This came down the line yesterday. It's a slow day on the list, so here goes: >>>> Geekonics >>>> By John Woestendiek >>>> Philadelphia Inquirer >>>> Wed., January 8, 1997 >>>> >>>> NEWS BULLETIN: Saying it will improve the education of children who >>>> have grown up immersed in computer lingo, the school board in San >>>> Jose, Calif., has officially designated computer English, or >>>> "Geekonics", as a second language. >>>> >>>> The historic vote on Geekonics -- a combination of the word "geek" >>>> and the word "phonics" -- came just weeks after the Oakland school >>>> board recognized black English, or Ebonics, as a distinct language. >>>> >>>> "This entirely reconfigures our parameters," Milton "Floppy" >>>> Macintosh, chairman of Geekonics Unlimited, said after the school >>>> board became the first in the nation to recognize Geekonics. >>>> >>>> "No longer are we preformatted for failure," Macintosh said during a >>>> celebration that saw many Geekonics backers come dangerously close >>>> to smiling. "Today, we are rebooting, implementing a program to >>>> process the data we need to interface with all units of humanity." >>>> >>>> Controversial and widely misunderstood, the Geekonics movement was >>>> spawned in California's Silicon Valley, where many children have >>>> grown up in households headed by computer technicians, programmers, >>>> engineers and scientists who have lost ability to speak plain >>>> English and have inadvertently passed on their high-tech vernacular >>>> to their children. >>>> >>>> HELPING THE TRANSITION >>>> >>>> While schools will not teach the language, increased teacher >>>> awareness of Geekonics, proponents say, will help children make the >>>> transition to standard English. Those students, in turn, could >>>> possibly help their parents learn to speak in a manner that would >>>> lead listeners to believe that they have actual blood coursing >>>> through their veins. >>>> >>>> "Bit by bit, byte by byte, with the proper system development, with >>>> nonpreemptive multitasking, I see no reason why we can't download >>>> the data we need to modulate our oral output," Macintosh said. >>>> >>>> The designation of Ebonics and Geekonics as languages reflects a >>>> growing awareness of our nation's lingual diversity, experts say. >>>> >>>> Other groups pushing for their own languages and/or vernaculars to >>>> be declared official viewed the Geekonics vote as a step in the >>>> right direction. >>>> >>>> "This is just, like, OK, you know, the most totally kewl thing, >>>> like, ever," said Jennifer Notat-Albright, chairwoman of the >>>> Committee for the Advancement of Valleyonics, headquartered in >>>> Southern California. "I mean, like, you know?" she added. >>>> >>>> THEY'RE HAPPY IN DIXIE >>>> >>>> "Yeee-hah," said Buford "Kudzu" Davis, president of the Dixionics >>>> Coalition. "Y'all gotta know I'm as happy as a tick on a sleeping >>>> bloodhound about this. We could be fartin' thru silk perty soon." >>>> >>>> Spokesmen for several subchapters of Dixionics -- including >>>> Alabonics, Tennesonics and Louisionics -- also said they approved of >>>> the decision. >>>> >>>> Bill Flack, public information officer for the Blue Ribbon Task >>>> Force on Bureaucratonics said that his organization would not >>>> comment on the San Jose vote until it convened a summit meeting, >>>> studied the impact, assessed the feasibility, finalized a report and >>>> drafted a comprehensive action plan, which, once it clears the >>>> appropriate subcommittees and is voted on, will be made public to >>>> those who submit the proper information-request forms. >>>> >>>> Proponents of Ebonics heartily endorsed the designation of Geekonics >>>> as an official language. >>>> >>>> "I ain't got no problem wif it," said Earl E. Byrd, president of the >>>> Ebonics Institute. "You ever try talkin' wif wunna dem computer >>>> dudes? Don't matter if it be a white computer dude or a black >>>> computer dude; it's like you be talkin' to a robot -- RAM, DOS, >>>> undelete, MegaHertZ. Ain't nobody understands. But dey keep talkin' >>>> anyway. 'Sup wif dat?" >>>> >>>> Those involved in the lingual diversity movement believe that only >>>> by enacting many different English languages, in addition to all the >>>> foreign ones practiced here, can we all end up happily speaking the >>>> same boring one, becoming a nation that is both unified in its >>>> diversity, and diversified in its unity. >>>> >>>> Others say that makes no sense at all. In any language. >>>> >>>> >>>>
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