Hal_Crawford

May be... but anyone who's tried to matriculate a kid into college lately will soon learn that a "B" on the transcript is an "F" ... and Eagle counts for nothing in your average admissions office.

 

Eagle counts for a point. Senior Patrol leader is known as the head of the club - at least at the local university (my wife was a faculty rep on the admissions requirements team).

 

It is true a B is an F for top schools today as well. However - the stress, anxiety, etc. that is being push on kids is insane.

And the A needs to be in an AP course. I was shocked to learn 10 years ago that my alma mater's average GPA for entering freshmen is now in the vicinity of 4.0. This is not because all these freshmen were straight A students in high school; it is because of the bonus points for passing AP exams.

One of the reasons the scout camps are so expensive is because they keep increasing infrastructure which is expensive to begin with and then the maintenance costs. Too many are trying to be mini-resorts which happen to do some scout stuff. Focus should be on the woods and camping.

Local authorities insisted on latrine upgrades at our council camp over ground water concerns. A lot of improvements are health and safety related.

Yes, we should be teaching our youth to do service for others without requiring reward.

 

However, then why are we REQUIRING service hours?

 

While not all service hours are service in a time of crisis, they are all a service to someone in need. Why is it OK to acknowledge some service, but not others.

 

What makes it rude to ask for acknowledgment of service at a vigil, but not service to an 80 year old neighbor, or service to your local VFW at a recognition of deceased veterans?

 

Seems a bit hypocritical to me.

Well said qwazse. I would love to see your flow chart for the G2SS. ;-)

It National was a car dealer, their strategy could be summed up thusly:

 

Take the most popular, dependable, high-selling cars, and hide them in the back of the lot. When those are gone, don't order more. Instead, promote a lot of shiny but under-powered, undesirable cars. Act surprised when sales drop. But do nothing to bring back that popular car.

 

Outdoor adventure, whether it's a day hike on Saturday or a Philmont trek, is the key to recruiting and retaining scouts. Just as true today as it was a century ago.

 

Successful units/councils get that, and the results prove it.

 

Sustainability merit badge won't get it done.

I don't think anyone is trying to make scouting all about STEM. The campouts are still the main draw and always will be. But there is nothing wrong with merit badges such as Sustainability--which gives scouts and alternative to Envi Sci which has been required for a long time.

 

I remember a few years ago I was on a high adventure trek with a group of scouts. As we backpacked up and down hills there were two scouts that talked incessantly about processors, operating systems and programs. The occasionally would stop to observe wildlife or a great view but the tech talk was what kept them going.

 

They are Eagles and aged out now. It should come as no surprise that they are engineering students. Some scouts are drawn to STEM and some are not. It is good to have the options.

Well, I looked a little farther and found this: http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20140211/PC16/140219833 These two units were evicted out of 212 units in that council. But that area is what we call the 'low country' and it leans heavily toward 'Bible Belt' status. There is no mention of Trail Life and the evicted units appear to be finding other quarters. Not much impact so far, it seems.

At least Peace Presbyterian didn't confiscate the troop gear. St. Raymond's RCC in Springfield, VA took not only the gear but the troop accounts as well.

An article in the Washington Post about a local Catholic church that has kicked out its BSA pack and troop and is replacing them with a TLUSA unit. Apparently there has not been a lot of impact in the National Capital Area Council as only two other troops have made this move out of 1700+ units.

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/no-virginia-catholic-priest-is-in-minority-in-region-in-breaking-with-boy-scouts-over-gays/2014/02/15/949229f4-95f4-11e3-8461-8a24c7bf0653_story.html?hpid=z5

I wonder if they expect their boys to be trustworthy?

On the other hand the number of Eagles keeps increasing…hmmmm

Declining membership and increasing Eagles probably indicates diminished recruitment and improved retention. Not as many boys are choosing to join but those that do are more likely to remain active and earn the Eagle award. When I was young, almost every boy joined scouts but many of us dropped out long before earning Eagle--I do not remember any Eagles in our troop.

 

When my son joined scouts there was a a 50% attrition the first year but after that most stayed and a large proportion of those became Eagles.

What Q said. Twocubdad's son is an adult and professors can do whatever they want. Your son is not an adult and scoutmasters cannot do whatever they want, and this scoutmaster is out of line.

 

If your son doesn't mind playing the SM's games, then that's that. If he does mind, like Q said, he'll just have to call the council and start the appeal process.

My 17-yr-old self would have hit reply all and let the SM know that he does not have the authority to do what he's doing but that I'm a reasonable guy and will camp 3 more times in addition to the a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i,j,k,l,m activities that I had already participated in, and wished he'd been there to see how active I am.

