fgoodwin

Dan, IANAL, and I don't pretend to be one, altho others might -- but "in perpetuity" means "forever" in more than just the vernacular. From law.com: in perpetuity adj. forever, as in one's right to keep the profits from the land in perpetuity. And as long as we're citing media reports, I've read that the City has similar leases with other non-profit and / or religious organizations, some of whom may legally discriminate in a manner similar to the BSA. If the City targets BSA, to the exclusion of those other agencies, it may run afoul of its own discrimination problems. As I said before, we'll have to let the lawyers and the courts sort this one out.

Street's Ousting Of The Boy Scouts An Act Of Political Cowardice http://www.theeveningbulletin.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16997240 http://tinyurl.com/qhhrm 08/02/2006 By: GREGORY J. SULLIVAN, Special To The Evening Bulletin The decision by Mayor John Street and supported by the Fairmount Park Commission to punish the Cradle of Liberty Council of the Boy Scouts of America for its adherence to the organization's long-standing prohibition on openly homosexual members and leaders is the triumph of political correctness over sound policy. What is more, it is a betrayal of an organization and, most especially, the young boys who desperately need the moral instruction of the Scouts more than ever. Since 1928, the Scouts have occupied the city-owned building at 22nd and Winter Streets. The Scouts have been charged no rent; the city's boys have had the advantage of the excellent character-forming work of the Scouts. (Actually, more than just the city: the Council is the third largest in the country and serves 87,000 children in Philadelphia, Delaware, and Montgomery counties.) For decades now, this arrangement has been enormously beneficial for both parties, particularly the city: for boys involved in the group, the Scouts provide what may, in many cases, be the only real male authority in their lives. Mayor Street knows how utterly important this authority is for children; but he has decided - and this decision is a very large mistake - to swim with the current of political correctness. Philadelphia's fair-practices ordinance prohibits discrimination against, among others, homosexuals. Mayor Street has offered to allow the Scouts to stay and pay rent at fair-market value or leave. One major problem is that the city provides space under these very favorable terms with 75 community organizations, including religious groups. The city's battle with the Scouts could be the first in a long war against any group that is less than enthusiastic about homosexuality, which means with virtually all community and religious groups. Does Mayor Street really want to go in this direction to satisfy the clamor of homosexual activists? The fact is that the restrained prohibition on avowed homosexuals as members and leaders in the Scouts advances the conventional view on sexuality that has been, until the day before yesterday, almost universally accepted. Homosexual conduct - as opposed to the orientation which is itself of no moral significance - violates the natural law. This view, though bitterly rejected by elites today, has been the standard one from St. Paul on. Opposition to this conduct is not, as is often assumed, irrational bigotry but a reasoned acknowledgement of heterosexuality as normative. The Scouts endorse this view. The Scouts had a similar struggle over its policy in New Jersey. In the case of the openly homosexual James Dale, who was dismissed from the Scouts because of his well-publicized homosexuality, the New Jersey Supreme Court expressed its disgust at the Scouts' policy by deliberately misreading the state's antidiscrimination statute. Clear statutory language that excluded the Scouts from application of the antidiscrimination law was brushed aside in pursuit of the court's policy preference of homosexual inclusion. The United States Supreme Court narrowly overruled this outcome, finding that the Scouts have a right to free association under the First Amendment. (Justice John Paul Stevens's dissenting opinion echoed the contempt of the New Jersey high court in its condescending denunciation of the "atavistic opinions" of those, like the Scouts, who interpose moral opposition to homosexual conduct.) And yet the systematic harassment of the Scouts continues. The city can and should be squeezed by the federal government. There is a federal statute (the Support Our Scouts Act of 2005) that permits the Department of Housing and Urban Development to deny money to the city if its discriminates against the Scouts; the organization must be given equal access to public facilities. The city received approximately $62 million last year, so denial will have a major impact. The city, however, should take the initiative and enhance the common good by enacting an exception to the antidiscrmination ordinance to allow the Scouts to pursue their admirable work. A free society must be vigilant in guarding the right of private groups to define themselves. An exception to the ordinance would be the salutary vindication of this principle. In pursuing the course he has chosen, Mayor Street is sacrificing the concrete good the Scouts do in the city and surrounding area to satisfy an aggressive minority. That is not leadership in the cause of vindicating sound principle; it is political cowardice. Gregory J. Sullivan (Gregoryjsull@aol.com) is a lawyer in Bucks County(This message has been edited by fgoodwin)

Ed, my point in responding to Dan was: who changed? I posit it's not BSA that changed. Philadelphia unilaterally changed the terms of the "perpetual" agreement, not BSA.

ACLU Urges House Panel To Reject "Public Expression of Religion Act" http://www.aclu.org/religion/gen/26254prs20060726.html Calls Bill A Direct Attack on Individual Religious Freedom 7/26/2006 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Media@dcaclu.org WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today urged the House Judiciary Committee to reject H.R. 2679, the "Public Expression of Religion Act of 2005" (PERA). The panel is expected to vote on the legislation today. The bill would bar the recovery of attorneys fees to citizens who win lawsuits asserting their fundamental constitutional and civil rights in cases brought under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. "If this bill were to become law, Congress would, for the first time, single out one area protected by the Bill of Rights and prevent its full enforcement," said Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. "Proponents of the measure claim that the bill is needed to protect religious freedom, when in fact, the bill would undermine it. We hope that the committee will stand for the Constitution and reject this unwise proposal." The ability to recover attorneys fees in civil rights and constitutional cases, including Establishment Clause cases, is necessary to help protect the religious freedom of all Americans and to keep religion government-free. People who successfully prove the government has violated their constitutional rights would, under the bill, be required to pay their own legal fees -- often totaling tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. Few citizens can afford to do so. But more importantly citizens should not be required to do so where the court finds that the government has violated their rights and engaged in unconstitutional behavior. The elimination of attorneys fees would also deter attorneys from taking cases in which the government has acted unconstitutionally. In many cases, religious minorities would be unable to obtain legal representation to defend themselves when the government violates their religious freedom. The bill would apply even to cases involving illegal religious coercion of public school children or blatant discrimination against particular religions. The ACLU noted that proponents of the bill have been spreading myths that religious symbols on gravestones at military cemeteries will be threatened without passage of PERA. In fact, religious symbols on grave markers in military cemeteries, including Arlington National Cemetery, are entirely constitutional. Religious symbols on personal gravestones are vastly different from government-sponsored religious symbols or religious symbols on government-owned property. "The ability to recover attorneys fees in successful cases is an essential component of the enforcement of an Americans right to religious freedom," said Terri Ann Schroeder, an ACLU Senior Lobbyist. "The right to keep religion government-free and ensure that government keeps its hands off and out of religion is in jeopardy. We hope that lawmakers will see through the absurd myths put out by PERAs advocates and will support religious freedom enshrined in the First Amendment."

The correct house bill number is HR 2679.

