HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: gmark@cbnewse.cb.att.com (gilbert.m.stewart)
Subject: Re: KEEPING YOU MENSA MEMBERSHIP A SECRET
Organization: AT&T
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 16:24:10 GMT

In article <By2p9v.KE1@cs.dal.ca> franklin@ug.cs.dal.ca (Steve Franklin) writes:
>In <mike_steiner-171192112631@192.35.50.131> mike_steiner@qm.claris.com (Mike Steiner) writes:
>>In article <16Nov92133624@miracle.com>, jcooley@miracle.com (John Cooley)
>>wrote:
>
>>>   Anyone have any positive stories concerning telling non-members you're
>>>   a member?  Also, what are some of the bad reactions you've recieved?
>
>>Well, how about that I got a job in a brand-new field (to me) and within
>>two years quadrupled my annual income because I told a hiring-manager that
>>I'm in Mensa?
>
>   Listen Mike, this is not a flame or a presumptuous stab in the back, but
>I have to try and get this straight. Your salary quadrupled because you told
>your hiring-manager you're in Mensa? Will this work for scholarships and
>marks too? Will I too quadruple my GPA to something unsurmountable, if I too
>can get into Mensa? 
>   I think this sort of reasoning is a tad scary, but I suspect it is a

Yes.  I was involved in a major shipwreck several years ago and essentially
marooned on a remote island in the Pacific, where the natives saw my black-
and-yellow Mensa beach umbrella and worshipped me as a god.  This enabled
me to feast on the animals they sacrificed to me, to survive, to spread
my DNA to a primitive people, saving their culture from the neighboring
tribes, and to return to a high-paying job in realestate.

So you can see that great power brings great responsibility and can
lead to eventual doom.

GM("Not My Real Name to Protect My Loved Ones")S
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
From: cjdcosta@eos.ncsu.edu (CHRISTOPHER J DCOSTA)
Subject: Re: The Great Beast Eats Tai For Breakfast
Originator: cjdcosta@zepplin.ece.ncsu.edu
Reply-To: cjdcosta@eos.ncsu.edu (CHRISTOPHER J DCOSTA)
Organization: North Carolina State University, Project Eos
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 01:56:42 GMT



	Bon appetit.

--------------------------------
From: jcooley@miracle.com (John Cooley)
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: "Family Circle" Scheduling Program
Date: 18 Nov 92 01:13:22 GMT
Article-I.D.: miracle.17Nov92211322
Organization: Miracle Computer Consultants


 Just the other day, I was talking with a Mensan friend about a person
 we both knew through attendance at nearby Mensa Regional Gatherings.  
 I related that Mr.X had at one RG told me that he hated the comic 
 "Far Side" and much rather prefered "Family Circle".  (Of course, 
 this bit of news seems to shock each Mensan I've told it to because 
 "Family Circle" is such a predictable comic strip.... then idead 
 dawned upon us that we could write a scheduling program for Bill Keane 
 (author of "Family Circle") and make lots of money selling it to him!)

 First we'd start out with writing a program with the simple heuristics
 for Sunday editions of "Family Circle":

       - Every 3 weeks, <brat of choice> runs around neighborhood 
         with dotted line following him/her.

       - Every 4 weeks, <brat of choice> "writes" the comic strip 
         because "daddy's gone" for some reason.

       - Every 2 weeks, <older brat of choice> tells <younger brat of
         choice> some cute, lame pun that supposedly explains the 
         world and amuses the hell out midwestern grandmothers.

 As you can see, it's not all that hard to come up with the heuristics;
 the challenge would be in writing a scheduler that would resolve 
 conflicts when two or all three of the heuristics conflict on the same
 Sunday.

 Any ideas on what heuristics to incorporate in the daily "Family Circle"
 scheduler?
                                           - John Cooley
                                             LocSec, Boston Mensa


 ==========================================================================
       John Cooley              Zappa as a waste management engineer: 
                                  "Hey, there, Brother!  Whatcha
    jcooley@miracle.com            doing with that Cosmic Debris?"  
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
From: jcooley@miracle.com (John Cooley)
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Re: _Vidya_
Date: 23 Nov 92 19:22:27 GMT
Article-I.D.: miracle.23Nov92152227
Organization: Miracle Computer Consultants

skh4161@mvs.draper.com (Kjeld Hvatum) writes:

>>From: John Cooley <jcooley@miracle.com>
>>
>>OK, I'll bite.  What's a "_Vidya_" ?
>
>Journal of the Triple Nine Society.

