The Women of Mensa

they're beautiful, they're sexy and they have the bright stuff

It's been said that the brain is the most erotic organ. But how do you photograph intelligence? We found seven ways. The women at left and on the next ten pages are card-carrying members of Mensa, the exclusive organization for people with enormous I.Q.s. These women have great figures. How about an upper measurement of 174, which is Donna Howell's I.Q.? Two years ago, Donna, then a candidate in The Great 30th Anniversary Playmate Search, conferred with Senior Photo Editor Jeff Cohen about a problem bright women share: People can't see their beauty for their brains. Let's do something about it, replied Jeff; see if we can find some more out there like you. With Donna's aid--she helped recruit through a letter in the Mensa Bulletin--we assembled a cast of whiz persons who are out to prove that intelligent women sometimes take off their horn-rims. And more.

Elizabeth Rogers

Home: Atlanta, Georgia

Age: 23

Occupation: Graduate student in psychology, North Carolina State

Best Quality: "I don't play games with people. I don't have to; I'm confident."

Ambition: "I plan to get my Ph.D. and study human cognition--how people learn. Also, I plan to get more software for my Macintosh."

Best Trivial Pursuit Category: Green (science and nature)

Recent Accomplishment: "Eighth-degree orange belt in Tae Kwon Do. That's a low belt, but I've been studying for less than a year. It means a lot."

Fantasy: "People view sexuality so intensely, almost painfully. People should discover sensuality. The beauty of sensuality is that it doesn't necessarily involve physical sex. Half of the fun in life is innuendo. I like the idea that intelligent men will be looking at me here, but that doesn't mean I want to sleep with them."

Personal Failure: "I tried to get my boyfriend into this pictorial. He's a Mensan, too."

I.Q.: 135

Janel Killheffer

Home: La Selva Beach, California

Age: 34

Occupation: Co-owner of Pasatiempo Inn in Santa Cruz

Hobby: "I race Porsches. It's a fabulous physical thrill. When you're going that fast, you're really in contact with the car. When your car skitters sideways, you want to brake, but that's the worst thing you can do. You have to be tough enough to hold the wheel and resist braking. After a race, my shoulders are sore and sometimes even bruised from the safety straps."

On Brains and Beauty: "A lot of people expect Mensans to be nerds. It's intimidating to people that I have both brains and a body; nobody likes a superperson. I have never felt that beauty is a drawback. I'm going to miss it when it goes away. When I'm old, I'll get out my Playboy shots and show them to my grandchildren."

Fantasy: "I told Playboy I wanted to pose in an Egyptian setting, because I've always loved Egyptology. I just got back from a study cruise on the Nile. Egypt is a very spiritual country. Egyptians believe in ma'at, the quality of everything's being in order. I wish my life were more in ma'at. I don't have an inherent sense of order."

I.Q.: 142

Joy Johnson

Home: Orlando, Florida

Age: 25

Occupation: Real-estate investor and sports-car dealer

Favorite Mensa Joke: "Define the universe. Give three examples."

On Brains and Beauty: "I get stereotyped because of how I look. People see blonde and think, Bubblehead."

Current Activities: "I'm putting together a book of brain teasers and I'm about to earn my black belt in Tae Kwon Do."

Fantasy: "My husband has always said that if I were an animal, I'd be a cat. So here I am."

I.Q.: 152

Donna Howell

Home: Orlando, Florida

Age: 20

Occupation: Anchor woman/ reporter for WDBO radio, Orlando; host of cable-TV show On Cue

Hobbies: "I like mindless activities: aerobics, bicycling, working out on Nautilus equipment."

Favorite Rocker: "Billy Idol. He's easier to exercise to than Neil Diamond."

Fantasy: "I like the abstract. My fantasy setting is mystical, ethereal and otherworldly. It ain't on planet earth. It reminds me of the set from Billy Idol's Eyes Without a Face video."

I.Q.: 174

Sheri Blair

Home: Atlanta, Georgia

Age: 30

Least Favorite Pastime: "Just sitting down and watching TV makes me crazy. I prefer high-pressure learning."

