HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: edp@math.zko.dec.com (Eric Postpischil)
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Re: Mensa national versus local, New York City
Date: 27 Jul 92 12:56:37 GMT
Reply-To: edp@math.zko.dec.com (Eric Postpischil)
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation

In article <1992Jul24.191433.8577@ttinews.tti.com>,
hollombe@polymath.tti.com (The Polymath) writes:

>GLAAM manages to print and distribute thousands of copies of a 32 - 40
>page newsletter every month with available funds.

THOUSANDS OF COPIES.    That means you get ten times more money to do it
than we get to do our three to four hundred copies.  You benefit from
mass production that we don't have.  (And is your newsletter printed
commercially, or is a local member providing access to printing
resources in some way?  That's how we used to accomplish it; we can't
now.)

>The newsletter money from American Mensa is supposed to be enough to
>publish a calendar of local events and mail it out first class, period.
>Financing anything more is up to the local group.  I suggest you start by
>applying for a 2nd class permit, as we did.  Then consider taking on some
>advertising for additional revenue, as we do.

We have a second class permit.  We have advertising.  A calendar by
itself is not likely to excite members.  (And where is this
calendar-funding criterion specified?)  American Mensa provides even
less for the rest of the group activities than it does for the
newsletter, so there's not much else available for adding to the
newsletter fund.  We does the other thirty-some dollars of American
Mensa's dues go?


                                -- edp (Eric Postpischil)
                                "Always mount a scratch monkey."
                                edp@alien.enet.dec.com
From: gmark@cbnewse.cb.att.com (gilbert.m.stewart)
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Re: T/ Re: Joining
Date: 30 Jul 92 15:35:56 GMT
Organization: AT&T

In article <1992Jul30.021136.19068@ncsu.edu>, scott@ailab.ncsu.edu (Scott A Tai) writes:
> 
> In article <1992Jul25.192752.7563@cbnewse.cb.att.com>, gmark@cbnewse.cb.att.com (gilbert.m.stewart) writes:
> |>In article <1992Jul25.142610.15034@ncsu.edu>, sat@ailab.ncsu.edu (Scott Andrew Tai) writes:
> |>> learn a new card game, or to talk about motorcycles, go to fun parties, etc.
> |>> I think this is why MENSA seems so shallow and its appeal is so small.
> |>
> |>Probably true.  This may very well be a perception that some people have.
> |>Frankly I don't care.  Maybe I should, but if I said I gave a crap, I'd
> |>be exaggerating.  But that's just me.  Also, I used to got to Mensa
> |>gatherings to have fun and relax.  Not to impress someone with my vast
> |>knowledge of whatever-the-heck is in vogue.  And for contributing to
> |>society, I do that at work.
> 
> So MENSA amounts to a social club with a test score requirement?  I see...
> 
> -- Scott Tai
>    tai@m-net.ann-arbor.mi.us

Well, yes.  Isn't this what I've been saying?  I know some have
said that they thought it should be a Positive Force for Solving
the Problems the Stupid Have, but I'm not one of those that have
said that.  

Hope this helps.

GMS
From: adams@chaos.aqeng.cdc.com (eric adams x4862)
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Re: TRUE BLUE?
Date: 29 Jul 92 20:29:49 GMT
Organization: Control Data Systems, Inc.

> How come the sky is blue?

It's an issue of scattering.

Small particulates in the atmosphere are scattering short wavelength (blue)
light more efficiently than long wavelenght (red) light.  Scattering is more
efficient when the particulate size is matched to the wavelengths involved.
The blue sky is due to a wide area of atmospheric bodies scattering 'blue'
light:

      OOO                               (dust particle)
      OOO -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  - *  -   -   > 'red light'
                                               /   
     (sun)                                    /
                                             /  'blue light'
                                          oo

                                      (observer)

This also goes a long way to explaining pretty red sunsets (sailboats not
included).

Service with a smile,
Eric B. Adams
From: mike_steiner@qm.claris.com (Mike Steiner)
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: SAT Scores
Date: 24 Jul 92 17:52:20 GMT
Distribution: usa

I found the following information in the World Almanac.  They are the mean SAT
scores of college-bound high-school seniors for the years listed.  I don't
know whether they considered everyone to took the test to be college bound, or
whether only those who were actually accepted to (or possibly attended) a
college are considered "college bound."

