Talk:Mensa International/Archive 2

message: So I posted an addendum to the Mensa page and it was instantly reverted by the user Dennette .  I read his profile and I guess I'm not surprised by his behavior.
Here is what Dennette censored (which is true):
Ironically, for an organization known for intelligence, the Canadian branch has an archaic membership payment system. If an individual was to join in June and pay a full year of membership (approximately 90 dollars), their membership would only last until the end of December, at which point they would be asked to pay another year of membership.
You can see the change history here . —Preceding unsigned comment added by Source.transformer (talk • contribs) 02:00, 13 September 2006
:I have to agree with Dennette here I'm afraid. While the comment may be true it is inappropiate for the article. This is a place to document the organisation as a whole (including criticisms of that society) but it's not a place to include one individuals personal criticism of their own experiance with the organisation. Also note that describing the payment system as archaic is in violation of wikipedia's neutral point of view policy.  YDAM TALK 08:11, 13 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Mensa Canada's annual dues are C$55. Its members prefer to have membership based on the calendar year.Avt tor 18:52, 25 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Wikipedia Poster Dennette Advocates Censorship 

message: Editors who want to advertise their membership may use the "" template to create a userbox on their page and add it to :Category:Wikipedians in Mensa ... then add "" if you really want to show off. —141.156.240.102 17:34, 9 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Userboxes for Mensa members 

message: I know this objection sounds a bit pedantic. We are using three terms interchangably on the page, "Mensan", "member of Mensa", and "Mensa member". I wanted to propose removing the third, as it is already superfluous, and phonetically unaesthetic (I know, De gustibus non est disputandum, which is precisely why I'm mentioning it here before I remove it). We have a double trochee where the first syllable of each is virtually identical. While poetically interesting, it doesn't scan well for an encyclopedia. I would suggest only using the terms "Mensan" or "member" (in cases in which the context is clear) here. Is there any opposition? (And obviously, terms like "Mensanness" would not be able to replace "Membership". Heh.) samwaltz 09:30, 3 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Terminology and alliteration

message: Does anyone happen to remember on which date The Far Side mentioned Mensa? I'd like to be able to include that in the trivium added today. All of my TFS books are 5000 miles away. samwaltz 16:03, 11 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: [[The Far Side]]

message: I changed the name of this section, and elevated it one level, so it is the same as "Trivia" instead of being a subsection of it. It was becoming a magnet for fancruft like "A member of Mensa was on a UK game show" and "There was a newspaper cartoon from 1995 that mentioned Mensa." 
I also pruned it, leaving what I thought were the concise, well linked "encyclopedic" entries to films, and in the case of TV shows, ones where Mensa membership is a recurring issue in the storyline or a character's back-story ... for example, I'd never even heard of the British television comedy Green Wing, but the article for the fictional character Alan Statham is linked to Mensa International where his membership is mentioned, as are the articles for characters from The Simpsons and Stargate Atlantis.
There is no WP:NOTABLE for "trivia" and "pop culture" references, but I think we can agree that there have to be limits, or else this section could grow larger than the main article ... my apologies to anyone whose pet reference I deleted, but as editors we each have the responsiblity to fight "creeping cruft". —141.156.240.102 (talk|contribs) 19:00, 11 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  6.1 Pop culture trivia -> 7 Pop culture and media references 

message: Probably just an anecdote, so I moved it from the main page ...
:For many years, incoming members recieved a Little Yellow Map Pin (or LYMP) as part of their membership packet. It was worn as a lapel pin by members to identify each other at informal local events, such as a monthly TGIF at a popular and conveniently located establishment. Local monthly newsletters even advised members to obtain a LYMP on their own if it had not arrived yet, or if they ever lost it. Mensa discontinued this practice in the 1980s after an unfortunate incident involving the United States Secret Service, who were also using yellow map pins (of a slightly different shade) for agents to covertly identify each other when the President appeared in crowded public venues.
Somebody can put it back if they find a citation. --141.156.241.54 04:45, 21 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Little Yellow Map Pin