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News Release: PETA ASKS BOY SCOUTS TO "DE-MERIT" BADGES PROMOTING CRUELTY TO ANIMALS For Immediate Release: March 15, 2001 Contact: Dawn Carr - 757-622-7382 Irving, Texas - In a letter faxed today to Boy Scouts President Milton H. Ward, PETA asks that the Boy Scouts of America live up to its wholesome image by retiring merit badges that encourage young people to maim and kill animals. PETA charges that by offering "Fishing" and "Fish and Wildlife Management" merit badges, the Scouts teach boys that hooking, suffocating, and killing fish is acceptable.

Re Philistinism I was just kidding JMCQuillan. Re: Venturing vs Ordinary Troops I don't have any strong feelings about coed venture crews one way or the other. There is no reason it cannot be made to work and be made fair for all. I wouldn't have a problem with girls being eligible for the full panopoly of scouting awards and ranks. I do agree that conventional troops should be all male. One of the difficulties that I have had with scouting for some time is the way the entire program has been pushed down into ever younger ages. It shows up most strongly in conventional

I may be just a serf, but I object to being called a Phillistine!!

I too speak from relative ignorance as regards the venturing program. However, if girls are going to be admitted to the program, they ought to be fully admitted to the program. A similar contradiction exists as regards Order of the Arrow eligibility. We now have female adult volunteers regularly elected to the OA. However, for a youth member of scouting to be elected to OA, they must have earned the rank of First Class. Since the girls cannot do rank advancement at all, they might meet all the other requirements, in fact be better scouts and more deserving, but they are not eligible b

Scouting's value GORDON N. TAYLOR Pompano Beach Some years ago, I was seated next to a retired prison warden at a civic dinner in Detroit, Mich. During the course of our conversation, he made a remark that has had a lasting impression on me: "In all my years of penology, I've only known of three who were Boy Scouts." Copyright 2001, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Maybe you need a new advancement chair. One thing that I always did with my own sons was to write in the margins of their handbooks those activities they in which they had participated, both outings and service projects.

Do I understand from your post that your advancement chair is doing all sign offs? Or is this person handling sign offs for a specific requirement where she was handling a specific activity? I would find it odd that any advancement chair would handle all sign offs. We do use a dedicated laptop for record keeping and our advancement chair is generally available at all troop meetings. We too are a fairly large troop with about 50 registered youth. This has never come up for us. Boys get their books signed off by either youth leaders who might have taught a requirement or by the cogniza

I would expect both the BSA and the GSA would be more than happy to have their symbols and words used in the manner described. Copyrights held by non profit organizations are viewed differently by those owners than copy righted information and characters created to earn a profit. I would still make appropriate inquiries. Several years ago we participated in camporees in Southern California where the youth members submitted ideas for camporee patches. One year the winning design came out with three well known cartoon characters in it. I doubt that the owners of those copyrights were ev

Here's another angle. Don't let your scouts incorporate any copyrighted characters (e.g. Mickey Mouse) into the design without consent of the owner of the copyright. There was a pre school in Florida a few years ago that had to wipe out an unauthorized mural of Disney characters in particular. Hannah Barbera came to the rescue in that case and even provided the paint for the new mural.

Going to the publication is useful, but I've got some time to kill so here goes. First the structure. Councils are actually legal entities incorporated under state law, and simultaneoulsy receiving a charter from BSA National to operate a scout program, as defined by National. Another set of laws affecting council operations is the Internal Revenue Code, whereby the council qualifies to accept tax deductible donations. Councils are defined geographically, and usually follow local political boundaries to some extent. I have done very little work at the council level, so I may be in err

Though I have scsrcely read even a small fraction of all the scout documents ever published, I am not aware of any written guidelines on this subject and doubt that there are any. Given the difficulty in getting any kind of meeting space in many communities, I have no problem with a committee meeting space such as you describe. It becomes a somewhat different matter when boys show up in uniform to present plans for Eagle projects and things like that. Again, the issue is probably not one of sheltering the boys. Boys doing Eagle projects are likely old enough to understand what a bar is all

Your point is well taken about the unwillingness of National to appear on camera. There is a strong presumption of bias by the media against the scouts on this issue. The most effective way to respond to Sixty Minutes is to have your own video crew present for the interview. I still would like to see the original if anybody has any suggestions.