         1970 1975 1980 1982 1984 1985 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991
Verbal                      
Male      459  437  428  431  433  437  435  435  434  429  426
Female    461  431  420  421  420  425  425  422  421  419  418
Total     460  434  424  426  426  431  430  428  427  424  422
                      
Math                      
Male      509  495  491  493  495  499  500  498  500  499  497
Female    465  449  443  443  449  452  453  455  454  455  453
Total     488  472  466  467  471  475  476  476  476  476  474
                      
Totals                      
Male      968  932  919  924  928  936  935  933  934  928  923
Female    926  880  863  864  869  877  878  877  875  874  871
Combined  948  906  890  893  897  906  906  904  903  900  896

By comparison, the norm is 400 for each part (or 800 combined), and Mensa's
eligibility scores are 1250 (Post 1978) and 1300 (pre 1978).

One thing I found interesting is that except for 1970, boys got higher Verbal
scores than did girls--even though "conventional wisdom" says that girls
score higher than boys in the verbal part of the SAT.
From: mike_steiner@qm.claris.com (Mike Steiner)
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Re: More on the AG
Date: 24 Jul 92 17:30:59 GMT

In article <1992Jul24.161923.7631@eagle.lerc.nasa.gov>, drich@sandman.lerc.nasa.gov (Daniel Rich) writes:
> 
> In article <1992Jul23.182654.28306@ttinews.tti.com>, hollombe@polymath.tti.com (The Polymath) writes:
> |> In article <1992Jul21.171514.2755@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU> jlc5f@poe.acc.Virginia.EDU (Jean L. Cooper) writes:
> |> 
> |> }... I think posting the full minutes here
> |> }is a waste of "bandwidth", considering their size.
> |> 
> |> Perhaps they could be archived somewhere and made available by anonymous
> |> ftp?
> 
> I am going to be acting as the Internet contact for Mconnections (the
> Mensa e-mail directory).  I am currently looking for a ftp site for
> the directory, and I suppose, if I find one, we could archive the
> minutes in the same place (if Jean is willing).
> 
> I just have to come up with some way to limit the archive to Mensa
> members only (unless that isn't a concern of anyone).

What about those of us who don't have access to ftp sites?  BTW, whose
directory are you going to be the internet contact for?  There are at
least three people working independently on such a directory.  Geoff
Smith of Phoenix Mensa published a directory already, but because he
got some 40 or 50 additional names for it at the AG, he's redoing it
before publishing it again.  I'll be one of the fidonet sites carrying
it.
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
From: edp@math.zko.dec.com (Eric Postpischil)
Subject: Re: More on the AG
Reply-To: edp@math.zko.dec.com (Eric Postpischil)
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1992 12:45:37 GMT

In article <1992Jul24.154048.8617@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU>,
jlc5f@poe.acc.Virginia.EDU (Jean L. Cooper) writes:

>The trademark "Mensa" and the stylized M are owned by 
>International Mensa, which licenses it to the national
>Mensas.

You don't state what this is in response to; I am assuming it is in
response to the notion that local groups could exist without the
national group.

I think American Mensa should have more to offer the local groups than the
trademark "Mensa" and the stylized M.  The trademark "Mensa" and the
stylized M are not important benefits to members or local groups.  I
participate in local activities for the company, not the trademark or the
stylized M.

When there is a question about what American Mensa provides to local groups
or where the dues are going, there should be a response that shows (not
tells) us how valuable the centralized membership-keeping is, where the
funds are spent, why local groups could not exist (with another name)
without national, how the Bulletin provides unrecognized benefits, et
cetera.

Saying that American Mensa owns the trademark and the stylized M is saying
nothing more than American Mensa has a legal hold.  That's not a good way to
hold an organization together.


                             -- edp (Eric Postpischil)
                                "Always mount a scratch monkey."
                                edp@alien.enet.dec.com
From: Dave.Aronson@f120.n109.z1.fidonet.org (Dave Aronson)
Sender: Uucp@blkcat.UUCP
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: speed of light and age of the universe
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1992 22:53:30 -0500

mike_steiner@qm.claris.com writes:

 MS> Dave.Aronson@f120.n109.z1.fidonet.org (Dave Aronson) writes:

 DA> mike_steiner@qm.claris.com writes:

 MS> God@seanews.akita.com (Alpha and Omega) writes:
 [...]
 MS> Well, now we know that God isn't One.

