New Traditions for Mensa

Until October 1999, it was understood by all that Mensa's Constitution required, as a condition of membership, each member to "permit their names and addresses to be published in duly authorized listings."

Actually, Mensa's Constitution has not changed. At the October 1999 International Board of Directors' (IBD) Meeting, Bob Beatty and Dan Burg of the American Mensa (AML) contingent submitted a new definition of "address" which excluded one's mailing address. Current AML Chairman, Jean Becker, also a NatRep at the time, supported the motion, which became an international "Standing Rule."

Whereupon, AML began implementing new procedures giving renewing members the option to withhold street addresses from published membership lists. As an educated estimate, about 10% have done so.

At their March 2000 meeting, the American Mensa Committee voted: "Local groups shall observe the preferences of members for data suppression and publication as noted on the Personal Data Questionnaire (PDQ) when publishing a local group roster or membership directory/register. These preferences will be included in the listing given to a local group." This made perfect sense when the PDQ was a separate form for sharing information about marital status, age, educational levels, interests, etc. 

Unintended Consequences

Unfortunately, at some point, street address, phone number and email address became incorporated into the PDQ. The local groups began receiving membership lists with a seven-place code reflecting members' preferences for subsequent disclosure. The first consequence was that groups could no longer simply photocopy the printout to distribute to the rest of their own local group members as their duly authorized membership list. People started complaining about lack of information.

IBD minutes are not readily available, so it's not surprising that most of us did not understand where the authority to suppress data originated. The staff at AML's National Office, justifiably concerned about being expected to implement procedures without policy, asked for direction. In July 2001, the Information and Privacy Task Force* was created. In December, the task force submitted and the AMC passed policy that the National Office had been procedurally implementing for the previous two years:

1) Moved Information and Privacy Task Force (Burg, Jacobson, Kirsch and Soper) and passed as amended: "It is the policy of American Mensa Ltd. that respecting the privacy of its members is of utmost importance. American Mensa shall respect and seek permission before distributing member information. Individual members may select the level of privacy they wish within what is required to maintain their status as a member per the Constitution of Mensa." 

2) Also passed as amended: "A current member of Mensa may receive information from the National Office regarding another current member provided that the asked-about member has agreed to release the information in a national membership directory/register."

In the meantime, we still have on the books an ASIE dating from at least 1986 that authorizes, "Personal non-commercial use by members in good standing ... of the American Mensa, Ltd. membership list or any portion thereof." While this may appear to be in conflict with the rules limiting access to these lists, just remember that the same people who defined "address" are the ones doing the duly authorizing. And you elected them.

Members can now obtain contact information on members of local group governing bodies, but it still leaves us unable to acquire non-officer mailing addresses other than one at a time. Non-officers do vote.

Our Wobbly Round Table

Candidates for Local Group office (non-incumbents) must first be approved by their LocSec, or by their Local Group's election committee and their RVC in order to obtain a full membership list. The National Election Committee must certify AMC candidates before they can acquire a full list, although incumbents in any national office already have access to that list. 

This means that elections now favor only those incumbents who by virtue of their offices receive the complete addresses of all members, while their opponents are given a list that suppresses up to 10% of the mailing addresses. 

And don't even think what this means for getting addresses to lobby for or against any referendum.

Is this good for the individual member?

No. As Allen Neuner said, it is a short-sighted abandonment of the founding principles of Mensa, which was meant to be a round table of equals. We now have one class of members who can initiate correspondence while hiding their own contact information. We have voters who can receive only the information the current officers select. Fair play demands that each candidate have an equal opportunity to disseminate his message. And, we have cut off the very communication so many of us joined Mensa for. We are being strangled by bureaucratic rule making. 

It's past time for the AMC to stop its efforts to level our round table by shortening one leg at a time. Let's talk. 

— Judy Dosse
     msdosse@aol.com

* AMC Members of the Information and Privacy Task Force who sponsored the December 2001 agenda items on privacy: 

2nd Vice-Chairman Dan Burg 
SecondViceChairman@us.mensa.org

Director of Science and Education
Dr. Michael Jacobson 
President@Merf.us.mensa.org

RVC 4 Stacey Kirsch 
RVC4@us.mensa.org

Membership Officer Joanna Soper
Membership@us.mensa.org