RVC Update - Ike Kullman

Notes From the Underground - Barry Karas

Member News and Updates - Glen Moulder

Events Review - various

About Books - Dustinea Jacquette

Acronyms - Barry Karas

Leadership Development Workshop in November

AMC Office Candidates for 2001 - Cher Burnham/Maggie Rubin

Editor's ForuM - Glen Moulder

RVC Update

Ike Kullman

[Ed. - Ike was ill and unable to attend the last AMC meeting in Boise, Idaho on September 23rd. The following is excerpted from his report and the Mini-Minutes submitted by Dan Burg.]

...Since I would normally report on the results of that meeting, I have included the mini-minutes instead. A couple of caveats: The minutes aren't official until approved, so changes may be made. And, although the 10^th region was created, there are problems with the exact method of selecting an RVC, so there may be changes in the information you have been provided. I will keep all up-to-date as I get information. I will be putting up a web-site very soon, and such information will be available there.

AMC Secretary Appointments:

Election Committee: Guy Conti (chair), Mary Ambridge, and Melinda Maidens.

Legal Committee chair: Dan Burg.

Additional Nominating Committee members: Mary Jo Kelleher, Judith Matray-Devoti, and Vincent Bonzagni.

Region 5 was split into two regions; new Region 10 consisting of all Florida groups and a new Region 5 consisting of all other groups in current Region 5 plus the three North Carolina groups. These changes are effective when the next AMC is seated at the 2001 AG. Seven proposed bylaws amendments will be put to the membership for a vote in spring 2001, on the same ballot as the AMC elections. Minnesota Mensa is putting together a bid for the 2003 AG. A national group is interesting in bidding on the 2003 AG, to be located in Las Vegas, but will not bid if a local group puts in a viable bid. A Legal Committee was established to coordinate legal efforts and, perhaps, reduce costs. A proposal for what to do when a local group does not follow the Minimum Standard Bylaws and other national requirements was referred to the Bylaws Committee. A proposal to encourage the Election Committee to publish statements to counter perceived factual errors in candidate statements was referred to the Legal Committee, to report back at the next AMC meeting. A proposal to allow temporary sanctions to be imposed on members by heads of RGs, AGs, SIGHT, and SIGs was referred to the Membership and Legal Committees. Planning objectives for American Mensa were discussed; they will be brought to the December AMC meeting for approval. By secret ballot following a discussion in closed session, the AMC passed a motion of no confidence in Chairman Bob Beatty. The autumn 2001 AMC meeting will be hosted by Inland Empire Mensa on September 28-30, 2001, conditional on an acceptable hotel contract by the December 2000 AMC meeting. Palm Beach County (Florida) Mensa has expressed an interest in bidding on the winter 2001 AMC meeting. Next AMC meeting: December 2, 2000, at the Cincinnati RG.

Happy Halloween!

 Notes From the Underground

Barry Karas

SCHOLARSHIP. For the past several years ANITA KIRCHEN has been our Scholarship Chairperson. Thank you Anita for a job well done. Anita has passed the mantle of Chairperson on to ANN KASPER. Please note that entries for this year's contest must be AT Ann's no later than December 31, 2000.

SHORTCUTS. Computer and Internet people are "famous" for creating and adopting textual and verbal shortcuts known as acronyms. [Ed. - See Barry's article this issue.] But some of those folks take shortcut-making to an extreme and then they, and society in general, overuse the terms. One of the most obvious ones is *e-some-thing-or-other*. The ONLY e-term that's valid is the original one: *e-mail*. All other e-terms are very much overused. For example, this column in our paper newsletter is simply *hot air*; this same column on the web/Internet is *e-hot air*. In a similar vein, I could write about the tendency to run words together. Then this column on the web/Internet could be *e-hotair*.

POLL. On November 15^th to 18^th you can participate in a pretty much all-encompassing global poll. You and millions of people around the world will be able to answer questions about what it's like to be a human being at the beginning of the new millennium (which, of course begins on January 1, 200*1*). Topics range from health to religion, sleep to sex, marriage to child-rearing, and crime to politics. Immediately after you complete the poll, you'll get the results of how you and the millions of other people answered the questions. You will be able to complete the poll online OR with one of the thousands of pollsters who will be deployed all over the earth. Sponsors of this poll include 3Com Corporation, Harris Interactive, Sun Microsystems, Akamai Technologies, Inc., Oracle Corporation, BEA Systems, Inc., Mercury Interactive, Macromedia, Eucid Inc., and AT&T. This PLANET PROJECT can be found at this address (or e-address <g>): <http://www.planetproject.com>.

