fgoodwin

I seem to recall during the debates about whether to include gays, athiests and girls in BSA as a policy, "local option" was the mantra, meaning to let the charter organizations decide how to run their own units. Well, here's a CO that's made a policy decision, so where's the love? Has everyone decided to support "local option" only when you agree with the CO's decison?

Head Strong: Take our children back to nature http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/michael_smerconish/7924342.html http://tinyurl.com/2lcfck Posted on Sun, Jun. 10, 2007 By Michael Smerconish My wife recently handed me an unlabeled CD and told me to save it for a long drive. Some bootleg Yes? A D.L. Hughley comedy routine? I could only hope. It turns out it was a speech delivered by an environmentalist . . . and it was captivating. Richard Louv, a columnist and author I'd never heard of, was speaking to the prestigious City Club of Cleveland. He was talking about his book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder. Louv argues that children today are being raised disconnected from nature, a condition he unscientifically calls "nature-deficit disorder." Gone are the days of forts in the backyard or local woods. Today, children grow up shackled to computers and TVs, and surrounded by barriers that more often prevent them from truly engaging their natural environment. The downside? Louv says there is a recent body of research - research that needs to be expanded - suggesting that exposure to nature can be a form of medicine for afflictions such as ADD, stress or depression. I thought of Louv last week while reading two Inquirer stories. On June 1, the page-one, above-the-fold story came under the headline "Report shows how DHS failed." It detailed the circumstances of 52 children who died between 2001 and 2006, even though they had come to the Department of Human Services' attention before their deaths. An investigative panel reported that more than half of those children had died of abuse or under "suspicious circumstances." More than half had parents who had been overseen by DHS when they were growing up. The front page of the local section had another headline dealing with city children: "Council votes to end city lease with Boy Scouts." A day earlier, City Council suddenly passed a resolution authorizing the city to end the Cradle of Liberty Boy Scouts' 80-year-old lease of city land at 22d and Winter Streets. At issue is a national Boy Scout policy that requires Scout leaders (not members) to be straight. In other words, on the same day a report detailed the deaths of 52 children that DHS had monitored, City Council evicted an organization providing productive after-school activities to more than 40,000 youths in Philadelphia. Look, I wish the Boy Scouts of America did not discriminate, as does the local Cradle of Liberty Council. But the Supreme Court said they could, and so they do. Which gets me back to Richard Louv. Many of the activities available to the 40,000 youths are of the type that Louv counts as natural therapy. "Justly or not," Louv wrote, "the public image of the Boy Scouts of America has shifted from that of clean-cut boys tying knots and pitching tents to one of adult leaders who ban gays and expel atheists." Such is the domain of public discourse to which the Scouts have been resigned. Less often do we hear about them for what they truly are: an organization that preaches ethics, values and morality to young people who could otherwise fall into the grip of urban violence. "Whether or not that's fair to view the Boy Scouts that way, certainly it's problematic for the Boy Scouts," Louv told me when I caught up with him last week. "But they do great work, and we need to support the scouting organizations, and Camp Fire [Girls], and Girl Scouts, etcetera. "What I would hope, though, is that they would move more toward nature experience - in essence, back to their roots. Right now, many of the scouting organizations feel they have to be everything for everybody and teach business classes. Well, business classes can be found elsewhere. "Nature is what kids need most of all. It's very much disappearing from childhood, and we can turn that around." Louv laments that fitness-crazed adults are raising children who are weaklings, and he notes another irony: that the rise in organized sports coincides with a childhood-obesity boom. He emphasizes that nature delivers to children the lessons they just don't get in Little League - things like the wherewithal and critical-thinking skills necessary to build a tree fort. Playing in nature, he wrote, makes children more competent thinkers and better learners: "When you think about what it's like to sit in front of a television screen or a computer screen for hours at a time . . . you're not using all your senses, you're not exercising your full perception of your surrounding. . . . In nature, you get that full sense of what's going on around you. I think that serves us well when we go out into a tough neighborhood, to know what goes on around us." As the city's homicide rate continues to spiral out of control, and DHS fails to protect the children on its radar screen, City Council is more concerned with pleasing an appetite for political correctness than helping children. Maybe it's time for them to take a walk in the woods. -- Michael Smerconish's column appears on Thursdays in The Daily News and on Sundays in Currents. Michael can be heard from 5:30 to 9 a.m. weekdays on "The Big Talker," WPHT-AM (1210). Contact him via the Web at http://www.mastalk.com