Public Expression of Religion Act moves forward http://www.recordgazette.net/articles/2006/07/28/news/05news.txt http://tinyurl.com/hp9ga Rees Lloyd, Banning-based attorney and Commander of American Legion District 21 (Riverside County), has been selected to testify on behalf of The American Legion before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution in support of passage of Senate Bill 3696, Veterans Memorials, Boy Scouts, Public Seals and Other Public Expressions of Religion Act of 2006 (PERA). S 3696 (PERA), sponsored by Sen. Brownback (R-Kan), a companion bill to H.R. 2979 (PERA), sponsored by Rep. Hostetter (R-Ind.), would amend all relevant federal laws to eliminate the authority of judges to award taxpayer-paid attorney fees to the ACLU, or anyone else, in lawsuits under the Establishment of Religion Clause of the First Amendment against veterans memorials, the Boy Scouts, or the public display of the Ten Commandments of other symbols of America's history with a religious aspect. On Tuesday, July 25, the Banning City Council unanimously adopted a resolution in support of efforts to reform the law by passage of PERA. Banning is believed to be the first elected body to officially take a stand in favor of reforming the law to protect taxpayers in such cases. The Record Gazette was either the first or one of the first newspapers to formally endorse reforming the law.

Dan, its worth noting that CoL's gyrations would not have been necessary had the City lived up to its earlier commitment to allow the Scouts rent-free occupancy of the property "in perpetuity". So, who is really "weaseling" here?

Refuge perfect place to get out more http://www.sherwoodgazette.com/opinion/story.php?story_id=115445857744779500 http://tinyurl.com/mmvzg By Carolyn Uyemura The Sherwood Gazette Aug 1, 2006 Were half way through summer! What are your kids doing with this time off from school? Are they in summer school? Computer camp? Are they inside playing video games, watching TV or surfing the internet? Or are they out with their friends playing hide and seek or building a fort? Are they fishing for crawdads or following a creek to see where it goes? Lets hope that your youngsters are getting lots of exposure to the natural world. A new social disease appears to be on the rise, according to author Richard Louv. His book The Last Child in the Woods, explores the causes and cures for nature deficit disorder. He cites studies giving evidence of what he feels are the human costs of alienation from nature. Humans seem to have an inherent need to experience nature. Our survival as a species depended on our ancient ancestors understanding and knowledge of the natural world. Researchers think that this relationship with nature has been ingrained over millennia and is even now linked to our sense of wellbeing (more about this next month). Some of the reasons children spend less free time in nature include diminished access to natural areas, competition with electronic entertainment, and time pressures. Many families have exhausting activity schedules with two or more children going in different directions for baseball or soccer practice, piano lessons, ballet, or gymnastics on top of homework assignments. Research is finding that when children spend little time experiencing the natural world, they are more apt to experience diminished use of their senses, attention difficulties, and higher rates of physical and mental illness. Louv asks: What happens to the human organism when you take nature away from it and replace it with television and computers? I call that cultural autism where childrens use of the senses is reduced to the size of a screen, like a computer. In an interview with Louv, a fourth grade boy said, I like to play indoors better, cause thats where all the electrical outlets are. Parents are much more cautious than previous generations about letting their children roam and explore on their own. The media saturates us daily with news of frightening events (including the latest environmental disaster!), heightening our anxiety and fear. Adult-supervised activities seem to be replacing a lot of what used to be a childs free play time. Unless todays children have someone in their life with outdoor interests (hiking, camping, fishing, etc.), they may not develop a connection with the natural world. Thenwho will be there to ensure there is a forest in the future? Worries about insurance liability and litigation have also stopped parents from letting their children explore. I witnessed this kind of situation a few years ago. In a wooded, undeveloped park area some boys worked hard to build a BMX course. I saw them early on a weekend morning crossing through the neighborhood with a wheelbarrow and shovels. They planned, designed, built and continually modified the course over a period of weeks with no adults involved. The bike course didnt appear to be dangerous or in anyones way. These boys were developing problem-solving, organizing, interpersonal, engineering, and probably many other skills. Then one day, when I walked through the park I saw that the city parks department had bulldozed the whole project. The reason was potential liability. I was sad to see all that work and creativity destroyed. They had been outside interacting with their environmentthe dirt, the trees and the rocksand they were not damaging anything. They had not been sitting inside playing video games or loitering around and getting into mischief. Please make time during these sunny days for your family to be outside in the natural world to explore and wonder. Test out the notion that nature is good for your mind and body. Go out to the playground, go to the beach and feel the sand between your toes, sit in your yard and watch the action. Walk the trails of the newly opened Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge (open from dawn to dusk.) Helping people connect with nature is one of the highest priorities of this urban refuge. School curricula are being field tested and classes will be coming out to the Refuge for hands-on learning. If your child is in Sherwood Middle School, encourage him or her to find out about the Refuge Club. A special orientation get-together is being planned to welcome new members to Friends of the Refuge and reacquaint long-time members as we embark on new endeavors to help the Refuge provide a great experience for visitors. We are also working on a series of monthly member activities that will explore different aspects of the Refuge. Membership is open to anyone who would like to support the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge. Dues are modest, and they go to support the development and operation of the Refuge. For information about the Friends of the Refuge or the Refuge itself, check our web site: www.friendsoftualatinrefuge.org or call 503-972-7714. Information for this article came from: Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods, Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder (2005), which is available in the Washington County Library System, and from The Nature-Child Reunion, in National Wildlife, June/July 2006 issue, pp.24-30 (www.nwf.org).

