| THE 95 THESIS FOR
SAN FRANCISCO REGIONAL MENSA:
In the August 1999
issue of the Intelligencer (the newsletter of San Francisco Regional Mensa)
I submitted an article titled 95 Theses For San Francisco Regional Mensa.
Subsequently I circulated (although it wasn't published in the Intelligencer)
a "Compendium" to that article which was simply an elaboration on my original
challenges, ala Martin Luther. I subsequently ran for Local Secretary
of the largest Mensa Chapter in the world and on February 1, 2000 I took
office and proceeded to try to implement as many of those challenges as
I could. The exercise was instructive, as I knew it would be and
I thought it would continue to prove a valuable vehicle, or jumping off
point for other individuals and/or groups who might want to try to implement
some of the ideas that I have found that actually stimulate some growth
and/or excitement. Also I think I can fairly well prove that it
really can be a situation where the motto "just do it" applies During
this current "Presidential Crisis" I am very forcefully reminded that
"politicians" seem to come from the same orientation that most Mensa politicians
seem to claim heritage. For Mensans that seem to think socialization
is the only goal it devolves into the same kind of popul- From the various dialogues that Renewing The Promise Of Mensa has engaged in during the last twenty years we have not ever directly confronted the "socializer" element of Mensa. Our bias has been and still is, that promoting "intellectually stimulating" events (and an "environment") is not inherently exclusive. But I certainly have found (as illustrated below) that if you start with ANY of these theses and you attempt to go from "here to there" it becomes a classic exercise in implementation. What I have found, to my surprise, is that the "socializers" will come off the wall and out of the woodwork, to stop your effort - despite our assertion that OUR effort will (most definitely)augment/support/enhance the "socialization" effort. The reason for this being the primarily inherent fear/accusation that they (the socializers) have sold out the aspirations that MOST of the incoming members had upon arriving at our door. It is very tempting to make accusing generalizations about "socializers" vs intellectuals" and therein is a bowl for examination in other articles. Suffice it to say that my 95 Thesis, since it's publication last year, has served up a rich collection of illustrations of the very deep divide that has engulfed us slowly over the past 35 years. Below are the 95 Theses (T) as originally published in August of 1999, (C) The Compendium, or "reasonings" distributed (upon request) and (R) the results of putting them into an action phase (mostly within San Francisco Regional Mensa). It almost goes without
saying but I feel compelled to spell it out. These 95 Theses were my game
plan for effecting a turnaround within San Francisco Regional Mensa.
The results are here. I think any member or group can take elements
of this and try to inject some change in their own local group.
When I put these together (over a two month period of time) I had not
decided to run for the office of Local Secretary (we elect officers in
SFRM - we do not have an Executive Committee) but I knew that some of
my Theses would be easier to implement if I were the CEO. As I began
to implement some of them I also realized that a CEO is inherently hampered
1 (T) The Intelligencer is very inferior in terms of quality and quality of output compared to most of the newsletters down to one tenth the size of SFRM's membership. Why isn't there some stated policy (business plan) for how we want our publication to serve us? 1 (C) Each Editor puts his own imprint on the Intelligencer. Usually the good innovations seem to carry over with each succeedng editor. Our current editor has slowly let the publication deteriorate into a stylistically jerky, garbage in - garbage out, succeedingly smaller publication with no artwork and totally unimaginative clip art. A simple statement of purpose might prompt this and future editors to reach out and solicit artwork, articles and content of any kind. 1 (R) Very early in my administration the newsletter editor and I parted ways. The next editor tripled the content and fell prone to a number of printing related disasters. I then edited the newsletter for the next two months (not a good idea in the largest Mensa Chapter in the world) the quality suffered until Dick and Meredy Amyx came along and bailed me out with a publication that now will be competitive for a national newsletter award. In our instance we did defintively prove that a high quality publication of any size (over twelve pages) cannot (usually) be produced by a single member (unless doing it as a full time avocation) nor can it be printed/distributed within the constraints of the stipend that AML doles out to the local group from member dues. 2 (T) Why does the current editor print practically everything that comes in (often with no proofreading) yet does not solicit articles nor does he reprint material from other publications (and he gets them all)? 2 (C) The AMC subsidy for newsletters to exchange issues has beenreinstalled. I used to be in charge of culling them for potential reprinting and I know that there is a lot of good material in them. Editors used to vie with each other as to how many reprints would be republished after their initial publication. This year the Intelligencer has not even been NOMINATED in a single category for any kind of publication award! 2 (R) I am still not
sure what had been happening to the exchange publications for the past
ten years in our group. We recovered some of them but I strongly
suspect that prior to my administration they were simply tossed - unread.