Catholic Scouts shun lawmakers over ethics http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_county/bal-te.co.catholic09jun09,0,6258505.story http://tinyurl.com/3xrccs Parkville pastor bars officials who differ with church policy By Liz F. Kay Sun reporter June 9, 2007 The pastor of a Catholic church in Parkville has barred the parish's Boy Scout troop from associating with elected officials who do not support Catholic moral teaching. Monsignor James P. Farmer, who came to St. Ursula Catholic Church last year, has told Boy Scout Troop 26 that it cannot let elected officials who supported stem cell research legislation participate in Eagle Scout award ceremonies, nor can the troop visit the legislators at their offices at the State House. "We were told that no elected official could participate that did not have a record of being pro-life," said Doug Marquess, the troop's former committee chairman, who was asked to step down last month after serving three years because of his objections. The decision has sparked frustration among some members of the troop - and has prompted the Archdiocese Of Baltimore to begin considering how the guidelines should be applied. "This issue just doesn't belong with the kids," Marquess said. "This is about the kids learning to be good citizens and having fun." This isn't the first time the Boy Scouts of America has found itself at the center of debates with roots in politics and religion. For example, the Boy Scouts prohibited gay and lesbian scoutmasters. Leaders of major Christian denominations opposed their inclusion and the Supreme Court ultimately ruled against their hiring in 2000. "I doubt that the founders of the Boy Scouts in America thought of the organization as a way to influence the behavior of politicians," said Clifford Wallace Putney, a history lecturer at Bentley College in Massachusetts who has studied the origins of the Boy Scouts in the United States. At St. Ursula, committee member Mary Lee Jones, who is Catholic, said she can see both sides of the situation. However, "this is a Boy Scout issue, and the religion should be kept out of it," she said. "I don't think those officials come to our troop meetings and our Scout ceremonies to publicize their views on abortion." State Sen. Katherine A. Klausmeier and Del. Eric M. Bromwell, both Catholics and Democrats who represent the area, were both no longer invited to these events and said they are trying to forge a compromise with the Maryland Catholic Conference, the lobbying arm of the Archdiocese Of Baltimore. Farmer, who became pastor of St. Ursula's last year, declined to comment, according to archdiocesan spokesman Sean Caine. Caine pointed to Catholics in Political Life, a 2004 document published by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, that states that Catholics "should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions." The archdiocese is discussing forming a committee to examine this issue, especially how it might affect Boy Scout troops at parishes, Caine said. The Rev. Thomas J. Reese, a senior fellow at Georgetown University's Woodstock Theological Center, said similar types of conflicts often arise during commencement season. For example, Cardinal William H. Keeler did not attend graduation at Loyola College in Maryland in 2005 when the Catholic institution invited former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani to speak and receive an honorary degree. Groups that oppose abortion planned protests of the event. Parents say the prohibition has not been uniformly imposed. For example, children attending St. Ursula's school wrote to their legislators, including Bromwell and Klausmeier, to support state funding of private school textbooks. "It's expected that our pastors would enforce all the guidelines and the teachings of the church," Caine said. "The intent of the guideline is that we express all church teachings clearly and consistently. That does not mean we cannot engage, communicate and dialogue with public officials." Klausmeier received a letter last summer from the troop stating she was no longer allowed to come and give Eagle Scouts an award and a Maryland flag flown over the Statehouse, as she has done many times during her 13 years in office. "Needless to say I was very upset," she said. "The boys are good kids, and I don't do any politicking by any means." Bromwell, a graduate of Calvert Hall College High School in Towson, said his record includes support for issues close to the Catholic church's views, such as parental notification before abortion. "I don't feel that politics should really have anything to do with support of the Boy Scouts," the delegate said. "To be told we're no longer welcome is really disconcerting." He and other elected officials jump at the chance to attend Eagle Scout ceremonies and other events, he said, and they also give tours of the Statehouse to Boy Scouts earning citizenship badges. Neither he nor Klausmeier was aware of other parishes enforcing similar restrictions, nor do they know other legislators who have been affected. They learned of the parish's stance through parents. "I've obviously had lobbyists from the [Maryland] Catholic Conference come to lobby me on those issues," Bromwell said. "At the same time, nobody said if you vote for this, you're no longer welcome." Caine said that Farmer and other archdiocesan officials tried to contact Klausmeier to discuss this policy, especially after the state senator addressed an Eagle Scout ceremony she was attending as a personal guest of the recipient. Parents of youths in the parish troop were then told that guest lists would have to be approved in advance if they sought to include elected officials, Marquess said. Caine said elected officials were welcome to attend events as guests, seated in the audience, but could not participate. "This is not a personal attack. This is not something that is done in a mean-spirited way, but is an attempt to be consistent and clear with respect to church teaching," Caine said. The Boy Scouts uphold the decision of the pastor, saying that the church - as the chartering organization - is allowed to set its own policies, said James Milham, the Baltimore Area Council's director of field service. For example, Jewish troops don't camp on Saturdays, and Mormon troops don't camp on Sundays. "We franchise our scouting programs to a church or PTA or fire department," Milham said. "It's their program, and basically within the charter agreements they have the right to restrict when it comes to people participating. If that's the church's belief, we have to honor that." Although Troop 26 is chartered by St. Ursula's, anywhere from a quarter to a third of the 52 scouts are non-Catholic, Marquess estimated. Catholic organizations sponsor about 100 of the approximately 880 units of the Baltimore area council of the Boy Scouts of America, which includes the city of Baltimore and the five surrounding counties, Milham said. Most large Christian denominations hold charters for Boy Scout troops, Milham said. Nationally, about a third of U.S. parishes have scouting, with more than 330,000 children and young men involved in Catholic-sponsored groups, according to the Boy Scouts' Web site. Marquess, St. Ursula's former committee chairman, said the church provides space to meet and storage for the troop's camping equipment. Charter partners also have final say over troop leadership, Milham said. Caine said Marquess was asked to step down because of his actions in response to the policy. Susan Gibbs, spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Washington, said decisions about invitations are made at the local level and vary among parishes. All politicians receive invitations to tour schools during Catholic Schools Week, for example. "We're part of the community," she said. "We also want to be clear what we stand for, and that it's important to us." Putney, of Bentley College, wrote in an e-mail that several Christian groups brought scouting to the United States from England in 1910, particularly the YMCA, then an evanglical Christian organization that wanted to reach young boys. Although 80 percent of troops in 1915 were led by major Protestant Christian groups, now more Catholic and Mormon groups provide institutional support, he said. liz.kay@baltsun.com

Nick, I don't know why the money for TX plates doesn't go to Scouting. I wish it did, as is the case with the IL plates.

