eolesen

Ihe experience for the boys of meeting boys from other units, seeing how they operate, and the availability of obscure merit badges is one of the things that really appeals to me about going to a "real" camp, regardless if it is in council or not.

I can see the appeal of having your own property to go to, but there's no reason you can't do both... We do an in-council camp and an out-of-council camp each year, and we never seem to have a problem finding adults to help make both happen.

Ditto on the ashes. Keep a small metal container with some ashes from your fire. At the next campfire, add them, and refill the container after the fire. Document which fire's ashes are in the container -- that way you can point out the history of that campfire, and how your boys are sitting at the same campfire that's been burning for 5, 10, or 15 years.

At my Woodbadge course, each participant there got a container of ashes from our campfire, and a geneology. The history dated back to the 40's, and had ashes mixed from several Jamborees, units in Germany, Japan, England, and Mexico, etc. It was pretty cool, and I wish our unit had set up that type of a tradition when it was formed.

Joni, I think you need to bypass the DE and go straight to the Scout Executive... It's not a matter of stepping on toes -- it's an obligation that every adult participant has, and needs to be treated as though the Scout indicated that he was being beaten by a parent or another Scout.

Guide to Safe Scouting states:

"The unit should inform the Scout executive about all incidents that result in a physical injury or involve allegations of sexual misconduct by a youth member with another youth member."

Call anonymously if you need to, but make the call. Today.

Covering things up has cost the Catholic Church millions. Don't let that happen to Scouting...

In my old troop, rank and merit badges were presented just prior to the Scoutmaster Minute at the meeting they earned/recorded the achievement.

As said by others, immediate recognition...

At the court of honor, we would ask each scout to come forward, and we would recite his accomplishments for MB's. Then, we'd call each Scout forward by rank, and hand them the card and Mother's Pin for their rank (they were expected to put on Mom's ribbon right there along with a kiss on the cheek, but that's probably considered hazing now...).

New troop is doing it all at the Court, which I find to be a little anticlimactic. They shouldn't have to wait two-three months to get the card and patch, and since the Court is one of the few formal events where merit badge sashes are worn, I'd prefer to have -all- of his accomplishments be in place when he wears it.

I don''t think the differences in interests has changed much.

It used to be that media outlets in Boise, Fort Worth, and Birmingham were on a level footing with those in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington. Now, you''ve got newspapers, radio and TV stations being controlled by national corporations, and they''re just as likely to preach the party line of their flagship paper/stations in NYC, WAS, CHI, or LAX.

With my ADC patch and shoulder loops on, you need to hand this one over to paid staff for a multitude of reasons. The adult sounds like a risk, and the youth could be posing a risk. Both situations are a huge liability.

We still have a few troop tents, but encourage boys to have their own equipment if they have it. I''ve found that they take better care of something they have to answer to Mom & Dad over than they do something they check-out of the QM shed.

It was the same thing with school-owned instruments when I was a HS band director... We spent a small fortune each year on repairs, to the point where the district was considering cutting off funding altogether...

The other advantage of using personal equipment: when our boys leave Scouting, they have usually ammassed enough camping equipment that they can continue to enjoy it during their high school and college years regardless if they''re still active in a troop, crew or team.

Gern writes: "That scouter who betrayed his confidence should revisit the scout law. A scout is trustworthy and loyal."

Yes, but being trustworthy does not amount to attorney/client privilege. Complying with YPT and other safety requirements (or even state law in some cases) has to take priority.

Keeping the confidence does nothing to address the potential risk that this Scout could molest a younger Scout.

Engaging in sexual contact on a campout? Immediate expulsion. I don't care if they're 18 & 19 year old Venturing Scouts who are male and female -and- of the legal age of consent. The fact is that the behavior is inappropriate for Scouting.(This message has been edited by eolesen)

If the PTO is the CO, then I''d lobby for one of the parents to serve as COR.

If you'd like a repeat of 1861, change the electoral system....

Just 9 states account for 51% of the population (CA, TX, NY, FL, IL, PA, OH, MI, NY), and 83% of the population lives in 25 states, so any changes to the electoral system would wind up leaving at least half of the states with no effective voice in who becomes President.

I do believe the electoral college works, with the exception of the "winner takes all" approach some states use to allocate their votes. But, no one system is ever going to satisfy everyone.(This message has been edited by eolesen)

Who''d a thunk it... Bush actually living the values of conservation, while Gore is a parlour conservationist...

That''s sad, because Gore does have a long history of being concerned with environmental issues and trying to advance them thru Congress. Why can''t he eat his own dogfood?...

Gore''s exact quote was that he took the initiative to create the internet.

Al didn''t take the initiative. Period. The initiative was already taken by university and defense department computer scientists. The internet as we know it was an outgrowth of ARPANET, which dates back into the 60''s, and continued to evolve thru the 80''s. I was using Gopher back in the mid 80''s to access research data from my PLATO terminal at the University of Illinois, which was while Gore was still a junior Senator.

Gore did see it as good and helped get more federal funding to accelerate its expansion and evolution, and that''s something he does deserve credit for.

However.... Taking credit for someone elses''s work goes entirely against my view of A Scout Is Trustworthy.

Regardless if Gore won the popular vote at the national level or not, constitutionally, the popular vote doesn''t matter. He didn''t have the electoral votes. Hopefully, those of you teaching Cit in the Nation are well aware of that fact. If not, I''m sure it''s in the book.