PARTY HEARTY. The Chri...uh, Holiday Party is on December 9th. A complete description is in the Calendar section. Please contact Elissa Rudolph (561.272.0475 or <elissa12@bellsouth.net>) to help out.

NATIONAL TESTING DAY ("NTD"). This year it's on November 11^th at Levengers' in Delray Beach. If you have any friends or relatives who you think are Mensa material suggest to them that they take the test (or submit prior evidence) to qualify. Please contact our Proctor Coordinator, Hank Colman (561.495.4626 or <hannor@webtv.net>) for more information and reservations - and see the Calendar section. For the first time, we have a proctor in our northern territory, ALLARDYCE HAMILL. People in Martin and St. Lucie Counties should contact her (561.461.8873 or <deche1702@aol.com>).

WELCOME ABOARD. Two people who haven't been members for over a year have reinstated their memberships: LAWRENCE CLIPPER and LESTER L. LONG, Jr. In addition, we are fortunate to have seasonal members returning to the warmth of our area. Welcome!

Member News and Updates

Glen Moulder

The PBCM roster count at the end of September rose to 273, up by 5 from August. American Mensa Limited reports national membership at 43,861, up by 593 since August. We welcome Thomas Zarate, moving back to our group and Julie Frolichstein, new to our area. Welcome back also to renewing members Rory Burton, Judith Abel, Lynn Hufnagel O'Dwyer and reinstating members Lawrence Clipper and Lester Long, Jr.

NORTH COUNTY - Bill Whitesell

The September gathering was held at Norris's in Port Saint Lucie. In attendance were Donna Bogner, Laura Bulawski, Bobbie and Julius Kadlecz, Lea Pratt, Ron, Mike Purcell, Jennifer Whitesell and me. Discussions on many subjects were prevalent (all though some a bit off the wall) including suggestions as to the recreational activities of Mother Theresa. We had such a great time that next month we'll meet at the same place.

SOUTH COUNTY

 This event has been temporarily suspended.

Friday Funnies - Elissa Rudolph

Our monthly event at Chesterfield's in Delray Beach always holds surprises and October's First Friday was no exception. The very accommodating manager, Edward, with whom we first set up arrangements has left to pursue his career in a posh country club setting. Mickey, who remembered everyone's favorite drink even if they appeared once in a blue moon, no longer works behind the bar. And two servers who were very friendly and obliging are also gone.

But our servers in October let us rearrange the furniture to suit. So, Chesterfield's is still a winning spot for Mensan company and wit.

Surprise guests were Mickey Hahn from Broward Mensa and her friend, Nancy Morris. Also in attendance: Sharron Ronco, Barry Karas, Tom and Allicyn Winchester, Glen Moulder, Pam Berteau, Blossom Myerson, Bob Dolson, and Elissa Rudolph.

Chesterfield's does English food best-Shepherd's Pie, Fish and Chips, Bangers and Mash. And of course there are the English beers. If our group is small we occupy the Tea Room. A larger group takes up a different area. The noise level is minimal, the atmosphere warm and congenial, and you can't beat the surprises...

Join us next month for First Friday on November 3, 7PM (see the calendar).

Perkophiles - Glen Moulder

The October Perkophiles was a very small affair consisting of me, Pam Berteau and Linda Madison. We also encountered a fellow transplanted from New York who took one of our newsletters and told us he would consider contacting us to test. Linda and I discovered we are both Washington Redskins fans! If you come to the next Perkophiles you have to try a power bagel with peanut butter and jelly, it's one of the best breakfasts you can have (thank you Roy).

Mensadventure at Sagami - Glen Moulder

The October Mensadventure was a culinary delight at Masa's Sagami Japanese restaurant. Bob Dolson, Elissa Rudolph, Barry Karas, Pam Berteau, Linda Madison, Arthur Cooper and I sat at a hibachi table and enjoyed freshly grilled entrees of steak, chicken, shrimp, calamari and vegetarian selections. Our chef entertained us with fancy knife and fork work, balancing and juggling our food and catching shrimp tails in the crown of his hat. The wait staff was friendly and courteous and the prices are reasonable. All in all a very fun evening with fine food. We'll go there again soon!

About Books

November Book Picks by Miss Dustinea Jacquette, retired librarian with a penchant for unusual titles.

I'm baaaccckkk! Did you miss me? Everyone, even retired persons, needs a little hiatus once in a while. But I missed telling you about the books I've read lately. Here, you have several books I've perused and one audiotape that I listened to during a pleasant weekend with (blush!) a new beau. More about that subject next month.

