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KC9DDI

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Everything posted by KC9DDI

  1. Let's pretend that you should actually "report" this to the police and the professional staff... What kind of response would you expect to get from them? What kind of action would you expect the police to take? How about your DE? Who would benefit from this report - and how would that individual benefit? It's OK to think beyond the "black and white" guidelines published by a private corporation when deciding whether to call in re-enforcements to deal with the relatively common occurance of a teenage boy looking at porn...
  2. To paraphrase Beavah: ya, hmmmm... I think we all occasionally need to step back and remember that Scouting is not a religion, and the Eagle award is not some kind of sacred relic or holy grail that teenagers need to spend years spiritually preparing themselves for. So this hypothetical kid honestly shares with you his goal and his motivation for his participation in Scouting. The fact that his goals and motivations don't fit into some overly romanticized version of a Norman Rockwell Scout aren't particularly relevant to whether or not he's qualified to advance. How does the Scout
  3. I should add that tent camping is only $0.50/person/night - maybe not the absolute cheapest around, but still very reasonable. Building rental is obviously more - depending on the building, could be anywhere from $50 to $300 for a weekend. Couldn't imagine paying $150 for two nights of tent camping, unless other facilities or program is included in that figure.
  4. My council has three properties with a variety of facilities, and all are used fairly heavily year round. Camp #1 is located within the council boundaries, in what is now a fairly suburban area that's an easy drive for the majority of the council. It also has several heated buildings with nice cooking facilities, a fire bowl, facilities for archery and BB guns, and tent camping areas. It's used very heavily for training programs, Cub camp programs, camporees, and other district and council events, as well units camping. The buildings mean that it's used year round, and it's usually boo
  5. Hmmm... Maybe we could try this: We take references to God out of the Oath and the Pledge. But then, if you want to, you could quietly, respectfully say those parts anyway? Forcing everyone who is already in the program to change, because the new comers are going to demand everyone adapt to their way of doing things, will not happen.. This irrational fear sounds frighteningly similar to other historic "arguments" against allowing "newcomers" into our neighborhoods, churches, beaches, business establishments and schools. The fear that the atheist if given an inch will demand an
  6. moose - Those are valid points. Though I have to wonder if there's a better solution for the minority of COs you're referring to. Your solution is that people can basically say whatever they want and call it the Scout Oath, which I think creates a source of division in what should be an Oath common to all American Boy Scouts. Maybe something like this: The Boy Scout Oath (and it's counterparts in Cub Scouts and Venturing), remain "generic" and applicable to all who are qualified to be members of the organization. And, in this hypothetical world, that would involve removing the word
  7. if all those who believe in the line "do my duty to God", are forced to change what they believe in to accomidate the atheists. Moose - How would removing two words from the Oath "force" you to change what you believe? You're saying that you'd no longer be able to believe in God unless He's mentioned in the man-made Oath of an American youth group? Maybe we differ on what we perceive the purpose of the Scout Oath to be? I don't feel that the Scout Oath should be a declaration or enumeration of the "beliefs" of anyone. There's all kinds of things I believe in - religious and other
  8. I think you're taking some liberties with the definitions of well-established words, jrush. Atheism is the belief that their is no God or other supreme being or beings (according to my dictionary). That doesn't preclude an atheist from "respecting" your belief in anything you want - just like a Christian isn't automatically unable to "respect" the beliefs of Jews or Muslims or atheists. In fact, many organized religions (definitely not atheists) don't necessarily "respect" the beliefs of others. (I'm putting "respect" in quotes as I'm not entirely sure what it's supposed to mean in
  9. Awesome, thanks for the quick replies. I thought it was a Rockwell, but I wasn't sure. It seems like one of his less well-known works then (apparently he has another entitled "A Scout is Loyal" featuring Abe Lincoln and George Washington.) Also it looks like eBay has a few available. Thanks again!
  10. Hello All - Several years ago I noticed a particular Scouting-themed painting that I rather liked. I have no idea who the artist is, what it's called, or where/if I could find a print to purchase. I managed to find the image on a troop's website: http://bcn.boulder.co.us/community/scouts/troop61/t6197octthe.htm Does anyone happen to have any information on this particular piece of art? I'd like to potentially acquire a print, but don't know where to start looking...
  11. I would like to know where I can find the official written policy. If your council has a written policy on the matter, it would be available through your council's professional staff. More likely, it's just a target, or a goal, that some councils or some districts have. Personally, I'm happy with the philosophy of one of our professional advisers: charge as reasonable a rate as possible, as that will increase attendance. Factor in a small amount of "cushion" in the price, to account for any unexpected expenses that may arise. Yes, council keeps to keep whatever's left over, but i
  12. Units would want to purchase AOL for scouts not having Webelos recorded, ranks but no Bobcat, etc. The store staff really didn't have time to check everyone's record. So, why is this a problem? How is the Scout negatively affected if the council doesn't have a record of his Bobcat badge?
