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Palm Beach County Mensa January, 2003
most recently updated Sunday, December 29th, 2002 |
Glad you're not up North? |
Contents
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News and Notices * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ***Our scholarship chair, Janice Johnson, would like an assistant to help with this program. The Mensa Education and Research Foundation (MERF) conducts an annual scholarship program, providing awards ranging from $250 to $5000 to participants. Palm Beach County Mensa is one of many groups across the U.S. to advertise for local entrants and judge their essays. If you would like to be part of this worthy program, contact Janice for information: 772-463-0495 or Janice@aposner.net * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * October 18-20, the 2002 SCAM Rollback RG, http://spacecoastareamensa.tripod.com/ for details as they emerge. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * A few months ago, Norbert Brown designed a survey sent out with Palm-Mensa. Based on the responses, he wrote an article summarizing the results, shown below. Thanks, Norbert! Learning a little about ourselves: The Palm Mensa Survey Results Thanks to the 27 Palm Mensans who participated in our early summer survey. As casual and unscientific as the survey was, it told us some interesting things about our local community of Mensans. Here are some highlights: Education: The majority of our respondents (21) have college degrees, and more than half (14) have completed some graduate work. Occupations: You'll find Mensans in every field of endeavor, from law to education to health care. Several respondents are retired, from fields as diverse as human resources and the retail flower business. Hobbies and interests: We show a tremendous diversity here as well, but some of the most frequently mention interests include music, boating, travel and reading. Books: We seem to have a very large population of mystery readers among us, though other often-mentioned topics include history, politics, biography and well-written literature in general. Program and activity suggestions: Too many to mention! But all suggestions have been passed along to our Palm Beach County Mensa officers for consideration - so thank you all for taking the time to reply! For a detailed breakdown of counts and categories, check the Web site. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * |
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The Tenth Story - RVC Update Elissa Rudolph Happy Autumn to you! We know it's autumn because the colors of the license plates change... Snow birds return to swell the lines at the restaurants, groceries, post offices, banks, and theaters, but, hey, can we blame them? New benefits have been added to your Mensa membership: An agreement was reached recently with Human Intelligence, a fee-paid employment service that looks to place Mensans, graduates of top universities (Harvard, Yale, CalTech, MIT, Sorbonne, etc.), and other "two percenters." Specifically, they seek to place individuals with backgrounds in mathematics, physics, engineering, information technology, biology, astronomy, finance and linguistics. American Mensa now offers the Capital for Knowledge® program, providing education financing for all of your family's needs. Visit www.capital4u.net to find out more. Loans are generally disbursed within 48 hours of final approval. As a member of American Mensa you have a choice with Choice Hotels International. American Mensa members save 20% (off the regular rate) on more than 4,000 participating hotels. For more details on these new benefits and all the others check "Member Resources" on Mensa's Web site, www.us.mensa.org. Love those benefits! Is your group ready for National Testing Day, October 19? There will be a national publicity blitz that will no doubt result in lots of phone calls and emessges from potential Mensans. Be ready!
Northwest Florida Mensa is in the spotlight this month, our next to last of the dozen Region 10 groups that I have covered in this column. Major cities in this group are Pensacola, Fort Walton Beach, Destin, and Panama City. Being located in the Florida's panhandle and even in the next time zone, NWF members can't help but feel ... different. But do they ever bring titles, awards, and prestige to Region 10! A hard-working group, NWF won newsletter awards in the past 2 Publication Recognition Programs and copped the Group of the Year Award (GOTYA) in their size category again in 2001. Because you can't rest on your laurels, NWF is planning its first RG for February 2003 (details below). Last year, the group held an "Ungathering" to see if they had the energy and audience. And, of course, it was a rousing success. Onward and upward for Northwest Florida Mensa. All of Region 10 is proud of you! See you at SCAM's party!! Coming Events: October 18-20, the 2002 SCAM Rollback RG, http://spacecoastareamensa.tripod.com/ , Holiday Inn Oceanfront in Indiatlantic. January 31-February 2, Smarti Gras 2003, http://www.centralflorida.us.mensa.org/ Laissez les bons mots rouler! Plan now to attend this RG organized by Central Florida Mensa! February 14-16, 2003, ValenTime RG, http://www.nwflorida.us.mensa.org/ , for details for Northwest Florida's first ever RG! |
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Barry Karas CHOCOHOLICS.
A group of protestors disrupted a pagans' spring equinox ceremony in
Lancaster, Calif., in March by blasting their car stereos to drown out
the songs and chants of 300 witches and warlocks. What apparently
really set off the protestors was the pagans' merry attempt at "animal
sacrifice," which they accomplish by founding a candy bunny. When a
pagan leader yelled "SACRIFICE THE CHOCOLATE RABBIT," the protestors
leaped from their cars and advanced on them, but violence was averted.
