Mid-Mensan The Newsletter of Mid-Hudson Mensa

December 1999

Happy Holidays everyone. I hope you had an enjoyable Thanksgiving and already have a good start on the holiday shopping season.

I'm sure everyone saw some of the publicity generated by National Test ing Day. I know we were mentioned in the Kingston Freeman and Middletown's Times Herald Record newspapers, as well as getting a mention on RNN (Regional News Net work). Our testing session was a little larger than last year, and we tested 13 people. A HUGE, ENORMOUS, Thank You goes out to Ollie Simpson who was recently certified as a proctor, and covered the National Testing Day session for Mid-Hudson Mensa, since Betsy Burke was ill. I'll tell you more about the overall numbers, publicity and results of National Testing Day when I get them.

On the dog front, I have a bit of bad news to report concerning Casper, one of Betsy's dogs. It seems that he took a rambunctious leap off Betsy's back deck, landed awkwardly on the cement and broke both hind legs. The vet operated on him and put pins in the broken bones. He came home a couple days later without casts, and they had even used staples instead of stitches to close the incisions. This happened in early November, and I'm pleased to report that he's well on the road to recovery. He's hopping around on three legs, although the vet says that all four are ok, and he can use them as he wants. He could use a good haircut, though. The vet shaved his back parts, which are quite a contrast to the front. I'm sure you join me in sending him good wishes for a speedy recovery.

That's all my news for this month. I'm looking forward to our "Gimme Grabbee Gift Exchange & Holiday Party." Join us and watch the adults act like children! Well, it only hap pens once a year... and I was good... honest! I'll conclude by wishing everyone a Happy and Joyous Holiday Season; may it be full of love and laughter and free from Y2K glitches... glitches... glitches... glitches... glitches... glitches... glitches... glitches... glitches... glitches... glitches... glitches... glitches... glitches... glitches... glitches... glitches... glitches... glitches... glitches... glitches... glitches... glitches... glitches... glitches...

The holidays are approaching! For many of us, that means parties, hectic shopping, worship or even long hours at work dreading Y2K. But for others, young and old, it's an opportunity to survey new toys and games and possibly buy or receive them. This month's issue will share a small slice of that excitement. In November, Nancy Keyes-Crosby, Jim Jelacic and I drove to Elmira to attend the winery-touring event that the MOST chapter sponsored. It was not a large event, but we had a VERY good time. We visited eight wineries around Seneca Lake on Saturday, and between the three of us we bought several dozen bottles of wine. I also got my first glimpse of Watkins Glen Gorge, which is amazing. MOST hopes to hold this event again next year. If you are a fan of wines and wineries in the Finger Lakes area, I encourage you to consider it. This month I am also debuting a musical trivia column similar to Jim Jelacic's TV trivia column. I have no idea how many of you - if any of you - actually tried the Tele-Teaser puzzles. If you would like them back in the newsletter, let me know. If not, I hope you enjoy the music trivia.

The oceans contain more biodiversity than the land, but much of it is not well described by scientists. The little we know about normal conditions and the processes of normal diseases means that it is hard to determine whether the recent series of disease outbreaks in the oceans and other waterways are new or just not previously detected. Our lack of knowledge also interferes with our determining the relative importance of increased transmission of pathogens versus that of decreased host (potential victim, can be individual or species) resistance in the outbreaks.

In the last few decades there has been a worldwide increase in reports of diseases affecting sea creatures. In the Caribbean, mass deaths among plants, invertebrates and vertebrates have led to dramatic shifts in the ecosystems. In the North Atlantic, there appears to be an increase in mass deaths of marine mammals, particularly along heavily polluted coastal areas. Ecologically and economically important species from temperate oceans, such as seagrasses, oysters and sea urchins, have also been affected by large-scale epidemics.

The Caribbean basin has emerged as a disease hot-spot. There have been two large-scale epidemics with significant impacts upon the ecosystem. The pathogen that has virtually eradicated the sea urchin is unknown as is the one that almost eliminated several types of coral. Because corals are long-lived and many of their diseases are highly infectious, these diseases must be new or else they would have been detected before. Disappearance of these benthic species significantly alters habitat and ecosystem function. During the late 1980s at least 4000 hectares of turtle grass died in Florida Bay and an additional 23,000 hectares were severely affected.

There has been an apparent increase in the frequency of reports of toxic algal blooms in the last decade. Cetacean, pinniped and fish populations have been affected, often severely, by algal toxins and/or viral epidemics. Most new diseases appear to be caused not by new microorganisms but by known agents infecting new hosts.