We (my editor and I ) started to read them and I know I have made use
of them and will continue 3 (T) If money is
claimed to be a problem keeping us from a better Intelligencer why can't
we do better since we have an economy of scale (because we are the largest
group in the world) better than 3 (C) Orange County Mensa, a third our size, puts out a 40 page issue. Many groups, much smaller than we, put out larger publications. I cannot believe money is a problem, considering the surplus funds we are sitting on. 3 (R) This problem is multi-faceted and groups around the country deal with it in different ways. Since SFRM was sitting on $30K in savings I told the Editor "the hell with the Budget" just produce the best that you can. When a belated budget was submittedthis "problem" became apparent and we now have some very interesting "outside the box" discussion taking place. Unfortunately my successor can and has, put all of the slugs back in place - but the lid is off this can of worms and it won't be that easy to replace. 4 (T) Why is there no system of accountability for Area Secretaries particularly when it comes to new member contact? 4 (C) Some of the Area Secretaries do absolutely nothing at all. The Local Secretary, in theorey, is supposed to be monitoring their performance but we never get any feedback on this problem. 4 (R) Since SFRM operates hierarchically (without an ExCom) I put the Area Secretaries under an Area Secretary Coordinator, got new member lists flowing again and made sure that all vacancies werefilled and that the Area Secretairies who couldn't prove they were working had their resignationss accepted. They collectively did resist my efforts to form into a "Board of Directors" who would run SFRM instead of me. 5 (T) Why is there no reporting of what the Ombudsman does? 5 (C) We had a period of over 10 years of the Ombudman sweeping everything under the rug and it looks like we may have a repeat (non)performance because there hasn't been one public word about any issues she may have handled (and quite a bit of private grumbling about inaction). 5 (R) The Ombudsman was a continuing problem since, as an elected officer they are difficult to remove. In my President's report in our newsletter I did call attention to the problem of her "not addressing" issues brought to her (including three of mine) and our By-Laws Revision Committee put in a number of changes for the future. 6 (T) Why doesn't the Assistant LocSec at least attempt, in print, to define his duties (or goals)? 6 (C) Ever since I can remember (33 years in Mensa) no Assistant LocSec has ever attempted to do ANYTHING with this job. 6 (R) The Assistant LocSec, in my case, was also unreachable. Wouldn't return phone calls or emails. Although our By-Laws say I can designate duties for him there is no provision (anywhere within Mensa) to sanction anybody who violates By-Laws. During my administration I attempted to use the Regional Hearings but found out that they are structurally unusable. 7 (T) There are over a hunderd articles in our past publication aimed at new members. Why don't we publish a new members' handbook? 7 (C) I have two, single-spaced pages of bibliography about advice for new members (and that is only from about half of the extant Intelligencers).. a lot of it attributed to Polly Ryan - thanks Polly. We could mail a booklet, a questionnaire and an invitationto an event to EVERY NEW MEMBER! 7 (R) I found an outdated new member booklet but neither I nor the membership officer had the time to revive it.. 8 (T) We have at any given time, between $25K and $30K sitting in Certificates of Deposit. Do we have a written rationalization for (not) using this surplus in this way? 8 (C) I doubt if one
could use the rationalization that this is for "emergencies". The
money would be certainly better spent if 8 (R) Since taking office I discovered that it is no longer possible to live within the allocation received from AML. They have consistently reduced the amount over the years that we get back at the local level from our dues. On the other hand, I did discover that SFRM's By-Laws make no mention of a budget or ANY oversight of how the money is spent. I simply went and spent it down (to a point, of course, in order to force the issue). 9 (T) Since we get a disk of our members names, addresses and phone numbers every month, why is this database not made available for the convenience of individual members? 9 (C) Since I scanned in the SFRM Annual Roster I have had a half dozen requests. There is a need for it. I use it regularly to look up addresses. 9 (R) When I proposed this I had no idea of the controversy that this would generate. The story on this will be relayed in another part of this web site but suffice it to say that a national task force has been started to deal with my bringing this issue forward. I am incidentally, in contact with it. 10 (T) AMC used to publish a yearly Roster which contained hobby, educational, religious and other background (when American Mensa was 25% larger). Why can't that material be made available at least on a local level since it could be done for pennies electronically? 10 (R) This material IS made available twice a year to the Local Secretary or to a Membership Officer but they are prohibited fromdistributing it or using it in any way! Yet Canadian Mensa gives it away FREE (on a CD ROM)! 11 (T) Why don't we do a questionnaire before an event (particularly a discussion group) and then one afterward and give out a report card (which would essentially be a "self" report card)? 11 (C) Lots of useful information could be gathered from such aquestionnaire. 11 (R) Alas I never got around to trying this. 12 (T) Why don't we hold highly controversial general meetings and invite the press? 12 (C) We could start rivaling the Jerry Springer show. As the result of a San Franicsco Chronicle story about a Mensa orgy we got 250 new members. Better that kind than the Readers Digest type. 12 (R) I have expanded on this idea to the point of proposing that a lcoal group stage a debate between world class experts on a controversial subject then generate a "white paper" on the subject which a local group in another part of the country could pick up and use as background reading for a similarly staged debate at their general meeting. Once the fruit of these half dozen debates are coalesced a "final paper" could be distributed to the press. This would take about 6 members to accomplish. I am thinking of such topics as abortion, capital punishment, holocaust revisionism, etc. 13 (T) Why are the two SFRM electronic newslists moribund? 13 (C) They do not publicize themselves. I recently breathed a little life into the Debates List (an SFRM newslist forum) but nobody is writing it up for the Intelligencer. 13 (R) They are either moribund or screamingly rude slugfests. I replaced the webmaster - who refused to formulate or enforce rules with a team of four webmasters who were overseen by a five person Cyberspace Committee. 14 (T) Why does SFRM go out of its way NOT to print or solicit email addresses when practically every other group and AMC does? 14 (C) This would go well in conjunction with a new member questionnaire. 