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may 2013 issue 005

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from the executive committee...When people ask me “so why are you in Mensa?”, I give them three short answers: A, B and C.

A = Amusement! I have fun in Mensa. Mensa members come in all flavours and they are great people to hang out with. Also, they tend to understand my jokes. I love the dynamics of intelligentconversation, the resonance of reason-ing, pleasantly shared over a Mensa dinner. Aren’t the joys of life more fun in intelligent company? It is for this reason we go to social gatherings, games nights, lectures and so on.

B = Benefits! Being a Mensan is valu-able. Membership allows us to find knowledgeable people in most areas. It is an excellent place to network and gather connections of value bothprofessionally and in other areas of life. If we travel someplace, for sure there are members there to help us around, share a guest room or show us their city. This is what is called SIGHT (see Did You Know on p02). Whatever your cause, Mensa is a good place to find likeminded ones; that is what SIGs are for. Not least, being a Mensa volunteer is a great addition to your resume.

C = Contribute! We are so much more than just a social club. We join Mensa not only to receive, but also to bring something: our names, our thoughts and our time and volunteer work not least. This is how we make a differ-ence, on both a small and larger scale. Simply by existing and being visible, Mensa sends the message that intelli-gence is something that actually exists, and that it is something good and

worth fostering. Intelligence should be put to use, in schools, academies,workplaces and at home. And we should learn to recognize intelligence when we see it, for it is sadly misun-derstood in too many places.

Now, memorize those three words and you will know what to say the next time somebody asks you.

As a member of ExComm, I’m sometimes asked a similar question: “so what is Mensa International good for?” I have a short answer for them too: D, E and F.

D = Development! If Mensa is good in one country, it deserves to spread to all countries. Unlike other clubs how-ever, we cannot simply open our doors. It is notoriously difficult to become amember of Mensa, you have to pass a test – which means that to establish a new group in a country somewhere, we have to first find a way of testing can-didates on a regular basis, in a mannerapproved by the international super-visory psychologist. Then we need an organizational structure, bylaws, communications, websites and so on. The population has to be told that there is a new society in their country, this strange, unfamiliar thing called ”Mensa”. This requires PR that mayor may not be easily copied from other countries with different customs. At every step in the process of building a new group, there are challenges to be overcome. It can start with a DirectInternational Member somewhere, who wants more company and is will-ing to take on a leading role. As the

initial small group grows, the society changes character, each time becoming slightly more businesslike and profes-sional in the way it is managed. Who coordinates all this and makes sure that Mensa grows? Mensa Interna-tional does, together with the local founding members. With each new formed group, our body of experience grows as do the supporting material that we can offer.

E = Exchange! We have plenty to share with one another, and Mensa International has the explicit task of enabling and facilitating the flow of experience and knowledge from coun-try to country. The smaller national Mensas have plenty to learn from the older, bigger countries such as Ameri-can or British Mensa, but the opposite is true as well. Even American Mensa is made up of local groups, which have much in common with local groups in Europe or Asia. Ideas for PR, volun-teer recognition, governance, amusing meeting concepts, online services, mer-chandise, gifted youth programs etc, etc are too good to be limited to any single country. Mensa International provides platforms for spreading such ideas and this is what we do at IBD meetings and via the LEAP program, the MWJ and the international web-site. And that is just the beginning.

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MENSA INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 2013

The art of photography is an area where Mensans from over fifty countries with different languages, customs and traditions can converge with a single,

visual language! Use your creativity, skills, and technical expertise to produce your entry in this year’s Photocup competition. The theme for 2013 is

Opposites.If your Mensa chapter is holding a national competition to select entries for the International phase, a

set of the rules and closing dates will be available from your national office or Board.

Direct International Members and members from countries not holding national contests are eligible to enter the International competition by sending two entries only to mensaworldphotocup@gmail.com by

August 1, 2013.

The Mensa International Photographer of the Year 2013 could be you!

