Date: March 6, 1998
From: Kevin Langdon [old e-mail address omitted]
To: TNS E-mail List
"ExComs"
Subj: ExCom Memo
The Election; Membership Officer
I am pleased to be able to report that the Triple Nine Society has been able to come together on an election procecdure (with the exception of Wilson Ogg, who thinks that once an election is late a Constitutional amendment is required to have it at all).
This is important, as the existence of a dispute regarding who is a member of the Executive Committee has severely impeded the work of TNS officers during the past several months.
There are real differences, as I outlined in my message "The ABC's of Ogg and Hook" and as they and Mrs. White have made clear in their own messages. Now it's up to the members to decide what kind of society they want.
At least, it would be up to the members except for one loose end....
The "Reform" group recognizes Jacquelinne White as Membership Officer, while the opposing group, which has no formal name but to which I belong, has appointed Bob Kopp M.O.
In order to ensure that there is no further dispute over who is M.O., and therefore has a vote on the ExCom, after the election, I move, in both "ExComs," that:
The incumbent of the position of Membership Officer is removed from office as of the day before the officers elected in the 1998 election take office. This motion is conditional upon approval by both a majority of the "Reform" ExCom (Adams, Cooper, Jess, Langdon, Poukey, Preston, and Woodruff; Jacquelinne White is ineligible to vote on her own tenure in office and there is one vacancy) and a majority of the "non-Reform" ExCom (Adams, Cooper, Harris, Jess, Langdon, Poukey, and Preston; Bob Kopp is ineligible to vote on his own tenure in office and there is one vacancy).
Passage of this motion will give our incoming officers a free hand in deciding whom to appoint as Membership Officer.
If this is a somewhat bitter pill for the "Reformers," I ask them to consider this: If Mrs. White is elected Regent, she will have to resign as M.O. in order to take office, as Article III, Section 1 of the TNS Constitution provides that "No member of the Executive Committee shall hold more than one position on that committee at any one time." In this eventuality, passage of the motion will remove any claim of Bob Kopp to the position of M.O. without costing the "Reform" group anything in exchange.
Responses are invited, after which members of the "ExComs" are requested to send me their votes on this motion.
If there are any votes against this obviously sensible proposal, I ask the membership
to take note of who is trying to obstruct a clean transition to an undisputed set of
officers.
Constitutional Amendment Petititions Status
John Hook's amendment revising procedures for voting on initiatives and Constitutional
amendments made it onto the ballot in the revised election issue of Vidya, but
the two amendments proposed by me, restoring the term of office to one year and providing
for a Psychometrics Committee rather than a Psychometrician were a few signatures short as
of press time. I strongly recommend a "yes" vote on Mr. Hook's amendment. If the
amendment passes, the other two amendments can be voted on soon as well. If you have not
yet done so, please send in your petitions to put these amendments up for a vote of the
membership.
Budget
Article II, Section 3 of the TNS Constitution provides that "The Financial Officer shall...prepare a draft budget to serve as a set of guidelines for disbursements for the next fiscal year."
Article III, Section 6 provides that "The Executive Committee shall be responsible for the construction of a budget no less than annually."
I request that John Cooper prepare a draft budget for review by the incoming Executive Committee. I want to make it clear that I am not asking John to undertake a major project. Given the uncomplicated and unexciting nature of TNS expenditures, it should be possible to construct a perfectly adequate budget in about ten minutes.
As there have been some inquiries about the state of TNS finances from members
recently, this is not entirely an empty exercise.
Annual Meeting
For over a decade, the Triple Nine Society has had an annual meeting on the Columbus Day weekend in October.
There was no TNS annual meeting in 1997, as the atmosphere of strife in the society at that time made it impossible. I had spoken of organizaing a meeting in the San Francisco area, but did not wish to go forward with a meeting knowing that it would become entangled in political innuendo.
There is an informal rotation system for annual meetings: West Coast, Mid-U.S., East Coast. The 1996 annual meeting was in the Baltimore/Washington area, so it is the West Coast's "turn." All things being equal, it would be good to have the meeting in the West. It is also necessary for there to be someone available to make the necessary arrangements for a meeting, preferrably a local group but failing that an individul with a lot of energy.
If you would be interested in organizing this year's meeting, please let me know.
Reply to Jacquelinne White
Date: 02-Mar-98 21:20 PST
From: John Hook > INTERNET:jhh@mindspring.com
Subj: Message forwarded from Jacquelinne WhiteDuring a telephone conversation yesterday with Suzanne Taylor, Enforcement Coordinator for the California Board of Psychology, she confirmed that a Cease and Desist order was indeed issued against Kevin Langdon, to cease and desist the unlicensed practice of psychology. She further stated that she would refer my request for a copy of that order to their legal department, but that compliance with such a request was not usually granted.
I have not received a copy of any Cease and Desist order from the California Board of Psychology, but I can't prove a negative. And I wouldn't put it past the Board's disorganized and confused staff to have issued such an order but neglected to send it to me. My wife called Suzanne Taylor regarding the purported Cease and Desist order and she replied that she was sure there was such a thing but that she didn't know where it might be. I am awaiting a copy of the order, if Ms. Taylor can produce one.
But this is beside the point. Correspondence from the Board of Psychology which has been circulated to this list contends that my testing activity constitutes the practice of psychology without a license; I have stated that I wrote to the Board agreeing to halt my testing activity and that I have actually done so (though I intend to resume this activity when I decide on an appropriate legal strategy for doing so). There is little point in ordering someone not to do something he has already agreed not to do; it's entirely possible that the Board never got around to issuing a Cease and Desist order for this reason.
What concerns me is the willingness of Mrs. White and others to repeat unconfirmed
charges.
Letter from Dale Adams
Maybe I should be on e-mail instead of claiming that my insulation from it is a virtue. I have been expecting instructions from the ExCom on several matters, but nothing has come.
1. The motion to support the Ombudsman's Constitutional right to records was made. Apparently there was a rumor that both officers in question had complied. The fact is that as of March 4 I have received nothing nor had any communication from Dr. Greg Grove.
2. I expected someone to clarify TNS policy regarding such theoretical issues as minimum age of admission, proper administration and documentation of admission tests, and which tests are official as of which dates. I cannot be more specific without violating confidentiality, directly or indirectly.
3. Is anyone on the ExComs questioning the prima facie evidence for actions thusfar taken? Is this an issue?
4. The prima facie evidence depends on a confidential source. The confidential source conveyed information to the Regent which he felt should be brought to the attention of the Ombudsman. Only the Ombudsman has the authority to make a determination of whether adequate information has been presented to warrant an investigation. Neither Kevin nor I made any charges. I simply asked for the documents.
Dale Adams
Ombudsman, Triple Nine Society
[As Mrs. White has already provided records to the Ombudsman, the motion to require these "officers" to produce the records requested by the Ombudsman applies only to Dr. Grove. Although a motion duplicating a Constitutional requirement is redundant, I vote "yes"; members of the "ExComs," please send me your votes on this motion.
[The Psychometrics Committee voted not to accept age-corrected scores and adopted a list of thirteen tests acceptable for admission to TNS. Dr. Grove changed the list of qualifying scores without authorization from the real ExCom. It is also worth noting that Dr. Grove has not stepped forward to present his views on the matters before us or to explain his failure to produce the records required by the Ombudsman, despite being a candidate in the current election.]
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