 DA> Seen recently in Keshernet:
 DA> Jews: God is 1!  Atheists: God is I!
 DA> (Note that the latter "works" with "I" capitalized or not....)

 MS> Christians: 3; Jews: 1; athiests: 0
                 ^
But they're really only 1.  It's 3 <clack> 3 <clack> 3 Gods, in one!

 MS> (How 'bout those lions!)

Like in the Saturnalia carols?  "Christians roasting on an open fire; lions
nibbling at their toes...."  }B->
From: nick+@pitt.edu (Nick C De Mello)
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Re: T/ PUT TAI IN THE FAQ (was:Re: T=What Correlation?)
Date: 30 Jul 92 05:14:15 GMT
Organization: University of Pittsburgh

In article <1992Jul30.030419.21641@ncsu.edu> tai@m-net.ann-arbor.mi.us writes:
>
>|>You know... I suddenly became aware today.  I know what this Tai thing really
>|>is.  He is a AI program designed to thwart kill-files.  He has the ability
>|>to mutate and get around the best kill scripts in the world.

                   Tenacious  Artificial  Intelligence

                   T          A           I

                             TAI

                                         :)

   
   A while back (during the Robert Linstein epic) someone compiled
a faq sheet of the percentage of the total postings contributed by
each author.  It would be interesting to see a similiar posting of
the percentage of articles by or in response to Scott.  My guess
would be upwards of 80%...  better hope he DOESN'T go away, what would
we do without the Mephistopheles of mensa!


                                         :)

                                                 Nick



-- 
   _/   _/  _/  _/_/_/   _/   _/  
  _/_/ _/  _/  _/   _/  _/_/_/
 _/ _/_/  _/  _/       _/ _/                    Nicholas C de Mello
_/   _/  _/   _/_/_/  _/   _/                     Nick+@pitt.edu
From: jwp@chem.ucsd.edu (John Pierce)
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Re:  Mensa national versus local, New York City
Date: 29 Jul 1992 08:09:55 GMT
Organization: Chemistry Dept, UC San Diego
NNTP-Posting-Host: chedccf0.ucsd.edu

drich@sandman.lerc.nasa.gov (Daniel Rich) writes:
 > 
 > Mensa is a *social* organization, and for my $39/year (of
 > which the local group gets around $7 if I remember correctly) the
 > national office provides only a single (rather worthless) magazine.

That is, of course, untrue.

-- John W Pierce
   LocSec, San Diego Mensa
From: mike_steiner@qm.claris.com (Mike Steiner)
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Re: More on the AG
Date: 22 Jul 92 21:22:54 GMT

In article <1992Jul22.173358.5291@nntpd.lkg.dec.com>, edp@math.zko.dec.com (Eric Postpischil) writes:
> 
> In article <1992Jul22.153429.2322@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU>,
> ehp@poe.acc.Virginia.EDU ("Didi Pancake") writes:
> 
> >Hey, until you yourself have tried to transcribe a tape of a meeting of
> >around 14 Mensans where everyone is usually talking at once about three
> >different topics and they don't identify themselves before speaking and
> >the taping equipment is pretty rudimentary to begin with, lay off the
> >wise cracks about the Mensa national office, please. 
> 
> What wise cracks?  I did a simple calculation and expressed amazement. 
> This is not a "wise crack"; I am truly amazed.  And I have yet to
> receive an explanation from either you or Jean Cooper.  I am no stranger
> to typing or transcribing, having worked as a production typist and
> reaching 120 wpm, so please explain for me why 45,000 characters
> requires 40 hours to transcribe.
> 
> >If Mensa were a rational group, the secretary could just take "action"
> >minutes where only the formal motions and their votes are reported, but
> >NOOOOOO!  Mensans being so enormously predisposed to wrangle about the
> >stupidest stuff, we have to take full discussion minutes where everything
> >everyone said is reported. It's a horrid job to work from these tapes and
> >try to sort everything out properly.
> 
> You are conflating two issues here.  What the job is (transcribing
> everything instead of just motions and votes) and/or whether it should
> be done is a separate issue from how difficult it is to do the job. 
> Maybe, to satisfy those who want everything, the recordings should be
> made available upon request but only the motions and votes should be
> transcribed.  But that is irrelevant to the issue of why it takes 40
> hours to transcribe 45,000 characters.  Why does it take 40 hours to
> transcribe 45,000 characters?
> 
> >In further fact, it is Jean herself who must do this, not the national
> >office, and she's a _volunteer_ officer in this association . . .
> 
> So because somebody is a "volunteer" officer, we are not supposed to be
> critical of them?  Tell me then, how can you choose between candidates
> in an election if you are not critical of them?  There is no basis for
> decision if you do not consider their job performance and
> qualifications.  Clearly it is of interest to Mensa members to consider
> whether our officers are doing a good job or not; there is no reason
> their performance should not be questioned.

