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<DIV><FONT size=2>Here's what our former club president wrote, I couldn't have
said better myself...</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=2>Open Quotes....</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV>September 7, 2005<BR><BR>Mr. Edward J. Zander<BR>Chairman of the Board and
CEO<BR>Motorola, Inc.<BR>Schaumburg, IL 60196<BR><BR>Mr.
Zander,<BR><BR>As a professional firefighter and fire captain for thirty years I
have used many Motorola products on a daily basis. As a licensed master
electrician for twenty years I have some understanding of the frailties of
electrical and electronic equipment. As an amateur radio operator I
understand the basics of communications systems.<BR>With this in mind I am
appalled at the comments by Motorola employee Jim Screeden in the September 6,
2005 Wall Street Journal article by Christopher Rhoads, "As Telecom Reels From
Storm Damage, Ham Radios Hum" . Not only are Mr. Screeden's comments
insensitive and completely out of order, they are just plain wrong. Mr.
Screeden, and everyone else at Motorola and it's competitors that has any
involvement with public safety related communications, needs to take a serious
look at which systems are functional in disasters and which systems have a long
and consistent history of failure or reduced capability in the times of greatest
need. <BR>Mr. Screeden may be an excellent manager for repair operations.
However, he, and all of Motorola, must realize that he is repairing equipment
that failed when it was most needed. The amateur radio system that he
refers to as "better than nothing. but pretty close to nothing" has continued to
function and in many situations is now the only choice. And it functions
with out taxpayer support or the need for specialized repair teams from distant
states.<BR>I sincerely hope that you will address this situation with a full
page letter to the public in the Wall Street Journal apologizing to the amateur
radio community for Mr. Screeden's unjustified remarks. Anything
less will leave a serious black spot on the reputation and ethics of your
company. <BR><BR><BR>Thank you,<BR>Tom Richardson, AB1CL<BR>11
Littlehale Road<BR>Durham, NH 03824-2106<BR><BR><BR>Cc:<BR>American
Radio Relay League<BR>Federal Communications Commission<BR>Department of
Homeland Security<BR>Wall Street Journal<BR> <BR><FONT size=2>Close
Quotes....<BR><BR><BR></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>