On Brains and Beauty: "You may have a real high I.Q. You may be beautiful. But if you aren't spiritually developed, you really don't have anything. God is the source of higher intelligence. I think of God as infinite intelligence."

Goals: "To become a professional entertainer. I sing, dance and act. To become financially independent. Otherwise, to put my life in God's hands and leave it there."

Best thing about joining Mensa: "My grades immediately improved. I had always been a B student. After I joined Mensa, I started pulling straight A's."

Fantasy: "I have a special thing for red balloons. I have dreamed of walking into a room that was filled, wall to wall, with balloons. For the shoot, we discovered that the balloons broke when I lay down on them, so we compromised with little red plastic balls. I loved it."

I.Q.: 143

Valerie Coel

Home: Lexington, Massachusetts

Age: 29

Education: B.S. in physics from Vassar, M.S. from MIT

Occupation: Applications engineer at a major CAD/CAM firm

Translation: "CAD/CAM is a computer-aided design-and-manufacturing system. I have to talk customers through problems in using the system."

Hobby: "I perform in a rock-'n'-roll band."

On Brains and Beauty: "In high school, I went to my prom with the number-one academic achiever in the school. He was a real nerd. He had picked me for my brains, and I was insulted. I thought there should be more to me than just my intelligence. But as it turned out, I discovered a soul mate. He wound up asking me, 'Why does everybody think I'm just an encyclopedia?' "

On Mensa: "Mensans don't necessarily do intellectual things. Sometimes the gatherings turn out to be orgies at somebody's house. Sometimes we play cutthroat Trivial Pursuit."

Fantasy: "Normally, I sing in front of an audience. In my fantasy, I get to do what I usually would not do in real life: The audience turns me on, I get excited, and the pictures indicate how it turns out."

I.Q.: 163

Joann Harjes

Home: Roseville, Minnesota

Age: 27

Occupation: Student at the University of Minnesota, majoring in mass communications

On Brains and Beauty: "A high I.Q. is a pretty big advantage. My appearance can work for me, but when it comes down to taking care of the actual business at hand, it doesn't amount to a hill of beans. Beauty is a sales tool. It's just the packaging; it's not the real stuff."

Best Trait: "I'm a hard worker."

Worst Trait: "I cringe at the thought, but here it is. When things aren't going my way, I'll rationalize that people who don't agree with me aren't very bright."

On being in Playboy: "When I first heard about the project, I laughed. I couldn't think of a better group to pose with than my fellow eggheads! Who says you can't be both sexy and smart? The older I get, the better these pictures will look. At a certain point, they'll come out of the book and go up on the walls. By the time I'm 100, they'll be a shrine."

Fantasy: "Most of the time, I'm kind of off the wall, so I wanted this to be rather elegant. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be something that I'm usually not--serious."

I.Q.: 150

Mensa Brain Teasers

Just how smart are these women? Here's a quiz that Mensa prepared for us that our voracious thinkers would consider a light snack. If you suspect that you, too, may be Mensa material, take the quiz. Then score yourself according to the guidelines on page 148. Be sure to use a timer--bonus points are awarded for a quick finish. Want to try to join Mensa? Send nine dollars to Mensa, Department 7, 2626 East 14th Street, Brooklyn, New York 11235. They'll send you their take-home exam.

1. Which of the lower boxes best completes the series on the top?

(A) (B) (C) (D)

2. Which two shapes below represent mirror images of the same shape?

(A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

3. Complete the following analogy:

are toas + - 0 are to:

(A) + - 0

(B) 0 + -

(C) - + 0

(D) 0 - +

(E) + + 0

4. I am a man. If Joe's son is my son's father, what relationship am I to Joe?

(A) His grandfather

(B) His father

(C) His son

(D) His grandson

(E) I am Joe

(F) His uncle

5. Which word does not belong in the following group?

(A) Knife

(B) Swan

(C) Smile

(D) Feather

(E) Lovely

(F) Thought

6. Find the number that logically completes the series: 2, 3, 5, 9, 17, ...

7. What number comes next in this series? 9, 16, 25, 36, . . .

8. Complete this analogy with a five-letter word ending with the letter H.

High is to low as sky is to--H.

