I'm sorry to raise a serious hand in an otherwise light-hearted little
comment (you can't say anything anymore, can you?).  You may recall a year
ago there was some discussion about whether the annual meeting should be in
Colorado, where Proposition 2, as I think it was called,  had been  approved
by the electorate, basically officially sanctioning potential discrimination
against gays and lesbians (the initiative has since been declared
unconstitutional).  There was quite a bit of discussion about it all, and
the National meet was held there, despite some misgivings and with due
promises that the intolerance demonstrated in that state would not go
unnoticed.
 
Well, Dan Herron's innocently-intended comment about roommates in
Milwaukee--again, I know it was not meant to be anything but part of the
Herculean organization effort by Dan, in whose debt we most certainly are--I
say, this comment smacks of  bias.  It assumes all attendees to the
conference are straight (heterosexuals) (or at least that all the males
are).    That's not true.  It's an interesting example of the bias (I do not
think "prejudice," with all its connotations, is the right word at all) that
prevails notwithstanding all our efforts to notice in ourselves our
assumptions about our outlooks.