For example, canine distemper virus (a morbillivirus) was thought to be introduced to crab-eating seals in Antartica by contacts with infected sled dogs. Related but previously unknown morbilliviruses were identified as the cause of a mass die-off that occurred in the late 1980s among harbor seals and grey seals in the coastal waters of northwestern Europe as well as disease outbreaks and mass deaths among dolphins, porpoises and other cetacean species throughout the world. The previously unexposed seals of northwestern Europe were thought to be infected by diseased harp seals which migrated toward Europe because of a food shortage caused by overfishing around Greenland in the late 1980s.

Climate-induced changes in the environment can affect the health and productivity of marine ecosystems. The mid-1980s epidemic among northern European harbor seals was facilitated by higher temperatures leading to higher than normal density of seals on land. The El Niño South ern Oscillation (ENSO) for the past 5000 years occurred on the average once or twice a decade. Since the mid-1970s, ENSO events have occurred more often and lasted longer. El Niño events reduce the area af fected and the intensity of Dermo, a disease of Eastern oysters, while La Niña events tend to trigger outbreaks. Warming oceans over the past 25 years may have facilitated the spread of Dermo and MSX, another oyster disease. Warmer winters decrease the dying of MSX parasites, resulting in more heavily infected oysters.

It has been suggested that most mass deaths of bivalve mollusks have resulted from the transfer of infected, aquaculture-raised stocks to the wild. A large-scale epidemic of herpes-infected Austral-asian pilchard spread to cover 5000 kilometers of Australian coastline within six months in 1995. The virus may have been introduced via frozen imported pilchards fed to sea-caged southern bluefin tuna in South Australia.

Habitat degradation and pollutants can facilitate disease outbreaks. Pollutants such as organochlorine compounds impair the immune system, lowering resistance to diseases.

Many potentially pathogenic organisms are naturally active in estuaries and oceans; some can persist in dormant forms that can't be cultured (the usual way to detect microorganisms) but are still viable. Human activity has added to the pathogen load primarily through sewage discharges, although nonpoint water flow can also carry human and animal wastes. Recent studies have shown that materials in septic tanks and injection wells (used to dispose of hazardous liquids) moved rapidly seaward. These pathogens can infect humans though recreational exposure or consumption of contaminated fish or shellfish. ENSO-related increases in rainfall are likely to increase the washing of terrestrial contaminants into waterways and to increase the chances of new hosts infected by hepatitis A, Coxsackie virus, etc.

Studies of invertebrate resistance to disease will not only provide information necessary for management of commercial and natural populations but will also lead to compounds that might be helpful in human diseases.

Here are the rest of the quickies from Dave Raften, a friend from Wappingers Falls, NY.

A thief broke into the local police station and stole all the lavatory equipment. A spokesperson was quoted as saying, "We have absolutely nothing to go on."

A famous Viking explorer returned home from a voyage and found his name missing from the town register. His wife insisted on complaining to the local civic official who apologized profusely saying, "I must have taken Leif off my census."

An Indian chief was feeling very sick, so he summoned the medicine man. After a brief examination, the medicine man took out a long, thin strip of elk hide and gave it to the chief, in structing him to bite off, chew and swallow one inch of the leather every day. After a month, the medicine man returned to see how the chief was feeling. The chief shrugged and said, "The thong is ended, but the malady lingers on."

Send your favorite groaner to PUNS c/o Jim Jelacic.

I just participated in an Arbitron radio ratings survey. Filling out the little log book didn't bother me, but I found some of their "procedures" humorously insulting:

L I received mailings several days in a row letting me know I had been selected, how important it was to participate, and that I may never get this opportunity again.

L I found messages on my answering machine on a daily basis until one of their "phone people" actually reached me, to get a verbal commitment from me that I would participate.

L After I got my log book, I got more phone messages asking if I got my book. When I was finally home to take a call, the caller reminded me of all the steps I had to follow. Each time, I said, "Yes, I know, I read that in the instructions in the book."

L I was told not to mail the book in until after the survey period-- best to do it the day after the survey ended. I told him that was Thankgiving Day. The sheet from which he was reading couldn't help him on that one.

L Finally, I got a phone call from someone intelligent when they finally realized the next Thursday was Thanksgiving; they told me to just mail the book on Friday.

L Their promotional material is slightly deceptive. They give you a lot of rhetoric on how important your feedback is to radio programming. But judging by the HUGE number of marketing questions the log book contains, it's pretty obvious they're really using this to determine how much radio stations can charge for advertising based on what you buy, and when you listen to what stations.

