Yes there is those who calls themselves contesters, the scourge of the earth, who only comes on the radio when there is a contest, because they are looking for instant recognition and they don't want to actually talk to anyone - because they would be found out to be the fraud that they really are - but because they want to collect call signs and wants to see their names in the ham radio magazines such as QST...

Turn on your radio my friend and show me these youth of today, talking on the amateur radio? Where are they? They don't exist!
You want to give out money? Give it to the real HAMS, the ones who has their radios on every day, who makes real contacts, doesn't limit themselves to talking on nets, doesn't cuss / swear, and is good amateur radio operators - not just someone who possesses a call sign.

One person out of 1000 - who are actual / real hams like me, who is willing to stick their necks on the chopping block and take a stand once and for all, that will tell it like it is - even if it makes them unpopular.

You want to have a good article for your magazine - print this!
While you are at it - tell your CB buddies who bought their licenses to tune up somewhere else. Not on the frequency being used.
Nothing irks me more then these guys who brags that they have had their license since the 70's / 80's - that has that old junk radio equipment, that persists on tuning up right on the frequency that is being used.

EDUCATION - teach these dummies to tune up into a dummy load or go someplace that is not being used and to ask - IS THIS FREQUENCY IN USE!

Is this so hard to understand?
Why aren't you people putting that $80,000.00 into enforcement and into education instead of just giving it away to the privileged few that were actually born into a amateur radio family and was encouraged or coerced by family members to get a call sign.