Further details available from Therese Moodie-Bloom tmb@ozemail.com.au or Dr Ranko Rajovic rrajovic@gmail.com

F = Franchise! Mensa International has something in common with McDonald’s, or FIFA the football federation. While each country is independent, there is a pattern that all Mensas must follow, lest we drift apart. To keep this a global round ta-ble, we need a body that defines what the minimum standard is for each Mensa to meet. Who is to say that just the top 2% should be admitted?`Why not the top 3%? What definition of intelligence should be used? Should it be up to individual countries to decide if they want to take political action, or endorse particular ideologicalagendas? No, because it would not be long before the great round table would shatter into smaller squares that no longer fit together. The concept, or franchise if you wish, of Mensa has to be unified, and that is the purpose of Mensa International.

In short, that is what the international volunteers do. And just like your local officers, we do not get paid. More

than once have people asked where we ”sit”, but we are not whisked away to a secret lair where we conspire together while stroking cats. With the excep-tion of two physical meetings every year, we sit at home, by our computers, responding to e-mail, engaging in teleconferences, drafting policies, read-ing reports from other volunteers and so on. Why do we do it? Because only by contributing will there be some-thing for us all to enjoy and benefit from. This is my third - and last - column as D-SNM; another volunteer will take my place after the elections, in which I am a candidate for a different office, Director of Development. Voting is open until the 15th of May. If you have not voted yet, and there still is time, take a few minutes to read the presen-tations, make up your mind and vote!

Did You Know...

International Special Interest Groups (ISIGs) are SIGs that are open to Mensa members world-wide. They are listed on the Mensa International website at www.men-sa.org. For advice on whether your national SIG can be recognised as an ISIG, email sigs@mensa.org.

SIGHT is an acronym meaning Service for Information, Guid-ance, and Hospitality to Travellers. SIGHT connects Mensans who want to meet other Mensans. Some travel while others give advice to travellers including the best places to stay or visit. There are SIGHT contacts in countries from Andorra to Vietnam.

The word Mensa is not an acronym - it is a Latin word meaning ‘table’. It represents a round table around which members sit as equals.

Björn LiljeqvistDirector

Smaller National Mensas

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A motor cycle crash while he was serving with the RAF in Cyprus left UK member Sean Allerton a tetraple-gic, officially 100 per cent disabled with no feeling or movement below his chest.

He is confined to a wheelchair and has use of his arms but not his hands. Is he bitter? “Why, I’m not dead? I am not housebound. I was given a second chance and there is so much to do out there,” he says. Which is why the Mensa member since 1992 throws himself into a range of madcap activities that put the rest of us to shame. One of those exploits was his solo Push 500 Wheelchair Challenge, a 500-mile wheelchair push which he finished last month and raised several thousand pounds for RAF charities which have helped him and other disabled servicemen. For months he wheeled himself round and round a number of RAF airfields – mainly RAF Church Fenton, near his home in Sherburn-in-Elmet, near Selby, North Yorkshire – clocking up the mileage which was all recorded on a gps tracking device. He was usually on his own, but always had a spare wheelchair handy for anyone who wanted to push along with him. He has been accompanied by the Red Arrows, the Chief of Air Staff and lots of veterans. Former RAF Regiment gun-ner Sean, 47, was paralysed in a road accident while serving with the 34 Squadron RAF Regiment in Cyprus

in 1993. He was inspired to make his Push 500 challenge by the hit song, I Would Walk 500 Miles, by The Proclaimers. The Scottish singing twins, Craig and Charlie Reid, were there to walk the first lap with Sean and they walked the last lap with him at the finish. But on that lap, he announced it was also the start of his second 500-mile challenge, again for RAF chari-ties. During the first Push 500, he once spent 12 hours wheeling round the airfield overnight with torches strapped to his wheelchair. On anoth-er occasion he fell out of his chair and had to phone the airbase guardhouse for help in getting him back in. One day during the winter floods, he went out onto floodwater that had frozen over. His wheelchair crashed through the ice leaving him in inches of icy water. Fortunately a friend was with him to help. “I was soaking but I was laughing at him because he was getting his feet wet,” he said. In December, he finished one ses-sion with frost on his arms, legs and body but had not noticed because he cannot feel the cold. “I have to be