Criticism is one thing; offering a solution to the problem that is being
criticised is another.  I haven't seen any recommendations from you for
a solution.  In fact, when one was offered to you (that you run for the
position) you rejected it.
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
From: macknik@uhunix.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu (Elizabeth A. Macknik)
Subject: Re: student membership
Summary: Age limitations
Organization: University of Hawaii
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1992 07:13:56 GMT

 VG: I would like to be a member of mensa. I know that I would qualify for it. 
 VG: My question is,"Is there any special rates for students' membership ?".

 NDM:   There is a 50% discount for students under 25.  By the by, I've had
 NDM: a problem with the "under 25 limitation" from before I hit 25.  It seems
 NDM: to me that this necessarily means graduate students are not offered a
 NDM: discount.  Most schools offer annual salaries to (science at least) 
 NDM: graduates of less than $12,000.  If anyone needs that discount it's
 NDM: starving graduate students!  I vote for a removal of that age limit!

There is an implied bias here--that undergraduates are not over 25.  However,
in the U.S., over 40% of undergraduate students are non-traditional.  
While non-traditional includes many designations, the primary criteria is
being a student over 25 years of age.  (It also includes veterans, etc.)

As a student, I cannot afford to join Mensa--even though I qualify.  (My SAT
scores are sufficient.)  I currently earn $7000 a year as a technician for the
college while earning my engineering degree.  I wish I could be active, but
since I am over 25, I don't qualify for the student discount.  I do feel
that it is a rather arbitrary limitation.  Can anyone explain why Mensa
has this particular restriction?  IMHO a requirement that you be a
full-time student would be more reasonable.  Comments?!


--
Elizabeth A. Macknik                             macknik@uhunix.uhcc.hawaii.edu 
Electronics Technician, College of Education     Voice (808) 956-6855           
University of Hawaii                             FAX:  (808) 956-4114           
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
From: ph@vortex.ama.caltech.edu (Paul Hardy)
Subject: Re: Why GREENSleaves?
Organization: California Institute of Technology
	<PH.92Jul24172707@venturi.ama.caltech.edu>
	<1992Jul25.072228.21607@cs.mcgill.ca>
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 1992 21:28:10 GMT

In article <1992Jul25.072228.21607@cs.mcgill.ca> mingmar@cs.mcgill.ca (Ming MAR) writes:

>   In article <PH.92Jul24172707@venturi.ama.caltech.edu> 
>   ph@venturi.ama.caltech.edu (Paul Hardy) writes:
>   >Maybe, except of course that Planet Claire has pink air and all the trees
>   >are red.  Question: what sort of chemical would make the air pink?  
>
>   I remember when the first color pictures of Mars were beamed back, and
>   we were all surprised that the sky was pink.  Of course, logically, the
>   sky _would_ be pick, but being geocentric chauvanists, we Earthlings
>   imagined a blue Marsian sky.

Hmm.  Maybe this is why some say she's from Mars, or one of the seven stars
that shine after 3:30 in the morning.  Well she isn't!  She came from
Planet Claire...

				--Paul
--
This is my address:         ph@ama.caltech.edu
This is UUCP:               ...!{decwrl,uunet}!
This is my address on UUCP: ...!{decwrl,uunet}!caltech.edu!ama!ph
Any questions?

"Does Emacs have the Buddha nature?"  --Paul Hardy   "Yow!" --Zippy
From: phil@miracle.com (Phil Hill)
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Re:  Mensa national versus local, New York City
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 92 13:38:44 EDT
Organization: Miracle Computer Consultants

moroney@ramblr.enet.dec.com writes:
>For one thing, part of the bylaws of Mensa states that "the society shall
>maintain its principle offices in the State of New York".  Mensa is incorporated
>under the laws of New York State.  So they'd have to move its offices elsewhere
>in the state or re-incorporate under the laws of another state.
>
>There are hick towns in New York, certainly cheaper than NYC but probably not
>as cheap as Omaha.
>
>-Mike

Bylaws can be changed.  I think it's stupid to but a clause like that in your
bylaws.  You never know what could happen.