Oh.  OK.  I usually don't put much interest in the High IQ societies
that obsess over High IQ.  The reason why I'm so involved in Mensa
has very little to do with what scores people got on some test they
took but more to do with the increadable calibur of people I've
met through Mensa.

Like Ken's post, I prefer the face to face social interaction with
other Mensans; the higher IQ societies tend to not have by design
enough critical mass to have lots of social gatherings.

                                        - John Cooley
                                          LocSec, Boston Mensa


 ==========================================================================
       John Cooley              Zappa as a waste management engineer: 
                                  "Hey, there, Brother!  Whatcha
    jcooley@miracle.com            doing with that Cosmic Debris?"  
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
From: hollombe@polymath.tti.com (The Polymath)
Subject: Re: Special Interest Groups
Organization: The Cat Factory
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 21:39:42 GMT

Nico Veenkamp:
}And while we are at it. Why not start an
}Internet SIG (Special Internet Group :-) that you can join when you have
}an @ address or are able to post on the 'net?

Isn't that what rec.org.mensa is?

The Polymath (aka: Jerry Hollombe, M.A., CDP, aka: hollombe@polymath.tti.com)
Head Robot Wrangler at Citicorp
3100 Ocean Park Blvd.   (310) 450-9111, x2483
Santa Monica, CA  90405
From: gmark@cbnewse.cb.att.com (gilbert.m.stewart)
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Re: Keeping Your Mensa Membership A Secret
Date: 17 Nov 92 22:27:07 GMT
Organization: AT&T

In article <1992Nov17.185434.22243@odin.corp.sgi.com> lana@magenta.corp.sgi.com (Lana Mountford) writes:
>In article <16Nov92133624@miracle.com>, jcooley@miracle.com (John Cooley) writes:
>|> 
>|>   Anyone have any positive stories concerning telling non-members you're
>|>   a member?  Also, what are some of the bad reactions you've recieved?
>|> 
>
>The usual reaction I get when I tell people is "But .. but ... you're
>so ... so ... so NORMAL!," usually delivered with a look that says

Guess I've never had that particular problem.

GMS
From: mike_steiner@qm.claris.com (Mike Steiner)
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Re: Weighted Suffrage
Date: 16 Nov 92 23:57:33 GMT
Followup-To: rec.org.mensa

In article <1e71usINNs59@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu>, al037@cleveland.Freenet.Edu
(Dave Polewka) wrote:
> 
> 
> In a previous article, mike_steiner@qm.claris.com (Mike Steiner) says:
> 
> >> It all depends on your particular agenda.  If you want more
> >> government, then there's no problem--things are moving along
> >> just fine.  If you want less government, then one-man-one-vote
> >> doesn't make it.  Weighting by income taxes paid would tend to
> >> favor the middle class agenda (since they pay most of the taxes),
> >> which would feature the election of those who would reduce the
> >> size and scope of government, thus freeing up the private sector.
> >> The increased role of the marketplace would narrow the gap between
> >> rich and poor, and promote peace worldwide.
> >
> >This presumes that the middle class wants to limit the size and scope of
> >government--something that I believe that doesn't middle class doesn't care
> >about either way.  All that almost any member of the middle class really
> >cares about from the governent is that his/her own taxes are kept as low as
> >possible, and that the government keep off his/her back.
> 
> What about *you*, Mike?  Do you care whether the government
> expands or contracts?

Yes, I do care.  I would much rather have a smaller and leaner (but not
meaner) government appartus than we now have.

However, if that means discarding the one-person, one-vote principle, it
isn't worth it.  As soon as you start applying criteria for weighting
people's votes, you open the door even wider to voting abuse.