Amid death and chaos, the Scouts revive an idea of fun for children http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article1907350.ece http://tinyurl.com/37jtpv June 9, 2007 A cordon at the camp protects them from unexploded bombs but the tradition lives on 80 years after it was introduced by the British Armed with rakes and wheelbarrows, a group of Iraqi Scouts and Guides is clearing a patch of Baghdad woodland. For many it is their first normal outing with friends in more than four years of violence. The concrete bunker and taped cordon that guard them from unexploded bombs give this Scout camp a slightly edgier feel to jamborees in Britain, where a grazed knee or getting lost represent some of the biggest hazards. For 13-year-old Fahad Abdul Sammed, however, it offers a rare chance to leave his house and play with his friends. For the last few years I have not had any fun. This is the first time I have gone away from my family, Fahad said. He is one of about 40 Iraqi boys and girls who teamed up yesterday to clear away dead branches and shrubs from the unused land in Baghdads fortified green zone the slightly more secure area of the city that also houses Iraqi government buildings and foreign embassies. Supported by American funds and aided voluntarily by US soldiers, the clean-up is part of a drive to revive Iraqs esteemed Scouting past introduced to the country by Britain in 1921. We want to teach the children about team spirit and how to be a good person, Abdul Salam, chairman of the Iraqi Scouts, said. Joining the Scouts provides an opportunity for children to come together, whatever their ethnic background, he said, hoping that this would eventually help to ease the sectarian tensions that have fuelled the chaos in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion. We would like every boy and girl in Iraq to join the Scouts whether they are Shia, Sunni, Christian or Kurd, Mr Salam added. The green zone youngsters, aged 12 to 17, signed up only two days ago but Scout clubs have re-emerged across Iraq over the past four years, with the total number of boy and girl Scouts rising from, in effect, zero to about 150,000. At the prospective campsite in Baghdad, the Iraqi girl Scouts clambered out of a minibus and stood in a line wearing brand-new blue shirts and skirts topped off with a bright-green necktie and a baseball cap worn on occasion over a headscarf. The boys were less well turned out because there were not enough new uniforms to go around but once all the children had assembled the Scout leaders instructed everyone to change into cleaning gear namely football shirts. We are going to have lots of fun today, First Lieutenant Sharon Burns, one of the American military volunteers, shouted through an Iraqi translator. We have rakes and we are going to use them to clean up this place so we have somewhere to play. This is your camp so lets make it the best we can. The boys marched off to one corner of the site which was about the size of a football pitch and the girls took their rakes to another. Within minutes clouds of dust puffed into the air as the children dragged branches, picked up leaves and raked twigs. About ten American soldiers also pitched in with the effort made particularly tough by the punishing morning sun. Leaning on her rake, 14-year-old Batoul al-Timimi said that she was glad to be part of the action. I decided to join the girl Scouts because I did not want to stay in my house during the summer, she said. Many parents in Baghdad are afraid to let their children play in the street even inside the green zone, where these children live because of the threat of bombs and kidnapping. Woroud al-Kanani, another 14-year-old girl, said: I would prefer for the camp to be outside the green zone. It would be more dangerous but I think it would be more fun. Unfortunately the other girls are scared because of the bombs and explosions. There are two other Scout campsites in Baghdad, but they have been borrowed by the Ministry of Interior to use as land to train the Iraqi security forces. Scouting in Iraq became hugely popular after it was introduced by the British military. During Saddam Husseins time, however, many Scout camps were used to train boys to use weapons rather than to do a good deed every day, while girl Scouts were largely neglected. As a result Iraq was ejected from the World Organisation of the Scout Movement in 1999. With clubs re-forming across the country holding twice-weekly meetings at schools and arranging camping trips when possible, depending on the security Iraq hopes to regain its full membership to the movement next year. It also plans to send ten Scouts to England next month to take part in the World Scout Jamboree in Chelmsford, Essex. Despite the progress, there are setbacks, as is often the case in Iraq since the invasion. By lunchtime there was mutiny among the boys at the green zone Scout camp. Instructions about the days activities had been lost in translation and everyone thought that they were supposed to be on the camping trip for four nights rather than spending only a morning clearing up a plot of land to build a campsite next month. They are big liars. This is just a game for them, Ali Haider, 13, said with tears in his eyes. He had been left stranded as a result of the mix-up because his entire family had gone away to Hilla, south of Baghdad, and left him on his own. Saef Mohammed, 16, vowed never to go on another Scouting trip. This is very bad. I will not come back, he said. First Lieutenant Burns said that the boys had unfortunately been misinformed by their Iraqi Scout leader about the plan but assured them that the site would be up and running in a couple of weeks. Crisis resolved, the girl Scouts picked up their rakes again and went back to work, while the boys decided to have a game of football, using orange plastic cones as goalposts, until it was time to go home.

Alcohol is prohibited at Scout functions only if youth are present. This is made quite clear in the New Leader Essentials training in the video that talks about youth protection and Scout policies. You can serve wine (or whatever you choose) at your next Committee Meeting, as long as no youth are present. Our district committee dinners have always been in restaurants that served alcohol (of course, we don't wear Scout uniforms and adults are asked not to bring kids).

New badge of honor for top Scouts http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/419791,6_1_NA08_GOVWATCH_S1.article http://tinyurl.com/2p3c9v June 8, 2007 Boy Scout and Girl Scout commemorative license plates now will be distributed by the Illinois Secretary of State, under a bill sponsored by Sen. Kirk Dillard, R-Hinsdale, and passed by the Senate last week. Of the $40 fee charged for the Scout vanity plates, $25 will go to the Boy Scouts of America and Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. fund. The legislation requires Scouts who have earned either the Eagle Scout Award or the Gold Award to provide written proof to the Secretary of State's office before they can be issued a special plate. -- Paige Winfield

