Jump to content

johnponz

Members
  • Content Count

    225
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by johnponz

  1. Eamon, I hear you. I am just debating the philosophy of breaking the rules and it is not against anyone personally. I have seen too many people in Scouting who break the rules for their own reasons, and do not seem to mind. I really try to stop that kind of behavior because it set a bad example (in my opinion). I welcome Unkiewill back to the fold, and hope that he can make a difference especially in his unit because SM is a very meaningful, diffucult, and rewarding position. Welcome and good luck.
  2. I believe most of the posters are saying they do not feel comfortable doing this for themselves, but do not care if other people want to do it. Many Scouters are humble people who believe that boasting about giving money is not want they want to do for themselves. This is one of those issues where you have to do what you are comfortable doing for yourself. If you are eligible to wear the knot, and want to wear it, you earned it so go ahead and wear it. If you do not want to wear it, you certainly do not have to.
  3. Eamon, I disagree with you whole heartedly; we are supposed to be building the character of the youth. This is what the program is all about. What you are suggesting is it is ok to ignore the rules if they are inconvenient, or do not fit in with the way that you want to do things. You are further saying that you do not have to obey the rules if no one is watching, or they are not being enforced. I must say that is not the way to build character by giving a good example. We need to do our best to work within the framework that National has developed. Is it easier to skirt the framewor
  4. BadenP, You should review your behavior in the last several posts. You certainly have not been friendly, courteous or kind (25% of the Scout Law). Because of this lack of Scout Spirit, I am no longer going to respond to your posts. I have expressed my opinion without trying to demean anyone or make personal attacks. I would say that should be the way of Scouters.(This message has been edited by johnponz)
  5. Oak Tree, You make a good point. However, in this context we have to dig a little further than the definition page at Scouting.org. I direct you to the Commissioner Administration of Unit Service Publication http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/Commissioners/Manuals/34128.aspx Here on page 3 it states, "In Cub Scouting, the unit leader is the Cubmaster, who shares the responsibility with den leaders; in Boy Scouting, it is the Scoutmaster and assistants. In Venturing, it is the Advisor and associates." So you can see in the Commissioner context the Unit Leader position really
  6. By the way, I have met Tico Perez, and he does not seem to be the type that would want other Commissioners to break policy so I do not really believe that "national realizes that it is necessary to have people multiple register as commissioners and unit leaders."
  7. ADC in NC posted..."UVTS reporting is done by me or one of my ADC's for the mentors." So the "mentors" are not registered as Commissioners and cannot use UVTS so ADC is entering their visits for them. This is what I mean by circumventing the rules. I do not believe that National knows (condones) this. If they did they would use language like "should not" instead of "must not." (This message has been edited by johnponz)
  8. My problem with the mentoring program is that they are entering the visits in the UVTS. This system is clearly for Commissioner visits only and this program is being used to circumvent the spirit of the BSA policy.
  9. This is long but makes two seperate points: Everyone has good reasons for breaking the rules that they want to break. Some SMs say Eagle is too easy now so they make their own requirements. Some MC believe that a 20 mile hike is too long so they shorten the requirements. They all justify these breaches by reasons that seem logical to them. This is kind of the end justifies the means argument, and leads to relativism (nothing is really right or wrong we can all decide for ourselves). BSA has a good reason for this rule, and has the rule published all over the place. They use thei
  10. Eagle, Remember to get the National contract from BSA the supplier would have to be able to supply Cub Uniforms, Boy Scout uniforms, and to a lesser extent Venturing uniforms (as you mention there is more looseness here in uniform requirements). This includes the red jackets, wind breakers, winter coats etc. At this point, I am not for sure a domestic supplier could handle that diversity at the volume the BSA needs at a competitive price point. I do not know because admittedly I am not involved in sourcing of clothing. However from what I have read, the companies who do this best
  11. If the Commissioner staff is not following policies, how can they ask others to follow them? These policies are in place for a reason and should be adhered to. Setting up mentors seems like a way to get around the letter of the rule but violates the spirit of the rule. Would you approve of a Troop modifying advancement guidelines because they were not convenient? What is the difference?
  12. Just because a few venturing crews are buying uniforms from a local manufacturer does not mean that the supplier can meet the specs that BSA has for uniforms. Nor does it mean that they could handle the National contract. The volume is much higher than a few local crews. I am not going to stoop to your level and make any personal attacks.(This message has been edited by johnponz)