14 (R) I did this wherever I could in the pages of the newsletter and I have noticed a surge of email addresses listed in the Rosters that come from the national office. Out of a 2000 membership we are now up to 724 emails listed. 15 (T) Why doesn't SFRM try to raise money over and above the AMC subsidy? 15 (C) The Fishermensa RG has this potential. Tiny Monterey Mensa for many years, accumulated a large sum by doing an annual Wine Booth at the Gilroy Garlic Festival. This is not a difficult chore and could even make us independent of the national group! 15 (R) Due to my pushing the funding issue, debate is currently going on. Whether we cave in and just publish a small issue remains to be seen. 16 (T) Why doesn't SFRM explore what might be done with more money? 16 (C) Whether we want to find a social commitment or just have asmuch fun as we can....money helps. 16 (R) At this, point unless we agree that we want a larger/better newsletter the subject of where else to spend money is moot. 17 (T) Premises, with or without a compatible co-tenant is eminently do-able and has been attempted in the past when we had few members. Why is nobody exploring this possibility? 17 (C) The Presidio and Treasure Island are just obvious possibilities...I have a handful of others. 17 (R) While the real estate market certainly isn't getting any better in San Francisco there are still plenty of closed bars and churches that could be utilized, even on a casual, short term lease basis. A compatible co-tenant would be, pretty much, mandatory here. 18 (T) Why do we have a moribund website with little of interest and no interactive substance? 18 (C) The website is static and provides little more than addresses and email links. 18 (R) With new webmasters we gave the look of it a significant overhaul. The newsletter, which had already been online in a members only section began to appear in color and also began to have a significant impact in situations where members were getting their newsletter late. Unfortunately new content on the website did not increase. You can lead a horse to water, etc. 19 (T) We advertise a general public access calendar of events on the website, yet one has to ask why it goes for months without updating? 18 (C) Whoever is in charge of that website needs to be threatened with being fired. 19 (R) In point of fact he was fired. I took a lot of flack for firing a couple of "volunteers" but in retrospect I believe that it needs to be done sooner and with less hesitation so that a policy of demanding/expecting the best becomes the norm. 20 (T) Why doesn't the RVC show up occasionally at events to answer questions in an open forum? 20 (C) He did at Asilomar in 1998 but has never done so at any SFRM function (of which he is a member). 20 (R) The same RVC was scheduled to give a talk at Asilomar in Sept of 2000 but hung around in the wings and never did address his constituency. He then reported a completely falacious account of the demise of Asilomar in the newsletter, despite the rather odd fact that this demise was explained at the event where he was in the wings. 21 (T) Why don't we invite one or more of the national officers to come here and address us? 21 (C) "Whenever they are in town." So we don't have to pay their expenses. 21 (R) I hold the private opinion that most AMC officers are intimidated by the San Francisco Group. The one exception to this rule being Sander Rubin. But then he is no longer an officer. 22 (T) Why don't we produce a radio or TV show on the Internet since it would cost peanuts? 22 (C) To my knowledge no other Mensa group has done this (even a one hour a week program). Since SFRM encompasses the Silicon Valley and the heart of the Internet, isn't this embarrassing (particularly with 600 national Mensa websites)? 22 (R) I have since learned that somebody in southern California has beaten us to the punch on this. Frankly I've been met with thundering silence on this one. 23 (T) Why don't we pro-actively encourage events and SIG's with such tactics as offering them money? 23 (C) We could create an event and SIG officer with a small budget and the mission to encourage new activities. 23 (R) Other groups around the country have such an officer. Frankly I didn't get around to proposing this one. To my surprise whenever I broached an expansion on one of these theses in my monthly column at least one volunteer would come out of the woodwork. 24 (T) Why is our publicity office a re-active function? 24 (C) It's also a non-elective function. 24 (R) It also doesn't exist. And I didn't get around to this one. 25 (T) Asilomar technically isn't a Mensa function. Why doesn't SFRM, at least open a formal dialogue or establish a joint oversight committee? 25 (C) Since Asilomar appears to enjoy a "special status" of being a non-Mensa event (i.e. private and non-responsible to either SFRM or AMC) why don't they volunteer SOME sort of formal liason? 25 (R) As we all now know Asilomar fell victim to its own incestuous structure and will probably cease to exist in its present form. Certainly moving 200 miles to Pizmo Beach and raising the resistration nearly double will NOT help its already failing attendance. A post mortem is certainly called for but the person that is currently running it (Robin Holland) is unlikely to co-operate. This I know from my personal dealings with her. 26 (T) Why doesn't SFRM publish the boundaries of its territory in conjunction with the publication of the By-Laws? 26 (C) I had to contact the RVC who then gave me a list of zip codes that make up SFRM. I know I'm in Mensa but a list of zip codes isn't all that useful. 26 (R) Since I took office I discovered that a map does exist and it has been circulated. 27 (T) Why don't we print a questionnaire similar to the one that AMC does and have it put into the renewal notices (assuming AMC does not plan to do this)? 27 (C) We should also send a questionnaire to new members but we need this information from older members as well. 27 (R) One of the first things I did was to get a questionnaire out to the membership. It is included in the lapsed member letter and has been reprinted twice in the newsletter. One of the interesting responses was a uniformly positive answer to the question about "pushing" the newsletter to people via an email attachment instead of a mailed paper version. 28 (T) Why do we not publish a yearly report from the appointed officers? 28 (C) Most of the appointed officers haven't functioned in years. 28 (R) Some of my appointed officers, I suspect, were faking it. Despite my requirement "that they file at least one report I didn't follow up on it. So this is a problem that bears more rigorous scrutiny. 29 (T) Why don't we actively pursue the dropouts with questionnaires since this has been proven to elicit a 12% increase in re-upping members? 29 (C) The logical extension of this is to then actually go and do something about the reasons why people drop out. 29 (R) I actually attempted to do that but the Treasurer (who subsequently ran against me for LocSec refused to reimburse me for the cost of mailing it out (despite the fact that national reimburses us 100% of the cost). We will now never know. Forewarned again line up your ducks. 30 (T) Why do we have only 5 active SIG's? 30 (C) That is an incredibly low number even for an organization that is dying. 