  13. What would you do, publicly smack him down for disrespecting the esteemed committee members? Give me a break. Nope, but I would probably privately remind him that it's impolite and inappropriate to address people in that tone. I have heard far worse and insulting comments from uniformed Scouters during committee meetings We all have. It's inappropriate for adults to act that way. But that doesn't excuse Scouts from acting that way, either.
  14. shortridge - Lets substitute just a few words in what he reportedly said: "If it takes a 12-year-old kid to come up here and tell you we don't need a new jail troop trailer and we need better education tents, then that's pretty sad. Here I am, an A, B student in my school, and I have to come up to," he said, pausing to count aloud, "nine people just to say we don't need this new jail trailer. Bye." How would you respond to a Scout that used that tone and those words towards your troop committee?
  15. Well, as I bet this Scout is learning, there's more to the democratic process than just "speaking your mind." So while I too applaud the Scout for wanting to participate in the democratic process in his community, there's still appropriate and inappropriate ways to do that. Scouting is, of course, supposed to teach appropriate ways to participate in government. Part of it is being informed and knowledgeable about the issues at hand prior to sharing opinions. Another part is being Friendly, Courteous and Kind, which it certainly sounds like these Scouts were not. The fact the other
  16. Wait, how is the SE being an imbecile? A Scout addresses an elected body in what certainly seems to be a disrespectful tone. The SE apologized on their behalf, and clarified that they were not representing the BSA when they spoke. I'm not seeing a problem here...
  17. it is right around where you just assume it to be the same-old-same old and don't go into deep word for word reading, but rather skim it.. Sounds like a tough call, but I don't know: It's the most important, highest rank in Scouting, that you spend several years working towards. It represents an enormous investment of time and effort. It (should) represent a great deal of personal leadership, development and attention to detail. And you're only going to "skim" the requirements? I don't know if I would find that to be an acceptable response. Fabs5342 - obviously you don't need to
  18. To be honest, I have mixed feelings. I think since you were given misinformation by your Scoutmaster, you wouldn't be out of line to approach the district and/or council advancement committees for advice. You may be able to apply for an extension, as Tampa noted. My mixed feelings come from the fact that the Eagle Scout rank requirements aren't exactly a secret, and it should be pretty clear to the Eagle candidate which PORs do and do not meet the requirement.
  19. You're not asking too much. You're setting an expectation of how scouts will need to Be Prepared to work with you on completing the requirements. They can, of course, choose to not prepare themselves adequately, but that may make it difficult to earn the merit badge in their intended time frame.
  20. It sounds like we all might have different ideas of what "discipline" means. I think I tend to agree with TAHAWK's interpretation. I would except a skilled leader in the PL and SPL positions to have some responsibility over discipline and behavior of the other scouts. And discipline is not the same thing as just dishing out punishments, either. And obviously there do need to be limits as to what the youth leaders should be expected to address on their own; what will require some input and oversight by adults; and the (very few) situations that should be handled only by adults. Speakin
  21. What's not appropriate, in cases like this, is sending it to the SPL/PLC. We're now talking about hazing, something that, had it actually occurred, would possibly have been reportable to the SE Ermmm... So what? What's so special about a conversation with the SE that would preclude youth leaders from exercising leadership in situations where there's a possibility of someone maybe needing to communicate with the SE at some time in the future. but any issues that might just end up being reportable [...] should be dealt with by the adults. Boy-led does not mean that adults get to be l
  22. Ardie - Thanks for the additional clarification. I mean no disrespect, but why is this something that you need to handle, rather than leaving it in the hands of the SM and SPL? I don't blame you for being concerned about the situation, and keeping an eye on the resolution - but a well-running troop already has a framework for dealing with these types of issues, and the key players are the youth leaders, with the support of the SM. It really shouldn't fall on parents to "handle discipline" in these types of situations, with the exception of their own children. Maybe it's time to hav
  23. I like Beavah's suggestion: a grocery store within walking distance? Then it's time for a hike! Now, in the event where the kids do in fact need raw caloric intake - in my troop anyway the trailer is usually stocked with some amount of non-perishable goods that are available to patrols on an "as-needed" basis. So, at the very least, cornbread mix or a can of soup or two could be provided, if absolutely necessary. But it sounds like just one meal was missed (lunch). It sounds like dinner was provided, sans french fries (which doesn't seem like a huge problem, really...) I'd say it
  24. Raisin - I know that there is a non-negligible occurance of false positives for food allergy tests, but I'm not familiar with the particular study you're referring to (and a cursory Google search didn't turn up anything) - can you point me to a reference to that study? Most of the studies I've found cite a "false positive" statistic much lower than the 90% you refer to. I think there's a good point to be made: That severity of peanut allergies can vary widely between mild to life-threatening. And mild allergies are far more common than the life-threatening variety. My advice in thi
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