Just have to point out that professors cannot do whatever they want. Even tenured faculty can be overruled and in some cases sanctioned for misbehavior. Twocub's son is handling this well; he is doing the right things but he may still find that he is given and unfairly low grade that could hurt his academic career. He should be ready to go to the dean if his efforts fail.

 

There was a chemistry professor at my university that used his own special curve to make sure that no more than 30% passed Chem 101. He openly said his mission was to weed out unworthy pre-meds. Students were able to prove that he used an arbitrary grading standard and though the prof was extremely tenured he was removed from teaching that class.

An article in the Washington Post about a local Catholic church that has kicked out its BSA pack and troop and is replacing them with a TLUSA unit. Apparently there has not been a lot of impact in the National Capital Area Council as only two other troops have made this move out of 1700+ units.

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/no-virginia-catholic-priest-is-in-minority-in-region-in-breaking-with-boy-scouts-over-gays/2014/02/15/949229f4-95f4-11e3-8461-8a24c7bf0653_story.html?hpid=z5

In the end, the scout does the work and earns the word regardless of whether parents are involved or not. It the parents do the work for the scout he isn't going to make it to Eagle.

I would expect dogs to align with Sirius, not Polaris.

Ryan had all of the requirements done. Isn't there something in the rules about the Board of Review being possible after the 18th birthday if all of the other reqs are already completed prior to turning 18?

BSA can waive just about any requirement to right a wrong. I have seen a couple of articles about Eagles being awarded to elderly former scouts. In one case a scout had completed all the requirements but the paperwork was lost or overlooked in the days after Pearl Harbor. The scout enlisted and never received his award. He confessed to a nursing home worker that he always regretted not receiving his Eagle. The employee contacted the council and records were found or reconstructed and the veteran received his Eagle.

 

The other story involved a former scout who had completed all the requirements except for Swimming Merit Badge. He had not been able to earn the MB because there were no pools for blacks in DC when he was a scout. BSA decided he had done everything he could and awarded this octogenarian his Eagle award.

 

Point is, if BSA wants to award Ryan Andersen the Eagle award they can--irrespective of age or time limits.

Why is it always Utah?

Protecting the right of gay people to get married should be a conservative issue. You've go two people, in a committed relationship, who want to get married and raise a family together, taking equal responsibility for their children. This is what conservatives have campaigned for for many years.

I know some healthy family relationships where there are two moms or two dads. I also have known some really unhealthy ones where there was a mom and a dad and some of those got better when one or the other left.

BasementDweller - the ones who stick around are chasing the Eagle. Modern youth don't have the time to be dilettantes - every activity has to result in a check box for a job or a college application. My hypothesis is that we have dropped the youth that used to just come for the fun of it, regardless of advancement. On top of that, there are more materials available for a boy to pencil whip his way through a merit badge (downloadable workbooks from MeritBadge.com for example).

You make a good point. In our troop, most who are still in at the end of 8th grade earn Eagle--usually close to their 18th birthday. Those who have Eagled earlier have stayed in until they aged out and two are currently assistant scoutmasters.

In the year since the original post, gay marriage has passed by referendum in Maryland, Maine and Washington State. Never say never.

Sorry for the double post. My computer still struggles with posting.

It is clearly stated in the Guide to Safe Scouting.

On the other hand, though their methods may have been inappropriate, the IRS may not have been wrong.

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/05/27/some-tea-party-groups-examined-by-the-irs-indeed-crossed-the-line/

On the other hand, though their methods may have been inappropriate, the IRS may not have been wrong.

 

 

 

It looks like AHG is assisting the formation of a Christian-only organization called "Faith Based Boys."

Doesn't seem to be any substance to this group. Nothing specific about programs or methods, just that they are a Christian organization. I don't think the organization can succeed on faith alone. If they are as successful as AHG they will have about 20,000 members. Wow.

Why does religious expression have to occur as part of a herd? Why can't each person just do their own personal thing without requiring the presence of others? This is something I've never understood.

 

 

If I like something, I want to share it with others. Why wouldn't this apply to religion as well?

IMO, Reverent ends at the point you try to tell me that your religion is better than mine.

There are some funds set aside for the youth member's travel. I forget how they are acquired, it's not exactly popcorn.

You know this meeting happens every year right? If there had been no vote there still would have been a meeting.

Really? Is this a misplaced Memorial Day observance or a sad and melodramatic comment on today's vote?

I never knew of the 'onmyhonor.net folks' until today. As I said before, no one in my pack ever shared their feelings on this with me and I kept mine to myself as well. However today, I saw a bunch of them posting stuff from that site on FB (which is odd to me that they decide to do that today before any other time.) I have no problem with this (as a scout parent and a Christian) but I have no idea how this will impact our pack, if at all. I am happy that more boys will have a chance to be a part of this now.

I just got back from a troop meeting. Not a lot of talk about this but most agreed that this was the right thing to do. I think the impact will be minimal to positive for our unit.