Scouts ever evolving http://www.zwire.com/site/tab5.cfm?newsid=16994809 08/01/2006 By: Joanne Richcreek Learning how to use a vacuum cleaner and distinguish between three cuts of meat earned a Girl Scout the Matron Housekeeper badge in 1913. Pledging to offer her bicycle to the government in case of need earned her the Cyclist badge in 1920. And sending at least 50 letters per minute using Morse code in the 1920s pinned a Signaler badge on her green sash. "Now they're typing messages on their IMs," said Julie Lineberry, a 42-year Scout and chairman of the history and archives committee of the Girl Scout Council of the Nation's Capital (GSCNC). And they're earning badges named Ms. Fix-It, Highway to Health, Consumer Power and Walking for Fitness. Girl Scouting turns 95 next year. Its badges have changed, its uniforms have changed and the ethnic makeup of its troops has changed. Ask Fairfax High School sophomores Frankie Dowd and Jessica Hassanzadeh what has not changed about Girl Scouting, and they cite service, scholarship and friendship. Hassanzadeh, 15, whose grandmother got her into Scouting in first grade, said, "It's all about helping other people and having a lasting effect that can be built upon." Dowd, 15, may be typical of today's Girl Scout. She said she is "big on NOT camping," cannot tell you how many badges she has earned, has few sewn on her sash and also plays soccer, runs cross country and swims. "We like to laugh and help other people laugh" is how she defined Scouting. Dowd and Hassanzadeh, both of Troop 4288, devised 90 outdoor games as unit leaders for younger Scouts this summer at Camp Crowell, a 60-plus-acre camp in Fairfax County owned by the Girl Scout Council. Its exact location is not publicized to ensure the safety of its members. The two teens are working toward the coveted Silver Award. Older teens can earn the Gold Award, which is the equivalent of the Eagle Scout rank for Boy Scouts and is awarded annually to only 3 percent of the nation's 3.6 million Girl Scouts. Such is the stature of the award that universities issue sizable scholarships to its recipients and military academies bring them in at a higher rank. In 2006, some 80 Girl Scouts in Fairfax County earned the Gold Award. They included sisters Jennifer and Katherine Riedel of Clifton for conducting a dental health care class in Spanish in Rio Bravo, Mexico, and Langley High School's Julia Smart, 18, who auditioned, cast, directed and edited a video that addressed, in her words, "the inability to see the plights of another or to conceive that someone else's life might be worse than one's own." But Scouting is not just about going for the gold. According to Lineberry, who tapped her Scouting skills to create meals outdoors when her Alexandria neighborhood was without electricity during Hurricane Isabel, a Girl Scout can join at any age, earn only one badge, is not required to wear a uniform and need not belong to a troop. "I feel sure there's something for everyone, even the noncomformist," she said. Today's troops are made up of young girls with special needs, girls of the Muslim faith, girls who like to sail and girls whose parents escaped Vietnam in the 1970s and settled in Northern Virginia. And their leaders need not be their mothers. Toward that end, the board of directors of the Nation's Capital chapter instituted the Young Leaders Program two years ago and Camp CEO before that. The Young Leaders Program trains women at Catholic, American and Howard universities to be troop leaders and offers them college credit in return. Camp CEO puts young Girl Scouts face-to-face with female corporate executives. Joining such successful women as Susan Niemann, CEO of catering giant Ridgewells, and Catherine Bartels, vice president and general manager of Saks Fifth Avenue, at Camp CEO is Karen Penn, vice president of human resources for SAIC. Penn, 37, a graduate of the University of Virginia and a civil rights attorney, said Girl Scouting today is willing to "tackle the tough subjects." Among them she listed bullying, a healthy body image, and drug and alcohol abuse prevention. She considers Scouting a "safe haven" where girls "can be a kid yet talk openly and honestly" about issues that concern them. Penn said Scouting helped teach her to treat people equitably, as well as basic life skills like dinner party etiquette-though memories of macrame art, cooking over an open fire outdoors and cleaning latrines had her smiling. And what about those cookies? "We Do More Than Sell Cookies" is a popular T-shirt among Girl Scouts today, according to Lineberry, though the girls acknowledge that selling cookies is an excellent way to teach them about budgeting and marketing. The regional Girl Scout Council sold more than 4 million boxes of cookies in 2005. Though Penn confirmed that Girl Scouting has "come a long, long way," Lineberry chuckled at recalling answers to a common question of hers: What is your favorite memory of Girl Scouting? "Rain, secret handshakes, and gluing macaroni on something" top her list of favorite answers. And then there's the experience of Braddock District Supervisor Sharon Bulova, who wrote to The Times in an e-mail: "I joined [scouting] when I was 5 or 6 years old, with visions of camping in the woods and whitewater rafting. My first two Brownie meetings were spent carving turkeys out of potatoes, and I decided that I had much better things to do with my time. I didn't realize that the good stuff would come later."

Extracurricular Activities Are Supposed to Be Fun http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060801/latu119.html Tuesday August 1, 1:33 pm ET Tips for Over-Scheduled Families SAN DIEGO, Aug. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Do you find yourself wearing more soccer jerseys than regular clothes? Do you decorate cupcakes for 30 Brownies or Cub Scouts instead of making home-cooked meals? Are you referred to as "Coach" more than your actual name? If so, you have the classic symptoms of an overbooked parent. When families become consumed by demanding schedules, they lose the chance to spend personal time with their families. To help busy families, the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists offers tips on how to manage time and lighten the family schedule: Limit each child to one or two extracurricular activities. If a child wants to add an activity, replace the child's less favorable activity with a new one. Consider the costs of joining a new activity by weighing the potential outcomes financially, emotionally, and from a scheduling standpoint. Help manage your family's quality time by setting priorities. Include dinners together and have a family night. Have fun and play in a creative way. Give your child time to explore a hobby or play outside. Take time as a family to enjoy nature and the outdoors by going on bike rides, hiking trips, or to the park. Develop a schedule that manages your priorities and will help your family enjoy their activities to the fullest. At times, over-scheduling may be difficult to manage and it may be necessary to seek professional help. A mental health professional such as a Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT) can successfully help ease common sources of stress, including financial worries, family problems, and heavy workloads. If you or someone you know may need the help of a MFT, visit www.therapistfinder.com to find one in your area. About CAMFT The California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, with 27 chapters throughout the state, is an independent professional organization, representing the interests of licensed Marriage and Family Therapists. CAMFT provides TherapistFinder.com as a resource to the public looking for Marriage and Family Therapists located in California. For more information about CAMFT, please call (858) 292-2638 or visit www.camft.org or www.therapistfinder.com --- Source: California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists

Its too bad Scouting isn't seen as the natural vehicle for training kids to be comfortable in the outdoors. http://www.natural-pathways.co.uk/ http://www.bushcraftuk.com/ http://www.outwardboundwilderness.org/age/youth.html