Boy Scouts execs splurge: Local council's records on trip to Key West show spending on alcohol, pricey food, golf. http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1722887.php http://tinyurl.com/33tupo Friday, June 8, 2007 By TONY SAAVEDRA and TERI SFORZA The Orange County Register S'mores and "Kumbaya" it ain't. The Pier House Resort and Caribbean Spa is touted as Key West's premier hotel, with three restaurants and four bars. The Florida hotel's Web site features a topless woman gazing at sun-dappled waters beyond a private white sand beach. Guests are invited to "mix business with pleasure." Orange County Boy Scouts chief Leslie Baron and 31 Scouting executives from around the nation did just that in January, with the Orange County chapter picking up the tab for more than $27,000 in banquets, cocktails, rounds of golf and fishing trips. Rooms for the three Orange County delegates were an additional $5,200. According to internal receipts and financial documents obtained by The Orange County Register, Baron and his colleagues from around the country: Ran up a tab of $210 for alcoholic beverages that included Big Ass Cab, chocolate martinis and Granny Smith cocktails. Paying for alcohol is not an approved expense in Scouting organizations. Dined on prime rib at $20 a person and consumed $210 worth of Parmesan-crusted artichoke hearts stuffed with goat cheese mousse. Took fishing trips on chartered boats in the Gulf of Mexico at $540 per boat. Golfed at the nation's only Caribbean course, where greens fees run $160. As a charity group, the Boy Scouts paid no taxes on any of the costs. The Boy Scouts of America's Orange County Council picked up most of the tab for the weekend conference in Key West, but was reimbursed within 30 days by the other Scouting groups that attended, officials said. However, council spokeswoman Lara Fisher said she could not release any documents showing that those reimbursements were made. Fisher also would not disclose the total cost of the conference as well as total expenses for the Orange County attendees. The conference lasted four days, but Baron stayed eight to coordinate the event, Fisher said. The Register found that two expenses were not initially reimbursed: up to $99 in alcohol and more than $500 in unbudgeted golf games. Baron personally reimbursed the Orange County council for those costs after he was contacted by the Register last week. At the time, Fisher inaccurately told a reporter that Baron had already paid back the money. "I assumed it happened because that was standard procedure," said Fisher, who returned a message left for Baron. In a statement released this week, Orange County Scouting officials said alcohol was not an allowable expense, but golfing and fishing were. They explained that the weekend was a meeting between the top Scouting official in the nation and representatives from the 25 largest councils. Fisher said she was instructed not to identify those councils or the executives who attended. She also would not identify Orange County board members. Their names were not reported on tax records. The trip comes at a time when the Boy Scouts of America, as a national organization, is facing financial challenges. Among the national problems: Revenue declined for three straight years (from $208 million to $115 million), and spending on actual programs for kids declined for three straight years as well (from $191 million to $152 million), according to tax returns. The organization earned just two of four possible stars from Charity Navigator, an organization that analyzes the fiscal health of nonprofit groups, and its sustainability is a concern, said Sandra Miniutti of Charity Navigator. Boy Scouts of America officials said Charity Navigator isn't looking at the latest figures. They say the organization is on the rebound. Orange County's Boy Scouts Council, in contrast, is performing strongly under Baron, despite a decision by the United Way to drop funding to the local group. Revenue has doubled in three years, to $19 million in 2005. Over the past three years, the Boy Scouts Council's net assets what the organization is worth after subtracting its debts climbed 41 percent, from $27.8 million to $39.2 million. About $12 million of its assets are in cash and securities. At the same time, spending has increased just 16 percent, to $9 million. Management costs rose by 50 percent, according to 2005 tax returns. Baron earned $258,947 in salary and expenses in 2005, higher than Scout executives in two similarly sized California counties. In Santa Clara County, which includes San Jose, Scout executive Jason Stein made $140,042. San Diego County's Terry Trout made $181,660. Average earnings for a nonprofit executive in the U.S. are $140,000 a year, according to Charity Navigator. The annual trip, this year to Key West, provides Boy Scout executives the opportunity to brainstorm on how to grow the organization and meet the needs of today's youth, Fisher said. She said the Orange County council was in charge of organizing this year's meeting and put "a number of" the expenses on the council credit card, with an agreement that the group would later be reimbursed by the other attendees. Internal documents obtained by the Register generated questions on how expenses were handled and recorded in the group's ledgers. On Feb. 1, the local council received a bill from Key West Golf Club for $516 for three unbudgeted players. A check was sent by the council to cover their expenses a week later. Fisher could not answer why Baron did not pay the bill with his own money instead of charging it to the council and reimbursing it after being asked by a reporter. If the weekend meeting and all expenses were previously sanctioned, why did the council list $9,202 of the costs under another event the Top Hands conference, held every summer? Again, Fisher would not comment. Her initial response to news that the Register had expense receipts showing that Baron's room was charged for more than $180 in alcohol was to say that the Boy Scouts were contacting the FBI to determine whether those documents were released illegally. -- Contact the writer: tsaavedra@ocregister.com or 714-796-6930 tsforza@ocregister.com or 714-796-6910

LDS Church, Scouts sued in ATV accident http://tinyurl.com/36cfvf Friday, June 8, 2007 The guardian of a teenager injured in an all-terrain vehicle crash has sued The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Trapper Trails Council of the Boy Scouts of America. The crash in 2001 left Kyler Petersen, then 16 years old, with debilitating head injuries, according to documents filed Thursday in 3rd District Court. The teen's guardian, Kari Wright, had given leaders permission to take Petersen riding in the Uinta Mountains on the condition that he not ride alone. During the outing on August 17, 2001, Peterson rode an ATV alone, took a corner too quickly and crashed. The crash cracked the teen's helmet, according to the documents. The ATV ride was part of a Scouting activity of the Trapper Trails Council, which stretches from Kaysville into southern Idaho and western Wyoming. The Boy Scout troop was organized by the local LDS ward. Wright is seeking at least $120,000 to cover the injured teen's medical expenses and lost wages. The LDS Church declined to comment on the lawsuit. Trapper Trails Council spokesman Rick Barnes said he was unaware of the incident but that the Boy Scouts of America does not authorize ATV riding. According to the Guide to Safe Scouting, the activity is restricted, he noted.