  13. Sorry double post-probably bad hardware because it was made in Korea or some place(This message has been edited by johnponz)
  14. (This message has been edited by johnponz)
  15. By the way, I do not mind supporting National. Don't you think it costs a little bit to open a new high Adventure base? If I have a choice of buying a non-BSA product or a BSA product, I will buy the one that supports the program that I love so much. I also try not to badmouth the people who are trying to do their best to deliver the program.
  16. I really do not agree with your premise (and you have shown no evidence to sway me) that we can get US manufactured goods at a reasonable price. You made up a number of $5 more before and $5 more certainly is not competitive with the volume BSA does. I really doubt any US manufacturer could really handle the volume. Even if they could, it would be at a much greater cost. By the way the jobs are not in R and D but rather in the process. Textiles are not the manufacturing that we want to do in this country. WE CAN DO MUCH BETTER THAN THAT!! I guess we just disagree.
  17. By the way, I like the britches, especially the Suplex (this may be wrong but I hope everyone knows what I mean) ones. They are very comfortable and seem to hold up very well. My only big complaint is that they melt if a spark hits them-but you can't have everything. I really like the new canvas shorts.
  18. I believe someone has misunderstood me because the article is supporting my point. We should be concentrating on training workers for the higher skilled, higher paying manufacturing jobs that will take our economy to the next level, not trying to keep antiquated low skill jobs here that can be done with cheaper labor overseas. Let's make the USA great by doing the type of manufacturing that cannot be done in Asia, and letting them do the type that can be done cheaper there. According to that one article, there are 600,000 unfilled manufacturing jobs here now. Lets get people trained fo
  19. YOU BADEN P ARE MISSING THE POINT OF THE THREAD. I never said that manufacturing should not be in the US. Instead I said we need the "right kind" of manufacturing, and textile manufacturing does not fall into that category. I have copied an article from the Huffington Post that explains what I am saying and will post it for you. The author is not talking about textile manufacturing. The following quote is in the article but emphasizes the point: "They may be right, but it is not because we cannot create a new generation of advanced manufacturing jobs. The problem is a workforce woef
  20. It is not the "book." It is clear and non-ambiguous policy. If the Commissioner staff is not going to follow policy--who is? There is a reason for this policy that is being lost. It is the Unit Leaders job to pay attention to the Unit. If he is busy helping other units, he cannot possibly pay enough attention to his own unit. The BSA realizes that we are volunteers, and only can devote so much time and energy to Scouting. From what I have seen those that have multiple roles, in general, do none of those roles well. They can't, they just do not have enough time. Work, Unit Lea
  21. The point is in today's economy (not the economy of yesteryear), these lower skilled, lower paid positions can be performed elsewhere leaving the skilled (higher paying) jobs for our children here. There are plenty of manufacturing jobs that require a high skill level especially in industries such as auto manufacturing, high tech manufacturing etc. These manufacturers are having difficulty finding the skilled employees that they need. We should concentrate on getting our children trained so they can do these jobs not be satisfied with a minimum wage job in a low-tech textile factory.
  22. Except that it is against National policy. I am pretty amazed that this is all over BSA publications, and people actually serving as Commissioners do not know it.(This message has been edited by johnponz)
  23. I am going to quote Beavah from above because he said it pretty well: "Yep, it's important to keep those low-payin' jobs for untrained illiterates right here in da U.S. of A. Can't expect our kids to be educated for somethin' better. Don't believe in that education and guvmint stuff anyhow. " (This message has been edited by johnponz)
  24. Lets start here COMMISSIONER FIELDBOOK FOR UNIT SERVICE (p.23): Commissioners must not be registered as unit leaders Although some commissioners may be registered on a unit committeetheir principle Scouting obligation must be with commissioner responsibilities. So, as you can see, this applies to more than just unit-level Commissioners; it applies to all Commissioners. On your further questions Unit Leader refers to, essentially, uniformed, direct-contact adult volunteers: Scoutmasters, Cubmasters, and their assistants, obviously, but in keeping with the principle should probably in
  25. And from page 24 of the Commissioners' Fieldbook, Commissioners must not be registered as unit leaders." BSA is very consistent about this, and I wish people would not spread false information before they did a little research. This is why there are so many inconsistencies floating around. http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/33621.pdf(This message has been edited by johnponz)
×
×
  • Create New...