LINUX Sort Problem

[Steve Chamberlin]

Hello all,
   My name is Steve Chamberlin and I currently work for Qsent in
Beaverton, OR. I have been using the sort utility version 5.2.1 in LINUX
and seem to be having a problem with special characters. If a line
contains these characters, essentially anything beyond numbers and
letters, they do not seem to be recognized in a collating sequence. My
preference for the sort is to default to the standard ASC II collating
sequence and I don't seem to be able to get the utility to do this. 
    If you have any ideas or suggestions that would help alot. We do
alot of sorting and merging of large files and this issue has created
some quality problems with our merges. 
   Thanks!
 
Steve Chamberlin
Sr. Data Analyst
Qsent, Inc
503-372-7014