Bush tucker kids http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,1834100,00.html http://tinyurl.com/eg645 More and more parents are sending their children on survival holidays to experience the wilderness on their own. Are they irresponsible, or wise? Jackie Kemp reports Tuesday August 1, 2006 The Guardian A boy tries to light dry grass under a pyramid of twigs. Eventually, it catches and he lies on his side to blow the embers into crackling life. Tonight he and his friends will dine on a thin stew made of thistles and heather leaves, cooked over the fire. They will sleep in a makeshift bivouac on a bed of ferns. This is not a scene from Swallows and Amazons. It is an increasingly popular kind of educational holiday for children. On this particular course, groups of children aged from nine upwards will be pretty much alone. They have a signalling system if in distress and adults will check on them during the night. But they will be entrusted with knives, matches and each other's safety. To some that might seem irresponsible or shocking, but to others it's a ray of hope amid today's paranoid child-rearing; it is a rite of passage that will equip these children with a deeper sense of self-belief. In many parts of the country, it is difficult to let children roam free due to a lack of public land and social constraints. But there is a growing consensus that in holding our children too close, we risk damaging their ability to manage and live with risk. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents recently castigated Britain's municipal playgrounds as too safe. And the CBI leader, Digby Jones, warned that emerging generations of nations raised in greater freedom would be more able to cope with risk in business as well as in life. Increasingly, too, the wilderness has powerful advocates. There is Ray Mears, the popular television survivalist; Brat Camp, the TV series in which difficult teens find themselves reluctantly in the great outdoors; and The Dangerous Book for Boys, by Conn and Hal Iggulden, which proclaims the need for 21st-century males to know how to hunt and kill rabbits, among other things. Bushcraft craze The UK now leads the field, and has more bushcraft organisations than the US, according to the survival skills school Natural Pathways. The first magazine, Bushcraft UK, has just been launched and there is a web forum, BCUK. But for those who don't know how to make fire by friction with damp materials or who don't have the mountains on their doorstep, the solution seems to be to hand over the problem to the experts. The number of companies licensed to take unaccompanied children into the great outdoors and engage them in adventurous activities has risen from 800 at the beginning of the century to around 1,100 now. Hannah Nicholls runs Natural Pathways, based in Kent. She teaches children and families to make fire with friction, make knives from flint, pull medicinal plants from hedgerows, and create shelters from leaf mould and dead wood. She also works with troubled young people for whom the woodland environment and sleeping under the stars in a makeshift hut can feel entirely alien. "I think being close to nature is healing. Children today spend a lot of time in an urban environment, playing on computers, watching TV. I am not saying my children don't do these things - but it can be damaging." She also believes, controversially, that children need a relationship with fire. "The simple pleasure of sitting round a fire is satisfying. If children have a relationship with fire, they learn to respect it." Exposure to the natural world, learning about nature and sleeping under the night sky contribute to a sense of wholeness, she says. "I think our children's lives are too circumscribed and that is why they often break out when they are teenagers, because they have been so controlled, they haven't learned how to live in the natural world, they haven't got the sense of perspective that gives them." For those who want to travel further into the wilds, there are residential wilderness courses in Wales, Scotland and Cumbria. Many courses take children without their parents from as young as eight and put families in touch so that youngsters can travel there without parental escort. Jamie McWhirter, 11, has just returned form a residential survival holiday which he attended with his cousin, who is the same age. Jamie says: "It was great. We had so much freedom. We did climbing and kayaking. We also did an expedition where we spent the night on a little island. They had shown us what heather petals we could eat and how to boil limpets and how to make thistle stew, so we had to find our own food. It didn't taste the best ever. But the next morning they gave us a great breakfast with hot chocolate and pancakes and orange juice." His mother, Christine McWhirter, grew up experiencing outdoor dangers without the need to be sent on a survival holiday. "I lived in the north of Scotland and had a pony. People weren't so safety conscious. We didn't wear hard hats, we just rode out and I don't remember my parents even asking where we were going. We were just expected to turn up at mealtimes. It wouldn't be possible to do that now." This autumn her son will make the transition to secondary school, an important change for any child. "Jamie will have to go there by bus on his own and I felt it was the right time for him to develop a little bit of autonomy. I feel he has really got a lot of confidence from it. It was about him finding out what he was really capable of." She feels he was safe at all times on the course. "But he did come back with a lot of bumps and bruises and quite a nice gash on his leg from slipping on the rocks." There are dangers inherent in this kind of activity. And with wealthy clients coming from Saudi Arabia and eastern Europe, and even royalty, some companies did not wish to be named in this article, nor to reveal their locations, for fear of putting their clients at risk. More than a decade ago, four children died canoeing in Lyme Bay. In response, the Adventurous Activity Licensing Authority was set up. Activities like abseiling with children are covered, but making a fire and camping out without adults do not need a licence. Although it does not have the power to prosecute, its director, Marcus Bailie, believes the AALA has improved safety through spreading good management and best practice. "The biggest cause of accidents is inattention. We encourage companies to give the same instructor to the same group for children for the duration of the course, doing different activities. That helps to keep the instructors engaged." Despite such measures, on average, one child a year still dies on an adventurous activity in the UK. Last week, Laura McDairmant, 15, from Carlisle, became the latest when she was killed on an activity holiday in Dumfries and Galloway organised by the Abernethy Trust. The AALA is investigating. Says Bailie: "At times like this it's tempting to think, should we scrap the whole thing? I think that would be an inappropriate response. It is more important than ever to maintain a sense of perspective. Our hearts go out to the McDairmant family. I suspect we would feel the same about the 700 families who lose children each year on the roads." Effects of anxiety Tony Newman, chief researcher into children's welfare for Barnardo's, says: "I think people are realising that a lot of the changes made in the name of safety are having unintended consequences on children's development. But it is very hard to go back once you have ratcheted up the anxiety and changed the behaviour." However, he points out that these courses, costing from 200 upwards for a week, are available only to middle-class families. "What children want and need is more free play, to be left to their own devices without adults bothering them. Society is in such a panic about young people. People like to see them engaged in an activity under the instruction of an adult. Everything has to be a learning opportunity these days, there is no room for just hanging around." His conclusions are supported by the findings of the Open Space unit at Edinburgh University, where Professor Catherine Ward Thompson argues that teenagers need to learn to manage risk. "If they don't have the scope to do that, then they may not cope very well when they do come into contact with it." Steve Howe, deputy director of Outward Bound, the original adventure holiday provider for children, has seen many changes over 32 years with the company. "When I was boy, I knew the names of just about every star in the sky. I could light a fire, I could carry a knife safely, I could build a tree house, I could cross a stream. These were just things you knew, these were life skills. But they are mostly either illegal or unacceptable now." He believes children's acceptance of and ability to deal with risk are much lower now. A challenge like crossing a shallow stream is seen as more difficult. "They tend to be less comfortable with risks, even small risks, like getting their feet wet or falling over." And young people today are constantly in contact with adults by mobile phone. "We are probably the last generation who knows what being lost feels like." As a parent, he takes the view that risks need to be managed, not eliminated. "My children who are 10 and 13 quite often go to the back of our garden in Penrith and light a fire. I could shout at them to put it out or I could say what I do, which is good on you, don't make it too big and be careful or you might get burned." There has never been more interest in the kind of experience that Outward Bound offers: the number of people doing its courses has more than tripled in 10 years to some 33,000 a year. The three-week course, says Howe, which ends with 16-year-olds going on an unaccompanied mountain expedition, involves real risk management. The young people clear their route with staff but then go unaccompanied. "By the end of that course, the young people are taking on quite real risks and responsibilities, planning their own unaccompanied expeditions and dealing with some potentially serious situations. That is amazing for them." Greater regulation Another of Britain's longest-established adventure holidays, Cape Adventure, is run by the Ridgway family in Cape Wrath in the north-west Highlands. Rebecca Ridgway and her husband recently took over the 30-year-old business from her father, the explorer John Ridgway and his wife, Marie-Christine. Marie Christine says: "There was much less regulation when we started out. We would send them off with a pin as a fishhook and a bit of string. When they were doing survival, they would jump out of a boat and swim to an island to spend the night. It isn't quite like that any more." Her daughter Rebecca Ridgway says, however, that a night's survival, bivouacking on an island with an instructor in the background to offer advice, is still an important part of their courses. "We have teenagers arriving who have lived very protected lives. Some don't even know what they have brought with them as they haven't done their own packing. "A lot of people do still get in touch with my parents to say how helpful the skills they learned here have been, even years later. If they feel they learned to stay calm in a difficult situation, to think about their own safety, to be responsible and to work in a team, those skills have come back to them when they needed them." Arthur Ransome, who wrote Swallows and Amazons, said it came from resonant childhood memory of holidays roaming the hills above Lake Coniston. In the 1930 author's note, he wrote: "No matter where I was, wandering around the world, I used, at night, to look for the North Star and in my mind's eye could see the beloved skyline of great hills beneath it."