"The 13^th Warrior" (originally "Eaters of the Dead," a title that seems gaggy), now a film with Antonio Banderas, entitled "Fear Reigns" is a retelling of the Beowulf legend. In its original Olde English, Beowuf's story is difficult to follow without a plethora of footnotes and annotations. In this more recent retelling, the story is recited by Ahmad ibn Fadlan, an Arab caught up in a Viking raid. He is appalled by the Vikings' aversion to cleanliness, their wanton sexuality, and their easy acceptance of death. As the "lucky" 13^th Warrior, Ibn-Fadlan accompanies the Vikings on raids to rid the land of the monsters who attack when soggy mists fall on the land. Although the story is much easier to read as Ibn-Fadlan tells it, Michael Crichton, the author, falls a bit short in bringing it all together. Many of his references are fictitious and that's fine-that, in fact, adds to the veil of authenticity-but the monsters are not Grendel-like and they should be if we're retelling Beowulf's story. And the revenge part of the epic where Grendel's mother comes after her son's arm lost in battle-that's not referred to. All in all, interesting, but not as much as it could be.

Worth Row is occupied by a number of boutique/small shop owners: Nadine's Closet holds Victorian clothes, Carl's Cabinets is devoted to woodworking, Verda sells antiques, Mazelle offers Rare and Medium Rare books, and Howard-Dog-in-His-Path's particular genre is artifacts. And then there's Effie's Little Corner of Europe. Effie spies on everyone and writes everything down. On this particular day-the whole novel "Apologizing to Dogs" by Joe Coomer takes place during the space of one day-everyone's worldview changes. All the shop owners and their partners are irrefutably changed as is the landscape because a near-tornado has torn through their part of town. You'll be surprised at the wonderful twists of Coomer's imagination: he has Howard-Dog-in-His-Path and a friend spending part this particular day in twin bathtubs outside. Mazelle's husband and Mr. Haygood are continuing to carry on their 30-year affair in a below-ground love nest that is literally dug up by a dog. One of the dogs of the title? It's your guess! And Carl is building a boat-indoors-to prove his love for Nadine, who has no idea what's going on across the street. Carl is gutting his house form the inside out to build the boat. Come along to Worth Row and get lost with these very unusual characters.

Sang Spell

A young man is hitchhiking to Texas from the northeast-a noble enough endeavor-to get his head together before he begins his senior year in high school. His mother has recently died leaving him to take up residence with his aunt in Dallas. In the dark rainy night somewhere in Appalachia, Josh Vardy accepts a ride from what seems like a kindly stranger. After driving the boy in circles, the driver mugs him and leaves him for dead alongside a desolate road. Then a silent woman driving a horse and cart picks Josh up and takes him to her village, Canara, where he finds himself in another world. There is no electricity, no phones, no convenience stores, nothing of the civilization that Josh took for granted. It turns out that the village is peopled by the Melungeons, a hodge-podge of ethnic groups, descendants of a fugitive band of Portuguese, Turks, Africans, and others who settled in North America long before the founding of Jamestown. Their principle endeavor, that which they trade with Chinese merchants for goods they cannot make themselves, is ginseng, or "sang" in their vernacular. Every day every able-bodied person goes out into the woods to search for and harvest the sang. Anyone stranded in such a place would attempt to find their way out. Josh does. He tries and tries. One day he walks out of the village and after a few hours finds that he's walking into the village from the other side. Then he tries the river. One night he swims out to the middle of the river but the far shore keeps receding. After hours of swimming he sees that he's only 20 yards from the Canara shore. Frustrated and bewildered, Josh finally realizes that until he heals inside, he will never leave Canara.

This audiotape kept me enthralled for hours. I could feel the rain on my shoulders when Josh was hitchhiking and could understand his frustration when he tried to leave Canara. May you never be lost in Appalachia!

First Born

This book held a lot of promise, as does any apocalyptic tale that seems to tell of extraterrestrial or heavenly messengers. But it falls short. A beautiful baby boy is born to an "older" woman who's had infrequent sex with her husband. The baby has compelling mesmerizing blue eyes and a golden aura around him and there seem to be many factions-government, church, others-who want him for testing. Is he a pretty E.T. or the new messiah? An attractive devil or a new Buddha? The story never really hangs together as well as it could. I read to the end to find out who the baby really is. Maybe you will too!