Do you enjoy making your opponents go bankrupt, but are you tired of the usual twenty-eight properties on a square route? Are you interested in larger pieces of property to own? Perhaps it's time you moved from Monopoly™ to Spacequest™, "The Space-Age Real Estate Game" by Universal Games®.

In Spacequest, you don't buy mere streets-- you buy whole planets or moons! Starting on the Earth (and collecting a bonus each time you return), you travel through the Solar System visiting planets and the larger moons of the four gas giants, all of which can be purchased. Mercury and Venus are choice pieces of real-estate on their own, but the real op portunities for monopolies lie in controlling as many moons around major planets as possible.

A nice twist to Spacequest is that as you approach a giant planet, you actually orbit it, and while orbiting it you purchase the moons. The more moons you own around a major planet, the more rent you collect when an opponent lands on any of them. Also, you can only leave a giant planet's orbit if you're near the "escape point" from the planet's orbit and you roll a high enough "escape velocity," i.e. roll of the dice. If it's not enough, you orbit again (and again).

Besides the basic version of the game, Spacequest also offers an advanced version. Here you not only have to manage your money but your fuel consumption. You need fuel to go from planet/moon to planet/moon. Each time you land on an object you own, you regain a certain amount of fuel. But if you run out, you're stuck.

I suppose a better title for this month's column would be Playing More Creatively. I'm going to begin by expressing my dissatisfaction with a lot of today's toys and games. Many of them are incredibly limited in the amount of creative stimulation they provide for the average child. For example, a few years ago, I purchased a model rocket for a friend's child. I was disappointed to find that the only ones available were kits designed to be assembled in five minutes-- all plastic and colored paper. Instant gratification-- or is it?

Where's the satisfaction of creating something yourself? As a teenager, I bought model rockets in kits, but it wasn't three pieces of plastic you snapped together. You had to glue, cut, sand and paint, but you also had your choice of colors, decals, fin shape, etc. Even better, you could order individual pieces and build your own rocket to your own design specifications and learn how to design a rocket which would be stable enough to fly.

Do you remember any of toys and games from decades ago which, in your opinion, also encouraged cre ativity? How about Lincoln Logs, Tinkertoys, Girder & Panel kits, elec tric drawing sets, Etch-a-Sketch, or Creepy Crawlers, to name a few?

Does this mean there's a dearth of toys and games out there which in spire creativity? No, you just have to look a bit harder. Lego™ and Erector Sets are still out there. Colorforms are still available at better crafts stores (though much more expensive these days). Computers also provide a plethora of opportunities-- my favorite is a relatively old program called "The Incredible Machine."

But my all-time favorite toy for cre ativity was my Spirograph™, and later my Super Spirograph™. Sure, you could make all the patterns in the books they provided, but that was just the tip of the iceberg. For me, figuring out the number of "points" on each graphic, by comparing gear ratios, satisfied the left half of my brain, while the color combinations and final results satisfied the "ooh! ah!" needs of the right side of my brain. Super Spirograph was even better, because the curves and bars came in small sections which you clipped together into much more elaborate shapes. I still have my Super Spirograph. In fact, I recently bought a large supply of fine-point felt pens in LOTS of different colors (the right hemisphere of my brain is doing a happy dance).

Easy:

TSOK PRC QVY OC MKBJKI, FBJ V TFVJ

YS QVO, "GK MIRVYMRZ FBJ ORZYVEZC,"

GRY BSY VB YQSTK LSIJT. LSSJC FZZKB

Hard - no punctuation, grouped in 5:

ZMOSR SMDSG XNDUU TFQBV GUOAG NHGXB

HQMVV BGNDU UTKSG IBHGZ MOSRS MDSGX

OMLSO PMJBR SP

Answers near the end of this newsletter.

Jim Jelacic let me supply a game show TV trivia column this month. In the early days of television, and even occasionally today, there have been many shows which have featured a panel of celebrities who have to guess something. See if you can figure out the names of the game shows (some of the shows are quite old) from the list of celebrities who frequented them and a description of the game show.