Fitzpatrick steps in for Boy Scouts http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/111-07312006-691181.html http://tinyurl.com/pvk5s By BRIAN SCHEID Bucks County Courier Times Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick, R-8, wants the city of Philadelphia to end its dispute with the Boy Scouts of America. Fitzpatrick has sent a letter to Philadelphia Mayor John Street, blasting the city's pending decision to oust the Boy Scouts from their Philadelphia headquarters for refusing to change their policy prohibiting gay members. Fitzpatrick, an Eagle Scout and former president of the Bucks County Council of the Boy Scouts of America, also gave a brief speech on the floor of the House of Representatives Wednesday in support of the Scouts in the dispute. Earlier this month, Street called on the Scouts' Cradle of Liberty Council, which serves more than 87,000 members in Philadelphia, Montgomery and Delaware counties, to denounce the national policy excluding gays, pay fair market value rent for its Philadelphia building or vacate the property. The building, located near the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, has headquartered the Scouts since 1928, when the City Council vote to let the organization use the property rent-free in perpetuity. In the letter to Street, Fitzpatrick said the city's intention to now reverse its longstanding arrangement [with the Scouts] seems at best unwarranted. Joe Grace, a spokesman for Street, said the city was pleased that Scout officials plan to meet with city solicitor Romulo Diaz Jr. in the near future to hopefully adopt a policy not to discriminate. The city stands by its position, Grace said Friday. The process is moving, we hope, in the right direction. In a phone interview, Fitzpatrick said with gun violence and gang activity on the rise, the Boy Scouts' presence in Philadelphia was more needed than ever. This is a moment in time, in history, more than any other, when the city of Philadelphia needs the Boy Scouts, Fitzpatrick said. William Dwyer III, the Cradle of Liberty Council's CEO and president, said Friday he was unaware of Fitzpatrick's letter to Street, but said he was looking forward to reading it. [Fitzpatrick] knows the value of the program ... so, good for him, Dwyer said. I appreciate his efforts. The Boy Scouts' national organization has a policy prohibiting gays from joining scouts or being leaders, a rule that was upheld in 2000 by the U.S. Supreme Court. Fitzpatrick, who became an Eagle Scout in 1979 when he was 15, has attended hundreds of Eagle Scout ceremonies as a congressman and county commissioner and is heavily involved with the organization. Fitzpatrick represents the residents of Bucks County, some districts of Abington, Upper Dublin and Upper Moreland in Montgomery County and two wards in Philadelphia. Brian Scheid can be reached at215-949-4165 or bscheid@phillyBurbs.com. July 31, 2006 4:34 AM

Jamboree litigation unknown http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD/MGArticle/RTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149189699493 http://tinyurl.com/q6qwj Suits still considered in 2005 accident that killed 4 Scout leaders BY KIRAN KRISHNAMURTHY TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Monday, July 31, 2006 FREDERICKSBURG - Whether lawsuits will be filed over last summer's electrocution of four Boy Scout leaders in a tent accident at the National Scout Jamboree remains an open question. "Claims are being considered. Whether litigation will be necessary, who knows," Kenneth Schoolcraft, an attorney for the family of Ronald H. Bitzer, said during a phone interview from Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday. Schoolcraft said he expects any lawsuits would first be filed in Virginia in connection with the July 25, 2005, accident that resulted in the deaths of Bitzer and three other Alaska Scout leaders at Fort A.P. Hill in Caroline County. Virginia has a two-year deadline by which a wrongful-death lawsuit must be filed. Asked whether the Boy Scouts of America or the now-defunct tent-rental company would be the targets of litigation, Schoolcraft said: "It would be the tent company and then who knows who else." Michael Harman, a Richmond attorney for Tents & Events of Fishersville, did not return phone calls seeking comment last week. His secretary said Friday that he was unavailable. Gregg Shields, a spokesman for the Boy Scouts of America, also did not return phone calls seeking comment about the Irving, Texas-based organization's safety reviews after the tent accident and the BSA's response to heat-related injuries. Participants, observers and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were critical of the way the BSA prepared for and handled the heat that felled thousands of jamboree campers and visitors. Nearly 3,500 of the 43,000 participants fell sick from sweltering heat during the 10-day quadrennial event, according to the CDC, including about 500 people on July 27, when the heat index rose to 121 degrees. Shields has previously said the Scouts will review safety procedures as they prepare for the next jamboree, which is being delayed until 2010 to coincide with the Boy Scouts of America's centennial anniversary. The jamboree has been held at Fort A.P. Hill since 1981, though its future at the Army base is the subject of a federal lawsuit alleging religious discrimination by the group and its use of federal property. In the tent deaths, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Tents & Events for two "serious" workplace-safety violations; the company paid $3,000 in fines. OSHA officials also said they would have cited the Boy Scouts of America for a violation if any of the Alaska Scout leaders had been employed by the organization. OSHA said it found "significant issues regarding safety concerns" with the organization. A separate Army investigation found no criminal wrongdoing. The tent accident, on the first day of the jamboree, claimed the lives of Bitzer, 58; Mike Lacroix, 42; and Michael J. Shibe, 49, all of Anchorage; along with Scott Edward Powell, 57, who had moved from Anchorage to Ohio in 2004 but was helping lead the Alaska jamboree troops. Shibe's twin sons and Lacroix's son, all 14, each witnessed the death of his father. Witnesses say the leaders were electrocuted when the center pole of a large canopy they were helping a contractor erect touched overhead power lines. Campsites for the two Western Alaska troops were marked with stakes and yellow nylon roping on the ground, according to OSHA's report. One of the campsites was on a downward slope. A tent-company employee told OSHA officials that a Western Alaska leader was, in the report's words, "extremely specific" that the large tents be placed 20 feet inside from the yellow rope, putting both canopies beneath power lines. BSA decides the locations of the individual campsites in advance, according to the OSHA report. BSA officials say the organization provides individual troop leaders with a diagram suggesting how tents can be placed but that individual troop leaders decide where to put tents within their campsites. At least one tent-company employee told investigators the troop leaders insisted on helping erect the second of two tents. That statement conflicted with a previous account from Western Alaska Council director Bill Haines, who previously said the two tent-company employees asked the Alaskan leaders for help raising the second canopy. Schoolcraft said OSHA redacted portions of the copy of the report he requested; the agency also blacked out parts of the report that The Times-Dispatch received after the newspaper filed a federal Freedom of Information Act request. Schoolcraft said he is still trying to obtain more information. "It's a process," he said. He said Bitzer's family is grateful for the outpouring of support from the community and from people they had never met. "It was a tough event, and it continues to be difficult," he said. "It's a long grieving process." --- Contact staff writer Kiran Krishnamurthy at kkrishnamurthy@timesdispatch.com or (540) 371-4792.

