As the renowned science fiction author Ray Bradbury once said, “Anything you dream is fiction, and anything you accomplish is science.” The Mensa Education & Research Foundation will take a deeper look at the ramifications of this idea at its 2013 Colloquium on Tuesday, July 2, 2013, in Fort Worth, Texas.

We’ve traveled beyond the atmosphere and back in space-worthy ships; Star Trek’s “padd” is a reality today in tablet computers, lasers are being used in everything from manufacturing to microsurgery, and teleportation is being tested at the quantum level. What was once proposed in a quirky pulp genre called “science fiction” is now science — and decades later, today’s authors are still cranking out the concepts that could one day materialize on a kitchen table near you.

The intriguing topics for Colloquium 2013 will include the new technologies born of science fiction and those sciences that will always be fictional… at least within the bounds of our knowledge today; the current status of robotics and the “robopocalypse;” how our military model has changed with the advent of these technologies; and, of course, we’ll hear from those who dream tomorrow’s reality, the science fiction authors.

Join us for a visionary event where Mensa members, scholars and the public will examine the line where science fiction becomes science! More details, including pricing and registration information, will be posted at www.colloquium.us.mensa.org in July.

All the programs the Foundation offers are made possible by generous donations from people like you. To support the Foundation, please visit www.mensafoundation.org/donate.

Beginning this year, the Mensa Education & Research Foundation is making it easier for college-bound students to apply to the national scholarship program. No changes will be made in the judging standards or procedures, but students will be able to apply online, and electronic processes will lighten the load for volunteers as well.

Starting Sept. 15, applicants will be able to visit the Foundation’s Web site at www.mensafoundation.org/scholarships, locate their Local Groups by ZIP Code, and fill out digital versions of the application, including cutting and pasting their essays into the system. From there, as all of the information will be stored electronically, Scholarship Chairs will be able to pull pre-coded .pdfs of individual applications and essays that they can email or print and mail to their local judges. Scoring will be entered online, and Regional Scholarship Chairs will then be able to pull winning applications submitted by Local Groups’ judges for the regional scholarships.

Scholarship applications will be accepted through Jan. 15, 2013.

An Annual Gathering tradition, the Mr. Mensa competition and auction on Friday, July 6, raised more than $10,000 for the Mensa Foundation’s scholarship program — a record amount.

As a spinoff from traditional beauty pageants, the standing-room-only event invites male Mensans to compete in categories including Best Dressed, Best Legs and Most Talented. Creativity and humor abounded; for example, in the talent portion, one contestant demonstrated his baby-changing skills. In the end, last year’s winner Nguyen Pham crowned Howard Chen of Reno as Mr. Mensa 2012.

Slots on the six-member judging panel are auctioned off as part of the fundraising activities. This was the first year the judges were assisted by a dog; Foundation donor and judge Gail McGrew was joined by her service dog, Belle — who, it turned out, was not vulnerable to the bribes traditionally offered by contestants.

All Mr. Mensa contestants and judges were invited to the Foundation reception on Saturday evening, July 7. The reception is the Foundation’s opportunity every year to thank donors and volunteers face to face.

Foundation Trustee David Felt officially retired from the board at the Foundation meeting on Wednesday, July 4, and was recognized at the Foundation reception at the Annual Gathering in Reno. He was elected a Trustee of the Mensa Education & Research Foundation in 2001 and served as Secretary of the Foundation from 2003-2009.

Felt is a highly decorated Mensan, having been awarded American Mensa’s Distinguished Service Award in 1996; the Margot Award, which is the highest honor presented by American Mensa, in 1998; and the Dr. Salny Award for Outstanding Service to a local testing program in 2003. He has personally tested more 1,200 candidates for Mensa membership since becoming a Proctor in the 1980s.

Felt has been a member of Mensa since 1977. During his terms of office as Chairman of Greater Los Angeles Area Mensa and RVC-9, GLAAM became the largest Local Group in American Mensa, running a friendly competition with Greater New York Mensa and San Francisco Regional Mensa. He later served as Secretary of the American Mensa Committee; his achievements included entering all prior years’ AMC Actions into digital form. He was Second Vice Chairman of the AMC 1988-1991 and Chairman of American Mensa 1991-1993. Felt chaired the American Mensa National Awards Committee 2004-2011, as well as American Mensa’s Photo Competition for several years.

Internationally, Felt has served as one of American Mensa’s National Representatives on the Mensa International Board of Directors, has served on several Mensa International committees, and recently completed several years as Mensa International Ombudsman.