+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Now that I have a reader that can do .sigs, I can't think of a witty |
|one to put here, so I won't.  All normal disclaimers apply.          |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
From: bhatia@lsil.com (Ajoy Bhatia)
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Need information about Mensa in India
Keywords: membership, application, India
Date: 21 Nov 92 00:25:52 GMT
Reply-To: bhatia@lsil.com
Organization: LSI Logic Corporation

Hi all,

I live in India and am in the US for about 2 months on a business visit. I would
like to know more about Mensa activities in India.

I am not a member yet, but my GRE scores are sufficient to allow me to
apply for membership. I have the following questions:

1. Can I take the membership tests in India? If not, what are the centers in
     the US?

2. Would it be useful to join Mensa if I live in India most of the time? (I may be
    coming to the US on business visits (~2months) once a year on average)

3. What is the annual membership fee?

Thanks,
Ajoy
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
From: edp@math.zk3.dec.com (Eric Postpischil)
Subject: Re: Voting Analysis
Reply-To: edp@math.zk3.dec.com (Eric Postpischil)
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 16:05:21 GMT

In article <Bxoq1o.1J3@world.std.com>, rhs@world.std.com (Richard H
Schwartz) writes:

>So, unlike Schroedinger's cat who was both dead and alive until someone looks
>inside the box, this message was actually received?  I don't think so.  All
>you can say is that the Libertarians deduced that there was a non-zero 
>probablility that someone was sending this message.  The message itself
>can not be received until the test confirms that it was sent.

The mention of Schrdinger's cat is irrelevant; non-voters' actions are
conveyed to libertarians and other interested parties through
macroscopic means (counting of voter rolls) and hence quantum effects do
not occur.  Even if there were some quantum uncertainty involved, it
would still not negate the argument -- by the same token, EVERY message
is received with some probability less than 1, since random chance might
have bumped molecules around into something that was misinterpreted. 
But people somehow still manage to communicate; denying that it is
certain accomplishes nothing.


>If the sampling is done after the vote, it is the sampling that determines
>the message, not the act(s) of non-voting.

If only sampled people had not voted, the number of people known to have
not voted because of objections to candidates or the election would be
only that number found in sampling.  But by sampling a portion of the
population and extrapolating that to non-voters throughout the
population, we get an estimate of the total number of objecting
non-voters.  That total could not be obtained from sampling alone; it
must include the total number of non-voters.  Thus, not-voting
contributes to that total and thus contributes to the final tally of
objecting non-voters.  Their message is sent and received.


                                -- edp (Eric Postpischil)
                                "Always mount a scratch monkey."
                                edp@rusure.enet.dec.com
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
From: jcooley@miracle.com (John Cooley)
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Re: Grad Students
Date: 23 Nov 92 19:20:12 GMT
Article-I.D.: miracle.23Nov92152012
Organization: Miracle Computer Consultants

wiggins@osiris.cso.uiuc.edu (Don Wiggins) writes:
>Is it me, or does there seem to be an unhealthy level of interest on this
>board about grad students killing their professors??

Unhealthy?  Why do you think it's unhealthy?

In general, most slaves tend to dislike having a master.


 ==========================================================================
       John Cooley              Zappa as a waste management engineer: 
                                  "Hey, there, Brother!  Whatcha
    jcooley@miracle.com            doing with that Cosmic Debris?"
From: taw4@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu (TODD A WATKINS)
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Re: Weighted Suffrage
Date: 19 Nov 92 23:50:14 GMT
Organization: Lehigh University

In article <mike_steiner-161192155402@192.35.50.131>, mike_steiner@qm.claris.com
 (Mike Steiner) writes:
>In article <1e71usINNs59@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu>, al037@cleveland.Freenet.Edu
>(Dave Polewka) wrote:
>>
>>
>> In a previous article, mike_steiner@qm.claris.com (Mike Steiner) says:
>>
>> >> It all depends on your particular agenda.  If you want more
>> >> government, then there's no problem--things are moving along
>> >> just fine.  If you want less government, then one-man-one-vote
>> >> doesn't make it.  Weighting by income taxes paid would tend to
>> >> favor the middle class agenda (since they pay most of the taxes),
>> >> which would feature the election of those who would reduce the
>> >> size and scope of government, thus freeing up the private sector.
>> >> The increased role of the marketplace would narrow the gap between
>> >> rich and poor, and promote peace worldwide.
>> >                                                                                                                                                     >However, if that means discarding the one-person, one-vote principle, it
>  As soon as you start applying criteria for weighting
>people's votes, you open the door even wider to voting abuse.

