I will never use what I learn in school anyways, what is the point to this assignment?

I think we have all questioned our teacher why we would ever need to know math, German, English, science or whatever subject that we did not feel like doing our homework in at the time. I can promise you that I have used all the subjects taught in school in my personal and professional life. So why must you learn a foreign language? You say you will never move to a foreign country and you will stay right here where people speak English.

I wonder if the marketing department at ACS, Alaska Communication Services had the same attitude when they came up with their "UNTERNET" campaign. It is a cute little play on words marrying the two words "internet" and "unlimited" to form the new and exciting word of "UNTERNET". This epic word arrived on a mailer written in all caps at my house and at first look I was shocked and insulted that anyone would ask me to subscribe to something called the "UNTERNET".

Let us look at the word and its German meaning and historical usage a little closer. First of all the German word "unter" means beneath, under, less than or sub. As a German I think they want to sell me a product that is of low quality.

Let us examine a few words that have the word "unter" in them. There is "Unterseeboot" under water boat, or u-boat. The "U" as an abbreviation is also used in the word "U-bahn" the train that is underneath or a subway. There is one more way that the word "unter" has been used in German history. The unfortunate association with the Third Reich word "Untermensch" must also be acknowledged. Sadly the ten year blight on German history, that many people use to define Germans covers the time of the Nationalist Socialist rule. The Nazis or National Socialists are responsible for murdering millions of people that did not fit within their scope. In order to de-humanize their victims, Nazis called them "Untermenschen". "Unter" meaning beneath, under, less than or sub and "Menschen" meaning human.

The word "unter" used as something that is physically located beneath something is socially acceptable but the word "unter" as a

prefix to anything else just means that it is sub-par and undesPerhaps you see why my initial reaction at the ACS advertisement was one of shock and disbelief because in my experience the word "unter" used as a prefix and not describing something that is physically located under something else.

The ACS marketing department did not study German or the history of the German people when they decided to invent this term to describe their unlimited internet services. It is sad that they have stumbled on something that is truly offensive to people of German and Jewish heritage, that could have easily been avoided if they had placed value on learning about another culture that is far away from their own but still relevant because many Americans have very strong German roots.