HICO_Eagle

I'm glad to hear a rewrite is in the works. I hope they will improve things the same way the 12th edition Scout Handbook improved on that wretched 11th edition. Take us back to the future -- get rid of the silly "manager development" nonsense and return Wood Badge to what it was.

allangr2, I concur with dropping the troop formally to a single patrol until you get numbers back up. It's rather silly to have a SPL, ASPL, 2 PLs, 2 APLs and 2 patrol members (I've done it as a Scout but it's still silly). I think the question of whether a troop needs a SPL is the wrong question. Do your boys need the experience of being an SPL? In my experience, the removal from a single patrol into a coordinating leadership function is new to them and something most Scouts can and do learn from. Learning to monitor and delegate (as opposed to just pass off work) is one of the harde

I'll disagree with Beavah to this extent: I don't think "A Scout pays his own way" has to mean the Scout pays 100%. The point -- to me -- is that the Scout IS getting skin in the game with sweat equity if nothing else. Consequently, I don't see that the message is disjointed or that it's a bad lesson for the boys. You can instill the values in the boys of BOTH working toward their goals AND helping others.

I grew up with patrol cooking and was introduced to dining halls when I became an adult Scouter. For what it's worth, I find the dining hall superior at summer camp. A troop can always exercise patrol cooking on its own activities but the dining hall is frequently a much more efficient means of feeding the Scouts and spreading campwide information. Troops also have the opportunity to learn how to handle larger events if you use the mess hall operation as a teaching experience. My troop had 8 core members at one time and I think 5 (maybe 6) of us made Eagle. I think our exercise of

"Sure, go ahead and remove the SPL from his post. As soon as you do so, please turn around and tell the committee that you are resigning as Scoutmaster. Why? Because you failed - miserably. As much as you think the Troop needs a new SPL, it needs a new Scoutmaster. The SPL not wanting to talk to you, after an hour of time off by himself should be a big red flag that YOU are a big part of the problem." I'm going to disagree with this big time. The boy made violent threats; that's a reflection of the boy, not the SM. EagerLeader seems to be trying to consider all options and get

I guess I'm with Kudu on most of his thoughts and I like a lot of the ideas on curriculum here. I will happily take courses that enhance my skills and ability to help my boys. Wood Badge doesn't do a darned thing for me (and the more I hear about it, the less I like it). IOLS sounds great for anyone who didn't actually live through the program but it's redundant and useless for a lot of people. Yes, more and more people involved in Scouting at the adult level need it but it seems more and more like a lot of decisions at Council and National levels are being driven by people who weren't Sco

"The WS MB probably doesn't specifically mention fish as something to stay away from because it's probably the safest thing to catch and eat in the wild, but again the calories gained for calories spent makes it a less than ideal strategy." My first reaction is ... absolute nonsense. If your contention were true, we never would have developed hunting and fishing skills. I don't exactly see a lot of calories burned by most fishermen (fly fishermen are another breed altogether). My second reaction is ... it of course depends on your skills. I'm not a very good fisherman so you'd pro

Boy, I wish we had done something like this when I took WS as a Scout ...

hotair36 said: "NO, it is not just a rehash of past versions of train the trainer." I'm sorry but yes it is. I found nothing new or innovative in EDGE, just a restatement of common sense training practices under a flashy acronym. It was a full day that repeated the training I got as a Boy Scout, in college, USAF active duty, etc. I am REALLY sick of adding all this mandatory training that doesn't really add anything new. Encourage it for those who don't have a background yes but making it mandatory ... bleah! I don't have any empirical studies to prove it but I think adding all

Personally, I'd much rather be the oldest than the youngest but I won't judge someone who dares to challenge their limits as long as they are prepared to pay the consequences. On the other hand, I think her parents' judgment leaves something to be desired ...

The city may be waiting for reimbursement but it WILL be reimbursed. Consider the $19K reimbursement for services rendered that will then be used to ensure Scouts are able to do good deeds for those who AREN'T getting paid (albeit tardily).

My troop has lowered the expectation of what "Class A" meant to simply wearing a Class A shirt but we're starting to rejuvenate the past practice of "full uniform" means a full uniform (merit badge sash and OA sashes being optional accoutrements). I don't think we'd cancel the BOR just because the Scout showed up in jeans instead of Scout pants but the board would probably say it reflected on his Scout spirit and readiness to pursue the next rank. He could have torn a seam on his Scout pants, spilled a drink or have another valid excuse. On the other hand, this is the SPL. There's

It may be coincidental but I find it interesting the new clarification of what "active" means (see other thread) came out after this mess was supposed to be sorted out on mdsummer45's appeal. In any event, her son may or may not deserve the Eagle award -- I don't think any of the rest of us know enough about the case to say either way -- but there's really no reason to be calling this a hoax.

I'm with Kahuna. I don't cotton to their particular religious beliefs or how their church is run but have never had any problems with the Mormons I've known. On the whole, a very nice group of people that I'd welcome over San Francisco-style radicals any day of the week.

