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RVC Thoughts
July, 2007
A Good Summer to everyone! I hope this communiqué finds all members of the
Great Lakes and Ohio Valley region enjoying the fine weather summer brings us in
this area.
Let me begin by giving a sincere thank you to Karen Bujak, the great editor of
the Graffiti in Cleveland. Due to time constraints (we've all been there), Karen
had to give up being editor, but during her tenure as editor, the Graffiti was,
in my humble opinion, one of the best newsletters published in Mensa. Thanks,
Karen, and good luck to Kathryn Kerber, Cleveland's Loc Sec and new editor.
Another topic which I have been requested to mention, is 2008's Scholarship
contest. All groups should really participate, since only one volunteer is
necessary to serve as a local chairperson, and a few more to serve as judges. If
your group is afraid of missing the early August deadline, don't panic - submit
your chairperson's info as soon as possible. Please feel free to contact our
regional scholarship chair, Julia Ashley, at psibernaut@yahoo.com for more
information.
The first AMC meeting of this term came in like a lamb - fairly routine and
without many contentious topics to discuss. Routine appointments were made, a
Gifted Children's Program Award was authorized, an Annual Gathering Oversight
Study Committee was formed, Portland, Oregon was awarded the 2011 AG, and
anti-harassment guidelines were discussed. While I don't particularly like the
idea of forming more committees, I voted yes on the AG Oversight's formation to
hopefully deter any mishandling of AG planning such as that which occurred this
year. I voted no to Heather Miller's appointment as Chair, since I feel this
committee should be independent of the AMC. Too many of our existing committees
are stacked with AMC members and are just not independent enough to be
considered impartial. Trying to establish anti-harassment guidelines at the
national level is futile unless local officers are willing to aggressively deal
with situations; if this were done, it would render national guidelines
unnecessary in the first place. All I can suggest is for local officers to use
common sense and act responsibly when a member complains about being harassed by
another member. Don't ignore it and don't let it fester - act quickly to let the
offender know that his/her behavior is unwelcome, inappropriate, and will not be
tolerated.
Lastly, the Birmingham AG went well despite of all the turbulence caused by the
last minute change in management. The original chairs were fired by the AMC's
Executive Committee (ExComm) at the end of June, which caused the same intensity
of feelings as Sherman's march to the sea. I don't know any more of what
happened than the average member, maybe less since I don't participate in
forums, but I do know that a lot of bad feelings were created. We on the AMC are
here to serve and support you, the membership. Our ExComm was established to
simplify the administration of day-to-day items. Something has gone wrong with
this arrangement. At our September's AMC meeting, I will be introducing a motion
to redefine and limit our ExComm's authority so it can't circumvent the AMC.
Wish me luck with this one because I anticipate a lot of resistance from those
who won't want to relinquish their power, even though it was usurped in the
first place.
As always, the above comments/opinions are my slant on things based on my
knowledge and experience with the subjects. Your comments and ideas are welcomed
by me and aid in formulating courses of action to be taken.
Bye for now, enjoy and live well!
Dave Swanka
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American Mensa - Region 3