EAST TEXAS MENSA
ARTICLES
LOCSEC
Happy Millennium!
Everyone told you to wait till next year. But hold on: the white Europeans who decided how to number the centuries didn't know about ZERO. They started AD at 1 and BC at 1 also, leaving an impossible gap. They just totally screwed up. In 1740 a French astronomer Jacques Cassini replaced 1 BC with Zero, and straightened it all out. There HAS BEEN a zero year ever since 1740! Cassini also said that centuries begin on the 00 year. We can thank the Arabs for Zero and Cassini for the beginning of a new century and millennium. And besides, the anti-Zero crowd will have to start their new millenium next year on a Monday. Serves them right!
Happy Ground Hog Day!
What is special about Ground Hog Day? We have the first "all-even-digit o/oo date (2-2-2000) since 8-28-888. That was a long time ago! Last November 19 was an "all-odd-digit o/oo date (11-19-1999) and will be the last all-odd-digit date until 1-1-3111, over a thousand years from now. So Ground Hog Day is unique. Whether it is special depends on how you celebrate it! Don't do anything ODD.)
By-Laws
Our very old By-Laws don't meet AMC standards, but AMC's rules automatically become part of a group's By-Laws. E TX started out with every-other-year elections, which we do in "odd" years like 1999 and 2001. We'll look over our 22 year-old document at the January meeting, and see if you have any suggestions.
Mainly they want us to update the by-laws regularly to include all the new stuff they want in there. I don't look forward to typing it all up and running up newsletter costs printing both a preliminary and a final draft for voting. One rule some groups (and National) have adopted is "Acclamation" for uncontested jobs, which saves on printing the ballot.
Sheila Austin
Sheila went to the Dallas RG this past Thanksgiving. She will be able to tell us all about it at the January meeting in Tyler. We enjoyed the monthly meeting at her apartment in Tyler in November. It was like old times back at Virginia Long's apartment in the 80's. Ginny moved to San Antonio, served as RVC, remarried, then moved to Galveston the last I heard. She was our first and BEST editor of SpectruM. Sheila is new to our area, and has Ginny's friendly welcoming ways. We are glad to have her!
David Rodgers
David is another "move in" which we are lucky to get. He's from the Columbus/Atlanta, GA area, now working at Carrier. He also wants to help make Tyler the center of E TX Mensa activities. David may help Sean with proctoring, or may plan some great meetings.
Sean Healy
Sean has completed Proctor approval, and has tested more folks in the last few months than I have in several years. Sean has attended more meetings in 1999 than just about anyone else.
Denise Fletcher
Denise is from the Flint area south of Tyler, and also attends pretty regularly. She's interested in writing, education and cattle!
History
E TX Mensa lost the last 4 LocSecs during their term of office due to them moving out of our area. The LocSec job fell on the then editor (me) and no relief has been in sight till now. Marshall is too far from most of the group for me to be effective. All but 2 of you are long-distance phone calls for me. When Ginny Long and her friends had a party in Tyler, people came. I think Tyler is the natural center for our group, and that one or all the folks I've written about can help get the momentum we need.
Volunteers
This is supposed to look like every other appeal for volunteers you see, but it isn't. If you have e-mail, you can get the newsletter by e-mail, and let a prospect have your copy. We don't get much from National for prospects, so we're trying to be sneaky to save a few bucks. Volunteer by sending your e-dress and approval to
crdixon@etbu.edu. The e-mail edition won't have fancy graphics, just text-only with maybe some e-jokes pasted in. Your e-contributions will be e-welcome. You can also nominate folks with e-mail as prospects, and we can send them the e-version, saving more bucks. We may get in trouble here - folks holding the money usually like to control how it gets spent! Other groups are experimenting with e-versions, but I don't know of any rulings. Sending out a "Calendar" is mandatory.
Santa Claus
Your parents thought they were supposed to be Santa Claus, just like your kids expect you to keep up the Santa myth. If you opt in, you rush around getting gifts for everyone in your world, and delivering them, along with home cooked goodies, on Christmas eve. No one can meet the perfect Santa standard, but he remains the model for our efforts. We have fewer children in our circle as we get older, so we give each one more stuff. You thought you quit believing in him when you were 7 years old? Nah, you didn't START believing in him till you took your kids to Sears to sit on Santa's lap. Now he's the role model for parents, grand parents, great grandparents, uncles and aunties, liberals, do-gooders, bankers, loan sharks, government bureaucrats and the SPCA.
Happy Birthday to these Mensans!
Glen Rummel
Fairfield 1-3
Kathlyn Schatz Kilgore
1-13
James Barrington Trinity
1-13
Mildred Dougan Allen Tyler
1-14
Michael Lantrip Pittsburg
1-18
Kenneth Koford Lufkin
1-20
Denise Fletcher Flint
1-20
Rodney Moore
Troup
1-29
Humor
Financial Statement Send an email to the LOCSEC to receive this information.
Rik's RVC Ramblings #29
Rik Hess, Region 6 RVC E-mail: rikhess@usa.net
After the holidays, it is time
now to get back to the business called "real life". There are a number
of Mensa news items I would like to share with you.
