From: Alpvalsys@AOL.COM
Date: Wed Jan 05 2000 - 19:37:41 CST
In a message dated 00-01-04 22:19:04 EST, my son wrote:
<< Hello folks,
My name is Chris, I am an Assitant Scoutmaster with Troop 46 in Albany, NY.
I am also a Brotherhood member of the Ktemaque Chapter, Haudenosaunee Lodge
#19 of the OA. I am the webmaster for my chapter
(http://lightning.prohosting.com/~ktemaque). My father forwarded me a few of
the recent discussions about scouting and the net.
I agree with Conrad about a few points, especially:
"National should have started massive site linking years ago. Now, the
task
is much bigger than it needs to be." and "It is absurd not to link unit
sites. The unit
is the focus of the program. Maybe the reason that they are not updated
is
because no one can find them, because the Council is so wrapped up in
protecting
themselves from bad links, an inevitable part of any web developers life."
I agree wholeheartedly with this statement:
"And here lies the main problem, summed up quite neatly in one sentence.
The
Web is NOT a printed resource. It is, by definition, dynamic and ever
growing."
But I also have to agree with Mike:
"First, according to several national magazines, only a third of us in the
U.S. have access to a personal computer. Divide that by a third that have
access to a personal computer but do not have access to web-based materials
(in other words, they have access to a computer running DOS, or an earlier
version of Windows (as I'm running here typing with you))."
That is EXACTLY why we DO have printed resources that are sent out to people
upon request. The idea is, I don't hink I've heard anybody say this yet, to
have a mix of resources that cater to everyone's needs. Ya the internet's
great! It is always changing, and contains everything you'd probably ever
need! But I know a lot of people in my troop and chapter that don't have
access.
"It is a VERY bad idea, in my opinion, to allow the Council absolute
dominance over content of districts' sites, even if hosted on their
webserver." -
Conrad
As far as site content having to be approved by the council, I think that's
ok to an extent. Each district should be able to have their own, unique,
"official" site. They should be able to have whatever content they want above
and beyond what the council requires. Take a look at my chapter's site
http://lightning.prohosting.com/~ktemaque. My lodge has okayed us to go off
on our own, as long as it contains the basic info that they want. Heck, on
the links page you can visit the lodge site. From there you can visit the
other chapter sites.
In the immortal words of Dennis Miller "That's my opinion, I could be wrong."
YIS
Chris Balfoort >>
And I didn't edit anything he wrote. WYSIWYG
Ralph V. Balfoort, Unit Commissioner
Albany, NY
I used to be a Beaver.... (NE III-135)
In the Beaver Patrol as a Scout, too,
and now Ktemaque (Beaver) Chapter,
Haudenosaunee Lodge #19, OA
