Historical Note I - PSA in Nov. 2002

On 11/17/2002, I had correspondence with a potential member of PSA named Cynthia Kroustos. This correspondence surprised me in how in depth it got about what PSA was at that time and what it did. It's transcribed here for the historical record.

Loads of good questions, so I'll answer each in turn:

At 10:23 AM 11/7/2002 -0500, you wrote:
> Thanks for responding so quickly!! The 12th sounds very interesting... I
> have an exam that evening, but I'm hoping that I'll be finished in time
> to make it to your meeting :)

You don't have to be right on time, so feel free to wander in a few minutes late or early. Usually, we end up in the room just before 8, though not always. We usually don't start until later. (About 8:15)

> I just have a couple quick questions so I
> know what to expect on Tuesday... how many people are in your group? 

About 5 to 15 show up on a regular basis. Two weeks ago we had 15, last week 5, but we've been pretty steady throughout our history at about 10-12

> Are there any grad students?

Not at the moment, though I will (hopefully) be attending grad school this coming fall, and several others are also applying to various grad schools. The age of the group isn't as young as it was 5 years ago :) One of the Co-Chairs last year was a Grad student, though. We do have a very diverse age demographic, though. There're a couple of Freshmen, there're a few upper-classmen, one or two who have graduated recently and still hang out, and some staff members. And then there's Tom, who graduated about 20 years ago and came by one day, but we like him, and he's actually very intelligent and really knows his stuff. Anyway, we don't turn people away unless they've done something terrible, even if they aren't students.

> What's the set up? 

We usually sit in a circle so we can kinda see each other.

> Is it group discussion? 

Sometimes. Other times, it's a workshop.

> Is there someone who gives a lecture? 

We've fallen to doing more of these since discussions aren't working out as well as we hoped (we usually have a hard time talking in discussions, but never a hard time interrupting a lecture).

> If so, who are they? 

If we bring in a presenter from the community, we try to make sure they have a good grounding in their knowledge. Most often, we have internal presenters, and sometimes that falls through, but I think we still learn from those things, and it prevents us from becoming embroiled in politics.

> Do you have a quarterly fee? 

Nope, and the group has no money, either :)

> Do you have a main focus to your group? 

In terms of culture or religion? No. We're very open to anyone who wants to come in. In the past, we've had Dianics, Druids, Discordians, Irish Pagans, Kabbalists, Ceremonial Magicians, Taoists, and many, many others. Mainly, we're a social group who likes to get together to learn. Over the years, PSA is more a group of friends, and we like it when new people come in.

> Are you a student/prof/etc? 

I recently graduated, and picked up a job as full time staff. I am still a student, though, taking classes that interest me as preparation to enrolling in the graduate school. I'm taking about 6-10 undergraduate hours per quarter (the most I'm allowed), and it allowed me to come back to being a Co-Chair for the group, which is a position I enjoyed two years ago as well.

> What's your focus? 

I'm a Druid and a Discordian. Don't let the Discordian part fool you too much, though. It's only a part-time religion, and I've been told not to quit my day religion. I'm also a member of ADF, and the grove organizer for Three Cranes Protogrove, ADF, here in Columbus.

> I know these questions are a
> little vague. I apologize. Thanks for your time :)

No problem. It's fun :)

Nechochwen,
Michael J Dangler

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