Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Questions about Official-ness

ASIE 0000-111 04-Dec-1976 (Last amended 02-Dec-2000 by 2000-124) says:
… Hosts or hostesses for any other activities, such as SIGs, open houses, parties, SIGHT visits, or any other activities which are not official functions, may invite or exclude individuals, including Mensa members at his/her discretion. Even at official
functions a member may be evicted for specific unacceptable behavior…


So I wonder, are the constantly–proliferating virtual activities/functions/gatherings all official or are some “not official?” What does “official” mean in these cases?

I poked around in some dictionaries, and found that the adjective “official” means, among other things:
• of or pertaining to an office or position of duty, trust, or authority: official powers.
• authorized or issued authoritatively: an official report.
•appointed or authorized to act in a designated capacity: an official representative.
• intended for the notice of the public and performed or held on behalf of officials or of an organization; formal.

I guess that means that the AML Forums are “official” but that this blog is not unless I declare it to be so. (Or is it a fact of life that anything I ever say or write about Mensa is “official?” Is there ever a safe place for Robin The Member to speak freely?) It means that bouncing a member from an elist hosted on the AML-owned server or that has been blessed by a Local Group LocSec/ExComm is not something that can be done without first specifying the unacceptable behaviors.

But I see no rules about what can be declared “unacceptable” and who has the authority to make that judgment. Can it be written as simply as “whiney, mean, overly curmudgeonly, and generally insulting or off-putting?” Can an official ever say “you’re a jerk and I don’t want to play with you any more.”?

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