careful because I might hurt myself without feeling it,” he said. On his challenge travels, he has worn out eight pairs of gloves and a couple of wheelchair tyres. “Being physically, and thanks to all of the chosen charities, now also mentally in a place where I can hopefully give back a little bit, I want to raise awareness and raise money for the charities.” Those charities are Royal Air Forces Association, Royal Air Force Benevo-lent Fund, Royal Air Force Charitable Trust and Flying Scholarships for Disabled People. Sean lives alone in a dormer bunga-low he rents from the RAF Benevolent Fund. It has a lift to get him up to bed and a district nurse visits him every three days. He spends hours on the In-ternet, designs websites for friends and orders his food online to be delivered to his door.

PUSHING THE LIMITS

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He shrugs off words like coura-geous and determined. “I am just an awkward so-and-so.” A couple of years ago he took up fencing – foil and sabre – but because he cannot grip, he has to tape the weapon to his hands and wrists. He reckons his biggest accomplish-ment was, in September 2011, to win a Flying Scholarships for Disabled Peo-ple and, in conjunction with Aerobility, learned to fly. He becomes emotional when he describes flying solo for the first time: “It was so empowering, a total sense of freedom,” he said. All of this might be challenging his mind and body – but he’s doing more. When he has a free moment, he is studying for an Open University degree in history. Why? “Because it is another challenge, of course.” All his life, Sean has felt himself to be a square peg in a round hole. When he took the Mensa test and was ac-cepted as a member he felt it explained why. “I got a good result but I am not clever, just different. I can’t do the Countdown conundrum and I’m use-less with the maths questions,” he said. But he admires the work Mensa does for gifted children, just one of the reasons that make membership worth-while. But then that’s Sean – always thinking about others. “I could go on and on for hours about the things that I can’t do, but why bother? I have to concentrate on the things that I can do. Just be a good person, enjoy what you have got and if you do something, do it properly,” he said. “The world does not owe you a living. It’s up to you to get things done. Be good. And that’s the end of that episode of Grumpy Old Men!”.

Brian Page(Reprinted from Mensa Magazine, Editor, Brian

Page)

spitting or splitting?

In conversation the other day, I heard someone say that her baby was the “splitting image of his father”. I opened my mouth to ask if she meant the “spitting image”, but closed it again, realizing that although I was sure I was right, I’d heard “splitting image” so many times, that perhaps I was wrong (quelle horreur!) - espe-cially since the person I was talking to was something of a word aficionada herself… The notion of a “splitting image” originating from perfectly matched splits from something is an attractive one, since matching the grain of split wood, for example, has long been used in furniture and musical instruments for aesthetic reasons. (If you’ve seen the back of a stringed instrument like the violin, you’ll get why the result of the technique is called ‘fiddleback’.) But this doesn’t explain why we so often hear (and see written) “spitten image”, “the dead spit”, “spittin’ im-age”, “spit’n image” and so on. Assuming, then, that the word is spitting and not splitting, let’s get down to tin tacks, find out why it is, and lay the splitting derivation to rest for once and for all! Some theorists adhere to the view that “black magic” in the form of spells cast by mixing saliva and a doll made in the im-age of a person, lay at the root of the phrase, but according to Partridge, the nucleus of the phrase first appeared in the 1400’s: “He’s…as like these as the’ hadst spit him”. This fuels the argu-ment that the phrase is a singularly inelegant metaphor meaning that two people resemble each other so closely

