-=> Quoting Robin Arnhold to Jim Casto <=-
 RA> I frankly don't know enough about many of these issues to discuss
 RA> them.
 
 Uh, well, that was kinda my point. I don't (or wouldn't) know about these
 issues unless I went out of my way and researched them. And that takes
 time.
 RA> I can't prove it, but I sometimes suspect a lot of people are
 RA> just waiting for somebody else to post something on these topics so
 RA> they can learn something about them.
 
 But the other side of the coin is... Why bother posting about some subject
 if everyone already knows about it? For example: I don't remember _anyone_
 even _asking_ what ICWA meant. Therefore, everyone must already know. Does
 it matter to anyone that the GOP "sweetheart" that is bailing out on the
 people who elected her to become a TV newscaster/anchor person is the same
 GOP Congresscritter that is responsible for a lot of the modifications to
 the ICWA?
 RA> I will toss out something I heard
 RA> from one of my coworkers yesterday:  one of her daughters is a special
 RA> ed. teacher.  She has a lot of Spanish-speaking kids in the class, kids
 RA> who don't speak English.  I would suspect that most of them are also
 RA> Indians (many people don't seem to realize that there are Indians
 RA> south of the border).
 There are Indians clear down to the tip of South America. 
 RA> It seems that a lot of these children have been
 RA> tested in English and labelled retarded simply because they cannot
 RA> answer questions in a language they don't know.
 1. I don't know exactly how the "testers" are using the word "retarded".
    Some people tend to use the word "loosely". My dictionary says: 
    "Abnormally slow in mental development" without any implication of _why_
    the individual is "slow". Because they weren't taught? Because they
    didn't put forth any effort to learn? Who knows? If I packed up and
    moved to France, whose responsibility is it to teach _me_ French? How
    about my children?
 
 2. The testers are "retarded" in the fact that they can't recognize _why_ a
    person might not do well on a test.
 RA> I am definitely not
 RA> amused by this, especially when one considers the push in various
 RA> quarters for English as the official language.
 
 Virtually every culture/country in the world has an "official" language.
 Unless you are fluent in Spanish, I suspect that you would have difficulty
 dealing with the people of Mexico unless they spoke English. If you took
 a test written in Spanish, would you feel/be judged "retarded"? The French
 are _very_ good at stressing their "official" language even in Quebec. In
 a few years many of the highway signs in Quebec will be only in French. Is
 it their responsibility to put them in English, too, or is it my
 responsiblity to learn what they mean?
 
 RA> addressed to me and I feel at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to
 RA> discussing literature even though I do a lot of reading.
 I don't discuss "literature".  Definitely not like "English Lit"
 students do!  I read books like "Indian Killer" for entertainment.
 So tell me... Do _you_ think John Smith did it?  (BTW, someone on another
 service has _just_ heard about this "new" book but hasn't even got her hands
 on a copy yet. )
 RA> You are
 RA> definitely more scholarly than I!
 
 I seriously doubt that. More vocal on some subjects, maybe. 
 JC> BTW, we went to the restaurant here in Portland called "Fiddleheads".
 JC> Does anyone know (or did I already tell everyone the answer?) what
 JC> fiddleheads are?
 RA> 
 RA> A bit late in the season for them here .
 
 The book I am _now_ reading just mentioned fiddleheads in the story. I was
 pleased that I din't hafta run and look it up. 
 
 Jim
--- Blue Wave v2.12
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