Want healthier kids? Send them outside http://www.dailyherald.com/story.asp?id=212657 BY JASON KING Daily Herald Staff Writer Posted Monday, July 31, 2006 Sean Taylor watched as 5-year-old son Payton played "snake tag" with other children at the Grant Woods Forest Preserve in Lake Villa. The father and son were participating in the Lake County Forest Preserve District's Knee High Naturalist program, which focused on snakes that day. Taylor said he wants his son to play outdoors as much as possible and, luckily, Payton loves to do so. "If he stays inside all day, at night he's just crazy," said Taylor, of Lake Villa. "He loves being outdoors. On rainy days and in the winter, by the end of the day, he's just nuts." There may be more to such behavior than pent-up energy. In his book "Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder," author Richard Louv writes that children, who spend less time outdoors than their parents and grandparents did, need time outside to essentially balance their physical and mental systems. The book, released in 2005 and in its ninth printing, and the term "nature deficit disorder," have resonated with parents and outdoor educators alike across the Chicago area and country. Conservationists and environmentalists in the suburbs are using a variety of methods, from backpacks that can be checked out like library books, to kids clubs and family-oriented outdoor activities like hiking, to encourage children to play outside, unfettered, in nature. Nan Buckardt, the environmental education manager for the Lake County Forest Preserve District, has noticed the trend over the past two decades. "I've been in this field for 25 years, and as I've talked to people, I see people that have less connection to the earth," she said. "Between home and work, they're outside less than 20 percent of their life." Buckardt said the district has many activities designed to get children out in nature, from the standard camps, field trips and family activities to a hiking program. It also started an effort with the Warren-Newport Public Library that makes backpacks available for families to borrow. The backpacks can be checked out from the Warren library, the Ela Area Public Library in Lake Zurich and the Ryerson Conservation Area in Riverwoods. Inside the backpacks are reading materials and activities geared toward helping parents educate their children about nature, Buckardt said. Valerie Blaine, nature program manager for the Kane County Forest Preserve District, says families should make nature a priority. "The place to start is the simplest thing - spending some time walking a trail," Blaine said. "It doesn't have to be some big camping expedition. There are so many pretty natural areas nearby." The forest preserve district and the St. Charles Park District offer multiple programs. St. Charles is offering weeklong nature camps this summer. A similar message is preached by Carl Strang, a naturalist with the DuPage County Forest Preserve District. "What we want to do is make ourselves no longer necessary because people are out there doing things on their own," he said. "The idea would be to get people excited about this and interested enough that they have an awareness and are plugged into the wild landscape around them." Interestingly, Louv writes, getting people outside in nature is sometimes hampered by the stewards of the land, who prevent activities in sensitive natural areas or invoke overly restrictive rules in residential subdivisions. Strang said his district tackles that issue through education. In the district's summer newsletter, Strang writes the district allows people to climb trees as long as they behave safely and the tree won't be harmed. Visitors to the preserves can also wander off trail as long as the areas aren't posted off-limits, and he encourages visitors to follow a deer trail through the woods. "The boundaries are often further out there than people are aware of," he said. "You don't have to stay on the groomed trails always or refrain from catching a frog as long as you release it right away and don't hurt it." Throughout the book, Louv points to research from the University of Illinois that indicates children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder can benefit from time outdoors in nature. Further, he questions if the lack of time spent outdoors exacerbates or is a contributing factor to the increase in the disorder in children. Louv said ongoing research continues to indicate children with the disorder benefit from time outdoors, though it is not known why that is. Dr. Robert Whitaker, with Mathematica Policy Research Inc. of Princeton, N.J., co-authored a study last year arguing that free play - particularly active, unstructured, outdoor play - needs to be restored in children's lives. "Children at a young age are, by their nature, very active and they're trying to, in a natural way, stimulate their own brain development with activity," Whitaker said. "The complexity of their indoor environment may be low. But the back yard is always changing. It's a very interactive environment." Which is the opposite, Whitaker said, from the media that children are seemingly bombarded with these days. "With parents restoring some things that have been lost, like outdoor play, they may find it changes their child in a way they really like," he said.

FYI: I think the headline writer meant to say Woods are good for kids but I didn't want to change it based on an assumption.

Words are good for kids http://www.rep-am.com/story.php?id=10444 Sunday, July 30, 2006 The other night I was telling my son a story about my tree fort. I hadn't thought about the place in years. But every time I give my son P.J. a bath, I'm flooded with the memory of the place. The scent of Johnson & Johnson shampoo sends me back to my childhood, when my mother used to bathe us in Tide. Yes, Tide, the abrasive laundry detergent with the little aqua grains. It sounds punishing, but the truth is, my mother had little choice. By the time my brothers and I dragged ourselves out of the woods and back into our home at twilight, we were embedded with dirt. Muck clung to us. We were studded with burrs. We reeked of skunk cabbage. The Tide was astringent. But it worked. It was handy. And my mother was anything if not resourceful. My mother certainly worried about filth, but what's peculiar to me now in retrospect, is that she never worried about us. She certainly didn't worry about us in the woods, which had a kind of halo effect for her. The woods, that tangle of poison ivy, skunk cabbage, streams, tadpoles, birch and burrs, was our babysitter. Not any more. In "Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature -- Deficit Disorder," Richard Louv claims today's children are spending less time in the woods, instead risking depression, attention deficit disorder and a host of other disorders by being plugged into entertainment media. It's a tough claim to make. Few rigorous studies have examined the amount of time kids spend outdoors. But it seems anecdotally true. Our kids are no longer "The Little Rascals." They're "The Jetsons." The woods were where my brothers and I spent most of our time. The woods had the advantage of (we thought) belonging to no one, and therefore were unfettered by niggling parental rules. The nearby park, with its swing sets, ball fields and aluminum slide, was attractive enough. But its classic attractions were, by comparison, stultifying. You knew what you were supposed to do in a park. In the woods, you were left to your imagination and nature's caprice. There was always the possibility that you would tumble into a stream, be impaled by a thorn bush or (my fear) bitten by a snake. All of this and more happened to me, of course, but none of it proved fatal. What was particularly attractive about the woods, though, was the certainty that my mother would never venture into it. She would shout our names madly and with spine-tingling inflection out the back door, but there was simply no way my mother was going to machete her way through the thicket to find our secret hideout. My mother was tough. But she did not like bugs. And so, in the feudal society that was the suburban forest, my playmates and I carved up dominions and claimed them for ourselves. We trawled through the local landfill and slunk around Dumpsters looking for scrap wood from which to construct our tree forts. We used pieces of bureaus. Highway signs. The ends of crates. Little by little, the mosaic form came into place and we had our own tree fort, complete with lookout tower and scheming room. I told my son all of this, but I left out the part about the air rifles. The slingshots, too. I didn't mention them. Or the saplings whose ends we would whittle into a needle-sharp point and use for sword fights. Oh, and the time I fell out of the tree fort and on to my head. I left that out, too. The more I told my son about the tree house, the more dangerous it seemed. The more interested he became in building a tree house, the more resolute I grew that I would never let him have one. The more animated he turned about wandering through the woods, the more of an idiot I felt for ever bringing this up in the first place. Who knows what kind of sociopath could be out skulking around out there? And the woods are choked with poison ivy. To say nothing of the ticks. Lyme disease festers in the woods. Then there are the mosquitos. They might have been infected with West Nile. And what kind of a mother would let her child run around unsupervised in such a perilous pit? Ah, but P.J. What wonders you will miss. Let's grab a hammer. I'll come, too. Reach Tracey O'Shaughnessy at Toshrep-am.com