that it looks as if one of them were spat out of the other’s mouth. Other theorists agree citing other English usages such as in Farquar’s play Love and a Bottle in 1689 – “Poor child! He’s as like his own dada as if he were spit out of his mouth” – and “the very spit of ” used in the same context ap-pearing around 1825. But while I prefer ‘spit’ to the Norwegian som snytt ut av nesen paa (blown out of the nose of ), why ‘spit’ in the first place? I mean, spitting generally has unpleasant connota-tions: expelling saliva forcefully from the mouth; showing contempt, anger or hatred by expelling saliva; ejecting something harmful or unpleasant such as blood or food forcefully from the mouth; hissing explosively like an an-gry cat, or, uttering something sharply and angrily, usually between clenched teeth (no wonder Farquar wrote of the child as ‘poor’!). One can only conclude that it began as a derogatory phrase and has since been softened to include more palatable comparisons – or the other way around - unless, of course, we look to another theory that suggests that the ‘spit’ is actually seminal ejaculate, which would have authenticated one’s parentage should there have been any doubts… Hmmmmm. Pick your own theory, but I think I rather like the idea of the ‘expectorant’ father…

kate nacardmwjeditor@mensa.org

words...

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According to evolutionary psycholo-gist, Satoshi Kanazawa, “General Intelligence refers to the ability to reason deductively or inductively, use analogies, synthesize information, and apply it to new domains. It is a measure of how (and how well) you think, not of what you know, although what you know is influenced by your intelligence”1. As a species, are we actually becom-ing less intelligent? On November 12, 2012, the journal Trends in Genetics published an article that argues that humans lost all evolutionary pressure to be intelligent when they began to live in communities and agricultural settlements. “The development of our intellec-tual abilities and the optimization of thousands of intelligence genes prob-ably occurred in relatively non-verbal, dispersed groups of people [who lived] before our ancestors emigrated from Africa”2. Has there has been an ongo-ing slow decline in human intellectual ability since then? Gerald Crabtree, a geneticist from Stanford University, says, “I would wager that if an average citizen from Athens of 1000 B.C. were among us, he or she would be among the brightest and most intellectually alive of our colleagues and companies, with a good memory, a broad range of ideas, and a clear-sided view of impor-tant issues”3. Thousands of years ago, those peo-ple who failed to make the grade and live long enough to become our ances-tors very often died because of lack of good judgment. A decision underpressure could mean the difference between being trampled to death by a

“Mutations affecting the estimated 5000 genes controlling human intellect have crept into our DNA.” ~ Gerald Crabtree, Stanford University.

woolly mammoth or being eaten alive by a sabre-tooth tiger and living long enough to recount the tale of survival over the clan’s evening bonfire. Today, and through the last few thousand years of human evolution, there is and has been no need for Man to fend for himself. The human species is very rarely called upon to use his survival intelligence, sometimes known as the “flight or fight” reaction or instinct. Deficiencies in intellect are no longer impediments for survival and repro-duction. We do not (usually) need to outwit a predator in order to survive, but our ancestors did not have theluxury of survival complacency and se-curity. They were always “on the alert”. Now, that type of intelligence has been relegated to second place, not playing as important a role as it once did. Butit is not dead! Due to education and the increas-ing sum of (and spreading of ) human knowledge, humanity has advanced and continues advancing - even if we are totally incapable of doing long division or multiplication without our trusty calculators! We are now “ex-perts”, educated to the hilt, and there are very few polymaths among us. “… people no longer need a wide breadth of knowledge or even cog-nitive ability in order to thrive. … Education makes it so the strong-est insights of one individual can be rapidly distributed throughout our society”4, Crabtree says. He admits his hypothesis or “speculation theory of human intelligence” needs testing; and states that he would be happy to prove it wrong! The basic idea of Crabtree’s think-

ing is quite simple: In our distant past, our ancestors were faced with the harsh reality of the hunter-gatherer lifestyle and, “… enormous evolu-tionary pressure bore down on early humans, selecting out the dimwits, and raising the intellect of the survi-vor’s descendents. But not so today”5.

