A century-old hobby filled with dots and dashes is embroiled in a debate about its future and what level of training should be expected of those called on to help during local and national emergencies. Morse code, a slowly dying language, has become radio's equivalent of Latin: historically important, but increasingly irrelevant in a world of cell phones, computers and instant messaging. With mariners and the military having moved to other technologies long ago, ham radio operators are virtually the sole practitioners of a technique that made national and international communication possible with the telegraph.