The Mensa Research Journal has received one of the 24th Annual Awards for Publication Excellence, an annual competition for communications professionals. The MRJ’s two-part series on augmenting human cognition, published in summer and fall 2011, was honored with the APEX® 2012 for Magazine Series.

Close to 3,400 entries competed in 11 major categories and 130 subcategories for this year’s APEXes. Other winning associations in the Magazine Series subcategory include the National Park Service, the British Columbia Medical Journal and the Society for Technical Communication.

Order your copies of the winning MRJ series on the Subscribe page at www.mensafoundation.org/mrj.

In cooperation with the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Foundation has developed the Excellence in Reading program, which provides rewards for reading age-appropriate lists of books that no child should grow up without reading. The program may be completed by individuals or by groups.

The following letter was received by the Foundation in early May:

Thank you so much for the T-shirts and certificates you sent as a reward for our completion of the Mensa Excellence in Reading program. [The Kindergarten class is] honored to be the first class in the world to complete the challenge as a group. We were excited and our school was buzzing when we read your letter!

Thank you, too, for promoting literacy by encouraging students to choose classic literature as well as more contemporary works. My students’ listening levels and vocabularies have increased dramatically as we worked through the list of books. It was indeed a challenge, but one we thoroughly enjoyed.

We are from a small public school in a rural Oklahoma community. The shirts and certificates will be officially presented and our accomplishment announced by our school superintendent at Kindergarten graduation on May 18.

Thank you again.

Sincerely,
Cherie Ingram, NBCT, Kindergarten Teacher
and the Lomega Elementary Kindergarten Class

Links to the popular Excellence in Reading program are available on the front page of the Mensa For Kids Web site, www.mensaforkids.org.

Mensa For Kids and all the Foundation’s other programs are made possible by generous donations from people like you. To support the Foundation, please visit www.mensafoundation.org/donate.

Twenty-three-year Mensa member Robin Crawford has been appointed by the Mensa Foundation Board of Trustees to serve as the Executive Editor of the Mensa Research Journal. While the appointment was made official in February, Crawford has been working on the MRJ for the past three issues. The summer issue on math and science for gifted youth was her first as Executive Editor.

Robin has served Mensa as an Editor and LocSec for several years at the local level and was the AMC Communications Officer, which included oversight of the Mensa Bulletin and other publications, for six and a half years. Before becoming an active volunteer in Mensa, she worked as a teacher for regular and special education students, including gifted, in a residential psychiatric facility. She is currently raising 16-year-old twins, who are both Mensa members as well.

Adding to decades of service as the MRJ’s Executive Editor, Foundation Trustee Phyllis Miller most recently served as its Interim Executive Editor for five years. After working closely with Robin to ease the transition, Phyllis now enjoys the position she always wanted: Editor Emeritus. The MRJ team is quite relieved that Phyllis has agreed to remain on the editorial staff and extends deep gratitude for all she did to maintain the quality of the publication.

The MRJ team is currently working on the fall issue, which has the theme of existential intelligence and will be published in late October. Get more information, order individual issues of the MRJ, and subscribe at www.mensafoundation.org/mrj.

The following email was sent to the Foundation on July 9:

[My son] Troy and I attended our first AG this past week; what an experience! Thank you.

Troy has been a life member for the past six years, yet this was our first opportunity to attend an AG.  We both came with so many needs.  They were met with great fanfare. 

I was able to explore various options for learning that I was unaware of for Troy, and he was able to attend several programs that he has had a burning desire to learn about. The Colloquium program was chock-full of fabulous speakers who held Troy’s attention in a way that I think amazed even him.  He was also able to play several games with very skilled individuals, which challenged him to reach a higher level of thinking and of competition.

I was able to attend meetings that were of passing interest as well as passionate concern.  I was able to network with like thinkers as well as those who were willing to discuss opposing views.  I volunteered to moderate a debate, and the spirited discussion was intensely enlightening. 

We were both engaged from the moment we woke up in the morning until the moment we were each about to collapse at night.  WOW…  This investment of our time and money far surpassed any in my recent memory.  We came home with the discussion surrounding how to budget for the upcoming Mensa events from state to regional to the AG in Texas!  We do not want to miss any of them.

THANK YOU to ALL who invested their intensive efforts, as they were clearly visible and came together to create opportunities for all.

Beverly Helms, RN, CP, BOCPO, LPO