I understand that Sixty Minutes did a number on the boy scouts last Sunday. Anybody know where I can get a free transcript on line?

We too ended our trip a day early, just a few miles from our destination. We were rescued not by a rancher, but by a National Park Service Ranger with a bigger boat. Conceivably we could have continued, but we had a lot of wet gear facing a chilly night, with no way to dry it out. If scouting is a "game with a purpose," another important example we set is making sound decisions about yielding to Mother Nature. To quote another famous American, Kenny Rogers, "You have to know when to hold'em..know when to fold'em..."

Several years ago the commercial operators on America's rivers created what they called the "smart duck award," as distinct from the "dead duck award." The idea was to promote awareness of industrial safety and encourage workers to wear a PFD when working on piers, barges, etc. The award was given to workers who one way or another went into the water wearing a PFD and lived to tell about it. They probably are still making these awards. Well, a scout and I just qualified for this award. We were on another spring break canoe outing on the Colorado River below Hoover Dam in very wind

Agreed.

A big part of the cost of any high adventure experience is the cost of getting there. As I reflect on my total scouting experience, the cost can vary a great deal depending on where you live. I grew up in the midwest, and there were far fewer accessible opportunities for high adventure there, compared to those available close to large tracts of public lands. Great Smokies would be one of those tracts. Here in California we can backpack in the Sierras at much less cost than going to Philmont. Nevertheless many units, including ours, return to Philmont frequently. In defense of Philmont, t

Might as well keep this string going a little longer. Responding to one of Mike Long's points: As I think about it, I would tend to agree with Mike's recommendation to avoid internal frames for younger scouts. If one of the real advantages of internal frame packs is safety and balance in rugged going, who in their right mind is going to take new scouts into such environments early in their scouting careers? Concerning training, I recently went through a weekend of training offered by our council called "Backpack Awareness Training." Unfortunately I had the flu the weekend of t

It appears that some people in Southern Florida agree with the Boy Scouts on the gay issue and are willing to vote with their dollars. United Way backers increase donations to Boy Scouts By PATTY PENSA Staff Writer Posted March 23 2001 Email this story to a friend Printer friendly version MORE HEADLINES Retiree loses control of car, crashes into Delray store Palm Beach, Miami-Dade counties keep outdoor burning ban Heights' Piantadosi shines with stars School officials ponder tougher rules for students on buses Boca faces gridlock on Co

In prior posts I put up articles about the situation in Broward County where the local school district was seeking to disallow usage of school facilities by the scouts because of the policy on homosexuality. The scouts won an important victory in court Wednesday. Concerned scouters should be aware of this case in the event the issue surfaces in your area. Unfortunately the local district now plans to charge for the use of the facilities in that jurisdiction, and they may be able to do that. Nevertheless the precedent was established in Federal District Court and is an important one. S

Gorp has a website that is packed with information and links. Just search for Gorp.

Further update from Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel Lawyers argue KKK ruling means Boy Scouts should be allowed to use schools By BILL HIRSCHMAN Sun-Sentinel Web-posted: 10:24 p.m. Mar. 13, 2001 The constitutional question of whether the Boy Scouts will be evicted from Broward County schools because the organization bans homosexuals hinges on the Scouts' similarities to the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Attorneys for both sides as well as a federal judge spent much of an injunction hearing on Tuesday discussing whether the Scouts had the same legal standing as the KKK

A further thought on the internal vs external debate: One advantage of the external frame pack is that you can adjust where the load is carried to match your hiking conditions. You can carry it low for rough terrain where balance and stability are desired, or you can carry it high on flatter terrain. Another consideration is comfort in hot weather. An internal frame pack rides closer to one's body. An external frame pack allows more air circulation between your back and your pack. I have a feeling this could go on as long as the discussion on tents.

Allentown seems a bit out of the way for me. I will take chanoneescouter up on his (her?) offer.

Thanx for the thoughtful, and thorough, response.