Re: Tenure
(no name) ((no email))
Fri, 16 Feb 1996 12:41:19 -0600
Ted wrote:
>Don't know if anyone is listening, but making Alaska into one >Council
would create DE-nightmares. There are persistent rumors, >including past
rumors of allegedly accomplished merger. The >old >"Alaska Council"
neckerchief from Nanuk Lodge I think has >contributed to the rumor mongering.
The current Transatlantic Council serves youth in the entire
European continent, along with youth in the Near East...a larger
area than 75 percent of the continental United States.
They do it with a staff of nine, and two "paraprofessionals".
Getting to the Council office in Germany from Turkey or from Iceland may
take a couple of days and a couple of aircraft trips,
but the professional staff does it with relative ease and not
too much concern or argument.
>The problems faced by the various communities across the expanse >of
territory are significant and significantly different one from >the other.
The social structure in Anchorage is radically >different from that in
Bettles. There are at least 5
>different climatic zones, and three time zones. There are >communities
where Anglos are a racial minority or unknown, and >English is a second
language to Athapaskan, Yupik, or Innupiat. A >statewide Jambor-all etc.
would pose the logistics of a National >Jamboree.
While the language within the TAC is all the same, all of the
professional staffs must interact and work with the host nations
of their Districts. For instance, Walt Steffen, the District
Director of the North Star District, has to speak Norweigen (sp),
German, English, Polish and French to interact with the host
nations' Scouting leadership in his District.
This will require professionals that are VERY flexible, and volunteers which
will reflect the geographic and racial makeup of
the District (the youth) they serve.
>When I was in present-day Western Alaska Council we had one DE >whose turf
extended from Anchorage to Dutch Harbor, over a >thousand miles, and
reachable only by air. Talk about service to >the units ...?
The same can be said for those professionals serving youth from
Hawaii over the Pacific Ocean, from Japan, or from Europe.
>Such a Council would be the antithesis of "your local council office."
"Your local Council office" *is* Walt, or Phillip, or Mary or
Kenneth. They, the District Executive/District Directors/staff
member become the "registrar", the "Scout Executive" and the
"Scout Shop" for those Scouts and Scouters residing in areas that
cannot get their information to THE Council office. I can remember when I
was in TAC that the District Represenative for
the district which included Morocco, Spain, the Azores and Portugal had to
travel long distances between just the UNITS, let
along the Council office outside of Mannheim, Germany!
The military helps SOME, by allowing the professional staffs to
utilize their transports to get from one point to another. But
it only goes *so far*.
I agree with you, Ted, that the creation of ONE Council for all
of Alaska will present a LOT of challenges for Scouting in our
northern-most frontier; but it's not something that with a lot
of volunteer efforts, and the work of the career Scouter team,
that cannot be done well and with style.
It will take a large staff, with a lot of "paraprofessional workers" out
there in the remote areas of the Council. It will
take a lot of money, much more than what the Southeast Alaska
Council and the Western Alaska Councils put in collectively.
Don't know where they are going to get it all from.
Settummanque!
(MAJ) Mike L. Walton (Settummanque, the blackeagle) (
co-Owner, Blackeagle Servics of Kentucky (502.826.7046) __)_
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