Here's the same article I posted, this time on the Daily Mail website: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=459310 http://tinyurl.com/339s34 I don't know if Rupert Murdoch owns this one either, but judging by the reader reaction, most commenters aren't happy with what happened. Fred

Rick: Thanx for the kind words. As I mentioned to another Scouter, discussion threads often take on a life of their own, and the originator can no more control its direction than he can tell the wind which way to blow. With respect to this particular incident, I am saddened by it, and hope the Scout Association learns from the reaction they are getting. They should carefully consider the implications the next time they decide to tear down something which means so much to so many people. YiS, Fred

Nick, you make a good point. Is the solution to remove the cross, or to tear down the entire chapel and reduce it to a fire ring? That's essentially the decision made by the Scout Association regarding this forest chapel. So once again, in order not to offend the minority, the majority is told not to be offended by this outrageous "solution".

Hooking youth: Fishing is a pathway to nature for America's children http://www.abqtrib.com/news/2007/jun/06/commentary-hooking-youth/ http://tinyurl.com/2pcycu Mamie Parker Wednesday, June 6, 2007 Waters, long-coursed downstream, press on me still. The lunges of memorable fish linger in the eddies of my mind. Bright waters beckon this private vice of mine, fishing. And my recollections, no matter how old, always have the tenor of springtime, when all things are new. Fishing fixes me to places where I really feel alive. As a young girl and even today the experience carries a vestige of adventure and wildness - an escape from the artifices of man. As I reflect on National Fishing and Boating Week, which is this week, it pains me some children don't experience nature as I have. A recent book by Richard Louv, called "Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder," has brought into the national dialogue the condition of today's children and in particular their poverty of outdoors experiences. Electric cords tether them to the indoors while diabetes and obesity have soared, Louv reports. Increasingly they suffer from ADHD; they're shuttled to and from pre-planned events, with little chance for spontaneous and creative play. Think about this: you don't see many children playing outside anymore. It's a simple observation, but telling. The dearth of youthful experience in nature makes us all the poorer. Recent scientific research at Cornell University reports what I instinctively know. The Cornell study of 2,000 adults by professors Nancy Wells and Kristi Lekies revealed in the journal, Children, Youth and Environments, that kids who fish and have unstructured time outdoors grow into adults who care more about conservation and the environment. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service intends to enrich lives with introductions to nature. During this week of observing fishing and boating, most of our 70 National Fish Hatcheries across the nation invite thousands of children and adults to fishing derbies at hatcheries or on waters supported by fish from our hatcheries. But we're going to do one better. Congress gave the service a charge in the National Fish Hatchery Volunteer Act of 2006, requiring us to create educational guidelines and make use of our hatcheries and fisheries field stations across the nation as outdoor classrooms. In October, Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery in Kentucky launches the first environmental education curricula with training sessions for staff, volunteers and teachers from local schools public and private. Curricula standards will follow national guidelines and relate to those of the local schools, providing the chance for students to increase their science literacy and their awareness of nature with personal hands-on experience with fish and their habitats. It's my ardent hope we touch the lives of youth by planting a germ of an idea that nature matters, that conservation matters. Our work with the state fish and game agencies and conservation groups matters - not just for conservation, but for people. In July, the copper-colored Gila trout in the southwest New Mexico will be open to fishing for the first time since the 1950s. Witness also our work restoring lake trout in the Great Lakes, at the same time monitoring a novel but serious fish disease called viral hemorrhagic septicemia. Developments we've made in fish nutrition help steelhead on the West Coast and Atlantic salmon in the northeast. It falls upon our scientists to marshal the rigorous research necessary to have the Food and Drug Administration approve new aquatic animal drugs for the good of conservation, commerce and people. Fishing surely has its values, intrinsic and otherwise. The sport has produced an enduring body of literature. This favorite of American pastimes supports commerce and creates livelihoods for people; the welfare of people and families depend on quality fishing. And for youth, fishing is an entr toward feeding their innate curiosity about nature. This is circuitous, like a lazy oxbow river turns back toward itself: healthy habitats mean healthy fish, healthy economies and healthy people. We need young people in the circle; we need them outdoors where nature will nurture them as they grow - and they'll grow to nurture nature. Fishing is surely a way there. -- Parker is the assistant director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Washington, D.C. She is an avid angler and member of the Arkansas Outdoor Hall of Fame.

Scouts' forest chapel torn down after 70 years because it might offend non-Christians http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23399014-details/Scouts'+forest+chapel+torn+down+after+70+years+because+it+might+offend+non-Christians/article.do http://tinyurl.com/37uvsf 02.06.07 For almost 70 years, Scouts and Guides have savoured their place of peaceful worship under the trees. But no longer. The woodland chapel has been demolished - its wooden pews and rudimentary cross and altar removed. In its place is a campfire circle. The change has been imposed by the Scout Association, which believes the chapel excludes non-Christian Scouts. Locals are dismayed, but the association says it is simply "moving forward". The basic open-air structure in woodland surrounding Belchamps Scout Centre in Hockley, Essex, was built between the wars by volunteers. They used old telegraph poles for pews and built a basic altar and cross. Visiting groups of Brownies, Guides, Cubs and Scouts, have used it for generations. Weddings have been blessed there, ashes scattered and memorial trees planted. But in April, as the Scouting movement celebrated its centenary, it was torn down. Former Scout leaders are outraged. Keith Rooks-Cowell, 66, led Sunday services in the outdoor chapel for more than 30 years. The retired civil servant said: "Part of the Scout promise is to do our duty to God. It's an important tradition. "Scouting has got no objection to any religion or faith - you should have faith, but it's not important which one. "Anyone from any faith or any religion could go and use the chapel, it's never been a problem. The chapel was already inclusive. "It has been wrecked. All the posts and everything had been demolished and laid flat. I was amazed and felt disgusted that this had been done." Wendy Wilson, a bank worker and Scout leader from South-end, held religious services in the chapel for seven years. Her son Joshua, now nine, was baptised there. She said: "It's a really special place. We all make a promise to do our duty to God, whatever God that may be. "The chapel has never been an issue. If people didn't want to attend services, it didn't matter and they could choose to have their own ceremonies there. Nobody was made to feel excluded." However, centre manager Nigel Ruse, 42, said: "The updating of the chapel was done to turn it into a place of worship for all faiths and not to exclude any one from Scouting. "This is a case of taking Scouting-forward." He said religious ceremonies could be held at the campfire circle. But Mr Rooks-Cowell said: "A campfire is a place for sitting round singing, telling jokes and stories. The chapel was used as a quiet place for any leaders to go and sit and think. The two don't sit comfortably together. "The campfire is not the right place for worship. All religions involves meditation and relaxation." Last year, it was revealed that the Scout Association banned helpers from putting suncream on children unless they already had sunburn. This was to done to prevent allegations of child abuse.