A history of Girl Scouting in America http://www.dailyworld.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060730/NEWS01/60730001 http://tinyurl.com/p2gao Article published Jul 30, 2006 By William Johnson wjohnson@dailyworld.com Inspired by the Boy Scouts, who had been founded in America in 1910, and British Girl Guides program created the same year, Juliette Daisy Gordon Low organized the first Girl Scout Troop in the nation on March 12, 1912, in Savannah, Ga. She believed that all girls should be given the opportunity to develop physically, mentally and spiritually. With the goal of bringing girls out of isolated home environments and into community service and the open air, her Girl Scouts hiked, played basketball, went on camping trips, learned how to tell time by the stars and studied first aid. Within a few years, her dream for a girl-centered organization was realized when on June 10, 1915 the organization was incorporated as Girl Scouts Inc. under the laws of the District of Columbia. A national director position was funded and the executive board inaugurated a fund-raising plan to relieve the burden on Low, who had been financing operations on her own. She had even sold her extremely valuable necklace of rare and matched pearls to support the fledgling organization. By 1920, American Girl Scouting was growing in its independence from the British Girl Guide example, developing its own uniform, handbook and its own constitution and bylaws. The group now consisted of nearly 70,000 Girl Scouts nationwide, including the territory of Hawaii who could earn more than 25 badges, including Child Nurse. To that total, Girl Scouts soon added badges for Economist and Interpreter and revised the existing Journalist and Motorist badges. The 1920s also saw the birth of specialty troops when girls in Pittsburgh, Penn., formed a Girl Scout Radio Troop in collaboration with pioneering radio station KDKA. By the end of the decade, the organization had grown to serve more than 200,000 Girl Scouts. With the 1930s came the Great Depression and Girl Scouts responded by leading community relief efforts by collecting clothing, making quilts, carving wooden toys, gathering food for the poor, assisting in hospitals, participating in food drives and canning programs and providing meals to undernourished children. The 1930s also saw the program divided into three age groups Brownies, Intermediates and Seniors to enhance services and provide age-appropriate activities. While Girl Scout troops had done bake sales and cookie sales for years to fund their programs, the decade saw the first sale of commercially baked Girl Scout Cookies. With the 1940s, war came to America when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and Girl Scouts responded. During the war, Girl Scouts operated bicycle courier services, invested more than 48,000 hours in Farm Aide projects, collected fat and scrap metal and grew Victory Gardens. The scouts also collected 1.5 million articles of clothing for shipment overseas to children and adult victims of war. With the 1950s came a new openness for America, with the arrival of television, rock and roll and the first serious stirring of a national movement for equality. The Girl Scout movement, now well-established with 1.5 million girls and adult volunteers, began special efforts to reach out to the daughters of migrant agricultural workers, military personnel, Native Americans, Alaskan Eskimos and the physically challenged. The Girl Scouts efforts toward racial equality were celebrated in the March 1952 issue of Ebony magazine that reported: Girl Scouts in the South are making steady progress toward breaking down racial taboos. In the 1960s the National Board of Girl Scouting went on record as strongly supporting civil rights. Senior Girl Scout Speakout conferences were held around the country and the ACTION 70 project were launched in 1969 as part of a nationwide Girl Scout initiative to overcome prejudice. The Girl Scouts dedication to diversity was realized in 1975 when the group elected Gloria Scott, its first African American National Girl Scout President. The 70s also saw the birth of Eco-Action, a national environmental awareness program. By the 1980s, with American Girl Scouting now more than 50 years old, many scouting alumnae were moving into many positions of authority, such as Sandra Day O'Connor who became the first female U.S. Supreme Court Justice. The decade would see the creation of a new age-level for Scouting, with the creation of Daisy Girl Scouts for girls as young as four. In keeping with the times, the organization would added new badges including Computer Fun, Aerospace and Business-Wise. In the 1990s nearly four million Girl Scouts and adult leaders tackled illiteracy alongside then First Lady Barbara Bush in the Right to Read service project. The organization now reaches more 3.6 million American girls. With its national headquarters in New York City, the organization supports more than 300 local Girl Scout councils or offices. Through membership in the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, the national program is part of a worldwide family of more than 10 million girls and adults in 145 countries.

Packsaddle, how would you propose that BSA allow atheist boys (and parents) to participate w/o changing the "Duty to God" part of the oath?

Ed, I don't know if any of us are lawyers, but on the Internet, anyone can pretend to be. IANAL, but here's a definition from Law.com: in perpetuity adj. forever, as in one's right to keep the profits from the land in perpetuity. I'd like to see the actual lease agreement or city resolution that said the Scouts could occupy the property "in perpetuity". I'd also like to know if the improvements made by the Council gives them any ownership interest in the property. But like I said elsewhere, that's for the real lawyers (and the courts) to work out, not the wannabees in this Forum. YiS

I haven't ordered it yet, but I plan to. Let us know what you think after you get it. I wonder how many things are in there, but under current rules & policies, Cub leaders would not be allowed to do with their dens? Like sing-shots, for example.

A Scout Is Helpful http://www.timesnews.net/community_article.php?id=423 Published 2006-07-28 21:58:14 By Kurt Stevenson Warriors Path - A View of Scouting Through The Eyes of Scouts Since 1910, Scouting has had several basic fundamentals. Lord Baden-Powell set up these principles to insure the integrity of Scouts everywhere. These are known in Scouting as the Scout Law, the Scout Motto and the Scout Oath In this series of articles we have examined the first 2 points of the Scout Law. before we continue, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to the thousands of volunteers across the country for their countless hours put in helping the youth of today become the leaders of tomorrow. The Scout Law states that a Scout is: Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean and Reverent. As we continue to examine the Scout Law, let us look at the 3rd of the 12 points, Helpful. The Scout Oath states that a scout will "help other people at all times." The Scout Slogan "Go A Good Turn Daily" works hand in hand with this part of the Scout Law. A scout does things willingly, without being paid or otherwise rewarded. Being helpful to others may be something as simple as helping your sister with her homework. taking the trash out to the curb for your neighbor or just clearing the table after dinner. The daily good turn is an obligation of honor intended to teach us to form the habit of helping other people at all times. After a while -- because the habit had begun to form in his mind -- he would see many more opportunities for helping other people than he used to see before he had begun the practice of doing his good turn; and, as he took advantage of these opportunities and did a good turn whenever he got a chance, the doing of the good turns would get to be the regular thing, and missing one's chance would get to be the exception. The "Scout Law in Practice" says that: "A scout must be prepared at any time to save life, help injured persons, and share the home duties. A Scout must do at least one good turn each and every day To be helpful to others under certain circumstances requires special knowledge; for instance, one cannot often save a person from drowning unless one is a good swimmer oneself; and one cannot come to the aid of a person wounded in an accident or in battle, unless one knows how to do bandaging, and how to carry wounded or sick people with the least possible strain and discomfort to them. For this reason, all the useful crafts for Life Saving such as First Aid, Swimming, Resuscitation, Catching Runaway Horses, Checking or Preventing Panics, Firemanship, etc., are especially to be cultivated under this law. That is, if we want to obey the law and be helpful to others, we must learn how to do it under various different circumstances. It is by learning and being interested in knowing how to do these things, when there may be no immediate occasion for them, that we prepare ourselves to carry them out when serious emergencies arise!" When asked what being Helpful means to him, Nathan Goodwin, Advancement Co-chairman for the Warriors Path District said he felt, "that a Scout is concerned about the needs of others." Being a scout is more than just putting on a uniform and going camping or hiking. To learn more about Boys Scouts and how to join,contact the Sequoyah Council office at 952-6961 or log on to www.scbsa.org