[CNN-Reuters, 5-2-02 (from News of the Weird)]. |
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Member News and Updates Glen Moulder and Elissa Rudolph Palm Beach County Mensa now numbers 306 at the end of August. Welcome to new members Michael Antinori of West Palm Beach and Dennis Nagel of Delray Beach. And we're glad you renewed: Gregory Barry, Marjorie Good-Helming, Megan Lipsky, Susan Marie Recchia, Scott Sobel, and Murray Steinfeld. Two members moved out of state. Nationally American Mensa has 45,035 members, and a renewal percentage of 89.6%, a high percentage. |
Happy October MensAnniversary (year and persons) to:
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41 ! David Humes 36 Harry Hahamovitch 31 Catherine Chester 30 Roberta Kadlecz 23 Perry Wurst 21 John Swick 19 Susan Weinstein 14 Judith Abel 13 Henry Colman 12 Jules Grossberg and Barry Karas 09 John Hotchkiss and Paul Sauer 08 Mary DeSensi 06 Steven Garellek 05 Kendrick Cooper, Karen Haney, Richard Haney and Arthur Tisch 04 Joel Gotkin, Leeza Gotkin and Carl Robinson 03 Aaron Lieberman, Edward Mackey and Deborah Watson 01 Harold Kirkpatrick |
Happy October Birthday (day and persons) to:
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3rd Nancy Engelhardt and Joanne Fiore 4th Robert Zeeman 5th Mary DeSensi and Bernice Sklar 6th Muffett Brinkman 7th Rene Revert 8th Steven Modell and Donald Walker 11th Leo Mercier 14th Joseph Lattyak 17th Dr. Jerome Blumen 18th Anita Kirchen, Charna Lazar and Perry Wurst 19th Fred Bohle 20th Charles Grande 22nd Charles Freeman 24th Craig Smith 27th Patrick Kane |
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First Friday - at Black Sheep Eatery In September, a congenial group met at the Black Sheep Eatery (formerly Colucci's Attic) to converse, imbibe, eat and admire Carol Bancroft's brand new but retro teal and black Thunderbird. Gorgeous car with a dash straight out of 1957....Those attending (and drooling) were Merrell and Jerry Fortner, Lya Korda, Diana Loy, Kay Skoog, Barry Karas, Fay Harrington and friend, June Smith, Tom and Allycin Winchester and friends Ed and Linda, Gino Giglio, Joe Henry, and Elissa Rudolph. Come join us next month! It's Palm Beach County Mensa' s only sure thing. |
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Northern Exposure North County Gathering was held at the home of Bill Whitesell. Those attending were Donna Bognar, Laura Bulowski Bobbi & Julius Kadlecz, Rosemary Elliot, Deche Hanill and Jennifer & Bill Whitesell. |
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Miss Dustinea Jacquette Two totally different books should capture your attention as they did mine: About the Author, by John Colapinto, and The Psychology of the Sopranos by Glen O. Gabbard, MD. Colapinto is a well-known writer of columns for Rolling Stone and other mags. Here, he has a book within a book, within a book. Cal Cunningham is a would be writer without so much a word on paper. His roommate, taps out a novel on his computer while studying to be an attorney. Cal is jealous. Then Stewart, the roommate, is killed accidentally. Does Cal steal his novel? What do you think? He inserts his name as author and becomes rich and famous. Which is all well and good, till Cal discovers that someone else is in possession of a copy of the original manuscript. Colapinto weaves together an absorbing tale of literary ambition and a cat-and-mouse thriller as Cal and his blackmailer pursue each other to the very death. The final outcome of this novel is totally unexpected. You must borrow it from your local library and let it take you away. Let me know how you feel afterwards.... "Love, death, desire, and betrayal in America's favorite gangster family" is the subtitle of "The Psychology of the Sopranos." And Dr. Gabbard gives you his professional opinions of whether Tony is treatable, why his marriage is a continuance of his boyhood standoff with his mother, Livia, and how Dr. Melfi, his shrink, has made some mistakes in her treatment, but is still a pivotal character. In fact, the real story of the Sopranos is not who's to get whacked next, but what Tony will find out about himself in his next psychiatric session. On whether Tony is treatable, Dr. Gabbard has this to say, "Because he experiences anxiety, depression, conflict and the capacity for guilt...it is possible to make contact with his conscience and maybe to dissuade him from further violence." Dr. Gabbard has insights that seem to be right on. What he says about Carmela's and Tony's marriage can apply to any relationship or marriage. What do you think of these words? "Most marriages involve some self-imposed suffering, the origins of which are externalized and blamed on the partner." Don't you know of these partnerships? He goes on, "Marriage is a game of grievance collection. Over time the partners feel significantly mistreated and irreparably hurt, but they are deeply committed to perpetuating the relationship as a way of providing a constant reminder to the spouse of his or her insensitivities and shortcomings." Whoa! Dr. Gabbard, you must have treated people I know in addition to Tony Soprano! There is so much to this relatively short book that we could spend hours...in fact, it could be a book club selection. You may not be a Sopranos viewer, but even if you've never seen an episode you could read this book and get something out of it. "Tony could have learned a thing or two from A.J's (his son's) favorite philosopher, Nietzsche, who said, 'He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.'" Next month, "Twelve Mile Limit," another great one from one of South Florida's best mystery writers, Randy Wayne White, and "I Have Landed," by Stephen Jay Gould, his last and best production. |
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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. |
© 2000-2007 Palm Beach County Mensa. The Mensa logo is a registered trademark of Mensa International Limited and American Mensa Limited, all rights reserved. Mensa does not hold any opinion or have, or express, any political or religious views.