The legacy of ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP

It's being said that no ARRL President has been more
visable and approachable than the man retiring from that job. Of coarse we are talking about Dallas, Texas own Jim Haynie, W5JBP. With a look back at the man and his career, once gain here is Mark Abramowicz, NT3V:

To say Jim Haynie was the right man at the right time for the ARRL is probably an understatement. During his six years as president of the League, Haynie was a driving force behind a number of significant League accomplishments and had a hand in a number of projects.

Among the ones he is most proud is taking amateur radio into the schools through the ARRL's Education and Technology program.

"We have 186 schools now and thousands of kids who've gone through this program, " Haynie says. "And, it's not necessarily, and I know there are some detractors that would say that, 'Well, they're not all going to be hams.'

"Well, maybe not. But there may be some Joe Taylors out there and that's what I'm interested in. The kids that will take amateur radio to heart and go further with it and someday become great physicists or scientists or something like that and we've given them that start."

One of Haynie's goals as president was outreach to hams - essentially, the personal touch.

'If you couldn't come to Newington, I wanted to come to you," Haynie says. "And I did that. It's hundreds of trips, I can't remember how many trips there were. I know last year it was 79 days that I was on the road, trying to communicate and talk to and be available to amateur radio operators all across the United States.

"And we did that, that's two-and-a-half months. That to me was very important to do that to be able to be one-on-one and that's the part I enjoyed the most."

Among the biggest challenges Haynie faced during his tenure was the Broadband over Power Lines internet battle. And, while there are still pockets of resistance, Haynie says he believes the tide is starting to turn and the eyes of many are being opened about the inefficiency, interference and high cost of BPL.

"Well, BPL, of course, is a real bothersome issue. But as time goes by, I'm seeing more and more of the fiber coming in the different technologies.

"And that was one of our goals is to be able to show not only industry but the public that there's other methods out there that would be more viable to us."

One of the other goals Haynie says he set for himself when elected president was taking a more hands-on approach to matters in Washington.

"Dealing with the lawmakers such as the congressman, the senators, as well as the people at the commission,"

Haynie says. "I know that there's some detractors out there right now on some of the websites who said well, we've gotten slapped down on a bunch of different issues.

"But in actuality, we know who all the different players are. And, we've done a good job on that. That's something that I feel like that I did a pretty good job in dealing with the congressman.

"I testified before Congress and the House investigation committee on 9-1-1 responders. We've subsequently done other type of testimony before Congress which we've never done before."

Haynie says the most important leadership role he tried to play during his tenure was salesman/cheerleader - encouraging hams to get the public to know who they are, what they can do and how they can become a valuable
community resource.

"And one of the things I wanted to do is sell amateur radio to the public," Haynie says. " And I think we've done a better job of that as of late.

"But the point being, the president of the League cannot do that by himself. There's no way. It has to be done on the local level, it has to be on the local club level, it has to be done on the regional level.

"This is one of the things that I would really like to see happen. It has to be something done on a local basis: selling amateur radio."

Haynie has high praise for those operators who volunteered to help in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the other hurricanes which raked the South last year. He also remembers the sacrifice of the many amateurs who stepped
up to serve in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks on New York, Washington and a field in western Pennsylvania.

Just because he has left the board and has the title president emeritus, Haynie says he's not planning to disappear altogether.

"Observe and occasionally make comments or make some suggestions to our board of directors and to, of course, the new officers that come along," Haynie says. "They're very capable. I'm very confident at what they can do will be something that we'll all be proud of.

"Now, on the other hand, as any ham that's out there, we all have our opinions, I have mine. And, I think what we need to do is stop and think about what's good for the overall amateur radio service. And that, of course, is my goal."

Mark Abramowicz, NT3V
Amateur Radio Newsline

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