December 2003
Roaming the Region
by
(aka Gloater), RVC Region 3
Every now and then you have to stop whatever you’re doing
and fix something. And so it is currently in the house of American Mensa. As
you probably read last month, our Certificate of Incorporation (C of I) is not
in compliance with the laws of the state of New York and has not been ever since
it was written. Aware of the situation, we are now ethically and legally bound
to take corrective action.
So, what is the problem? It seems that by not specifying
otherwise our C of I requires that a quorum be present at the Annual Business
Meeting for any business to be conducted; and that quorum is 50% of the current
membership, physically present. Can you imagine approximately 26,000 Mensans at
an AG? Fat chance. Also, ballots by mail are not legitimate, however proxies
are.
The proposed solution, therefore, is to amend the C of I to
set the quorum at a reasonably achievable number (in this case: 100) and to also
include appropriate provisions to allow mail ballots in the election of AMC
members. In order to do this, we must collect proxies from at least 50% of the
current membership. Both hard copy and electronic proxies will be allowed, but
the easiest way to submit your proxy is to log on to the AML web site (http://www.us.mensa.org/)
and click on the ProxyQuest link on the right side of the home page. Then,
using the current User Name and Password as found inside the front cover of the
Mensa Bulletin, enter your membership number, verify your name, read the
directions, and submit. Nothing to it. You can then check the proxy counts
from all of the groups by clicking on the “Proxies by Group” link.
As of this writing, there have been 160 proxies submitted
with Region 3 leading the pack with 52 of them (from 10 of 16 groups.) We had
the first group, Columbus, to reach 10, followed shortly thereafter by
Cincinnati and SEMM. No other group is in double digits yet. Help spread the
word. Will your group be the first to reach its 50% point? Oh, and have a
Happy Holiday Season.
Updated Footnote:
Our current "Gloating" figures are
(as of 18 November at 12:15 a.m.):
