fgoodwin

I'm amazed that my fellow Scouters are completely ignoring the elephant in the room.

That being this: the troop committee should have absolutely no say in how patrols are organized. That is a program function and is under the purview of the SM (and ideally under the SPL).

Sounds like this troop has issues that we aren't hearing about . . .

I was once UC for a troop, in which the PLC had planned a laser tag outing (the announcement was right there in the Scribe-produced troop newsletter).

I pulled the COR aside and let him know that laser-tag was not an authorized Scouting activity, and pointed him to the G2SS. He wasn't happy about it, but he announced at the following week's troop meeting that the PLC would have to schedule a different event. They weren't happy either, but they complied.

I don't know if I did the right thing -- I'm no longer their UC but not because of that incident.

Did anyone else noticed several Boy Scout commercials running in their local market over the last week or so? Did National finally listen to its volunteers who've long been asking for a national marketing campaign?

skeptic, thanx for sharing that.

To honor our veterans and especially those who paid the ultimate price:

"Land of the Free because of the Brave"

Happy Memorial Day everyone!

So who is "little birdie" and why should we believe him (or her)?

Why is it that anytime someone "hears" something from someone, rather than asking that someone for more info, the person comes here and asks uninvolved third parties about it?

The best place to get more info is directly from the person making the claim.

I went through CERT training several years ago.

I can see how it might have some application to the First Aid MB and maybe the Emergency Preparedness MB, but seven? Did the webpage say which seven? I suggest you start with the webpage that claimed CERT training applies to seven MBs and find out who made that claim -- asking a third party like us is an exercise in futility. Same goes for whoever told you CERT training will earn a boy three MBs -- ask him for specifics. Asking us is the wrong way to go about it.

Good luck and let us know what you find out.

packsaddle, its unfortunate your DE gave such a speech.

I hope you took him aside afterward and told him in no uncertain terms that it was unacceptable -- that's what I would've done, but I'm not aware of any DE I know who would ever do such a thing in the first place.

OTOH, if we had a chance to ask your DE about it, I wonder if he might have different take on what happened?

BP: sounds like a rationalization.

I'll bet you knew exactly what you were doing when you made that comment. And it wasn't made in jest.

BadenP: I understand that you keep your "real" life separate from your Scouting life. So you "subscribe" to the DRP for Scouting purposes, but you repudiate it in "real" life?

I don't want to put words in your mouth, so if I got that wrong, please feel free to clarify.

BadenP: are you a registered BSA volunteer?

If so, you must've signed an adult application in which you agreed to "subscribe to the precepts of the DRP." So if you are a BSA volunteer, do you agree with the precepts of the DRP? Because if you don't, one wonders why you would want to affiliate with an organization that requires that you "subscribe to the precepts" of something to which you don't actually agree?

OTOH, if you are not a BSA volunteer, then my question is moot.

BadenP writes:Gee, there is a Neo-Nazi training camp about fifty miles away from me, maybe they could become an LFL post too, what great things they could do.I think the following corollary of Godwin's Law applies now:There is a tradition in many newsgroups and other Internet discussion forums that once such a comparison is made, the thread is finished and whoever mentioned the Nazis has automatically "lost" whatever debate was in progress.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law

Putnam's funding for the study came from the Templeton Foundation:

http://bhascience.blogspot.com/2009/05/does-secularization-of-usa-spell-social.html

I didn't know this when I posted the article and my response to packsaddle. I don't think the source of the funding necessarily results in a bias in favor of religion in the study methodology or results, but I wanted to let everyone know.

Correlation causation

I haven't read the study, but having read Putnam's earlier book, "Bowling Alone", I am confident he let the data speak for itself, rather than looking for data which might support a pre-ordained conclusion.

So, do religious people really make better citizens? Hard to say, but at least this study seems to support the idea of a relationship between the two.

And to some extent, the study would seem to support the statement of BSA's DRP, which is really why I posted the article.

packsaddle, when you say the bias "of the report" is obvious, I'm not sure who you are referring to.

Are you saying the Pew Forum is biased, or that Robert Putnam is biased? If the former, I would agree, but Pew didn't write the study which is the subject of the article. If the latter, I would disagree that Putnam has an inherent bias in favor of religion.

Can you clarify?

Religious people make better citizens, study says

http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=18088

May 13, 2009

by Daniel Burke

Religion News Service

First, the silver lining: people of faith are better citizens and better neighbors, and America is "amazingly" religious compared to other countries, says Harvard University professor Robert Putnam.

Now, the cloud: young Americans are "vastly more secular" than their older counterparts, according to Putnam.