OGE writes:I cant wait to see how this gets interpreted by those who adhere to the percentage traditionSeveral of the members of SCOUTS-L (where this same discussion is going on) have already said they plan to ignore this guidance. "A Scout is obedient".

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/fun/dennis.asp?date=20070603

nldscout writes:It appears that National has finally put into print a definition of Active. Now I would tell you that if you read it very carefully you can see there is still room for Troops to still hold scouts to a standard. "He is engaged by his unit leadership on a regular basis (Scoutmaster conference, informs the Scout of upcoming unit activities, through personal contact, and so on). " Now tell me what that means and what is "regular"???It means the burden is on the unit leadership (and in particular, the SM) to "engage" the Scout; it is not up to the Scout to engage the unit leadership. And the unit leadership must do so on a "regular basis". Anyone want to lay odds that you'll ever see a unit committee require an SM to "engage" an inactive boy at x% of troop meetings or at x% of campouts? While we are quick to require boys to meet attendance percentages (in direct violation of BSA policy), it will be a cold day in you-know-where before adults ever hold themselves to the same standards! Now that the shoe is on the other foot, see how quickly adults rationalize the decision not to define "regular" in the form of a hard and fast percentage!

Council votes to end city lease with Boy Scouts http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/pa/20070601_ Council_votes_to_end_Boy_Scouts_lease_The_group_must_ pledge_not_to_discriminate_against_gays_or_else_pay_ market_rent_to_the_city_.html http://tinyurl.com/3awxrq (Sorry guys, I busted up this link in hopes that it would shrink the page so that viewers could read it without having to scroll over and back constantly. Instead, if you want to go to the link, you'll need to copy and paste it into your browser) hops Posted on Fri, Jun. 01, 2007 By Joseph A. Slobodzian Inquirer Staff Writer The long-simmering dispute over whether the Boy Scouts of America's Cradle of Liberty Council must publicly affirm it will not discriminate against openly gay people - or pay fair-market rent for the city-owned Logan Square land on which their landmark headquarters is located - boiled over anew yesterday as City Council authorized the city to end the lease. The resolution was introduced unexpectedly by Councilman Darrell L. Clarke and passed, 16-1, with no debate and with Council Minority Leader Brian J. O'Neill voting no. Both Clarke, a Center City Democrat whose district includes the building at 22d and Winter Streets, and City Solicitor Romulo L. Diaz Jr. said they hoped the resolution would spur talks to resolve the dispute so Cradle of Liberty Council could continue to use at nominal rent the Beaux Arts building it has been in since 1928. "My hope is that the resolution will give a little more leverage to the city and that [the parties] can come up with some kind of compromise," Clarke said. "Honestly, no one wants to see them out of there." Diaz said the Council vote was the last step required to end the lease under the 1928 ordinance that leased the land to the scouts "in perpetuity." Diaz said the scouts had to have a year's notice and the administration's recommendation had to be ratified by the Fairmount Park Commission and City Council. "The year's-notice clock is ticking," Diaz said. Jeff Jubelirer, a spokesman for Cradle of Liberty Council, said scout officials were disappointed at the council vote and that they were not told in advance. "This is the way it's been done all along," Jubelirer said. "We feel we haven't been dealt with fairly." Jubelirer said he did not know how scout officials would react and that any decision would likely involve leadership of the scout's National Council. "We walk a fine line between what National wants and what we want to do," Jubelirer said. Cradle of Liberty Council has about 64,000 members in Philadelphia and parts of Delaware and Montgomery Counties. "The real victims here are the 40,000 kids in Philadelphia who potentially could lose after-school programs at a time when Philadelphia's murder rate is soaring," Jubelirer said. Equality Advocates Pennsylvania, which promotes legal equality for sexual minorities and pressed the city on the scouts' lease, yesterday praised the Council vote. "We recognize the value of the Boy Scouts programs to some young people. They, however, should not be able to use taxpayers' dollars to discriminate against others," said executive director Stacey Sobel. The dispute is not unique to Philadelphia. For the last decade, the scouts have struggled to retain their identity and values as a private organization. But though private, the scouts have historically also enjoyed a special relationship with many local governments, municipalities that today must obey court rulings that bar taxpayer support of any group that discriminates. Scouts require an oath of duty to God and the group's rules prohibit participation by any person who is openly gay. In 2000, the Supreme Court ruled that as a private group, scouts have a First Amendment right to bar gays from membership. But what seemed like a legal victory soon soured as local officials began reexamining often decades-old relationships with scout councils. In October, the Supreme Court dealt another blow, refusing to review a California Supreme Court ruling affirming the City of Berkeley's decision to revoke free marina use for a Sea Scouts group because they discriminate against atheists and gays. Philadelphia's dispute dates to 2003, when Cradle of Liberty Council adopted a nondiscrimination policy but was then ordered to revoke it by the National Council, which said local councils had no right to deviate from national charter and rules. The situation was compounded that spring when the Cradle of Liberty Council ousted an 18-year-old scout, who publicly announced he was gay at a national scouting convention being held in Philadelphia. -- Contact staff writer Joseph A. Slobodzian at 215-854-2985 or jslobodzian@phillynews.com (This message has been edited by a staff member.) Of course the editing done here seems to have screwed up some of the formatting and for that I apologize. hops (This message has been edited by a staff member.)

