Iowa makes English official language of state (My Headline)

Des Moines Register ^ | February 27, 2002 | Des Moines Register Editorial Board

[usadave]

Now, Iowa can be known nationwide not only as slow growing, but as slow thinking.

On the contrary. Iowa is simply looking to the future with the common sense thought in mind that it would be best for all residents of Iowa to speak the same language, English. This will be beneficial to all Iowans when it is applied to the fields of education, law enforcement, employment, medical services, and business.

[Grut]

Someone should write a letter to the editor of the Des Moines Register, carefully arguing against the position they've taken. The letter should be in, say, Turkish.

[Gil4]

Where is Iowa's famed neighborliness? What famed neighborliness? Hasn't he ever seen The Music Man? It wasn't exactly the warmest welcome.

My mother would disown me if she saw me writing this - her side of the family lived in Iowa from at least the 1860's (I still have quite a few relatives there). But she's the one who dragged me to see that musical some 25-30 years ago (kicking and screaming, I might add) so she gets to bear some of the responsibility. : )

Now we have it on VHS & I watch it with the kids a couple of times a year.

[pt17]

Sometimes it becomes difficult to describe the total ignorance (or is it?) of an editorial board. Failure to learn English is a fast pass to ignorance, poverty, welfare and worse. Is that what these "editors" want? For whom does ignorance, poverty and welfare vote?

[irksome1]

Wow. That's pretty ridiculous. I wonder how many people in Iowa don't speak English?

[What Is Ain't]

Does this newspaper offer editions in other languages? And, if not, why not?

[Lockbox]

California Languages

Since 1973, the Dymally-Alatorre Bilingual Services Act mandates that state and local agencies translate materials into languages spoken by substantial percentages of their clients. Last year, a state audit revealed that only 2 out of 10 state agencies were aware of their responsibilities under the act.

Gee, almost thirty years and only 20% compliance. Good progress California!.

From the West Contra Costa Unified School District web site (http://www.wccusd.k12.ca.us/): We serve the Cities of El Cerrito, Hercules, Pinole, Richmond and San Pablo and unincorporated Areas of Contra Costa County, California, including El Sobrante, Kensington, Montalvin, North Richmond, & Tara Hills... We are the 20th largest local education agency in California. Over 80 languages are spoken within our 110 square mile jurisdiction.

From the web site (www.siren-bayarea.org/Law%20Now%20Lacks%20Teeth.doc )

The (California's ) department ........offers the driver's license exam in 33 languages.

Question, how do these non-readers of the English language find their way around the State of California when the street signs are in English? How many accidents do they cause because they cannot read English?

And more quotes..........

``More and more people are coming to us to tell us that they can't access services because informational material is not available in Chinese”

Well, how many languages are spoken in China?

The Main Chinese "Dialects" (http://acc6.its.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~phalsall/texts/chinlng2.html)

EIGHT.......Cantonese, Hakka, Hsiang, Kan, Mandarin, Northern Min, Southern Min, Wu

Has this caused any problems in China?

THE CHINESE LINGUISTIC REVOLUTION

The 20th-century movement for language reform in China has resulted in the most ambitious programme of language planning the world has ever seen. The programme has three aims: (i) to simplify the characters of classical written Chinese, by cutting down on their number, and reducing the number of strokes it takes to write a character; (ii) to provide a single means of spoken communication throughout the whole of China, by popularizing the Beijing-based variety, which has been chosen as a standard; (iii) to introduce a phonetic alphabet, which would gradually replace the Chinese characters in everyday use.

Guess a common language is a plus!