30 (R) I've added a couple (Gifted Children and Mensa On The Web). If nothing else it gives new members more of a range of places to go. 31 (T) Why is the paid ads position on the Intelligencer staff not augmented by a small commission? 31 (C) We could certainly use some more paid ads. 31 (R) This more probably falls within the editor's purview but certainly a "publication committee" or the "governing board" could stick their oar in. At this point I didn't have the time, since the by-laws committee was already addressing this. 32 (T) Why don't we have a Business Plan? 32 (C) Some people would say because we are not a business. A business plan says who you are, what you are attempting to do and how you plan to do it. 32 (R) The current LocSec doesn't have a clue as to how easy it is to sit down and compose a business plan. She currently is holding a special "planning session" of members to meet at her house in order to plan our local groups future. How clueless. 33 (T) Why don't we have a mission statement? 33 (C) Are we trying to get from "this plan" to "another"? 33 (R) We (as the socializing element of Mensa) are definitely trying to deny any kind of mission. It is going to be interesting trying to push a dialogue about this particular subject. As they say, stay tuned. 34 (T) Why don't we construct and have the calendar editor mail out a booklet delineating suggestions and rights of event holders? 34 (C) We have printed several articles in the Intelligencer addressing this subject. All we would need do is reprint them in a booklet. 34 (R) This should certainly be made a part of a new members booklet. At the very least the Calendar Editor should get an acknowledgement from a first time event holder that they have read and acknowledged such an agreement. I did not follow through on this. I now note that we do not have a calendar editor. When I was calendar editor (while being LocSec, and Newsletter editor at the same time I DID formulate a policy about calendar events. This seems pretty brainless to me. 35 (T) Why do we have one quarter the number of calendar events with a gtreater number of members than we had 20 years ago? 35 (C) Probably because SFRM has been dumbed down and made intellectually negative. No positivity. The events are not very stimulating intellectually. I used to look forward to going to stimulating events. Can't find many now. 35 (R) In the good old days when things were more stimulating, intellectually, the events were more attractive. We now have the complication of the Internet vying for the attention of the members but I still maintain that if you have intellectualy stimulating events no matter whether the members physically get together they will eventually want to be driven to get together physically. 36 (T) Why has our membership declined nearly a thousand members from 13 years ago? 36 (C) I have some theories about this but we need a public debate before we can begin to address a reversal. 36 (R) A lot of this has to do with what has been happening (or not happening) at the national level. We have had no recruitment effort at national or local level. I have taken the "official position" from my viewpoint that it does no good to "raw recruit" if they are going to come in and dismiss "us" as inconsequential - which has been the case (provably) for 35 years. The minute we have something of consequence to interest/excite that "intellectually stimulating" component we can then go full bore to recruit. 37 (T) Why has SFRM not addressed the fact that the vast majority of the 125 people who vote in the local election every year are 20-plus year members, thus skewing the administration of this group toward the status quo? 37 (C) I know how most of them vote and it is nearly pure "safe caretaker". 37 (R) I have not had the time to statistically "nail" this greybeard component as to how many (as an example) of the life members are really just staying in to support the "party going" element so that they can reserve their "social peer group" but it certainly seems to me to demand a closer scrutiny in order to quantify what is going on, and more importantly to define our "problem". 38 (T) We have had a phenomenally high drop-out rate (85% within the first two years of membership). So why does your elected officer corp refuse to discuss this problem and go to great lengths to bury these studies? 38 (C) AMC literally lost the last one they did and SFRM has never even undertaken one. How can we begin to address the problem if we bury the question? 38 (R) The third one done in the early 1980's (the "Revelle Report") was the most professional and the most coherent (it is available on Dick Amyx's website, linkable from the SFRM.org website,). I suppose we could jump up and down and holler a real lot to demand that something be done. I intend to give it the good old college try through our RVC. Actually the incoming RVC Scott Rainey is not a bad egg...some hope there. 39 (T) If we were to do an "intake questionnaire" why would no-one follow up by asking the participant new members to actually implement their own suggestions...and, obviously, provide official support? 39 (C) Why do a questionnaire without demanding that there be "recommendations" attached to it? Or, at least, officially request an "action committee" followup. 39 (R) The questionnaire that I did will, undoubtedly be dropped. A little bit of manpower could really get us moving. Stay tuned and drop in. 40 (T) At least 5 of our current officers and very recent past officers have very intense designs on AMC office. If we can identify these people the minute they announce, why can't we demand that they prove they are doing a gung ho positive job for local - FIRST? 40 (C) Les Creelman (the current LocSec) is doing a safe job so he can move on up the ladder. Obviously Mike Eager and Joanne Malina made no bones about their (pathetic) ambitions. Is this the reason they did little while in office? Do we have the right to ask candidates their intention? And then maybe question their (non)performance a little more closely? Running for national office with their (AMC) emphasis on past experience exacerbates this problem. 40 (R) Considering the state of our national Gore/Bush exposure of just what is exactly wrong with "popularly elected, perception perfect" candidates this just might be the time to demand that candidates declare not only why they are running but what they intend to do once in office. I have stated my 95 intentions and demanded open debates. I will continue to do so and will continue to do so at the national level. Grass roots "politics" ala Green party needs to continue to rattle cages. We could even promote candidates at the local level who vow to challenge the entrenched (and indeed corrupt) national level bureacracy. 41 (T) Why don't we have any formal procedure wherein the LocSec calls to account members who have repeatedly been kicked out of SFRM functions (A certain member whose first name is Erik comes to mind)? 41 (C) Our chief officer is also our defacto chief cop. Why isn't he held accountable in that function? 41 (R) I attempted, as LocSec, to bring two local members up on charges before a regional hearings committee only to be shot down as being "ambiguous as to who could bring charges"...apparently there is NO sanctioning function at the Regional level and AML has shot us down in our attempt to institute any mechanism of our own. Actually I think we got farther on this one than I had anticipated. 