A Scout is Loyal http://www.timesnews.net/community_article.php?id=416 Published 2006-07-27 16:26:11 By Kurt Stevenson Since 1910, Scouting has had several basic fundamentals. Lord Baden-Powell set up these principles to insure the integrity of Scouts everywhere. These are known in Scouting as the Scout Law, the Scout Motto and the Scout Oath In this series of articles, we will examine the 12 points of the Scout Law, the Scout Motto, the Scout Oath and hear about lessons learned through Scouting from various members of the Warriors Path District Committee and from various books on Scouting and Lord Baden-Powell The Scout Law states that a Scout is: Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean and Reverent. In this second of the series, we will look at what it means to be "LOYAL" The word loyal originally comes the word "law". This was meant to express faithfulness to the law. As time passed, it was extended out to mean loyalty to those in position of authority, a prince, a king or a comander in the field. Loyalty to our country is loyalty to its laws and to those who represent them, and willingness to give up our private interests for the public welfare; this implies loyalty to the President of the United States as the chief magistrate. Loyalty to one's scout leader is loyalty to the scout law in all its applications; loyalty to one's home and parents is loyalty to the laws of the home, by which it is made a happy place for all the members of the family; and the highest loyalty to a friend is loyalty to the best things that he stands for and not to his weaknesses. Lord Baden-Powell once said that "loyalty is a feature in a boy's character that inspires boundless hope." I asked other Scouters how they would define "Loyal" in regards to scouting and here is what they said. Casey Norwood, Field Director for the Sequoyah Council, said "I believe that loyalty is one of the most important 12 points of the Scout law. Being true to your family, your friends, your country and to God. I think that being loyal builds trust and accountability. If someone is loyal to you it just means that whatever you need they will be there for you. When you need someone it isn't always convienant for that person to help or listen but that person will do so because it is the right thing to do." If you are loyal to others, it is right to expect them to be loyal to you. "To a scout, being loyal is akin to an allegiance or in some cases even obedience. I have witnessed this loyalty in the making recently during two overnight backpacking practice trips where a group of six scouts were put together and were expected to elect a crew leader, and then support that leader and the crew", Steve Brumitt, District Committee Chairman of the Warriors Path District commented after a recent outing. "While discussing the subject of loyalty with them during one practice hike we concluded that loyalty for us this July will be giving to the crew and not just to self. If I take care of the crew first the crew will take care of me." Without loyalty, a scout can not keep the very law he has on his honor vowed to keep. "A scout is Loyal to his God, his family, his country, his friends, his school, his troop," Jeff Bays, District Executive Warriors Path District. For more information on Scouting and how to join, visit www.scbsa.org or call the council office at 962-6961

Fickle Philly punishes Boy Scouts http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=51251 Posted: July 27, 2006 1:00 a.m. Eastern By Hans Zeiger It is a violent summer in Philadelphia. Drug-related gang violence plagues the streets of the City of Brotherly Love. But one of the most outrageous attacks comes from the office of Philadelphia Mayor John Street. It is aimed at the Boy Scouts. Nearly eight decades ago 1928 the city of Philadelphia granted the local Cradle of Liberty Boy Scouts Council property at the corner of 22nd and Winter Streets "in perpetuity." Now, because the Boy Scouts believe as much in moral principle as they did in 1928, perpetuity is ended. Mayor Street's solicitor Romulo Diaz threatens eviction from what has become the council's headquarters building. Street's and Diaz's list of options for the Scouts are few. First, end the policy of excluding homosexuals from positions of leadership, a policy which the U.S. Supreme Court declared in 2000 the Scouts are within their rights to hold and which they will continue to hold by every indication. Second, pay a market rent in the upscale Philadelphia Art Museum district, which would require significant new council funds on top of the city government's broken promise. Finally, leave the headquarters building. This final option seems to be the likely outcome. That's not just bad policy. It is horrific. Just what have the Boy Scouts done in Philadelphia that would justify eviction from their headquarters building? Well, they serve 40,000 youth in the city, many of whom would be left to gang violence and drugs without Scouting. They contribute hundreds of thousands of volunteer project hours to the city each year. They teach boys to become responsible citizens in the community. Now, as far as Mayor Street is concerned, anything else the Boy Scouts do is irrelevant to his dealings with the organization. The city of Philadelphia should maintain a relationship with the Boy Scouts if for no other reason than that the Scouts are a big organization that can enhance the quality of life within the city in ways the city government itself could never do. It isn't as though Street has never heard of public-private partnerships (partnerships between the city government and private nonprofit organizations ranging from Kiwanis and Rotary to the Presbyterian Church and the Methodist Church). The mayor sat in the honor seat beside first lady Laura Bush at the 2001 State of the Union Address, he the personification of city faith-based initiatives. Philadelphia was the launchpoint for the Amachi Mentoring program, which enlists members of churches and synagogues around the nation as in-school volunteers. Further, around 40 percent of welfare-to-work programs in Philadelphia are based out of churches or other faith-based institutions. Despite these successes and the proven work of the Boy Scouts in Philadelphia, Mayor Street is resolute. It is as if to say, give in or give up. The Boy Scouts surely will not give in, though the temptations have been sore in the past few years. In 2003, the Philadelphia Cradle of Liberty Council temporarily said that it was accepting homosexuals until the national Boy Scouts, which happened to be holding its convention in Philadelphia at that time, said otherwise and threatened to revoke the Cradle of Liberty charter. Since then, the Cradle of Liberty Council, the third largest Boy Scouts council in the nation, has suffered financially. The United Way pulled funding. Pew Charitable Trusts turned away dollars. And now this wretched invitation to pack their backpacks and duffle bags from the city of Philadelphia. They will not they cannot pack their honor. The Scout Oath says, "On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country, and to obey the Scout Law, to help other people at all times, to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight." That is a statement of self-government, I think the best there is. And it is one of the most hated set of words in America today. Those words do stand for something. Recognizing this, the Philadelphia Daily News compared the Boy Scouts to the Taliban a few years ago. "What's the difference between the Taliban and the Boy Scouts?" the newspaper asked, suggesting that there was very little difference. But the difference is stark. We might bring it back to Philadelphia to make it simple. What's the difference between a cracked-up gun-wielding teenage thug on the streets of Philadelphia, and a Boy Scout learning to live and lead in his inner city troop? That's easy. "Trustworthy. Loyal. Helpful. Friendly. Courteous. Kind. Obedient. Cheerful. Thrifty. Brave. Clean. Reverent." Of such is the defeat of the Taliban, and the Philly murderer class, and the other great evils of our time. E-mail Mayor Street at mayor@phila.gov. Tell him to uphold his city's promise to the Boy Scouts "in perpetuity."

CP: one of the things that makes this country so great is that we have freedom of expression. Smerconish is free to hold his belief and you are free to believe he's wrong. If you feel that strongly about it, maybe you should write a letter to the editor and point out the error of his ways. If you check the poll being run on the Philly.com website, your view is in the majority -- but I don't have to believe that makes it right. YiS