Selective processing and sequestering of that sort is no longer needed. If a businessman, for example, were to make a mistake in judgment analogous to our ancestor’s lack of judgment, he might be promoted, given a raise, and, in the process, become a more desir-able mate. And all that because he creatively “screwed up”… Researchers, drawing on recent studies, estimate that the number of genes that play a role in human intel-lectual ability on the basis of intel-ligence is between 2000 and 5000. Of these genes, each carries two or more mutations that can damage them. These mutations have arisen in the past 3000 years or so, approximately 120 generations. These facts help to lead to the conclusion that we humans reached our intellectual zenith in the now obscure past. “We, as a species, are surprisingly intellectually fragile, and perhaps reached a peak 2000 to 6000 years ago … if selection is only slightly relaxed, one would conclude that nearly all of us are compromised compared to our ancient ancestors of 3000 to 6000 years ago”6. Crabtree does not necessarily believe that the concept that “humans are becoming less intelligent” will pass as it stands when put to the test in experiments or under close scrutiny from other geneticists. The type of

The Devolution of Intelligence?

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evolutionary pressure he mentions is not necessary to maintain human intelligence. He sincerely believes that the human race is not ready to fall into a dark cognitive abyss and into oblivion. We are not doomed! Crab-tree concludes, “Remarkably, it seems that although our genomes are fragile, our society is robust almost entirely by virtue of education, which allows strength to be rapidly distributed to all members”7. Professor Robin Dunbar, an Oxford University anthropologist, added this very hopeful note, “[Prof. Crabtree] takes the line that our intel-ligence is designed to allow us to build houses and throw spears straighter at pigs in the bush, but that is not the real driver of brain size… In reality, what has driven the human and pri-mate brain evolution is the complexity of our social world [and] that complex world is not going away. … Personally, I am not sure that, in the foreseeable future there is a reason to be panicking at all, the rate of evolution of things like this takes thousands of years … no doubt the ingenuity of science will find solutions to these things if we do not blow ourselves up first”8. Whether we are getting dumber or getting smarter appears to be of secondary importance. Let’s wise up, first!

Thomas Hallythomas_hally@yahoo.com

1 Kanazawa, Satoshi. “How Did General Intel-ligence Evolve”, Psychology Today. (03/2010).2 Ghose, Tia. “Are Humans Becoming Less Intel-ligent”, LiveScience (12 November 2012.)3 Kobler, Jason. “Dumb and Dumber: Study Says Humans Are Slowly Losing Their Smarts”.4 IBID.5 “Ian Sample, Science Correspondent. “Is pampered humanity getting steadily less intelligent?” The Guardian, Monday 12 November 20126 IBID.7 cf 3 above8 Collins, Nick. “Civilization is making humanity

less intelligent, study claims”, The Telegraph.

In June 2010, Helen Dempsey and Eugene Morrow met at a Mensa NSW (Australia) week-end event to tour wineries in the Hunter Valley. Helen drove two hours south from Forster, and Eugene hitched a two-hour drive north from Sydney with one of the organisers. Eugene tells us of that first meeting and their whirlwind romance...

Helen and I first met in the Tranquil Vale winery. I had a wow moment and said to myself, “I could marry her”, not thinking I would ever get the chance. We started chatting at the Gartelmann winery. Each time we met, we just kept on talking. I emailed Helen as soon as I got home. Our first date was a week later in Newcastle, about 150 kms north of Sydney. We quickly discovered we both love romantic walks. We had a string of happy dates in Newcastle where I would travel by train, mak-ing for many bitter-sweet goodbyes at the station. The dating was a secret only in our minds. The evening before Helen and I had our first date, there was a Mensa dinner party hosted by Geoff and Di Russell, where Jillian brashly floated the idea that “it was time to marry Eugene off ”. I think I got an ‘F’ for my attempts to pretend I was not chasing anyone. Jillian and Helen were later to become very close friends. After four months of dating, Helen and I were at Mrs Maquarie’s Chair in Sydney Harbour when I proposed to her, and she surprised me by accepting on the spot. We