42 (T) Is ANYBODY supporting the Area Secretaries? 42 (C) Since the majority of them do not appear to be performing ANY function - one can certainly wonder (or demand to know). 42 (R) I managed to get pretty far with this one. It is prudent to remember that Area Secretaries are "Mini Local Secretaries" in a local group that is geographically large. It is wise to remember that an Area Secretary will, very likely, go off and simply administer his/her area and be interested in little else. 43 (T) Have the Area Secs been formally queried (with a questionanire about their wishlists, complaints etc.? 43 (C) It makes it doubly abominable were we to actually SUPPORT the AreaSecs and then they still didn't perform. 43 (R) What actually happened was that we got them together (more or less) physically once and then kept up something of a running dialogue, and the slugs who refused to perform very quickly dropped out. Not much of a problem replacing them at that point either. 44 (T) Why isn't the Intelligencer online at our website so prospective members can look at it? Or are we that ashamed of it? 44 (C) Not to mention the desireability of members who have moved out of the area and who might want to touch home base. 44 (R) Fortunately we managed to do this and it is really making a significant impact. Unfortunately the recently reinstalled webmaster has now eliminated the members only area of the website thus sending the very clear message that it is his intention to make the Mensa Website open to the general public. 45 (T) Why isn't the Editor of the Intelligencer a paid position? 45 (C) Then, maybe we could expect/request something other than a "volunteer" sloth. 45 (R) Unfortunately we have had no response to this query. Everybody I have talked to nixes this one so we are locked into volunteers. 46 (T) Why isn't there a handbook (and description) for each officer? 46 (C) We create an appointed position and then do not define it? We certainly can ask the individuals what they think is the responsibility that goes along with the title. 46 (R) I requested (very strongly) of the appointed officers that they do this. I should have made this a REQUIREMENT of the officer. My oversight, and needless to say, it didn't get done. 47 (T) Why don't we have photographs in the Intelligencer? 47 (C) We did, for many years, and with the digital technology currently available, it is even easier. 47 (R) Well this one did get accomplished and it is so astonishingly easy to do. Our editor took conventional emulsion photos and then scanned them in with a cheap scanner. For a variety of reasons digital cameras have a few inherent difficulties. We even had someone donate a digital camera for this task but it just didn't measure up. Forewarned. Hell, for that matter the two issues I did were old fashioned cut and paste (boy did our printer get a laugh out of that - but hey it still works.). 48 (T) Why don't we expand the appointed officers so we can give those positions to new members, thus increasing our retention rate? 48 (C) A little creative imagination should be able to create several more useful functions. 48 (R) I did that by creating a Cyberspace Committee, a quartermaster (frankly a failure), a Gifted Children Website person etc. Getting people to actually come through can be quite an administrative chore and my experience has been that this aspect can be more demanding than expected. And your successor can fire the lot of them (unless you have an excomm). 49 (T) Why don't we question new members (In exquisite detail) and then do something about those results? 49 (C) Catch them fresh and see if we can't steer them to what they were expecting of Mensa. 49 (R) I had expected to expand and make the Membership Officer the cornerstone of this effort to (re)energize the group. The questionnaire was about all we could do without a much expanded membership function (should have been FOUR people). 50 (T) See 49. And then why don't we do something directly in response to those individuals? 50 (C) As an example, our Membership Officer could compile a list of "expectations", that we currently cannot meet, as fuel for our officer core. Maybe in the future we could meet them! 50 (R) What we really need is a person to specifically track what members are "requesting". We also need a "questionnaire officer". 51 (T) Why don't we make available the exchange publications at our monthly general meetings? 51 (C) We used to do this (I did it) and people actually read them! 51 (R) When I first took office I tried to track down what had happened to the exchange publications we were alledged to have received. To the best of my knowledge they were tossed - unread. When I got them flowing again we started to use them and you will begin to see the best of them on this website. 52 (T) Why don't we establish a permanent re-invention committee? 52 (C) For that matter a "mission committee" could use these theses as a checklist. 52 (R) I had always thought that this idea needed to wait until we all knew we were in turnaround. Although realistically this sort of thing could be done anywhere, anytime and in anyplace (such as this website). 53 (T) Why don't we use our website for contributed insider tips (cheapest gas stations, parking tips, etc.) by members for members? 53 (C) This is done on a very infrequent and casual basis on the SFRM list forum but it is frequented by less than a dozen members. 53 (R) We are going to see this idea implemented on this website very soon. 54 (T) Some of us are more "access skill deficient" than others. Why don't we have an electronic bulletin board system (on our website) where one can pose librarian type questions (Ask Ms Librarian)? 54 (C) I have a lack of an ability to frame appropriate queries for web searches. I, for one, could use some friendly, on-line assistance. 54 (R) Actually I started to ask some informal questions on our newslist and the question seemed to elicit a fair amount of response. 55. (T) Can we have a function where a middleman fields questions of a technical nature and then passes them on via email to members who have listed their interest in the PDQ? 55 (C) The national roster has been promised us for some time now and if one of us could get a hold of it, (and act as a pipeline, and possibly put a limit on the number of questions)...before a member had to pay for it. 55 (R) This is an idea that I intend to put into fruition as soon as the PDQ information gets to me. We can buy a national version for $30 and all we need to do is scan it in. Watch for the fireworks when I manage to do it. 56 (T) Why don't we have an eBay type flea market on our website? 56 (C) Actually Bethany Williams promoted this with a full paged spread in the newsletter. A variation that solicited contributions from members to be auctioned on eBay with proceeds going to SFRM. Didn't get far. 57 (T) Why don't we have a section on our website dedicated to members who simply want to give stuff away? 57 (C) Ken Thompson has been successfully (for the most part) doing this for years through the Intelligencer. It would be a lot easier through the web. We could also do an online bookswap (in conjunction with the real physical one). 57 (R) I think it