But religious people may be God's gift to civic engagement, Putnam and University of Notre Dame scholar David Campbell argue in their book, "American Grace: How Religion is Reshaping our Civic and Political Lives," which is scheduled to be released next year.

The scholars say their studies found that religious people are three to four times more likely to be involved in their community. They are more apt than nonreligious Americans to work on community projects, belong to voluntary associations, attend public meetings, vote in local elections, attend protest demonstrations and political rallies, and donate time and money to causes -- including secular ones.

At the same time, Putnam and Campbell say their data show that religious people are just "nicer": they carry packages for people, don't mind folks cutting ahead in line and give money to panhandlers.

Ron Millar, acting director of the American Humanist Association, said that nontheists are just as likely to volunteer for worthy causes as believers. For example, he noted that the Secular Student Alliance went to New Orleans to help build homes with Habitat for Humanity a few years ago.

[excerpted]

I used my own address. I started the Pack and in order to open a bank account, we needed an EIN so I applied for it. It was easy.

Please don't feed the troll(s) . . .

Lisa, that does help. So you treat all cross-overs as transfers, even those who come from an unaffiliated pack?

Our charter organization (a church) sponsors a pack and a troop. When a Webelos crosses over from the pack into the troop, is he considered a transfer ($1 fee) or is a new registration required ($10 registration fee)?

I'm thinking a new registration is required. I've always thought of a "transfer" as being between packs or between troops, but not from a pack to a troop. Is there anything official on this?

Also, lets assume that the Webelos cross-over AFTER the pack recharters, and the boys rechartered in the pack. Should the troop send in new registrations for the boys? If so, won't the boys be double-registered?

In my view, the troop should send in new registrations, regardless of what the pack did. The fact is, the boys are no longer Cub Scouts, they are Boy Scouts, and s/b registered as Boy Scouts as soon as possible after cross-over.

If they were rechartered in the pack, in my view the double-registration is an issue for the council and maybe the pack, since the boys are no longer Cub Scouts, but its not an issue for the troop.

The parents, of course, have another issue: if they rechartered in the pack, they already paid dues once and won't want to pay again. If the pack pro-rated the dues to cross-over, then the parents need to pay the troop for the rest of the year. If the pack charged the full annual dues, then the equitable thing to do is transfer a pro-rated share to the troop bank account.

How do your units handle this?

Fred Goodwin

Troop Committee and BSRT Commish

The pack should get its own EIN -- I forget the IRS form number, but its fairly routine.

This is NOT the same thing as qualifying as a 501©(3) which is much more complicated (and probably unnecessary).

ASM915 writes:The Lodge then looks at see if this adult has any specific skills sets that the Lodge is in need of. These can range from simple bodies available to drive the scouts to the Lodge /Chapetr events, to people with artistic or craft or historical backgrounds that can teach native traditions to the ceremony teams and other interested scouts, to professionals that can advise the LEC on finances, logistics, and other management skills it takes to run a Lodge.I thought the primary purpose of OA membership, whether youth or adult, was to provide service to the unit? If that's the case, I don't understand why a Lodge would consider how much an adult can help the Lodge as a criterion for membership? The question should be, does the adult serve as a role model for the Scouts in the unit, and can the adult provide service to the unit.

I was the ASM in charge of assisting the PLC plan our troops trip to Camp Hale during the summer of 2007.

I must say the boys universally loved it. The adults thought it was very well organized; the Hale staff were very responsive to last minute MB changes, and the camp director (who's name escapes me) seemed genuinely interested in feedback (positive or negative) and in ways to improve his program.

Get ready to walk some hills, especially if you're in the back area campsites (as a large troop, the only campsite that could accommodate our 40 Scouts and 20 adults was located about as far away from the dining hall and MB areas as possible).

Some things to note: dining hall is air conditioned; the adult & staff area has Internet access, albeit kinda slow at times (I don't usually worry about such things, but it happened the week I was gone was a critical week at work and they needed me to check my email periodically).

I took mosquito netting, but when we went (late July) bugs didn't seem to be a major problem. We did have an ASM get bit by a small snake, that required he be taken to a hospital the day before we were scheduled to return home, but he turned out OK.

There is one electrical outlet per campsite (not per pad); in our case, our SM claimed it. All in all, I thought it was a great experience and would highly recommend it.

I don't know if the OA HB is supposed to be a controlled item or not, but I know our Scout Shop sells them over the counter, no questions asked.

Once you have the OA HB, you have what you need to get onto OA Jump Start, where you will eventually find the Admonition. When I went through the Ordeal, someone whispered (more like muttered) something in my ear that was supposed to be the Admonition, and of course I couldn't make out what he said.

So it took me a while to finally learn it, and the OA Jump Start website was a tremendous help.