1. John Cameron Swayze, June Lock hart, Morey Amsterdam, Bob Consodine and Bill Henry had to identify a famous quotation. When they failed, the money accumulated went either to the person who submit ted it or a charity.
2. Betty White, Gloria DeHaven, Gene Klavan and Eddie Braken tried to guess the circumstances that caused the paths of guests to cross.
3. Jaye P. Morgan, Jamie Farr, Phyl lis Diller, Rip Taylor and Dr. Joyce Brothers rated dubious talent acts on a scale of 0 to 10, or they could stop the act in progress.
4. Panelists such as Polly Bergen, Tom Poston, Peggy Cass, Orson Bean and Kitty Carlisle had to question three individuals all claiming to be someone with a unique life experience.
5. Celebrities such as Betsy Palmer, Dagmar, Pat Carroll, Audrey Mead ows, Ilka Chase and Ogden Nash tried to guess the identities of other celebrities who appeared wearing elaborate costumes and makeup. In 1974, this show was resurrected featuring Bill Bixby, Lee Merriweather and Nipsy Russell.
6. Hans Conreid, Cesar Romero, Edie Adams, Ben Alexander and Carl Reiner had to view a contestant who, though relatively unknown, had once been part of a headline-making event. To provide hints, Ernie Kovacs and a team of regulars acted out clues.
7. Cal Tinney, Lew Lehr, Morey Amsterdam, Benny Rubin and George Givot would listen to jokes submitted by viewers. If they thought they knew the punch line, they would buzz in and give it; but if they were wrong, the submitter won a prize.
8. Celebrity panelists such as Betsy Palmer, Bill Cullen, Henry Morgan, Jayne Meadows, Elaine Joyce and Kitty Carlisle had to guess an unknown fact about a contestant asking questions which could only be an swered "yes" or "no."
9. Celebrities such as Arlene Francis, Dorothy Kilgallen, Hal Block, Bennet Cerf and Steve Allen had to guess the occupation of the contestant, again asking only questions which could be answered "yes" or "no."
10. Jean Alexander, Gene Rayburn, Audrey Meadows and Bess Myerson had to guess the names of individuals, which happened to be similar to that of famous people or interesting objects.

Answers near the end of this newsletter.

Every once in a while a song comes along with a reference to a toy or a game, or a recording act comes along with the word "toy" or "game" in its name. See if you can identify the songs or recording acts listed below:

1. In 1965, Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders had a #1 song which talked about the purposes of men and women. What was the name of the song?
2. Actress/dancer Martika Marrero, who billed herself just as Martika, also had a #1 song in 1989 which dealt with a friend's drug addiction. What was that song?
3. A rock band which named them selves after the state in which they formed had a hit in 1982 called Play The Game Tonight. What band is it?
4. Which of the following was the name of an actual recording group in the 1960s: The Bridge Club, The Gamesmen, Monopoly or The Toys?
5. The group from question #4 had a gold single in 1965 adapted from Bach's Minuet in G. What was the name of this song?
6. British singer Murray Head has had two hits in the U.S., each from a Broadway show. One was Superstar from Jesus Christ, Superstar. The other was from the British musical, Chess, about a fictitious world chess championship based loosely on the Fischer/Spassky matches. What was that song?
7. In 1969, Joe South had a hit song telling us about people who never say what they mean or mean what they say. What was the name of the song?
8. This was a hit song three times: In 1970 by the Four Tops, in 1964 by Cliff Richard, and a #1 song in 1958 by Tommy Edwards. Name the song.
9. The only single for the group Co ven was the theme song from the movie Billy Jack. What was the song?
10. The group Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds released a song in 1975 which talked about two types of peo ple you'll find whenever a game is played. What was the name of the song?

Answers near the end of this newsletter.

Greetings, Fellow Trivians! Here are the answers to October's questions:

Q57: Although Utah's Great Salt Lake is saltier than the ocean, it is not the saltiest lake in the world. What lake is?
A57: The Dead Sea.

Q58: What silent screen star won acclaim for his Civil War movie The General?
A58: Buster Keaton.

Q59: We know Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492. When was his last voyage to the New World?
A59: 1502-1504. Q60: What German playwright wrote Faust?
A60: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Q61: The maser was the predecessor to the laser. What does the acronym "maser" mean?
A61: Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.

Q62: True or False: Bagpipes originated in the Middle East.
A62: True - they didn't reach Scotland until the 15th century.

Q63: Name the state that has 56% of this nation's urban roads that are in poor or mediocre condition.
A63: Iowa (Surface Transportation Policy Project report).

Q64: How old do you have to be to join AARP?
A64: 50.

Q65: New York State's geographical center is 26 miles southwest of what city?
A65: Utica.

The winners are Tom Rankin, Ed Quinn, Dave Cardall and Frank Wolf with 8 correct answers. Les Herring had 7 correct answers.

