M-ongst Ourselves: Members at a Glance |
Happy New Year! I have heard from so many of you that one of your resolutions for 1999 is to contact me with a Glance at yourself that I have added lots of extra memory in my computer... How about helping me test it out??? (hint hint) Anyway, on with the show......
Why did you join Mensa? If one reason was to find people with whom you can "stop talking about the same old boring things," then you already have something in common with Connie Bassett. She lives in the northeast part of Scottsdale and would love to join in more Mensa activities that are not necessarily couple-oriented--maybe some geared at an older age group, even. (If you’re planning something like this, or you have some ideas for Connie, feel free to call her at 991-4170.) Formerly a teacher, Connie is now a high school guidance counselor. Therefore, one hot topic in local news is of great concern to her and her fellow educators: the AIMS test. (When we spoke the test was slated to begin this spring for Arizona sophomores, who have five chances to pass it before graduation.) She says much of the concern lies in how to get students ready for the test, since it seemed to appear "out of nowhere." The topic might be particularly interesting to Mensa members, Connie said, since success on the AIMS test is not necessarily an issue of IQ but rather one of motivation to learn. Too often, educators are dealing with kids who have high skill levels but haven’t learned much ... and this must be considered when evaluating the test and students’ results. Speaking of results, Connie says that actor Steve Martin produced some very funny ones in his book of essays called Pure Drivel, some of which you may have seen in the New Yorker. Connie recommends this book if you are looking for a little something to make you laugh.
Our second Glance is also an educator: Cathy Della-Penta > is a faculty member at a community college, where she teaches English and humanities. She loves hiking and the outdoors, nature and landscape, travel, art, and travel stories. She’s also a fan of a wide range of dancing, poetry, and music, especially ethnic music. (Cathy herself plays the guitar and sings folk music.) If you meet her at a party, don’t tell her what you do job-wise, since that often doesn’t give much information about who you are as a human being. Instead, let her know your interests, passions, and hobbies--what do you do when you’re not at work? Cathy spent more than five years outside of the U.S. while doing two tours in the Peace Corps as well as a Fulbright - all in West Africa. She is currently very interested in a wide range of "eco-topics" (is this a word? If not, consider it "just made up" by Susie), particularly sustainable development, ecotourism, socially-responsible investments, "green" businesses, and alternative energy sources, especially solar. Another one of these topics that Cathy studies is microcredit--a policy of giving loans to people, usually in a rural area, to keep them and their cottage industries in the rural villages, thereby slowing the flight to the urban areas. This has been a successful policy in much of the third world and is gaining popularity in the U.S. If you’d like to share your interests with Cathy, or chat about some of these "eco-topics" (ah, I see the word is becoming widely used already), give her a call at 545-8528.
And last (but only in the alphabetical sense), Teri Painter graces our Glances with a Glance at herself. She is a degreed accountant who majored in accounting and computer technology and recently got bored sitting at a desk … so she became a licensed process server in October. Problem solved. One of her most fascinating hobbies, which is really more of a second career, is breeding pedigreed cats, which she’s done since 1964, specifically the Abyssinian (the ruddy and red-colored versions), Cornish Rex, and Ocicat models. This passion has led to her involvement in the American Association of Cat Enthusiasts as well as her status as an all-breed cat judge. As a judge, she is paid to travel all over the U.S. and Canada (and last year was sent to Moscow!) to judge cats. In order to be an all-breed judge, you have to be very involved in the field. Teri was president of a cat club, is well-versed in all breeds’ standards of perfection, and has an impressive resume in this area: show manager, breeder of a grand champion, clerk to judges, and more. Her cat breeding ties in with one of her other interests: Egyptology. Her cattery name (like a kennel name for dogs) is Amun, one of the chief Egyptian gods. All pedigreed cats have a special format for names: the breeder’s name (e.g., Amun’s), the cat’s given name, followed by "of" (the name of the cattery which currently owns the animal, if it is now owned by a different breeder). Got questions for Teri? Feel free to call her at 418-6487. By the way, in 15 years of judging, Teri has handled about 7000 cats. She’s been bitten only once (by a short haired champion that suddenly reached over and started chewing on Teri’s hand). Me-yow!
Seems like a purr-fect way to end this month’s Glances. Don’t forget those new year’s resolutions to contact me before I ambush you. Next issue is February, so we’ll try to do a Valentine’s-Washington’s-Lincoln’s Birthday-themed kind of Glance: especially relevant are tips for kindling romance, stories about your favorite American Presidents, or tips for kindling romance with American Presidents.