And how about safety issues......................from California

Statutory requirements. When a statute or regulation imposes specific requirements for labeling or warning upon a manufacturer, the manufacturer can raise those requirements as a defense. For example, in Ramirez v. Plough, Inc., supra, defendant was sued by a minor plaintiff who developed Reye’s Syndrome following the administration of aspirin to him by his mother, who was literate only in Spanish.Section 25900 of the California Health and Safety Coder required that labels on aspirin, and other non-prescription drugs, be in English. The court held that the statute provided a legislative standard of care which was met by the defendant. It concluded that manufacturers of non-prescription drugs have no legal duty in California to include foreign language warnings with their packaging materials. It is important to note the HAZCOM regulations applicable to Material Safety Data Sheets (discussed infra) require that warning labels be in English. 29 C.F.R.§1910.1200(g)

Guess they could print the warnings in the eight major Chinese languages, but what about the other minor Chinese languages? This is a never ending problem if we do not have a common language to interact.

[Joe Boucher]

Yeah but if you think about how many crops need picking I mean we're talking Iowa here.

[Axis Mundi]

Hooray for Iowa. Language is also a way of thinking. Try Latin or Egyptian hieroglyphics translations and you will get the idea.

[Irene Adler]

I cannot imagine that our illustrious Gov. Vilsack-o-sh!t will not veto this bill. He is a complete captive of the left.

[alley cat]

A poll by the Register last December showed 81 percent of 826 Iowa adults wanted the Legislature to establish English as the state's official language.

The nerve of that Legislature, actually doing something that the people want!

[esmith]

I guess we Yahoos in Iowa just want people to speak English and not have to pay for all of vilsackofcraps social programs. I hope sackofcraps does veto it as he did 2 times before we can use it against him when next he runs. He takes his orders from hillbilly as she just gave him a fundraiser in D.C. No where in our papers did they let that little bit of info out.

[Hacksaw]

The letter should be in, say, Turkish.

Any Klingon speakers here?

[nonliberal]

81% of Iowans favored the bill. It was long overdue here.

[KingNo155]

Great Post! I wonder how many languages the "Des Moines Register" is published in.
I'm going to see if I can find out, I'll let you know what I find.

[Salvation]

And from FoxNews:

Iowa Governor Signs Bill Declaring English State's Official Language

Friday, March 01, 2002

DES MOINES, Iowa — Gov. Tom Vilsack signed a bill into law Friday declaring English the state's official language.

Though it is mainly symbolic, the law requires all government proceedings be conducted in English. Supporters have said English is a unifying factor in a state that has become increasingly diverse.

Opponents, including many Hispanics and liberals, have called it thinly veiled racism. Most Democrats in the Legislature voted against the bill, which is similar to laws approved in 26 other states.

"I recognize that the bill is not without controversy," Vilsack said. "My hope is that we will look beyond the controversy and put politics behind us so we can focus on our commitments and responsibility to improve education for all our children."

The Legislature sent Vilsack the bill earlier this week after two years of debate.

After the 2000 election, Vilsack launched a campaign to encourage an additional 310,000 immigrant workers to move to Iowa by 2010 to fill employment vacancies and boost dwindling population.

He noted Friday that lawmakers have promised an additional $1 million in a separate bill to fund state efforts helping immigrants learn English.

According to the advocacy group U.S. English Inc., 26 states have some form of official English laws. Similar legislation was approved by the U.S. House in 1996, but the Senate failed to act by the end of the session.

[Salvation]

According to the advocacy group U.S. English Inc., 26 states have some form of official English laws. Similar legislation was approved by the U.S. House in 1996, but the Senate failed to act by the end of the session.

26 states -- Hmmmmmmm
Senate failed to approve -- Hmmmmmmm
Not much has changed since 1996? -- Hmmmmmmm

Thank Goodness we don't have x42! LOL!

[Salvation]

Close tags?

[LostTribe]

>Wow. That's pretty ridiculous. I wonder how many people in Iowa don't speak English?

An increasing amount.

[Artie_Kay]

I'll add the Des Moines Register to my list of publications I refer to whenever I need to remind myself how lucky I am to have a brain.

The San Francisco Chronicle and San Jose Mercury have done just fine, but there's always room for one one.

Donde esta la common sense?