A Sight for Sore Eyes by Ruth Rendell

And a story for eyes disappointed by other books. Now here is a woman who can write. This newest tale keeps Rendell's reputation as Britain's greatest modern mystery writer right up there with Dashiell Hammett's and Agatha Christie's.

In North London, a boy is born in squalor and things never get better for him. Teddy Brex grows into a cold amoral person, but a gifted woodcrafter. His uncle Keith keeps a yellow restored Edsel right outside the back door. This car plays a big part in the story after Teddy reaches young adulthood. Then there's fragile Francine, who's witnessed her mother's seemingly random murder, and retreated into the world of silence for a period. Coming out of her trauma she finds even more trauma in the everyday world. Orcadia Cottage, a gorgeous architectural marvel covered in ivy and beautifully furnished, plays a part too in this compelling story. How all three come together-Teddy, Francine, and Orcadia Cottage, I implore you to find out for yourself. No one describes the secret acts of insanity that occur behind closed doors better than Rendell. You will say to yourself-no one can be as cold as Teddy, as naïve as Francine, as malignant as her stepmother Julia-until you realize that real life does indeed introduce you to such characters. I hope not frequently, nor all at once.

Read Rendell, or read Barbara Vine, her pseudonymous alter ego.

So long, my pretties, until next time. Keep those bedside lights burning!

ACRONYMS

Barry Karas

(*A*void *C*reating *R*ules or *N*ames *Y*ou *M*ust *S*pell)

If you ever dealt with RAM or ROM, typed in a URL in your Internet browser's address bar, set-up your business systems with ERP, and/or saved graphics in JP(E)G format, you came into contact with the wonderful world of computer acronyms.

A new acronym may seem strange at first, but after a short while, it forces its way into your vocabulary. You can sound like an expert. And you begin to use (and create) acronyms in your daily conversation. (Who ever talked about "random access memory"? And in an e-mail discussion group I belong to "MNF" has meant "Monday Night Football" for years.)

Here's a short quiz about acronyms. You can cheat by going to the computer dictionary (<http://www.instantweb.com/foldoc/>).

 1. WWW stands for

a. UUUUUU

b. World Wide Wait

c. World Wide Web

d. Who Where What

2. RAM stands for

a. Random Access Memory

b. Rapid Access Memory

c. Rarely Accessed Memory

d. Read Access Memory

3. ROM stands for

a. Random Output Memory

b. Rapidly Optimized Memory

c. Read Only Memory

d. Rapidly Outdated Memory

4. SCSI stands for

a. Small Computer Standard Interface

b. Serial Cable Standard Interface

c. Standard Component Serial Interconnection

d. Standard Computer Serial Interface

5. Okay you experts: CLUT stands for

a. Channel Layer Underlay Table

b. Chromatic Luminance Table

c. Color Lookup Table

d. Cafeteria Lunch Table

6. MIDI stands for

a. Music Information Display Interface

b. Musical Instrument Device Input

c. Musical Instrument Digital Interface

d. Ministry of Disinformation

7. CODEC stands for

a. Coder/decoder

b. Communications Decryption Card

c. Computer Device Connector

d. Computer Operated Digital Encryption Card

8. URL stands for

a. Ultimate Latency Relevancy

b. User Regionally Located

c. Uniform Resource Locater

d. You Are Lost

9. ATM (computerese) stands for

a. Active Traffic Manager

b. Adobe Type Manager

c. Automatic Teller Machine

d. Asynchronous Transfer Mode

If you take these into work, a PEBKAC error might exist (Problem Exists Between Keyboard and Chair).

November 17-19, 2000

Mensa leaders, both current and future, are invited to attend the Leadership Development Workshop being hosted by Piedmont Area Mensa in Greenville, SC on November 17-19, 2000. Mensans from the Southeast will meet to share ideas, problems and solutions for many issues that are important to local groups. There will be presentations, panels, and brainstorming sessions on such topics as: ExComm Basics, Publicity and Marketing, Editing and Newsletter Basics, Local Group Bylaws, and others.

The Workshop is absolutely free and open to all Mensans.

If you are someone who is considering becoming more involved in your local group, please join us. This program is designed to develop future leaders, as well as augmenting the skills of those currently in office. If you are currently a leader in Mensa, in addition to attending yourself, please take this opportunity to encourage those in your group to attend.

The Workshop will be held at the Wingate Inn - Airport. Located at 33 Beacon Drive, Greenville, SC 29615. Phone 864-281-1281 or fax 864-281-0406 to make your reservations. Rooms are $59 plus tax per night until November 3.