Time bomb in new city budget? [Philly votes to boot Scouts] http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/7780166.html Posted on Fri, Jun. 01, 2007 By MARK McDONALD mcdonam@phillynews.com 215-854-2646 In other business, Council cleared the way for the city to terminate a lease the city has had with the Cradle of Liberty Council of the Boy Scouts since 1928 for the half-acre of land at 22nd and Spring streets where the Boy Scouts built their regional headquarters building. At issue is the national Boy Scouts policy of discrimination against homosexuals and the Street administration's response that the city should not subsidize an entity that engages in discrimination. City Solicitor Romulo Diaz said yesterday the city is not pushing the Boy Scouts to leave, preferring them to reject the discriminatory policy or start paying rent. "The ball is in the [boy Scout] council's court," he said. Jeff Jubelirer, a spokesman for the local Boy Scouts organization, said the Scouts felt "blindsided" by Council's action. He made the same comment last July when the administration and the Fairmount Park Commission gave notice that the local Scouts faced lease termination. Yesterday, Jubelirer said the city has yet to tell the Cradle of Liberty Council what fair-market-value rent would be. Council's action came on a resolution introduced by Clarke, who said he opposes the fair-market-value rent alternative. "You should not be able to stay in a publicly funded facility without signing nondiscriminatory language regardless of whether you pay rent," he said.

Actually, the Cub Scout themes rotate on a five-year schedule. I think its the Boy Scout themes that rotate on a three-year schedule.

I don't know if this is true in every council, but in my council the recharter paperwork is useless as an indicator of who has been trained in your unit. For some reason, scoutnet (or whatever the pro's system is called) does not record training on the charter package. Our council keeps training records separately from recharter records. You have to call and ask for the training status of adults in your unit, and the accuracy is kinda hit-or-miss. As a trainer, I urge all attendees to keep their "trained" cards, scan them, and send a PDF copy to council by email to prove their trained status. It is sad that our council training records are so screwed-up that people have to keep their own records, but it's a fact of life that unit leaders ignore at their peril.

Hunt, without getting into the politics of it, let me just say this quote caught my eye: It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, that has given us the freedom to demonstrate, said Perot. It is the soldier that salutes the flag and whose coffin is draped in the flag that allows the protestor to burn the flag.

Don't bring firewood when you camp http://tinyurl.com/35yn6s By DAVID TIRRELL-WYSOCKI, Associated Press Writer Thu May 24, 9:35 AM ET CONCORD, N.H. - As millions of Americans pack for their first camping trips of the season this weekend, foresters hope they will leave one thing behind: firewood. The U.S. Forest Service and state forestry agencies around the country say transporting firewood lets tree-killing insects hitch a ride into the woods, contributing to billions of dollars in damage and needless work each year. "While some insect species might spread 40 miles in a year by natural migration, a person hauling infested firewood from home to camp could move a species hundreds of miles in a single day. It's like making the jump to light-speed for the bug," said Bernie Raimo, the Forest Service's forest health group leader in the Northeast. Officials advise campers to get firewood at or near their destinations instead. Invasive insects cause about $120 billion in forest damage, lost revenue and prevention expenses each year, said Glenn Rosenholm, a Forest Service spokesman based in New Hampshire. Most invasive insect species are introduced to North America from Asia and Europe via international trade. The invaders often have no local predators, allowing them to flourish unchecked. And they are getting plenty of help moving to new areas. New Hampshire learned in a recent survey that nearly half its campers come from other states. And about half of all campers brought firewood from home, including some who came from as far away as California and Ontario, Canada. In Minnesota, state surveys show that about half of the vehicles that visit parks overnight carry firewood about 50,000 loads of potentially infested wood in 2005. Wood from infested or dying trees often is packed as firewood. "Chances are you would eventually cut it down, and if you are going camping, you couldn't find better firewood from a tree that was dying and drying out," said Dennis Souto, a Forest Service entomologist. Many states are facing a common enemy the emerald ash borer, an insect that has infested about 40,000 square miles in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Maryland and Ontario Province and killed more than 20 million ash trees. The borer is a metallic-green beetle about a half-inch long. Its larvae feed on the layer of wood just beneath the bark, cutting off water and nutrients. The Forest Service and state agencies are spreading the word to campers around the country to prevent the insect from doing more harm. If public education does not work, they say bans similar to those already in place in the Midwest might follow. Several Midwestern states ban firewood from out of state, and others are considering bans, Rosenholm said. When a new emerald ash borer outbreak is detected, states often ban the movement of firewood altogether. Part or all of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Maryland are covered by federal and state quarantines to try to prevent infested lumber or wood products from being shipped out. Some states also have quarantines to prevent lumber and wood movements within their state lines. At least a dozen states, from Maryland and Virginia to the Dakotas, also have announced voluntary or mandatory restrictions specifically on imported campfire wood. Still, the emerald ash borer outbreak is spreading, with two new discoveries just this week in Ohio, said Sharon Lucik, a federal Agriculture Department spokeswoman. "It's being spread through people who camp, through the movement of nursery stock and through the movement of green lumber such as ash logs with bark," she said. In addition to publicizing the firewood issue through the media, Wisconsin is advising people who live in Minneapolis and Chicago and own cabins in Wisconsin not to bring firewood from home. Maryland has sent letters to hundreds of Ohio and Michigan residents who own land in forested western Maryland, urging them to leave their wood at home. New Hampshire makes the request in letters confirming reservations at campgrounds. "We are trying any and all avenues to communicate with people," Rosenholm said. ___ On the Net: http://www.emeraldashborer.info (This message has been edited by a staff member.)

