In article m, "Ryan, KC8PMX"
writes:

The proposal that the arrl should be working on is increasing the membership
ranks instead of trying to change the system of licensure that has been
discussed to death here. What, theres like around 25% of all hams that are
members?? If the arrl is "sooooo good" then they should be working towards
increasing the membership.

Not only would this actually help to lower the cost of membership by
spreading the costs of doing business over a bigger spread, but also give
more strength and credibility to the organization. With a good percentage
of the members being in the 55+ range there seems to be a good need to come
up with new people to add to the membership ranks.

How about this for a marketing idea?? If the arrl recieves 200,000 new
subscriptions for 2004 then they rebate some of the cost of the subscription
rate as it is now? (Thats 200,000 over the existing memberships)

Again, the license class/testing situation as it stands now is just fine and
does not need any more changes for a while. Work on promotion and building
from within before trying to recruit more.

Ryan KC8PMX

Ryan:

The licensing system we had prior to April 15, 2000 was just fine, and
did not need any changes whatsoever. The ARRL (always capitalized,
BTW) is trying to increase it's membership by supporting ever declining
licensing standards. It hasn't worked yet, and I doubt that it ever will.
Too bad, because I see the League as a force for good in Amateur Radio,
particularly in these times when we faces serious challenges to our
hobby/service such as BPL, restrictive antenna ordinances, spectrum
re-allocation, and declining activity on the bands due to the Internet.
The League's failure to support the status quo in strong licensing
requirements, including Morse code testing at speeds up to 20 WPM,
has only served to polarize their membership and cause them to lose
the support of longtime members in good standing who know the
value of licensing requirements based on a firm grounding in technical
knowledge and practical operational skills.

The ARRL is digging it's own grave, and they're using progressively larger
shovels every year. If we get No-code HF licensing, you're going to see
a backhoe being delivered to 225 Main St, Newington.

73 de Larry, K3LT