You don't understand the laws of incorporation.  You don't have to have your
headquarters in the same state.  Heck, it seems that half of the companies out
there are Delaware companies, because Delaware is the easiest and cheapest
state to form a corporation in.

I'll agree that Omaha is a little far.  But get them out of NYC!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Phil Hill                     | "All you people in TV land,           |
| Miracle Computer Consultants  |   I will wake up your empty shells.   |
|                               |  Peak time viewing blown in a flash,  |
|                               |   as I burn into your memory cells.   |
| Email: phil@miracle.com       |  'cause I'm alive." - Peter Gabriel   |








Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
From: werme@alliant.com (Ric Werme)
Subject: Neutrinos (Was Re: IQ vs. Faith)
Organization: Alliant Computer Systems Corp.
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1992 14:17:57 GMT

In article <1992Jul27.230910.15059@isrc.sandia.gov> smlacke@isrc.sandia.gov (Scott M Lackey) writes:
>	My knowledge on neutrinos may be well out of date, but I was
>  under the impression that neutrinos interacted so weakly with 
>  other matter that we could not easily detect them.  Is it
>  really possible to detect them easily enough for a comparison
>  with prediction to have any meaning?

[Bug warning: the following is fully from memory, the jist is right,
the details probably have at least one glitch.]

The first experiment to study the solar neutrino flux is a tank of
trichloroethylene installed in the Homestake mine in one of the Dakotas.
It is deep enough to screen cosmic radiation.  As neutrinos flow through
the TCE, an extremely small percentage will interact with Chlorine and
transmute it to Argon.  Every so often, the tank is flushed and the Argon
is measured.  (Maybe on the level of counting atoms.)  The experiment has
consistantly produced lower than expected values for the neutrino flux.
Only recently have other experiments come on line, but I think they are
also showing a lower than expected flux.  The most recent one was designed
to see if neutrinos are transmuting themselves from one variety that does
interact with Cl to one that doesn't.  This is a possibility if neutrinos
have mass.

[Rant warning!]
The Homestake detector has been on line for over twenty years.  I am
surprised that someone at "sandia.gov" wouldn't have come across
references to Homestake or the recent flurry of theories and
experiments.  Run to your library and take out a subscription to
Science News before it's too late.  Better yet, pull out a credit card
and call 1-800-247-2160.  $39.50 for one year, $68.00 for two.  If I
had to choose between my Mensa membership and Science News, it would
be bye-bye Mensa.

BTW, Science News's editorial offices are in Washington DC, but their
subscription list is maintained in Marion, Ohio.  Wonder why they
do that. :-)

-- 
| A pride of lions               | Eric J Werme                 |
| A gaggle of geese		 | 77 Tater St			|
| An odd lot of programmers      | Mont Vernon NH  03057	|
| A Constitution of Libertarians | Phone: 603-673-3993		|
From: cegtitd@prism.gatech.EDU (Tim Dodd)
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Re: Daylenth
Date: 30 Jul 92 20:52:24 GMT
Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology

In article <1992Jul30.192000.18013@ttinews.tti.com> hollombe@polymath.tti.com (The Polymath) writes:
)In article <1992Jul28.221522.25679@engage.pko.dec.com> moroney@ramblr.enet.dec.com () writes:
)
)}There is a very slight decrease in the apparent force of gravity at the equator
)}compared to the poles due to centrifugal force of the earth's rotation.
)
)_Centripetal_ force, please!
)
)(Just feeling pedantic).

A true pedant would not use the term centripetal force, as that is just a
convenient shorthand for the apparent effects of inertia.  There is no
such force.

(Just feeling even more pedantic!)  :-)

Tim
-- 
"It is still an unending source of surprise for me to see how a few
scribbles on a blackboard or on a sheet of paper could change the
course of human affairs."   -- Stanislaw Ulam
Tim Dodd, Research Scientist, Georgia Tech  cegtitd@prism.gatech.edu
Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa