13155 Wimberly Square #284
San Diego, CA 92128
[Telephone number omitted.]
May 29, 1998

Dear Rick and Chris,

In the past few weeks, I have received two requests for admission to the Mega Society based on what I consider marginal test results Along with Paul Maxim's allegations regarding the validity of Kevin Langdon's membership, these requests point out the need for a more formal, objective means of dealing with membership issues,

I checked the Mega Society 'by-laws' (copy cnclosed) to determine how this kind of situation was handled in the past. This raised some significant questions.

1. Are we still governed by these by-laws? When the Mega and Noetic Societies merged, did Noetic have a constitution or by-laws? If so, which set operates today? Do we even want by-laws. etc.? I flunk at some point we should have some written rules to deal with certain sensitive issues.

2. Who are our officers and what are their titles? Rick is obviously the Editor and I have been acting more or less as the Membership Officer But we have had only one election (the ad hoc one for Rick). We need elections and official titles of offices to operate under the Mega by-laws

I believe there are other questions that need to be addressed sooner or later. Exactly how do we determine that someone is eligible to join? The fact that Paul Maxim has raised this issue with respect to Kevin Langdon serves to emphasize that this is something we should not put off any longer.

In this regard, I feel there are two principles we should adhere to First, prospective members may be admitted if they demonstrate, through a valid score on an "acceptable" IQ test, that they rank in the top one millionth of the general population. Just what is "acceptable" is, of course, subject to debate. The important point, however, is that it represent a good faiith effort on our part to provide an objective cut-off. Yes, we recognize the inherent major weaknesses in IQ testing. But we do the best we can. Any member so admitted is a member permanently. If, later on, new norming data or other evidence suggests that a member does not rank that high that person's membership is not in jeopardy.

Second, fraudulent IQ scores and other evidence used to gain admission is not acceptable. If fraud is later discovered, that member can be expelled. Before the merger, I discovered that a member gained admission by substantially altering his Mega Test score report from Ron Hoeflin, I wrote this person requesting an explanation for the discrepancy between what he submitted and Ron Hoeflin's records. l never received a response. As a result, I removed him as a member.

Hopefully, adhering to these principles will avoid some potential bitter disputes over membership issues while keeping out at a few "cranks."

Let me add. somewhat parenthetically, that I would like to see a current listing of who is a subscriber, who is a member, and how each member qualified.

Regarding the cnclosed two requests for membership, my feeling is "no" for [name omitted] and "yes for [name and a few additional words omitted] However, [name omitted's] score is not in the Mega range. Even if it were, I think strong doubts have been raised about the validity of Kevin's norming. One the other hand, [name omitted's] score does appear to be in the Mega range on a valid, objective test.

please let me know your views on these issues. I believe these questions need lo be resolved, and, of course, the applicants deserve a response.

Sincerely,

Jeff Ward