Hospitality will be open Friday evening and all day Saturday. A trip out to one of the local restaurants will be planned for Saturday dinner. A continental breakfast is provided by the hotel with each reservation.

Piedmont Area Mensa is very pleased to be hosting the workshop and we are looking forward to having you participate. Please RSVP to Stormie Kullman to reserve your place. We do need to know how many people are planning to attend in order to prepare the materials needed and provide plenty of snacks for everyone.

Contact information:

Stormie Kullman

59 Washington Drive

Piedmont, SC 29673

864-295-0524 (home), 864-239-1773 (work), e-mail StormieT4@aol.com

Cher Burnham

The following is a list of candidates for AMC offices who have chosen to run in the spring of 2001 through the Nominating Committee (NomComm). If you, or any other member of Mensa, has information regarding any of these candidates pertaining to their expected performance in the office for which they are running, please send it directly to me. I will then forward the information to the candidate for response before circulating it to the NomComm and all other interested parties.

OFFICER

CANDIDATE(S)

Chairman

Bob Beatty
Tony Jackowski

1st Vice Chairman

Jean Becker
Linda Hathaway

2nd Vice Chairman

Russ Bakke
Bob Cox

Secretary

Dan Burg

Treasurer

Jim Werdell

RVC 1

Betsy Burke

RVC 2

Sallie Banko

RVC 3

Wil Huff
Rick Magnus

RVC 4

Stacey Kirsch
Cyndi Kuyper

RVC 5

Ike Kullman
Oscar Ziegler

RVC 6

Ray O'Connor
Dan Wilterding

RVC 7

Steve Burnham
Marcia Lannan

RVC 8

Scott Rainey

RVC 9

Barbara Lytle

Editor's ForuM

Glen Moulder

An acquaintance, I'll call him Tony, hates Democrats. Despises them. Hates Bill Clinton, hates Al Gore, hates -- you get the picture. He's a staunch Republican, a voter. He has a good job, is reasonably well liked, a personable guy. His hatred of Democrats is his most interesting personality trait. If you so much as mention Clinton to him, he quickly loses his normally calm demeanor and becomes a different person. It is impossible to reason with him, to illustrate the irony in the oxymoron, "honest politician." He will not hear of your views.

Tony dislikes Clinton because he's a "liar", doesn't promote "family values", is "morally corrupt" and "exhibits personal behavior in conflict with that required of the President." Current Democratic and Republican Party ideologies are well known. We hear them argued each evening on the news, in the papers and discussed amongst our associates. Tony argues the Republican position, but does not lead the Republican life. When a person is vehement about a particular position, I expect him to honor at least some of the ideals he promotes.

Tony was a free-spirited child of the 60's. After high school, he and his girlfriend got a van, traveled around the country, lived day-to-day, experienced life first-hand. When they tired of this, he left her and took up with another woman whom he eventually married. They had two children. When the kids were in their teens, he left their mother. Almost a decade ago, he married a woman he'd met just a couple of weeks earlier. They have a young daughter whose main occupation is the television set, since both parents work a lot. Tony and his wife have completely different views about life and haven't slept together in more months than she wants to count. The few times they actually have been intimate in the past couple of years occur when he comes home from a strip club, and I suppose, imagines her as someone else. He's not above a lie to suit his purpose, drinks too much and exhibits no greater morality than the average office worker.

I fail to see where Tony's Republican values are. I'm not criticizing him, mind you, I personally don't care about how he conducts himself -- it's none of my business. I'm just saying his position seems inconsistent with his behavior.

Not long after you read this, the 2000 Presidential election will occur. For those of you with any interest in how our country is run, or care about the decisions made by those in power, this should be an exciting time. I just can't get too worked up about it though. Both of the leading candidates look the same to me -- except one is smarter and slicker than his silver-spoon opponent. Neither of them will do any great good for the common people of our nation. The "issues" they've debated and stumped all over for are of little consequence to many of us. Regardless who wins, big companies will still do their best to drain our pockets, while politicians, a few corporate execs and stockholders reap the benefits. You and I will still pay the price, all the while wondering why the roads we drive on are so rundown, why some kids in this country starve, why we all don't have access to affordable health care, why victims of violent crime have less rights than criminals. Does anyone really believe that this is what the Founding Fathers intended? If you are voting, I urge you to vote your conscience, not emotions based on the Gore/Bush rhetoric. Either way, I predict the popular vote turnout for this election will be a smaller percentage than the 49% of 1996.

Note: The opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors and DO NOT reflect opinions of Palm Beach County Mensa, its officers, or of American Mensa, Ltd., which holds NO opinions.