'Veggie Patch' program: Kids scout for healthy food http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070522/MOMS02/705210301 http://tinyurl.com/2prvcy Parents of the Cub or Brownie Scouts who've come to a Wegmans store to earn their "Veggie Patch" have sometimes been amazed: Is this really their child, competing with others to get the cleanest hands or asking for more squash? "That's one of the happy surprises for some parent chaperones," says Nella Neeck, manager of fresh meal solutions at Wegmans. Neeck helped develop the "Veggie Patch" healthy cooking and eating program for scouts. "If kids make a dish themselves, they'll often try something they'd ordinarily reject. It gives you the chance to steer them toward healthier eating choices with more fruits and vegetables." The Veggie Patch program grew out of Wegmans' desire to help families make healthier eating and lifestyle choices. "We brainstormed about effective ways to engage kids and realized that partnering with organizations that already worked with kids made sense," says Neeck. "The Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts were both very supportive and worked with us to design a program for their Brownies and Cubs, ages 6 to 8." Veggie Patch classes are now offered at six Wegmans stores in the area: Chili Paul, Eastway, Canandaigua, Penfield, Latta Road and Holt Road. There's a fee of $10 per child, which some troop leaders cover with revenues from cookie or holiday tree sales. Troop leaders can schedule a class by calling Consumer Affairs at 585-464-4760. This year the program will be expanded to select stores in New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia. The goal of Veggie Patch class is to make basic nutrition kid-friendly. "We say, eat a rainbow every day, because we want them to be aware that color in food plays a part in the health benefits," says Neeck. "How much? We say, eat five 'fists' a day. It helps children understand portion size. We also talk about what makes foods healthy or not healthy, and tell the story of the Three Sisterscorn, beans and squashwhich nourish each other in the ground as soil partners, and nourish the people who eat these crops." The kids get to cook, but get a hand-washing reminder first. "We do the Glo Germ experiment. The kids apply a harmless gel that glows under black light. Then they wash their hands, and put them under the light again to see areas they missed around fingernails, in between fingers and so on. It's fun and lets us reinforce the importance of starting to cook with clean hands." Kids make spaghetti squash with sauce and cheese, pureed winter squash and roasted winter squash. When they compare flavors, the spaghetti squash is the hands-down favorite. They also make fruit parfaits with five different colors of fruits, layered with vanilla yogurt and granola, and make trail mix to take home, along with a "Healthy Me" booklet of recipes and tracking sheet for eating a rainbow every day. The Veggie Patch that the scouts receive for participation meets many of the requirements for the "Make It, Eat It, Try It" badge for Brownies, and the "What's Cooking?" badge for Cub scouts.

Perot Jets to Erma to Bolster Scouts http://www.capemaycountyherald.com/article/articles/3630/1/Perot-Jets-to-Erma-to-Bolster-Scouts http://tinyurl.com/2orzz9 By Jack Fichter | Published Today | General News ERMA Ross Perot, former presidential candidate, billionaire businessman, and Eagle Scout, thrilled a crowd of veterans, Boy Scouts, and politicians May 18 at Naval Air Station Wildwood at the county airport. He was on time for his speaking engagement, as his private jet arrived 20 minutes ahead of scheduled. Perot was dressed in a dark suit and was courteous to all he came in contact with, including a number of audience members who received handshakes and autographs. The event coincided with a scouting weekend on the beach at Moreys Pier in Wildwood. Perot was introduced by Norris Clark, who formerly worked for Perot as a business director. Clark is a Republican candidate for state assembly. His Democratic opponent, Assemblyman Nelson Albano (D-1st), was also on hand in the audience. There was no forgetting Perot is a Texan, from his accent and from the band Early Morning Reign playing Deep in the Heart of Texas when he took the stage. Perot, a Naval Academy graduate, thanked veterans for preserving and protecting our great country. He told the crowd of the heroic efforts of fighter pilot Robbie Risner in the Korean War. Risner later was a prisoner of war (POW) in Vietnam from 1965 to 1973. He was imprisoned in a small box for five years and never broke. Perot said such a spirit has given us the country that we have. Perot financed a nine-foot statue in Risners honor at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. Perot stressed it was very important to give returning troops a warm welcome. He said POWs have fewer cases of post-war syndrome because they were welcomed as they should have been. It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, that has given us the freedom to demonstrate, said Perot. It is the soldier that salutes the flag and whose coffin is draped in the flag that allows the protestor to burn the flag. He divided his speech into two parts, one part for veterans, the other for scouts. He said scouting is a powerful and positive force that had great impact on our country. Just think what a great country we would be if everybody lived by the Boy Scout motto, Be Prepared, said Perot. Think what a great country it would be if everyone lived by the Boy Scout oath promising to do their best and do their duty to God and country, to help other people at all times, to keep themselves physically strong, mentally alert, and morally straight. Thats the way it used to be and I hope we get it back, he continued. Perot asked the audience to consider what a great country we would have if each person followed the 12 points of the scout law: being trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent. He said leadership training often begins with scouting. Perot said some ask if scouting is still relevant in a selfish, greedy world where looking after number one seems to be the driving force. He said scouting oaths and skills were still relevant. Keep in mind we are born selfish, said Perot. We must be taught to care, to share, to have concern for others if we are going to live together in harmony. He said scouting teaches all those values. Perot said he keeps his old scouting handbook in his office. Dr. Joseph Salvatore, NASW museum director, presented Perot with a model airplane, the type that was used here in World War II. Someone in the crowd shouted Perot for president one more time. Contact Fichter at (609) 886-8600 Ext 30 or at: jfichter@cmcherald.com