YOUNGSTOWN Learn the facts about local Mensa group

The only qualification is scoring in the top 2 percent nationally on a standardized test.
By MATT BIXENSTINE
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Some seek a way to challenge their minds. Others want a sense of belonging. But whatever their reason for joining, all have one thing in common -- extraordinary intellectual ability.
This is the only qualification for membership in American Mensa, Ltd., a society for high-IQ individuals.
"We have the top 2 percent of truck drivers, teachers, doctors, college professors, students -- all with interests all over the map," said Jim Blackmore, national marketing director for American Mensa.
East Central Ohio Mensa, a chapter encompassing 14 area counties, administers two-hour admission tests locally. Although no date has been set, ECOM President William Maki said an admission test will likely take place on a Saturday during August. The national testing date is Oct. 18.
The tests measure logic and deductive reasoning skills, test proctor Joan Currington said. To be eligible for American Mensa, test-takers must score in the 98th percentile on at least one of two tests.
About 60 percent of those who actually take the admission test qualify for membership in American Mensa, and each individual is eligible to take a $30 admission test only once. However, scores on tests administered by high schools, colleges, the military or employers may be submitted as alternative forms of qualification, said Maki, who is retired from the Air Force and works as a packaging supervisor for a company in Twinsburg.
Leonard Sainato, ECOM Warren coordinator, was fairly confident when he took an admission test in 1988.
"I knew I probably could pass it because I had in 1944 the highest IQ in my [high school] class," he said.
Sainato, an accountant, estimates his IQ is about 135-137, but he does not know exactly what he scored in 1944 because the records were thrown away when the former East High School, 1544 E. High Ave., was converted to a middle school in 1998. The average IQ score is about 100, though scores can vary with different tests.
Local members
ECOM consists of about 350 members and growing. The chapter publishes a monthly newsletter and meets the last Friday of each month.
Blackmore said regional chapter meetings take place all over the nation almost every weekend. As of March, American Mensa encompassed 51,050 households nationwide, with some households having multiple members. As a result of its single qualification, the social organization lends itself to diversity.
"They do everything from having spelling bees to learning how to belly dance to listening to a rocket scientist," Blackmore said. "They have an interest in anything and everything."
Although intelligence can be interpreted differently, American Mensa measures an individual's ability to reason, Blackmore said.
"It depends on how you define intelligence," he said. "If you're talking about information from 12 years of school, no -- that's trivia. We look at things like seeing special relationships between items."
Self-administered home tests are available to help prepare for the admission test. For more information check out the East Central Ohio Mensa Web site: ecom.us.mensa.org or call (800) 66-MENSA.
mbixenstine@vindy.com