And now, this month's questions:

Q76: What made St. Joseph, MO and Sacramento, CA famous on April 13, 1860?

Q77: After the success of Sleeping Beauty, Max and Dave Fleischer based their full length cartoon movie (1939) on what Jonathan Swift novel?

Q78: Who, in 1928, was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic?

Q79: Which composer wrote the "ani mal" songs Baby Elephant Walk and The Pink Panther?

Q80: What is "Current * Resistance = Voltage" better known as?

Q81: What color square (red or black) does the black queen occupy at the start of a game of chess?

Q82: Which planet takes the longest to come to successive oppositions (i.e. when it is directly behind the Earth in the sky)? (Submitted by Tom Rankin)

Q83: What cartoon character was originally called Egghead but was given the name we now know him/her/it by on 9/24/38? (Submitted by Bill Zigo)

Q84: When was the last time NY State passed a budget on time? (Submitted by Dave Cardall)

Q85: Where were the non-Hollywood scenes from the movie Oklahoma! shot? (Submitted by Dave Cardall)

Send your answers (and questions with answers and references) to TRIVIA CONTEST c/o Jim Jelacic by September 30.

Last time, I mentioned the planets, the Leonids, and the Public program in Cornwall-On-Hudson. Did anyone do any of these events?

This month, Mars will be approximately due south at sundown and will continue towards the west as the evening progresses. Jupiter and Saturn are both up in the South East and easily visible most of the night. In the morning, Venus is still a brilliant (pardon the pun) object in the East. On the morning of 12/1, Mercury will be favorably placed for viewing beneath Venus and the Moon. This should be a spectacular sight to see all three celestial objects approximately evenly spaced in the morning sky.

Other December Events:

12/08 - Earliest sunset. Yes that's right!
12/08 - The Moon is 23 hours old at sunset
12/12 - The Moon is near Mars
12/12-13 - Peak of the Geminids meteor shower (all night long)
12/22 - Peak of the Ursid meteor shower, from the Little Dipper
12/22 - Winter begins - shortest day of the year.
12/26 - The Moon is near the bright start Regulus, in Leo

Astro News:

U. of B.C. researchers have announced that they think that they have discovered half of the so-called "missing-mass" of the universe, in very faint white dwarf stars.

Intrigued by the fact that long-period comets observed from Earth seem to follow orbits that are not randomly oriented in space, a scientist at the Open University in the UK is arguing that these comets could be influenced by the gravity of a large undiscovered object in orbit around the Sun.

The Hubble space telescope has dis covered a nebula in the making. Astronomers are calling it the "Rotten Egg Nebula", because it contains large amounts of sulfur compounds. For details and pictures, see http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pr/1999/39.

New images of Mars from the Global Surveyor spacecraft have caused scientists to conclude that there is no evidence for large scale bodies of water on Mars, overturning a proposed theory. While there is evidence for water channels on Mars, no oceanic coastlines have been detected yet.

Upcoming MHAA Events (for Southeastern New York State):

Dec. 03 - Wilcox Park - 7:30 PM - Jupiter and Saturn
Dec. 21 - Indoor meeting at SUNY New Paltz - 7:30 PM (party afterwards)

Call (914) 485-5669 for the MHAA Hotline: Information, Astronomy News, etc. Would you like to borrow a telescope from the Club for a month? Let me know. We've got several “loaner” scopes that are very easy to use. We have lots of other Astro stuff to lend as well.

Next Time: October’s Orionid meteor shower. Clear skies!

Tom Rankin

MHAA Home Page: http://jump.to/mhaa

Cryptogram Answers:

Easy:

Some guy hit my fender, and I said to him, "Be fruitful and multiply," but not in those words.
Woody Allen

Hard:

Familiarity breeds contempt, but you cannot breed without familiarity.
Maxim Kavolik

“Toys & Games” Music Trivia Answers:

1. The Game of Love
2. Toy Soldiers
3. Kansas
4. The Toys
5. A Lover's Concerto
6. One Night In Bangkok
7. Games People Play
8. It's All In the Game
9. One Tin Soldier
10. Winners and Losers

“... And Kitty Carlisle” TV Trivia Answers:

1. Who Said That?
2. Make The Connection
3. The Gong Show
4. To Tell The Truth
5. Masquerade Party
6. Take A Good Look
7. Stop Me If You've Heard This One
8. I've Got A Secret
9. What's My Line
10. The Name's The Same