[July 05, 2009]

They're all brain-iacs, brain-iacs on the floor [Beaver County Times, Pa.]

(Beaver County Times (PA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Jul. 5--PITTSBURGH -- Mention Mensa to the 98 percent of us who haven't scored in the top 2 percent on the intelligence test bracket and many of us might have copped an attitude about those too-bright and beyond-brilliant people.

They're different, right? Duh! Meet the Mensans. For five days some 1,800 members of those with IQs much higher than my own have been mingling at the Omni William Penn Hotel in Pittsburgh.

They've gathered for the A.G., short for annual gathering, which is much easier than saying the 2009 American Mensa National Convention.

They're doing the typical convention routine: attending their choices of 300 sessions that include a potpourri of esoteric topics such as nanotechnology and the conservation of the Eastern Hellbender (the largest salamander in North America) to typical fare such as origami, Zen and a late night poker fest.

That's if they're not playing or competing in Scrabble, Quiddler, Sidoku or Quirkle tournaments, participating in spelling bees or taking vocabulary tests.

Mostly, Mensans do what people do at conventions: have fun and wonder where they are.

They ride elevators up to registration on the 17th floor and back down where several think they're in the wrong meeting room at the right time. And when seated in Wally Mastropaolo's session on "Madagascar in Sights and Sounds," finding the switch to dim the lights for the slide show proves difficult.

"I don't think that we have enough Mensans here to unscrew a light bulb," a jokester said out loud.

Mensa member Bill Orr of Ohio Township opted to attend the Madagascar session because, who knows, the world's fourth largest island in the Indian Ocean in the southeastern coast of Africa might be a future vacation spot for him and his wife, Linda.

Orr, who plans to move to Economy, joined Mensa about three years ago, finds the social organization intellectually stimulating and socially comfortable. Bottom line, he said, it's fun.

A mathematician, Orr graduated from Aliquippa High School in 1972, taught math to middle school students in the Blackhawk School District, moved to Florida where he logged onto the computer industry. He learned that language, taught computer technology, then took a career turn to that industry's corporate side, changing his home address several times along the way.

Six years ago, Orr returned to teaching math and does so at Manchester Academic Charter School on Pittsburgh's North Side, which gives him time each summer to attend the annual Mensa conventions.

Orr decided Madagascar won't be a vacation destination and found former Allegheny County Coroner Cyril Wecht funny during his presentation about CSI TV shows and the real forensics world Thursday evening.

On Friday, he planned to attend a nanotechnology session, which involves creating computer chips the size of a pin's head, and on Saturday a session on near-death experiences.

Orr did know that the word mensa in Latin means table. It also means mind and month and suggests, according to American Mensa, a monthly meeting of minds around a table.

Did he know that mensa is also a southern constellation between Hydrus and Volans, according to the Web's freedictionary.com? "No," Orr said.

Neither would 98 percent of us and certainly, not me.

Mensa facts: Source: American Mensa Mensa is an international society in which the only qualification for membership is to score in the top 2 percent of the general population of an accepted, standardized intelligence test.

Mensa was founded in 1946 by two English barristers, Roland Berrill and Dr. Lionel Ware. Internationally, there are more than 110,000 representing more than 100 countries.

lAmerican Mensa, founded in 1960, has more than 57,000 members as of March 2009. More than 6 million Americans are eligible for Mensa membership. One in 50 people qualifies to be a member of America Mensa.

Among the 57,000 American Mensans: The youngest two years old and the oldest is 106.

About 65 percent are males and 35 percent females About 39 percent are Baby Boomers between ages 48 and 66 More than 2,000 members are younger than age 18.

lMore than 1,700 families in American Mensa have two or more members.

Applicants may take one of the Mensa admission tests or may present evidence of score in the top 2 percent of the general population on an accepted, standardized intelligence test.

Information and applications are available at www.us.mensa.org or by calling (800) 66-MENSA.

Patti Conley can be reached at pconley@timesonline.com

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