The matter of non-QCWA member participation, as an associate, in QCWA activities was discussed at the 2001 Meeting of your Board of Directors. Your Board has expended considerable effort toward resolving this persistent matter through letters, e-mail and personal contacts at Chapter meetings, conventions and hamfests. The majority consensus was that an associate category is not desired by QCWA membership.

For various reasons, however, your Chapter may want to allow guests of its members to participate in its activities. To provide guidance to those Chapters that do so, your Board developed the following statement of policy on non-member participation in Chapter activities. This policy was reaffirmed today at the 2004 Meeting of your Board of Directors.

One difficulty to resolving this long-standing matter may arise from the use of the unofficial term "associate." Although this A-word can be used as a noun, there is a tendency to use it more as an adjective modifying the word "member." That appears to make it a hot-button issue to those members who oppose any attempt to compromise the very purpose of the QCWA. For this reason, your Board recommends that all references to the A-word be avoided.

The Quarter Century Wireless Association, Inc. (QCWA) has as its fundamental purpose the promotion of friendship and cooperation among those very distinguished amateur radio operators who were licensed at least one-quarter century ago. The commitment to the pursuit of this purpose is codified in Article II, Section 2 of its Constitution: QCWA memberships are reserved to those currently licensed amateur operators who can prove that they were licensed at least twenty-five years ago. Further, Article VII, Section 2 of the By Laws upholds this obligation by requiring each member of a Chapter to be a member in good standing in the QCWA.

A QCWA Chapter is, of course, free to welcome to its activities guests invited by its members. When there is more than occasional participation by a non-member, however, the Chapter must make clear to all concerned that the person's participation can be only as the guest of a Chapter member. This differentiation is important to honoring the long-term dedication of our extraordinary members to the amateur service -- as well as to maintaining the very credibility of the QCWA as the unique organization comprised of amateur operators licensed at least 25 year ago. Moreover, a regularly participating non-member should be expected to apply promptly for membership in the QCWA and the Chapter when the twenty-five year eligibility requirement is fulfilled.

Where it is necessary for a Chapter to designate by titles the participation of it members' guests, the titles used must be such as to avoid implying any category of membership in either the QCWA or the Chapter. Each title should describe the type of participation. Suggestions: Chapter #__ Guest; Friend of Chapter #__; Chapter #__ Newsletter Subscriber; Chapter #__ Supporter.

By the Board of Directors