John-in-KC

pack, Understood. At least in that one we can see where it came from, which is why I sad the myth is inside the park... not I didn't say inside the baselines.

Three weeks ago my son and I went to the gun range to shoot pistols. When he was talking to a friend of his at another troop he was told by a scout that he is not allowed to ever shoot a pistol because he is a boy scout. He just chuckled. That one at least is inside the ballpark. In program activities, Cub and Boy Scouts are not permitted pistol usage, only Venturers. Handguns Handgun use is limited to the Venturing program. http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/HealthandSafety/GSS/gss08.aspx (This message has been edited by John-in-KC)

Why would you want to do this? Bear Requirement 3F requires the Cub to participate in a PACK flag ceremony. There are Flag related requirements in the advancement plan for all ranks. Do not limit the Color to a few of your Pack. Flag ceremonies are part of the program. They get to the Citizenship aim of Scouting. Let all have a chance, by rotating Pack openings and closing through your Dens. Otherwise, you are showing favoritism

I've known membership in the BSA to be revoked on an Eagle Scout, but I've never heard of the National Council withdrawing the award of an Eagle. If someone has a date and a name that can be washed though Irving (or has been washed through Irving), I'd love to hear it.

1) Bring your friendly unit commissioner in on this, as well as your COR. 2) Yet he some how earns his merit badges???? The Scoutmaster is the gatekeeper. The Scoutmaster is the one person who authorizes him to begin a Merit Badge. So, if (as you imply) he's getting MBs magically, that one falls on the SM's shoulders. He should do his responsibility: Assign the youth to MB Counselors. 3) Did he hold his POR to the satisfaction of his SPLs and the SM, or did folks let him hold the patch and count time? If the latter, that's again on the SM. One of the SM key jobs is to be a mentor to the youth leadership: ACP&P and Requirements #33215, for better or worse, give you the authority to remove a Scout from POR and *rewind* his tenure in leadership. 4) I re-iterate: Invite your UC in. Talk about how your unit does advancement. Let him describe what right looks like. Reconcile your system to Scoutings. 5) As far as this young man is concerned, he may be the one you have to let through, at least to Life, if your systems and controls really are out of whack. Let him serve as an example to your Scouters of what right does not look like.

acco, I didn't realize you were older than Beavah Baden-Powell Methusalah ... (ducking and running)(This message has been edited by John-in-KC)

SA, Having been a Pack committee chairman, having had to go begging for support from Troops, I'd welcome an ASM to be the adult liaison between Pack and Troop. Help coordiante needs and opportunities, help get Boy Scouts to where they're needed for a win-win. Too many of the DL's/CMs/CCs in Cubbing I see are newbies to Scouting. They don't have a clue. I've had a DL, with a trained strip on the shoulder, tell me with all earnestness that a Den Chief meets 2-deep leadership. I would not ask an ASM to routinely attend den functions. Look in now and again on the function of the youth. BTW, while the DL and CM should be giving feedback to Troop Leadership, they should have some vague clue about when their Den Chiefs are contemplating advancement. Late reporting is on them. Have you ever noticed this all works if everyone is considerate of everyone else first?

This goes back to some guidance in ACP&P: The unit is responsible to oversee the Scouts' performance of his assigned Positions of Responsibility. If the Troop deploys a Den Chief, but does not follow up on what he does, shame on the Troop. IMO any Troop deploying Den Chiefs should also deploy an ASM to the Pack Committee, perhaps co-registered there as a committeeman, to coordinate support and to be an additional mentor and resource to the Scouts. Like the others, more backstory would be useful, kittle. You've posted here before and well, but the clearer the picture, the clearer we can talk.

Mr Hardy, From the Charter Agreement: "Conduct the Scouting program according to its own policies and guidelines as well as those of the Boy Scouts of America." BSA has the right to protect its brand name from misuse.

My chartered Partner annually has a fireworks tent. My DD at the time (he's since left) told the Partner they could not mention Scouting in any way shape or form on the sign. My current DD is stand-up, he takes the info to the right DE. In our District, we don't go there.

Which Platte River? THE Platte River is part of the Missouri/Mississippi system has its origins in the Rockies, with two tributary rivers having confluence at North Platte. The Platte River of Missouri forms near Creston IA, and eventually drains to the Missouri River just south of Farley, MO. I drive across that one daily. There are also Platte Rivers in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota. No Platte River runs through the land of the Jay Hawkers and Red Legs, Kansas.

Ask your Chartered Organization Representative to meet in business setting with the Scoutmaster and the Unit Commissioner. Ask for it during business hours. As a practical matter, if the unit has not submitted the Advancement Report, BSA "offiicially" does not know of the rank. That does not mean what the Troop did is right, but ...

Mr Brown, If I see a Pack, Troop or Crew in our Council with a fireworks tent, I will call my District Director the next business day. Period. A certain Missouri legislator, when he first ran for office, used our Councils CSP, the Tribe's claws, and Tamegonit's coup thong in his brochure, implying Council sanctioned his election to me. I had no problem calling a certain senior manager in our Professional staff. My faithful brother in the Tribe, how do we honor our Four Heart's Resolutions by bypassing clear and unequivocal guidance?