First of all, I would
like to announce that there will be a Leadership Development Workshop (LDW
-- it used to be called LOTS) in San Antonio February 4-6, 2000. It will
be held at the Holiday Inn Express, 91 N.E. Loop 410, San Antonio, TX 78216
(210-308-6700) -- near the airport. There is no registration fee, but we
are limited to 40 attendees. I am providing registration materials to the
editor, but if it is not in your newsletter, please check the Region 6
Website at the URL at the end of this column. This is geared
to any member who has a desire to learn more about how the organization
works. Carol Hilson, the Region 6 Training Officer, is resurrecting the
team that put on the 1997 session to rave reviews. Try to be there -- you
may not be one of the next leaders in your group, but you may be responsible
for training them.
Next, since so many of the local
groups in our region change officers around this time, I would like to
remind everyone that officer changes are to be reported to the national
office (NO) by the outgoing LocSec. It is the last official duty of that
office. There is a form available from the NO, or from the Region 6 Website
(under "Forms"), but they will also take the information by email. This
is important because, until this information is received at the NO, the
new officers will not start receiving mailings pertaining to their offices.
Since I have mentioned
the R6 Website twice already, let me take a moment to talk about the various
e-offerings available within the region. For Mensa business only, there
is an regional e-mail list. If you would like to be on this list, please
check at the end of this this column for instructions on singing up. Then
there is the virtual "Bunkhouse" for social on-line contact among the members.
This was set up to help members who are located around our large region
to have a bit of social contact with other Ms in the region. We have about
60 members signed up, but activity quieted down around last summer. If
you would be interested in seeing what's happening there, check at the
end of the column for sign-up details.
Then, at the recent RGs I have
attended, there has been some talk of wanting to bring back a social e-mail
list just for our region. Lori Crews, the Region 6 Webmaster, and I are
pleased to announce that such a list is now in operation. You can join
by subscribing to "region6-chat@lists.us.mensa.org".
Unlike the Bunkhouse, where all messages must be viewed on-line, this is
a regular email list, where each posting is automatically sent to all subscribers.
For those new to lists, there is no cost to subscribe, and you can unsubscribe
anytime you wish. The last of the news I have for
now is that, at the AMC meeting in December, several changes were proposed
to help clean up problems with past referenda and elections. Some of these
involve Bylaw changes which you will be asked to vote on these by a ballot
in the Bulletin this spring. More on this when it is time. One of the biggest
changes approved is that the national Nominating Committee is being expanded
to include one member from each local group. It will not be a requirement
for each group to provide a member, but a place will be available if one
is desired.
Wrapping up this month's
column, I would like to mention the RGs I have heard proposed for 2000
in our region. There are no details yet, but you might pencil these dates
on your calendars:
Memorial Day weekend, 2000 - Gulf Coast Mensa's RG (Houston)
October 2000 (Columbus Day weekend) - Lonestar Mensa's RG
(Austin)
Thanksgiving Day weekend, 2000 - North Texas Mensa's RG (Dallas)
Thank you,
Rik
Region 6 Website: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Atrium/2413/
Region 6 Email List (for Mensa business): region6-talk@lists.us.mensa.org
("subscribe" in the message)
Region 6 Email Chat List (for member fun): region6-chat@lists.us.mensa.org
("subscribe" in the message)
Region 6 Club (the "Bunkhouse" for social on-line contact): Send a request
to join to LoriCrews@t-three.com
(Include your membership number)
LDW article
Carol Hilson and I have a Leadership
Development Workshop (LDW -- the old name was LOTS) scheduled in San Antonio
February 4-6, 2000. It will be held at the Holiday Inn Express, 91 N.E.
Loop 410, San Antonio, TX 78216, (210-308-6700) -- near the airport. There
is no registration fee, but we are limited to 40 attendees.
There is an on-line registration
form on the Region 6 website, http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Atrium/2413/LDW.html.
If you want a text version, please send me an email.
Scheduled presenters include
David Mann, Cat Sterrett, Marie Mayer, some members of the national office
staff, and more. Sessions are scheduled from Friday evening through Sunday
morning. Time off for meals and some sleep is scheduled in as well.
An LDW is a way for local members
to interact with each other, with National officers, and with staff from
the national office to learn more about Mensa. Issues covered include the
duties of a local officer, how to greet and keep new members, newsletters,
dealing with the national office, the press, or with problem members, and
various other subjects.
LDWs are open to any
member of Mensa, but we are limited to 40 registrants, so sign up soon.
There is no registration fee, although attendees are responsible for their
own transportation, meals and hotel costs (some local groups will help
attendees with these costs).
Announcing a Region 6 Leadership Development Workshop (LDW)
February 4 - 6, 2000
Holiday Inn Express
91 N.E. Loop 410
San Antonio, TX 78216
(210-308-6700)
What is an LDW?
A way for local members to interact with each other, with National officers,
and with staff from the national office to learn more about Mensa. Issues
covered include the duties of a local officer, how to greet and keep new
members, newsletters, dealing with the national office, the press, or with
problem members, and various other subjects.
Who may attend?
Any local member. But remember - we're limited to the first 40 who register,
so register early!
What does it cost?
There is no registration fee, but attendees are responsible for their transportation,
meals and hotel costs.
Fill out & return this portion to:
Carol Hilson
9413 Shipman St.
Rowlett, TX 75088-4465
(Questions - call (972) 475-9327
or email chilson@3dfx.com)
NAME(S) _______________________
ADDRESS _______________________
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