is time to do this and I will implement something like this on this website
and it will quickly become a national 58 (T) Why can't we do something with the Assistant LocSec Job? 58 (C) While we can't "bind" the Assistant LocSec, since it is covered by the By-Laws, we could pass a "sense of the meeting" motion that we could wave around whenever we needed to. 58 (R) The new By-Laws that formed during my administration took recognition of this problem and the Assistant LocSec would have become an active ExComm member subject to expulsion for non-attendance at meetings. 59 (T) Why haven't we gotten together a study group or project to examine the most effective way(s) of increasing IQ (and proven it with tests)? 59 (C) This and #60 below. This may be a question as important as the Terman studies. What should it feel like to have a 20 point jump? 59 (R) We need to have a standing committee that sifts through the available (primarily MERF) research for suggestions as to how to implement the research that has been already done for the benefit of this local group. 60 (T) Why hasn't a group within SFRM attempted to increase "effective brainpower" (realizing that this would require some definition)? 60 (C) A lot of work has been done on identifying the different"types" of IQ. I have the itchy feeling that there are useful correlations between these types. Useful perhaps in identifying more promising career paths for individual fullfillment. 60 (R) I have some very basic questions about mind/brain and intelligence. It may be high time to form a research think tank. 61 (T) Why hasn't anything been done to identify, foster, or help parents with Gifted Children (in approximately the last 25 years)? 61 (C) If I were a "norm" parent with a gifted child, would anybodyin SFRM be able to help them? 61 (R) Just this month (12/00) I put up a website linked through the SFRM website where parents of gifted children can go for some preliminary information. It will be a growing resource and sorely needed since our own Gifted Children Coordinator is not web enabled nor does she have an email address. Unfortunately the current LocSec ordered that service erased. 62 (T) Why isn't there a website or, at least, a newslist group dealing with money saving tips (which could later become a book - "Mensa's Book Of Money Saving Tips")? 62 (C) This could even be a question that is on "our questionnaire" ("How do you make money that you think is unusual or unique?"). 62 (R) Sorry I blew this on the questionnaire but it will be a website item soon. 63 (T) Why isn't there a Mensa website exposing all of the classic conspiracies and coverups? 63 (C) Sort of like everybody throw in their favorite conspiracy, liberally footnote it and then discuss it. All of this to later become either a fixed website..or a book. 63 (R) I think this needs to be a combination website/newslist/FAQ. There are some very apparent fallacies being perpetrated on us by the mass media and we need to have a "touch base" where M's can go and validate their suspicions. Having been the national Conspiracies and Coverups SIG Coordinator for a couple of years I think I can set this up on this website in a reasonable fashion. Stay tuned. 64 (T) Why isn't there a Mensa website questioning the obvious lies behind the headlines of our daily newspapers (an updated daily counter source to the daily fishwrap.)? 64 (C) I used to have an answering machine which gave a short spiel about the daily disaster news. We could do an on-line version of what your Mensa Peer Group thinks is the real news behind the news. 64 (R) OK this should happen fairly soon on this website...The "Mensa Take" behind the headlines. Eight corporate entities control the media (ALL of the media). This should be easy to expose (with a little help from our M friends). 65 (T) How does "Intelligence" (as we measure it) benefit mankind and what exactly is the connection? 65 (C) Our third aim states that we need to "promote intelligence for the benefit of mankind". That begs definition. 65 (R) I have had some increasingly serious questions about just exactly what is intelligence? Speed is not the only answer. What, definitively are the other elements of what we are proposing to offer mankind? 66 (T) Why haven't we administered a test of our members (and maybe a control test of non-members) of how close-minded (opinionated) we are? 66 (C) In my opinion, after walking into any Mensa group, I come away with the impression that this is one, heavily opinionated bunch of people. But how open minded are we, as compared to people of average IQ? I think this is, not only a fair question but one that could be highly instructive. 66 (R) In view of the latest partisan demonstration of how our leaders are NOT going to fairly govern us...I can amply demonstrate how the same phenomenon exhibits itself at our local level. We are definitely lined up along a partisan line. How can we test for it, acknowledge it, and incorporate it into what we do as a group? Maybe a voluntary rating system. 67 (T) As to number 66...whether it is proven that M's are more or less opinionated why don't we construct a course in "de-opinionating"? 67 (C) A course in miracle...create the perfect Zen Mensan. 67 (R) A continuing ethics course, since I think most M's would acknowledge that most M's are way too opinionated (with NO check and balance) for their own good. I know that I sorely lack any solid feedback system (that wouldn't be pointedly biased against me). 68 (T) Is there a provable connection between IQ and creativity (and wouldn't it be a glorious excercise if SFRM conducted a formal study of it)? 68 (C) Actually I'm reasonably sure general studies have been done but, what is the connection of creativity to the various TYPES of IQ? 68 (R) In the last year I have developed a better relationship with MERF (which, pretty much contains the collective knowledge about IQ and testing) what an absolutely rich mind field of information about how to use Mensa for creative work. Stay tuned. 69 (T) Can we identify a link between intuition and IQ (hopefully with a test)? 69 (C) For that matter do we need to take a look at exactly what "intuition" is? 69 (R) Sorry I haven't gotten very far with this question, but I still think it a valid question. 70 (T) Why hasn't anybody within SFRM taken a look at what MERF has been doing all of these years and compiled a report(s) so that we can start to make some sense of what the hell it is we (MERF or SFRM) are doing? 70 (C) MERF has been around for a long time and the membership at large is mostly unaware of what MERF does. One question I have is whether, in the long term, anything that MERF has done has been effective (particularly as it relates to our "third aim" - benefiting mankind). 70 (R) As I've mentioned earlier MERF is not, nor never has held itself out as, inaccessible. We can certainly mine it for its invaluable information. Stay tuned. 71 (T) Why don't we have a special section on our website, and for that matter why don't we query our members (via questionnaire) as to their choices of bookmarks in their browsers and their rationale for retaining them? 71 (C) The Internet
is a mind field of rabbit holes down which I fall with surprising regularity.
