"The job of satire is to frighten and enlighten." (Richard Condon)

NCESML examines state massage laws to determine whether they have legally valid credentialing requirements and whether they achieve their stated objectives. This includes laws that have already been enacted as well as proposed laws that are being pushed by promoters. NAASML accredits state massage laws that pass the NSESML examination. NAASML-accreditation means that the law is legally valid and achieves its stated objectives.

Since a law cannot take an examination for itself, someone has to serve as a surrogate exam-taker. If you volunteer to be a surrogate exam-taker, you don't have to buy books or videos, or pay to take workshops which purportedly will help you pass the NCESML examination.

To prepare for the NCESML, you have to read the state massage law that will be examined. You also have to study the editorial and the following two reports in the Fall, 1993, issue of Massage & Bodywork Quarterly: (1) Is State Regulation of Massage Illegal? and (2) The Public Doesn't Need State Regulation of Massage. So Who Does Want it and Why?

The NCESML is an "open book test". You may refer to the above-mentioned publications and anything else while you take NCESML. Part A consists of nine questions that require Yes or No answers. Part B is an essay question. You have up to three hours to complete the NCESML. You will not be monitored while you take this examination because it is given under the honor system.

A law that has already been enacted may take the NCESML no more than three times. If the law fails the first and/or second examination, it must be amended before being reexamined. If an enacted law does not pass the third time, it should be immediately repealed because it is illegal and does not meet its stated objectives.

1. Do the state massage law requirements for certification, registration or licensure objectively evaluate the competence of massage therapists in terms of their on-the-job performance? Yes No

2. Does the state massage law differentiate between competent and incompetent massage therapists in terms of on-the-job performance? Yes No

3. If the state massage law does not distinguish between competent and incompetent massage therapists in terms of on-the-job performance, can it protect the public against incompetent massage therapists? Yes No

4. Are graduates of state-accredited massage schools more competent massage therapists than graduates from massage schools that are not state-accredited, and massage therapists who are self-taught? Yes No

5. Does a state massage law that requires a 500-hour training produce more competent massage therapists than a training of, for example, 400 hours? Yes No

6. Are massage therapists who pass the National Certification Examination for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork more competent than massage therapists who fail? Yes No

7. Does the state massage law significantly dissociate ethical massage from prostitution in the public mind? Yes No

8. Does the state massage law benefit special interest groups? Yes No
9. Should a state massage law be repealed if it benefits special interest groups? Yes No

PART B. You may or may not have to take Part B. If your answer to any questions 1 through 7 is "Yes", explain in 1000 words or less how you justify each "Yes" answer. If your answer to question 8 and/or 9 is "No", explain in 1000 words or less how you justify each "No" answer.

"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." ( Albert Einstein)