I think what's goin' on here is that yeh neither understand the science nor the way politics and lobbying is done. So yeh can't make good judgments about the science, and yeh can't recognize when you're lookin' at a PR/lobbying effort by a special interest. I actually DO understand the science and problems with the theories and data analysis as well as the way Mann, CRU, Gore et al have been misusing it for politics and lobbying efforts but feel free to continue thinking that if it makes you feel better. Having you claim I can't make good judgments about the science while you're fal

Beavah, most of the papers in Science, Nature, etc. are on the effects of global warming rather than on ascertaining the magnitude or source. One of the reasons so many physicists and statisticians have issues with the AGW hypothesis lies in fact in the sourcing of the data. Many researchers have published studies assuming they could rely on the input data they were receiving from CRU and GHCN when we can now see how they were shading and altering the data. By the way, science is not judged by weighing or counting papers but by the content of those papers -- and the whole campaign undertake

I would much rather have a real centennial uniform than the piece of garbage they released. Too bad I can't get into that aefsupply.com website. I was under the impression that quite a bit of BSA gear in our early years (including the uniform) had its origins in military surplus -- one of the reasons why National's current rules annoy me. Wish I could pick up a uniform like the one I wore as a brand new Scout in 1978.

No disrespect, vol, but I haven't read anyone here yet who has demonstrated a clear understanding of the science. Yes you have, you just seem to be putting blinders on for some reason (which is rather unlike your behavior on most threads I've seen you contribute to). I also by the way posted a link to a peer-reviewed German paper at arxiv.org rebutting the so-called scientific basis behind the AGW hypothesis a couple weeks before you claimed no one had produced peer-reviewed literature. 115 pages of physics. I have referred to the writings of actual physicists, climatologists, meteorol

Let's see, I have no political party just Science. I've been living by the Outdoor Code and recycling for over 30 years and do plenty else for the environment when the science supports it so let's just shed the "mentally awake" nonsense shall we? If the science was so credible, why do you think leading physicists like Freeman Dyson are criticizing it? Why are meteorologists, astrophysicists and geophysicists among the most critical of the AGW hypothesis? You can continue the tactics of avoiding a discussion of the real science and throw out ad hominems (inaccurate ones at that) like Al Gor

Here's the problem with your contention Beavah: skepticism about the AGW theory isn't fringe, no matter what Al Gore or Michael Mann or Phil Jones would like you to believe. One of the big problems has been the manipulation of the standard scientific process but unfortunately it doesn't stop there. Forget the typos by IPCC that were then used in the AGW scare tactics, go to the tree ring data that has been used to create the hysteria through Mann's hockeystick graph. Dendrologists have queried how Briffa and Mann got their temperature correlations since tree ring density varies with so

DeanRx, I feel for you regarding CA but it's not Scouting or national creating that condition, it's the homosexual activist groups. There's nothing preventing them from creating their own groups -- except they don't really want to take care of the boys the way we do, they want to destroy any organization that doesn't embrace their lifestyle as normal and healthy. HiLo, I have no doubt there are a lot of fine people that are atheists or homosexuals (or girls). I have friends that fall in all three camps. That doesn't mean they belong in Scouting but forget that because that's not what t

I too can't recall losing any scouts in 20+ years to the 3Gs. I've lost them to afterschool jobs, athletics, academics but the 3Gs haven't been an issue. I HAVE run across a few girls who wished they could join BSA because of the outdoor activities but they generally had no response when I asked why they didn't alter their own GSA programs. At this point, I'm very suspicious of polls and how they are used/misused.

Oak Tree, I guess I just don't see it as fuzzy as you but a great deal of my training biases me toward sequential and transitive logic. First you establish a group or list of people or organizations to which you have a bond or obligation. That's the group you owe loyalty to so be loyal. Pretty simple. Who does a Scout owe loyalty to? His family. His friends. His troop. His country. His God (or whatever deity he is reverent toward). Anyone else he has an obligation toward. Perhaps others -- and not necessarily in the order I've listed. Same thing goes with the other points o

I voted thumbs up (no surprise since I actually initiated the request to close one of the threads). The two threads in particular were getting way out of hand IMHO. I've only been reading these forums for the past year or so and generally they're great. There is only one individual that I've decided to just not bother reading anymore -- I wish the ignore feature worked on thread postings but I'll just ignore manually. As for the rest, I learned a long time ago to filter postings by what I've seen of past postings. As is so often in life, there are very few people I agree or disagree w

Perhaps Scouting is on the verge of change, I just hope it's the right change. At least half of all change is in the wrong direction and Scouting ceases to stay true to its core if it changes too much which I believe will have an even worse effect on membership. Take the outdoors out of Scouting and you're left with a shell of a program. Remove parts of the Oath and Law or make them optional (or "aspirational") and we are just padding resumes instead of building character. Personally, I think Scouting needs to stay true to its heritage and promise. It's one of the few institutions lef