If I had input from other Mensans 71 (R) Certainly we are going to do this on our website. I have already started a section titled "The Best of Mensa Websites" and the natural extension of this is a section informing members about websites (not specifically Mensa) that, nonetheless are very obviously the type of website that a member would be interested in. These will be VERY closely vetted. Stay tuned. 72 (T) Why are we carrying events in the Intelligencer calendar (RSE - Regularly Scheduled Events) that nobody attends (such as Kulture Vultures)? 72 (C) A half dozen postcard inquiries would clear that up and avoid the embarassment of new members complaining about non-existent events. 72 (R) When I took office I made a rule that anybody not actually being in attendance at these events would have them de-listed. Several members promptly withdrew their events. This is the kind of action that could (and probably should) have been made as an action of the Business Meeting. 73 (T) Shouldn't somebody drop the listings for Local S.I.G.'s listings if there is no activity for awhile? 73 (C) See * 72 73 (R) I should have done this but several were carried with "coordinator needed". 74 (T) Since the Intelligencer Editor has a censorship capability why isn't there some public oversight reporting? 74 (C) One of the appointed offices that I suggested in #48 could be a "publications officer" who could oversee the newsletter, websites and publications. No activity other than to report. 74 (R) The current editors resisted this suggestion and there were a few complaints but the ombudsman is the final arbiter here even though she fell down on this one. The new By-Laws revision will probably incorporate a Publication Officer. 75 (T) Why don't we have a monthly report (posted on our website) delineating every example of egocentric thinking found in the Intelligencer? 75 (R) I still think this is a good idea. Maybe we will have a column devoted to that on this website. 76 (T) When we get a sufficient number of members email addresses why don't we have an "emergency broadcast system" invokable by the Local Secretary? 76 (C) The counter to this is "cyberspace sheriff" who reports violations of the use of an email list to the LocSec who can then "disinvite" the offending member. 76 (R) This could easily be done privately. Even if the current administration violates the By-Laws and doesn't print a roster (with emails) you can trust that I will have one personally and make it available. We have to vigilantly stay free. 77 (T) Why doesn't SFRM have at least one think tank in operation? 77 (C) First a think tank (on line?) to define the form and function of an on-going Mensa think tank. 77 (R) I suggested this in various forms in my LocSec column and got a few nibbles but not enough to reach critical mass. Again this may be even more appropriate a function for this website although it will likely have a national membership component. 78 (T) Why doesn't SFRM have an operational employment agency which actively solicits jobs FROM M's and then RECRUITS M's to fill them? 78 (C) This could also have a money making potential. 78 (R) Subsequently the Dotcom SIG has been formed and serves very casually in this manner. I would not be adverse to trying this on this website. 79 (T) Why don't we start an electronic newsletter that combines the best of everything we can find about Mensa and is constantly updatable so that members will automatically check in with us? 79 (C) There are hundreds of websites and hundreds of newsletters yet we have no "Utne Reader" or "best of" compendium of Mensa that members could access via a newslist, website, or "push technology". 79 (R) As I write this the "Everything Else In Mensa" website is up, running and a regular feature will be a listing and review of other Mensa websites. And we will be re-running "improving Mensa" articles VERY regularly. 80 (T) Why don't we have a radio station on the internet? 80 (C) We could be the first with a weekly show. Advertised (and linked) with the 600 websites on the AML website. 80 (R) Actually somebody in southern California beat us to the punch and I didn't get much interest from our own Web people. 81 (T) Why don't we have a TV station on the Internet? 81 (C) See #80 81 (R) Same situation, although I certainly am going to try to do some streaming video snipes as soon as possible. 82 (T) If Jesse Jackson can go out and "save the world" (or at least get some prisoners of war back home) why can't we? 82 (C) Elsewhere I have suggested a "Have Brain Will Travel" operation. 82 (R) I floated this idea in a LocSec column and did get some nibbles from the membership. All this takes is somebody to sit down, read the newspapers and mail out our business card. And we don't need any official sanction., There is, as I recently discovered, a national CAP (Community Action Program). 83 (T) Why doesn't SFRM revive the Court Of Last Resort? 83 (C) I did this successfully for 4 years, but as a lone Mensan running this thing I couldn't split myself and chase funding at the same time. I folded this opereation for lack of money but with the Internet, not only is communication easier but fundraising (or other efforts to free wrongly convicted inmates) could become a "group project". 83 (R) I suspect that we will be exploring this possibility along with #82 (above). 84 (T) Why aren't SFRM's "Actions Still In Effect" published (or available somewhere) so that members can see what governs us? 84 (C) Gee, even a
simple "pointer" would suffice. Otherwise this looks like a sly
attempt to not let the membership know how 84 (R) I immediately instituted this during my recent term of office since SFRM (in its By-Laws and Actions Still In Effect) are required to print a Roster Issue which also contains current By-Laws and A.S.I.E.'s. Eternal Vigilance is required here. 85 (T) AML "subsidizes" us $.50 for each lapsed member we contact, this would certainly cover the cost of doing it....why isn't it being done? 85 (C) Admittedly $.50 barely covers the cost of the materials but if done, even quarterly, we could get back a distinct percentage of members. 85 (R) I prepared this mailing but a foot dragging Treasurer would not front the postage. When you have a Treasurer that is slow paying bills, life can get ugly. 86 (T) AML makes available , to the local groups, "Entertainment Passbooks" (coupon books). How come SFRM isn't in on this? 86 (C) SFRM almost seems to not pay any attention to what gets passed on to us by AML. Do we need an "oversight" position to make sure that the Local Secretary reads his mail? 86 (R) I am sure that this will get stirred into the mix when we attempt to resolve our budgetary problems. 