Well, at the national level, anyway, our votes *are* weighted, people living in
smaller states (by population) getting more of a say -- in the Senate, and by
composition of the electoral college, in voting for the President.

You may also recall that the Constitution, before the amendments, weighted
people, 3/5 for a slave, if I remember right.
-- 
Todd A. Watkins          Lehigh University/College of Business & Economics
taw4@lehigh.edu          Rauch Business Center #37/Bethlehem, PA  18015
From: rr@chem.ucsd.edu (Roxanne Rohmann)
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Re: Net Access
Date: 17 Nov 1992 17:01:29 GMT
Organization: Chemistry Dept, UC San Diego
NNTP-Posting-Host: chedccf0.ucsd.edu

In article <1ea8bvINN6k@network.ucsd.edu> jwp@chem.ucsd.edu (John Pierce) writes:
 > jcooley@miracle.com (John Cooley) writes:
 >  > 
 >  > .... I'm constantly reminded by many from my local chapter that something
 >  > like 90% or more DO NOT have access to e-mail or Internet in any way ....
 > 
 > I think that net access is really much less of a problem than people try
 > to make of it.  In less than six months members in San Diego should have free
 > access to normal Internet mail and Usenet news.  We (principally Lynn Dobbs)

Yes, but setting up access is only a small portion of the problem. 
The fact remains that *most* people simply aren't computerized at
all, and the majority of them aren't really likely to become so.

While net and e-mail access is going to broaden the horizons of
a fair number in our local group, this access is going to remain
the purview of a minority of members.

   ---Roxanne Rohmann
   (former LocSec) San Diego Mensa

Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
From: jlc5f@poe.acc.Virginia.EDU (Jean L. Cooper)
Subject: Re: Benifits of Mensa
Organization: University of Virginia
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 16:23:58 GMT

You seem to be describing the uses to which intelligence is
put, rather than intelligence itself.  I think we need to
separate the two.

Can we agree that "intelligence", in and of itself, is a
"good thing"?

Can we also agree that people use the "intelligence"
with which they are gifted in ways that are positive or
negative to society, depending on the individual's
inclinations?

Does it seem logical that some individuals can have high
"intelligence" coupled with high "positive" inclinations
toward usefulness, while others can have high "intelligence"
coupled with low "positive" inclinations, or low "intelligence"
and high "positive" inclinations, etc.?

In other words, intelligence is a tool.  You can use the
tool in socially acceptable, efficient ways, or in not
socially acceptable, non-efficient ways.  It depends on the
individual.  It does not depend upon the "intelligence."
--
Jean L. Cooper    (BITNET: JLC5F@virginia.edu   CIS: 70253,1114)
"The true University of these days is a Collection of Books." 
                                           --Carlyle
From: jcooley@miracle.com (John Cooley)
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Re: grad students killing professors
Date: 23 Nov 92 18:50:27 GMT
Article-I.D.: miracle.23Nov92145027
Organization: Miracle Computer Consultants

David O Hunt <bluelobster+@CMU.EDU> writes:
>On 19-Nov-92 in Re: grad students killing p..
>user Eric C. S. Dynamic@tfs.c writes:
>>By the time I left RPI, I'd roomed with a guy who was in exactly this bind;
>>but it'd only been 4 years for him.
>
>I expect that my total sojourn in grad school will be 4-5 years.
>
>On 19-Nov-92 in Re: grad students killing p..
>user Eric C. S. Dynamic@tfs.c writes:
>>Figure also - my Psychology Ph.D. candidate friend described how advisors
>>routinely listed themselves as first author in papers they had *nothing* to do
>>with. This must be thoroughly widespread - so - how can so much corruption
>>persist unchecked?
>
>I have no problem with putting my advisor's name first - he is, after all,
>the _principal investigator_, and is funding me.  If, however, he wanted
>SOLE credit, then I'd have a serious beef.

That's bullshit.  If you're doing the work, YOU should get the credit.

Just because your advisor has control of university or federal money that
was granted him does not give him the right to claim he did your original
work.