9. In the grid below, two of the numbers in a line (across and down) produce the third. What is the missing number?

6 2 4

2 ? 0

4 0 4

10. Complete this analogy with a seven-letter word ending with the letter T.

Potential is to actual as future is to--T.

For quiz conclusion and answers, turn to page 148.

Women of Mensa (continued from page 73)

11. If it were two hours later, it would be half as long until midnight as it would be if it were an hour later. What time is it now?

12. Two of the shapes below represent mirror images of the same shape. Which are they?

(A) (B) (C) (D)

13. Statistics indicate that men drivers are involved in more accidents than women drivers. The only conclusion that can certainly be drawn is that:

(A) Male chauvinists are wrong, as usual, about women's abilities.

(B) Men are actually better drivers but drive more frequently.

(C) Men and women drive equally well, but men log more total mileage.

(D) Most truck drivers are men.

(E) There is not enough information to justify a conclusion.

14. In the following set of numbers, a rule of arithmetic applies across and down so that two of the numbers in a line produce the third. What is the missing number?

6 2 12

4 5 20

24 10 ?

15. If A x B = 24, C x D = 32, B x D = 48 and B x C = 24, what does A x B x C x D equal?

(A) 480

(b) 576

(C) 744

(D) 768

(E) 824

16. What word do the following letters make when they are unscrambled?

Leleinsovs

17. Find the two words nearest in meaning to each other.

(A) beam

(B) lump

(C) giggle

(D) ray

(E) collection

18. If Jim turns right or left at the stop sign, he will run out of gas before he reaches a service station. He has already gone too far past a service station to return before he runs out of gas. He does not see a service station ahead. Only one of the following statements can be positively deduced:

(A) He may run out of gas.

(B) He will run out of gas.

(C) He should not have taken this route.

(D) He is lost.

(E) He should turn right at the stop sign.

(F) He should turn left at the stop sign.

19. Which of the four lower selections best completes the series on the top?

(A)(B)(C)(D)

20. If an airplane travels at an average rate of 500 miles per hour, how long will it take to complete 20 trips, of which five are for 1000 miles, five for 1500 miles, five for 2000 miles and five for 3000 miles?

(A) Two days, 18 hours

(B) Two days, 21 hours

(C) Three days

(D) Three days, three hours

Mensa Quiz Answers

1. (C) Delete the horizontal line in the asterisk as it was deleted in the circle.

2. (D) and (E)

3. (C) Positive and negative change positions, while neutral remains in the same place.

4. (C)

5. (E) The other words are all nouns.

6. (33) The difference between the numbers is progressively multiplied by 2 and added to the next number.

7. (49) 9 is 3 squared, 16 is 4 squared, 25 is 5 squared, and so on. Also, 9+7=16, 16+9 = 25, 25+11 =36, and so on.

8. Earth

9. (2) In each vertical and horizontal row, the second number is subtracted from the first.

10. Present

11. (Nine P.M.)

12. (B)and (D)

13. (E)

14. (240) 24 x 10 and 12 x 20 both equal 240.

15. (D) You don't have to determine the values of A, B, C and D. Just multiply 24 x 32.

16. Loveliness

17. (A) and (D)

18. (A) Just because Jim doesn't see a service station doesn't mean there isn't one.

19. (D) The ball gets larger in each box and the triangle stays the same size. The ball and the triangle keep alternating positions.

20. (D)

Scoring

Give yourself one point for each correct answer. You receive an additional five points for finishing the test in less than 15 minutes, three points for finishing in less than 20 minutes and two points for less than 25 minutes. If you scored:

20-25 points--you are a perfect candidate for Mensa.

15-19 points--you are in the higher percentiles of the population and definitely a Mensa candidate.

10-14 points--nothing to be ashamed of. It's a respectable score and you should try the standard Mensa test.

Fewer than 10 points--forget about joining Mensa, but don't stew about it. Some of the most successful people don't have exceptionally high I.Q.s, either.