decided to keep it secret, and that’s one secret that did last a while. A month later I moved to Forster to live with Helen. We were married in May 2012 in Forster at the Green Cathedral, an outdoor chapel besideLake Wallis. The entire Bridal party are Mensans - Helen and I, Best Man Ben Morphett and Matron of Honour Jillian Osborne - as was the MC for the reception, Geoff Russell. Sarah Henning was there too cheering us on. Looking back, we both agree our romance was about the right person atthe right time. I was so happy with Helen I started eating less (life was less stressful). I lost 27 kilograms in the first year on less exercise, and have kept it all off since then. Helen and I now live on our ten-acre farm in Possum Brush, outside Forster. We both get dizzy when we think at the speed of events since we met. I keep on thinking what I said in my wedding vows: I am the luckiest man in the world. Mensa social events can claim a big win!(Extracted from TableAus, Australian Mensa News,

Jan-Feb 2013, Ed. Jessica Kelley)

A Marriage Made in Mensa Heaven...

Just married a moment ago...

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If you started piano lessons in grade one, or played the recorder in kinder-garten, thank your parents and teach-ers. Those lessons you dreaded – or loved – helped develop your brain. The younger you started music lessons, the stronger the connections in your brain. A study published last month in the Journal of Neuroscience suggests that musical training before the age of seven has a significant effect on the de-velopment of the brain, showing that those who began early had stronger connections between motor regions – the parts of the brain that help you plan and carry out movements. This research was carried out by students in the laboratory of Concor-dia University psychology professor Virginia Penhune, and in collaboration with Robert J. Zatorre, a researcher at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital at McGill University. The study provides strong evi-dence that the years between ages six and eight are a “sensitive period” when musical training interacts with normal brain development to produce long-lasting changes in motor abilities and brain structure. “Learning to play an instrument requires coordination between hands and with visual or au-ditory stimuli,” says Penhune. “Practic-ing an instrument before age seven likely boosts the normal maturation of connections between motor and sensory regions of the brain, creating a framework upon which ongoing train-ing can build.” With the help of study co-authors, PhD candidates Christopher J. Steele and Jennifer A. Bailey, Penhune and

Zatorre tested 36 adult musicians on a movement task, and scanned their brains. Half of these musicians began musical training before age seven, while the other half began at a later age, but the two groups had the same number of years of musical training and experi-ence. These two groups were also compared with individuals who had received little or no formal musical training. When comparing a motor skill be-tween the two groups, musicians who began before age seven showed more accurate timing, even after two days of practice. When comparing brain structure, musicians who started early showed enhanced white matter in the corpus callosum, a bundle of nerve fibres that connects the left and right motor regions of the brain. Impor-tantly, the researchers found that the younger a musician started, the greater the connectivity. Interestingly, the brain scans showed no difference between the non-musicians and the musicians who began their training later in life; this suggests that the brain developments under consideration happen early or not at all. Because the study tested musicians on a non-musical motor skill task, it also suggests that the benefits of early music training extend beyond the ability to play an instru-ment. “This study is significant in show-ing that training is more effective at

early ages because certain aspects of brain anatomy are more sensitive to changes at those time points,” says co-author, Dr. Zatorre, who is also the co-director of the International Labo-ratory for Brain Music and Sound Research. But, says Penhune, who is also a member of the Centre for Research in Human Development, “it’s important to remember that what we are showing is that early starters have some specific skills and differences in the brain that go along with that. But, these things don’t necessarily make them better musicians. Musical performance is about skill, but it is also about commu-nication, enthusiasm, style, and many other things that we don’t measure. So, while starting early may help you express your genius, it probably won’t make you a genius.”