87 (T) Why don't we importune the Asilomar and Fishermensa RG committees to give five "passes" to be "auctioned off" to the general good of SFRM (primarily as an encouragement to new members)? 87 (C) Asilomar AND Fishermensa events are making money... so why can't they get off some goodwill and PR. 87 (R) Unfortunately we did not mount an RG this year and Asilomar was claiming financial difficulties. None of that statement (about the financial difficulties of Asilomar), of course was true. Nor was what you perceived about the lack of an SFRM RG true. But then that is pretty much dead history. 88 (T) Why don't we have an automatic lottery with, say a $500 prize being given to an automatic pool of every SFRM member? Each pool member could gain additional points by being an officer, hosting an event, being more than a five year member etc. 88 (C) I realize there are problems with "running a lottery" (the state likes to keep you out of that business). But if we just GIVE the prizes away without requiring any money from the individual member... couldn't we make that work? 88 (R) This is another idea that I will broach to any committee or group as a means to get people involved. 89 (T) Why don't we try having the Local Secretary appoint a "Sheriff" with the power to "arrest" members at "open general functions" (from which the By-Laws precludes expulsion) so that the Local Secretary can then ascertain whether an offending member can be "excluded" for a specific period of time? 89 (C) Admittedly this is a little bit of a far out idea...but my thinking was to have a "positive image" Sheriff and try to put a little fun into this "appointment"...yes we have had "certain functions" of late where members "should have been" ejected. And, of course the member could always have his "day in court" with appeals to the RVC etc. 89 (R) As I have found out the hard way that we have no way of disciplining a member. In this local group, incivility is increasing and we had tried to slip in a local sanctions function which would have amounted to not much more than some public embarrassment. I now think a Sheriff might be appropriate. 90 (T) Why doesn't SFRM contact public access TV and Radio and put on a weekly program about high IQ people, featuring high IQ guests, outing prominent (public figure) M's and interviewing them? 90 (C) This, sort of, follows on my ideas about doing radio and TV on the internet. In the late 1970's SFRM produced a weekly TV show on public access Sunnyvale cable. I know something about this since I was its producer...it is an easy project. 90 (R) We need a publicity officer for this. The only PR we've ever had was one who stood by in case of a negative story. As I've said publicly I am now loathe to promote Mensa in the condition that it is in. 91 (T) Why don't we field a cadre of volunteers who periodically provide volunteers to IQ type events i. e. National Library Day? 91 (C) If we snare new members as they come in the door could we not importune them to join a fun group of similarly thrown together members as a "volunteer pool" for worthy events (i.e. as docents)... and obviously the criteria for which would be as a high profile public gimmick. 91 (R) We don't do anything like this except on a very small scale through gifted children or (as a stretch the KTEH auction). Probably my this would be my "Have Brain Will Travel" idea in Thesis #82. 92 (T) Why doesn't SFRM actively promote Project Inkslinger? 92 (C) I rather doubt if the average M even knows what Project Inkslinger is! (It promotes giving books to libraries). 92 (R) A local Inkslinger Officer needs to be appointed. We do get lots of supporting material from the National office. 93 (T) Why doesn't SFRM start an "Explorers Club" based on the ones popular in the late 19th and early 20th century? 93 (C) I once spent a couple of years pursing the concept of Maslov's "peak experience" - that man is best served when pursuing adrenalin rush activities. If that concept were formalized within a Mensa framework, I'm convinced some very interesting conclusions would be the result. 93 (R) This is either a SIG or a calendared event. It also occurs to me that this website may eventually attract enough participants to support something like this on a national level. 94 (T) The rules of AMC's nominating committee state that each local group can appoint a member (or a committee of members) to the NonCom. Considering SFRM's clout, why are we missing such a juicy opportunity to affect national politics in a positive (at least for SFRM) way? 94 (C) SFRM, as the biggest local group in the world, should have a Local Secretary who, at the very least, pursues the opportunities within the Mensa structures around him (both AMC and MERF) that could increase the opportunities within the local group. 94 (R) As a matter of fact I did annoint myself as the NonCom representative from SFRM and got a very generous dose of how bad things are politically at the national level. Our sources of information and access were rigidly controlled. In the end I simply couldn't bring myself to even vote, it was that bad. But it certainly was illuminating. 95 (T) Despite private attempts by candidates for SFRM office, why haven't we had any "Meet The Candidates Night"? 95 (C) As a candidate for office last year I contacted a couple of the regular event holders to see if they would announce that, at least, some of the candidates would be in attendance. I met with little (no) success but if it came as an official request from an officer...we might actually get to air some of these issues in public. 95 (R) I came quite close on this one. I tagged on a Meet The Candidates event to the Business Meeting, with a plan to have a question and answer session, tape recorded and then transcribed on our website/newslist. Unfortunately it was a hot and heavy Business Meeting and nobody wanted to stay for the candidates so we canceled it. But it was interesting to see which of the candidates did show and which of the candidates had a string of epithets for my even suggesting it (and I mean that literally). As you can see, a few of the Theses are more pertinent to SFRM, a few could stand some modification depending on your groups size, and the concept of a 95 Theses would certainly apply at the national level. It was a terrific jumping off place for me personally...and still is. Darrell Bross |