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To the FCC regarding the restructuring of the Amateur Service:

I am a student at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign,
and have been a licensed Amateur Radio Operator, Extra Class, for
six years. During this time,  I have met many amateurs, both
college-age and retired, engineers and factory workers,
Technician Class and Extra,  who have made the Amateur Service
part of their life.  They have used the Amateur Service to enrich
not only their lives--through gaining knowledge and
expertise--but the lives of others in their community, through
public service and education.

The Amateur Service is one of the few services for which the
licensees have no pecuniary interest.  It is, simply, a labor of
love for those of us who call themselves "hams".  For that
reason, I implore you to be cautious in making changes to the
Part 97 rules.  While the Amateur Service may look like small
potatoes next to the giant broadcasters that the FCC deals with
on a normal basis, it is just as important, if not more so, to
many people.


I do, however, support your change of licensing classes to 4 from
the present 6.  I would ask that there be 2 telegraphy tests, one
to be administered at 5 words per minute for the current
"General", and the second at 12 wpm, for the "Extra".

I do not support, though,  the wholesale revision of question
pools.   There is some dead wood in the question pools.  However, 
deciding what questions are and are not technically worthy of
being placed in the pool could engender such a "holy war" that
the results would be a Pyrrhic victory, with no one satisfied.

I wish you luck in sorting out the changes to be made in Part 97. 
May the Amateur Service emerge stronger and more technically
competent than ever.

Christopher J. Cieslak
Melrose Park, IL