(http://www.concordia.ca/now/media-rela-tions/news-releases/20130212/early-music-lessons-boost-brain-development.php)

Early music lessons boost brain

Montreal researchers find that music lessons before age seven create stronger connections in the brain

September 19-23International Board of

Directors Meeting Calgary, Canada

www.ibd2013.com

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international directoryChairman: Mr Willem Bouwens Trompenburgstraat 6-G, 1079 TX Amsterdam The Netherlandschairman-mil@mensa.org Tel: +31 (0)20 661 2718Director Admin: Ms Sylvia Herbert 16 Farley St, St John’s, Worcester, Worcestershire WR2 6JD Englandadmin-mil@mensa.org Tel: +44(0)1905 422231Director Development: Ms Bibiana Balanyi Mensa HungarIQa, H-1426 Budapest 72, Postafiok 99 Hungary development-mil@mensa.org Tel: +36 209 135175Treasurer: Ms Cyndi Kuyper, 2606 Henderson St, West Lafayette, IN 47906-1537treasurer-mil@mensa.org Tel: +1 765 463 1393Dir. Smaller National Mensas: Mr Bjorn Liljeqvist dsnm-mil@mensa.orgHon. President: Dr Abbie Salny 407 Breckenridge, Wayne NJ 07470 USA Tel: +1 973 305 0055SIGHTCoord: Mr Steve Mai SIGHT@mensa.orgInt. SIG Coord: Ms Barbara Kryvko sigs@mensa.orgOmbudsman:Mr Martyn Davies ombudsman@mensa.org

editorial staffEditor: Ms Kate Nacard 407/23 Corunna Rd, Stanmore NSW 2048 Australia ijeditor@mensa.org Tel: +61 2 9516 1024 ijeditor@mensa.orgScience: Mr John Blinke Johnb44221@cs.comBooks: Mr Tom Elliott tme@verizon.netFeature Articles: Mr Thomas Hally thomas_hally@yahoo.com

Executive Director: Mr Michael Feenan, Slate Barn, Church Lane, Caythorpe, Lincolnshire NG32 3EL, UKTel/Fax+44(0)1400272 675 mensainternational@mensa.org

The Mensa World Journall (MWJ) is produced under the auspices of the Mensa International Board of Directors. Mandatory content as identi-fied by the MWJ editor must be published in every national Mensa magazine. Publication of other content is recommended but optional. Opin-ions expressed in the MWJ are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other individual or any official Mensa body. Submission Guidelines: Language: English only. Text: MS Word (Windows), .rtf (Word/Mac), plain text, PageMaker (Windows), InDesign (Windows) Length: 500 word limit. Send by e-mail, fax, snail mail to the Editor. The Editor reserves the right to include or edit submissions for space and content considerations. All unoriginal submissions must be accompanied by written permission for publication from the original author.Permission is granted for MWJ articles to be reprinted in any Mensa publication provided that the author, MWJ and MWJ’s editor are acknowledged. Permission must be sought from the MWJ editor for reprinting of any part of the MWJ in non-Mensa publications.

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international calendarJune 20-23Mensa Netherlands Deluxe Weekend in Daelenbroeck CastleCost (including meals) is € 375 p.p. minimum depending on your room.Information: john.westdijk@mensa.nl or peter.remijn@mensa.nl.July 3-7American Mensa Annual Gathering, Fort Worth, Texas http://ag2013.us.mensa.orgJuly 20-29MY-Camp in UKAn annual 10 day (9 nights) Youth camp where any Mensa member who is around 18 - 35 (sometimes older young at heart members too) gather together and have a relaxing and fun holiday. Info: www.mycamp.org.ukJuly 31 - August 4European Mensa Annual Gathering (EMAG) Bratislava, Slovakia. http://emag2013.mensa.sk/September 6-9Asian Mensas Annual Gathering (AMAG) Singapore. http://amg2013singapore.comSeptember 19-23International Board of Directors Meeting Calgary, Canada www.ibd2013.comNovember 22 -24Australian Mensa Conference (AMC) with concurrent Kids Conference, Perth, WA www.mensa.org.au/AMC-2013

Check www.mensa.org for contact details for all international events open to all members