Funny. I thought most Islam, Hebraic and Christian scholars agreed on this simple statement: Genesis 1:1-5 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morningthe first day. I've read Torah in synagogues where I take Scouts to observe Shabbat services as part of God and Church. I have access to multiple translations of the OT/NT Bible (many online). I've talked about Genesis with some Muslims who I had the chance to know in the Army. We differ. We're human. We err. We did that to ourselves. The consequence is confusion about theology through all time. Oh, well. God's peace be with you, even if you refuse to accept and see it.

No, you're not on my ignore list. I'm working a goofy cycle, and I was laser-light focused on answering the BSA Staffer?? stringer?? 's question. I think you hit the matter smack on. It's one I see every summer at overnight Cub camp. Too many parents have never spent a night under God's good sky, let alone in winter weather. Day outings? Take them to learn to ski, or an old fashioned snow war, or ice skating, or ice fishing? Sure... but there's a reason we're discouraged from a night trip. It's called too many parents these days lack winter night common sense.

1) When was the last time you had a quiet Scoutmaster Conference with a "slacker"? What's going on in his life? Almost as important, who matters in his life? 2) What program is the Troop challenging him with? The same old month to month campout? He's probably decided "been there, done that." If you're not, in your mentoring, challenging him to challenge himself, you have only yourself to look in the mirror. Worse, if he's asked for challenge, and you or the PLC have said no, then the burden is completely on you.

I'm joining the pile on. Have you discussed this with your Chartered Organization Representative? Have you looked at the the discussion of Administration in the Cub Scout Leader Book (No. 33221)? You may want to read this: http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/510-500.pdf BSA publishes a lot of literature. There are best practices and good ideas if you take the time to read it and then apply it.

There's a specialized forum devoted to the Order of the Arrow. Scroll down, it's below Issues and Politics. Are you an adult or youth member? How we answer depends on that question. If an adult, what is your position? Helps us focus the answer.

Dean, Read this: http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10096.html Legal foreign nationals can have Social Security numbers... all the more so if they are working in the US.

Yoda Eagle92 is.

Beavah, where are you when we need you? OK, I'm not a lawyer. I took 3 different courses in admin law as part of grad school in public management, but ... If I remember... statute of limitations defines when a State may initiate action. Once the action is begun, that clock stops ticking. In the case of Mr Polanski, California, through the LA District Attorney, obtained an indictment. - Further, Mr Polanski agreed to a plea bargain. He pled guilty on one count. Now, does that count as the moment of conviction? - Mr Polanski evaded capture in 1978, after the conviction. From what I can see, as legal laity, he's an escaped convict. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cokie Roberts was on ABC's This Week. She wasn't too kind to Mr Polanski. Folks in the entertainment world are upset with her. Too bad, so sad. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My only question is considering California is broke, California law enforcement types are taking unpaid furlough days, ad infinitum, is pursuing Polanski the best use of California tax dollars? Then I keep remembering he did a teen, and I hope they drag him home. The original deal was for 3 months. That's not exactly a big deal. Some of the administrative procedures during and since might be, but the time isn't. Now he faces escape in addition to whatever sentence the current Judge might give him. Hang in there, California. Bring him home to jail.

TCD: 1 adult to 50 Scouts, with exceptions possible through District and Council nominations. Another good reason to attend District Roundtable and get to know other Scouters in your area.

Welcome to the campfire. As Lisa said, talk to David Harrison. He posts here as well, as I recall, under the moniker dancinfox. Had you come back in the early years of WB21C, there was a grandfather period for staffers. You could come back and staff a course. The expiry of that offer was very clearly set. There was much consternation about it as the date approached. Like it or not, the National Council has the right to make decisions about how it brands the pieces/parts of the Scouting program. They've chosen to require WB21C attendance to staff WB21C. Lisa and I are both WB21C graduates, in separate Councils, in separate courses. I think we both grew for many reasons as a result of our training. Now, was the leadership psych anything new for me? Not really, but I learned relationships, made friends, gained resources ... all of which have served me well as I continue on the Scouting trail. At the end of the day, it's your decision. We can encourage you to go, but you have to decide what's in your own heart. YIS John I used to be an Owl C-40-05

Sunny and warm.

Brotherhood, Then you had bloody well better start finding more young men to staff your Council Camps, Reservations, and High Adventure programs. I've been commishing at Scout Camp a while now. I see the young women who serve us on staff. Guess what?? Most of them give 10 times more to Scouting than any typical 17 year old Brotherhood member who is going to age out and move on. The get the same pittance wage the young men staff do, they live in the same staff villages the young men staff do, and they work at least as hard as the young men staff. We don't give them Jack Squat for recognition. So please remember there is a registered adult position called the College Scouter Reserve, then get your youth off their 4th points of contact, challenge them to live the ethic of Cheerful Service (even if it means they won't earn what they could flipping burgers at McDonalds), and get them out to Scout Camp to serve staff. Otherwise, take young women in the Order in stride. Their day is coming. BTW, this weekend a 24YO young woman undertook her Vigil. She entered the Order after staffing 4 years, at 21. Next year, took her Brotherhood. Has continued to serve Scouting. The young men of the Lodge selection committee were stricken by her ethic.