Sorry, but the Nobel Peace Prize has always had a dubious history...

Ghandi, who epitomizes the concept of peace, wasn''t worthy, despite being nominated several times.

Yet others who were horribly anti-Semetic, including Arafat and Cordell Hull, managed to "win" the prize.

For those who don''t know, Hull lobbied to block the entry of 950 Jewish refugees into the US; they were ultimately forced to return to Europe, and most wound up in Nazi concentration camps.

GWD, I''m not a fan of hanging out in school parking lots for recruiting, but if its what we have to do, it''s what we have to do... I''ve done it, and it''s downright discouraging to have nobody show up except the custodian, but even if only one boy shows up (as happened with you), it''s worth every minute of our time.

Having won a trophy or a prize doesn''t define who someone is. After all, OJ Simpson is a Heisman winner.

Cattle flatulence is far more of a danger to the environment. Guess we should all become vegans...

The first time I presented Scoutmaster Specifics, I had less than three days notice, and didn''t get the powerpoint presentations until the night before the class. The guy who was scheduled to do it wound up in the hospital, so the choice was go with someone slightly prepared or cancel the class. We chose not to cancel. I won''t guarantee it was the most informative session ever presented for SLST, but we did finish ontime...

It''s tough to deliver the curriculum in the timeframes that BSA suggests unless you simply do it in lecturer mode. That''s no fun. You might as well ship it out as a DVD for people to watch at home... Instead, I find a way of leaving time for Scoutmaster War Stories, because that''s where you really learn about Scouting.

And, yes, SM/ASM and Varsity coaches DO require one more class than all other positions.

Personally, I think either OLS or BALOO should be required for all leaders going to WB. It was pretty clear that there were some people in my class who had never been on a campout prior to WB, and that''s not the time to be figuring out that Scouts, like bears, do have to poop in the woods sometime...

Ironically, Venturing leaders are not required to go thru OLS, while Varsity coaches are. Which one is more likely to be leading an activity in the wilderness?...

I''ve been told by others that once you''ve met a requirement and been recognized, it can''t be taken away...

So, John, I''m behind you 100%. If you earned your beads, you earned them. Nobody should take them away from you.

When I took WB, our guide was a pre-WB21C staffer and CD, but hadn''t been thru the new course yet. Due to an illness, he was pressed into duty with three weeks notice. Yes, there were a few moments where it was obvious he didn''t know the curriculum, but I didn''t see where it detracted from our experience.

Our previous troop had the "Gold Cup" award, which was nothing more than a beat-up metal camp cup that had been spray painted gold with a rope attached.

After each campout, the cup was passed to the patrol which showed the most spirit, best uniformin'' and kept the cleanest campsite.

We also had an Honor Scout recognition that we''d give to the Scout who showed the most spirit and best uniformin'' (which was usually someone from another patrol than the Gold Cup awardee).

Second the "only first class can serve as PL" requirement...

If you have a new-boy patrol, appoint a troop guide to lead them for the first year or until you have a quorum who have earned first class, at which point they can elect a PL.

We don''t maintain troop tents anymore.

And we don''t have a trailer, troop stoves, lanterns, or other gear aside from minimally equipped chuck-boxes.

Why?

Durable equipment like tents and stoves require care, and while there will occasionally be the boy who refuses to buddy up with someone else, the long term benefit is that by requiring personal equipment, each boy winds up more or less fully equipped to enjoy camping on their own time and/or as they go off to college.

Granted, we do more backpacking, but the policy does make sense, and there''s a lot less damage since it is their personal gear. If it''s broke, they''re on the hook for replacing it.

I casually asked that question once... It sounds like fun, but in reality is a thankless job that can take a lot out of you.

Might be a good post-retirement job or just-out-of-college job, though.

This definition of active does nothing to promote personal responsibility or accountability of the Scout.

Then again, if we as adults start making the calls, and Scotty Scout keeps saying he''ll be at the next meeting, but also keeps no-showing, then he isn''t living up to his word. Seems to me that''s no longer Trustworthy, and not exhibiting Scout Spirit.

The Cub Scout helps the pack go.

The pack helps the Cub Scout grow.

How does turning this boy away achieve either one?

If this were policy in either of the districts I''ve been involved with, both of the traditional troops my son has belonged to would have been disbanded. Likewise with a lot of the LDS units in our area -- most wards are lucky to have people to serve in positions for more than a year or two, much less go thru all the "required" training.

Personally, it took me almost two years to be able to schedule all of the training required for SM/ASM, and then another two years to find a Woodbadge class that actually fit with my work schedule.

There''s a balance to be struck here...

If you make the training too easy and accessible, it loses a lot of its value. Having a top-notch class but only being able to staff it twice a year per council means that few will be able to benefit from the experience.

I can''t help but wondering at what point some of the policies in BSA eventually force the formation of a parallel organization within the US that may be more closely aligned with how Scouting is organized in other countries. BSA seems to be more and more interested in parlour scouting and political correctness.

If the boy ages out or simply leaves, account money goes first to siblings or another individual that the parent designates (could be a cousin, neighbor, best friend, whatever...).

If there''s nobody bequeathed, then they revert to troop funds to help pay for boys who don''t have the means.

And yes, we have allowed boys to purchase camping gear with troop funds, subject to approval. It can be a slippery slope, but as mentioned, giving away a GPS or backpack as an incentive prize or letting the Scout choose what they really want is no different in principle to me.