I remember in engineering school some profs complaining that it seemed
that Americans weren't as interested as foriegners in getting advanced
degrees in engineering.  They wrote it off as Americans being lazy.
Nobody bothered to look at the grad school system and it's, in many cases,
being just a glorified form of indentured servitude.  American engineers
rather get paid to do the same work, whereas many of the foriegn grad
students come from countries where they can't apply their engineering skills
in a well paying job so they try to advance themselves through advanced
degrees in American and other well know universities.

-John


 ==========================================================================
       John Cooley              Zappa as a waste management engineer: 
                                  "Hey, there, Brother!  Whatcha
    jcooley@miracle.com            doing with that Cosmic Debris?"  
From: seghers@hpkslx.mayfield.HP.COM (David Seghers)
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 21:56:49 GMT
Subject: Re: Tired of Tai
Organization: HP Response Center Lab
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa

>/ hpkslx:rec.org.mensa / sue@miracle.com /  8:39 am  Nov 16, 1992 /
>What's going on here?
>
>I disappeared about 3 or 4 _months_ ago, being tired of all the fluff,
>mostly regarding Scott Tai.  Now, I finally pick up this newsgroup
>again, and find that you people are still squabbling over him!  Aren't
>there more important, or at least more interesting, things to post about?
>
>- Sue -
>P.S. - It isn't that I have anything against Scott Tai, but hasn't this
>been going on long enough?
>----------
More than long enough.  Seeing the volume which "Tai" produces, he/she/it
*is* the fluff.  I really think "Tai" is attempting a filibuster in order
to drive others away from this group.   I'm just amazed at the number
people who rise to it's BS.  It's just trying to get a rise - ignore it
and it will haunt another group!

(Actually, with it's demonstrated forgeries, "Tai" might be posting
both sides.  A not too creative use of time!)


David Seghers (seghers@hpcc01.HP.COM) 415-691-3730

************************************************************************
Solipsist Society, Founding Member  (I think, therefore you are.)

Charter member of the "I HATE vi!" Club.
************************************************************************
The statements and opinions above are my own, entirely my own, and no one
else's.

Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
From: skh4161@mvs.draper.com (Kjeld Hvatum)
Subject: Re: Keeping Your Mensa Membership A Secret
Organization: Draper Laboratory
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 12:41:00 GMT


>From: "gilbert.m.stewart" <gmark@cbnewse.cb.att.com>
>Message-ID: <1992Nov17.173743.1786@cbnewse.cb.att.com>
>
>My favorite reaction was one I once posted.  A co-worker at
>the axle plant I worked at said she wouldn't want to be a
>genius because she knew a genius once who committed suicide.
>I suppressed my laughter, luckily, and said, "Case closed.
>I'm going for that lobotomy tomorrow."...

That may not be enough!  Some lobotomized schizoids can still score high
on IQ tests, though their motivation, personality, and overall mental
coherence are shot.

Actually, it seems like this observation provides an interesting insight
into what IQ tests fail to gauge.
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
From: skh4161@mvs.draper.com (Kjeld Hvatum)
Subject: Re: grad students killing professors
Organization: Draper Laboratory
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 08:18:00 GMT


>From: Marsha Woodbury <mcwg9235@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu>
>Message-ID: <Bxwu6G.DKy@news.cso.uiuc.edu>
>
>While lurking around mensa this morning, it occurred (sp?)
>to me that folks in mensa could help me with my quest--
>i have a story about a guy named Fabrikant who went crazy
>and killed some people on a college campus.  I don't think
>this is Urban Legend, but I need the name of the school,
>the country (Canada?  US?) and year, etc.
>We mensans are smart, right?  So we flip out under
>pressure, right?  I hope wrong.  If you can't tell me
>about Frabrikant, let me know about any others you
>have heard of.
>Thanks in advance!
>--
>Marsha Woodbury   marsha-w@uiuc.edu

I have a keyword-indexed archive of many Usenet newsgroups, and
I found 94 articles in sci.research.careers containing "fabrikant".
The tragic event took place at Concordia University, and it was
also in the papers.  I'll send you the 94 articles as one e-mail
message.  If anyone else is interested, let me know.
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa