When choosing jurors (see the item on reading instructions, it drifted) I
remember being asked what organizations I belonged to.  Apparently the lawyers
thought they could spot liberals that way.  What organizations do grexers
belong to, including political, religious, fraternal, geographic,
professional, volunteer, hobbies?  Tell us about your organization, how you
heard of it or got involved, its purpose, where the members come from, whether
you met friends through it, etc.

59 responses total.

  I also belong to The Ham Club That Cannot be Unjoined, aka The Arrow.

  I have been a member since 1989, and since then I have served as a board
member for 3 yrs, and President for one (boy that was an experience). I have
not paid dues since 1996, and yet I am still a member and a pseudo board
member. I don't mind, because it is one of my favorite causes. I will pay my
dues this year, then I get a Lifetime membership.
  I once belonged to DeMolay, back when my dad was living, that was a
fraternal organization associated with the Freemasons. I probably belong to
a few other organizations, but I am not at liberty to provide that information
at this point in time.

To limit the list, organizations on whose boards I have served, or of
which I have been an officer, are Boston Grotto, San Francisco Bay Chapter
of the NSS, National Speleological Society (NSS), Karst Waters Institute,
ARROW ham radio club, Michigan Karst Conservancy, Michigan Natural Areas
Council, Grex, Great Lakes Chapter of the Explorers Club, UM Chapter of
Sigma Xi, International Union of Speleology, and the MIT Student Chapter
of the American Institute of Chemical Engineering. So, does that make
me a liberal or a conservative?

  I guess I'm not much of a joiner..  Excluding religious affiliation,
  pseudo-membership in a few groups like the DIA Founders Society which
  are based more on giving money to an organization than on real participation
  are the closest I probably come to membership in anything requiring more
  commitment than a video rental store.

  I've come to assume, over the years, that my standoffishness is likely
  a result of my upbringing in a large, close family.  When you're born
  belonging to a fair-sized group I think it's easier to not seek out others
  with related interests to socialize with..  Could be a generational thing,
  clubs, fraternal organizations, etc.. don't seem very popular among most of
  the people I know who are about my age..

Re #1 and #2, can you tell use more about Ham Radio?  I heard it now uses
computer-type methods, i. e., it broadcasts digital data in packets, for those
who do not have an internet connection.  And Morse code is no longer required
or even encouraged, as it is not efficient.  Re #2, does Michigan have caves?
I had no idea there was any karst.  It would be nice to hear in more detail
about at least one organization per grexer.
        I belong to the Seed SaversExchange, operating out of Iowa, where they
have a farm for 'heirloom' vegetables and fruits, as well as a large
membership scattered mostly over the USA but also other countries.  We all
grow vegetables no longer sold by seed companies, and trade them with each
other via a catalog.  I trade seeds with Australia, and have part of someone's
collection of Chinese brassicas (cabbage, radish family), which do well both
during drought and in very late fall.  Membership dues get you the catalog
and three other issues of the publication, with articles on seed collecting
in Kazakhstan (supported by SSE through the sale of seeds and calendars), rare
plants in Iowa, growing beans without pesticides, etc.  It is $25/year to
join.  The catalog lists 23 pages of Capsicum (pepper), some from
Czechoslovakia even, and unbelievable numbers of other Native American
vegetables such as corn, beans, squash and potatoes.
        I also belong to NAFEX, an amateur fruit growers' organization, a few
professional translators' associations, grex of course, the Ann Arbor Culinary
Historians (they have monthly lectures, see the Observer), unofficially
volunteer at Kiwanis helping fix radios, and donate money to various
organizations (Institute for Transportation and Development supports
nonmotorized transportation and provides bikes and repair training, Population
Communications helps other countries to educate people about how and why not
to overpopulate, ECHO trains volunteers in tropical agriculture).

I'm a member of Pioneer Theater Guild, technically speaking.  I'm also a
charter member of the Cnics Society of America (you should join us for our
New Year's parties, where we resolve to loath society even more, predict
events in the next year, mostly involving the end of the world as we know it,
and watch the Other Shoe drop at midnight)

Re #4: 

Ham radio: see http://www.cyberspace.org/~arrow/  "Packet radio" is
computer-based communication by radio. It is somewhat limited in use
in its usual form because of signal conflicts on a single band, but there
are TCP/IP protocols. Morse code is *more* efficient than voice for many
purposes, but it is not required for the "no code technician" license,
which is pretty much limited to local communications (because of the allowed
bands). 

Michigan has a few caves. The MKC has purchased the most significant of
these, and manage them for their protection, study, and responsible enjoyment.
Check out http://www.cyberspace.org.~mkc/  I was a founder and prez of MKC
for ten years.

  I encourage new hams to go for the codeless license because it only requires
a few hours of study and gets them going in the hobby quickly. Learning morse
code can be discouraging and can lead to never becoming licensed. Code is
being used less and less, but is still the most efficient signal, other than
packet. It is digital, and does well in heavy interferance. I use code as my
last resort, but I really should get back into it before I forget it
altogether.
  I can copy code at 20 wpm, or at least that is what my license says I can
do. ;)

   i'm a minister in the universal life church.

I'm a geek. We are everywhere. You will be assimilated.

Actually, I don't belong to any organized clubs. I was at one time a Boy Scout
(eeps!). I didn't stay with that too long because I started out at the "cub"
level, and was not happy. I told the den leader that I wanted to be a wolf,
not a cub. He said I'd have to work my up to being a wolf. So, I bit two kids.
<evil grin> Well that was pretty much the end of that. Over the years, I have
helped clubs like the Jaycees with annual events; carnivals, food drives,
haunted houses. (especially the haunted houses!) Besides, I've got Grex.
Doesn't that coun't? (I promise I'll send in my membership dues as soon as
I start getting paid for my teaching job!) Ooh, that reminds me, I have to
go make another entry in the "happy" item.

Why do some people like being president or secretary of many organizations,
while others (like me, for instance) have never been on any boards?

All organizations are desperate for leadership and "doers", even if they
don't know it. Also, organizations have purposes and it is extremely rare
that those purposes can't be carried forward better than anyone is
currently carrying them forward, so when people appear that seem to want
to carry forward such purposes, they get 'tapped' to do something (so long
as they have not also personally alienated the current leadership). If you
get involved in an organization and carry out a function in it, and seem
eager in your work and willing to work with others, and also contribute
good ideas, and in the process cause no particular dissension or
alienation - you will be asked to be a board member or officer. Nine times
out of ten such people don't *seek* such positions just for 'fame', but
just volunteer to do them because they need doing (and the person might
have some ideas they want to implement).

i was a member of several reform jewish youth organizations when i was in high
school, during which time i held some committee chairs and unsuccessfully ran
for a state board position.
in more recent years, i was a staff member (volunteer) of Performance Network
of Ann Arbor, a non-profit theatre organization (i'm still a "member"), i'm
a member of Grex and M-net, and for a couple of years, I was a deputy
registrar for the county of Washtenaw, MI.
i was also for a while a volunteer with the Ann Arbor chapter of NORML (the
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws), during which time
i spoke to student groups at EMU, UM and the first annual Earthfest grassroots
activism fair at the Michigan State fairgrounds, in addition to doing behind
the scenes coordination work for Hash Bash.  (that was more interesting than
fun, believe it or not)
I've also been, at various times, a supporter (member?) of WDET public radio
(Wayne State University, Detroit), WEMU public radio (Eastern Michigan U.,
Ypsilanti), WCBN Radio Free Ann Arbor (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor),
and WUOM public radio (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor).

Do you know anything about digital radio?  Would it make a lot more radio
stations available, and thus allow new ones, maybe even a local classical
station?   I did not realize the Hash Bash was coordinated.

        Rane, is the Boston Grotto a member of M.O.V.P.E.R?

I'm a member of the Ring of Steel, a delinquent member of YAG, and an ex-cub
scout.  That's about it.

Chapters of the NSS are usually called Grottos. It started when the NSS
was founded in 1941, and is still used. A very few use the term Chapter
instead. So, what is MOVPER?

Orinoco, what is the Ring of Steel and YAG (excuse my ignorance, but we all
move in different circles).  Young Activists' Group?  Yellow and Green?  You
would not believe the number of groups with the same letter names.

  I believe Ring of Steel is a theatrical fighting group and given
  orinoco's interests would guess that the "A" in YAG is either actors or 
  acting..

Ring of Steel (I too am a member) is indeed a theatrical combat troupe here
in Ann Arbor (shameless plug time www.deathstar.org/groups/ros).
YAG is the Young Actors Guild, an offshoot from YPT (Young Peoples Theater).

Again forgive my ignorance, but do you stage fights before audiences?

Speaking of Ring Of Steel, I believe that they might be putting on a
demonstration between the last show at regionals and the final awards
ceremony.

        Rane, it's a Masonic group, they are based in Grotto Clubs.

i can assume that digital radio will create more potential for different
station formats, but also that without financial support, nobody will purchase
and use the very expensive equipment to broadcast a particular format. 
unless, of course they have more money and loyalty to that format than
sense...
<grin>

Remember FM, color TV, stereo....  I have started an item on digital radio
in the radio conference.
Do we have many members of fraternal organizations?  How many are there in
town?  How do they compare in purpose and activities and membership to
fraternities and sororitiess.  (Are there sororal organizations?)

YAG is the ann arbor Young Actors' Guild.

Clearly, I was wrong, because between the last show and awards, we just waited
anxiously :)

RE #20
Yes we do perform before audiences from time to time.
RE #21 & #26
We'd been asked to, but our scheduling did not permit it this time.

I perform in the Calder City Band and The Grand Rapids Symphonette (NOT the
*Symphony*!  Big Difference in talent.)

I am not even a member of the union representing my bargaining unit.  I have
a few problems with authority--except under the baton of a conductor.

Are there any union members of any sort in grex?

There are probably a number of them. I'm a member of my faculty union,
the American Association of University Professors (AAUP).

Apart from insisting on higher pay and better working conditions, is this also
a social group?

Ah, that makes sense.  Thanks for the clarification.  At least we didn't have
to wait for an hour and a half like we did two years ago.

I used to be a member of MAP. I was even a shift steward for a litle while.

        I am a lifetime member of the Ann Arbor Science Fiction Association's
Stilyagi Air Corp.  I would also consider myself part of Waldo & Magic.

Re: 31  The union as a social group is certainly debatable and not the same
for all organizations and probably not even the same through time for even
the same local.  The by-laws or constitution of the local representing me
mentions that the purpose of the local would not be limited to bargaining
solely and that social matters were recognized as bona fide union matters.

In the past, unions had important social meaning to their members.  Certainly,
this is less the case nowadays.

I'm a member and officer of Cyberspace Communications, Inc., a member of the
Asian Martial Arts Studio, and a former member of I.A.T.S.E (International
Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees) local 274, a former member of Mensa,
and that's about all I can think of.

What do/did members of Mensa do, and how do you become a former member?

 I'll venture a guess here... Don't pay your dues.

  I never saw much worth in being a Mensan, because I have always felt that
intelligence is measured in so many ways, and there are a lot of different
types of intelligence.

I'm a member of Cyberspace Communications, Inc., and a memboer of the board
of directors.  I used to be a member of the Ann Arbor Velo Club, a bike racing
club, and was also a member of various groups involved in school politics when
I was in high school.  I keep meaning to become a member of the ACLU, but I
haven't gotten around to it yet.

- Backtalk version 1.3.30 - Copyright 1996-2006, Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss