KF5WT

Like many of you, I was very concerned when I read that BSA was running their background checks through this Choice Point outfit which was hacked. So I contacted our local counsel office in Texas. I was told that, yes, BSA and our local counsel run the criminal background checks through Choice Point. However, no BSA information was compromised. Here's why: All BSA does is buy a report FROM Choice Point. They don't send any information TO Choice Point. And the only records Choice Point provides to BSA are those available through public sources, such as the courthouse. It's j

I almost hate to post a response since Im not even sure whether some of the ridiculous posts are actually spoofs and pranks. But here goes anyway. There is one important point about modern cell phones which has not been brought up. That is, cell phones are actually miniature emergency location beacons. In recent years several Scouts have gone missing, and at least two have never been found. With a cell phone, there is a good chance they could have been located, especially if they had known how to properly use the devise during an emergency. More on using a wireless phone duri

A few points: First, we aren't talking about toys, action figures, porn magazines, or illegal switchboade knives. We are only talking about bona fide, BSA recommended emergency preparedness tools--the things National says the well prepared Scout SHOULD have, not items that National says he SHOULD NOT have. Second, Let's assume you go against BSA preparedness recommendations and ban individual Scouts from possessing cell phones, and you seize one from a Scout. Is it theft? Very likely, because you don't have the authority to take what BSA says the well prepared Scout should hav

First, we aren't talking about video games, action figures, toys, etc. These aren't in the same league with BSA-recommended safety and emergency preparedness devices, which Naional specifically says a cell phone is. And note that the Field Guide is written to SCOUTS, not to LEADERS ONLY. If there are procedural issues, such as homesick boys leaving camp without notice, or heartsick Scouts calling their girlfriends at all hours of the morning, these can be solved with rules and procedures. A total possession ban is out of the question. You can't ban tiolet tissue because a coup

To Troop 251 Scout, PLEASE answer a question for us all. You said in your previous post: "In our no-electronics policy it clearly states NO CELL PHONES, PAGERS or anything of the sort..." Please explain to us all why you willfully violate the Field Book, which comes from our National level. National says that cell phones are recommended part of every Scout's emergency risk management plan. But not only do you violate National, you force all those under you to do so as well. And I hope your "anything of the sort" doesn't include GPS and Amateur Radio units because th

The 2004 BSA Field Book (page 78) lists a cell phone as a basic emergency preparedness tool. Ban them at your own peril and risk of lawsuit. You can't BAN a safety device that BSA RECOMMENDS and expect to be held harmless when some emergency comes up. The guide also warns that frivolous use of cell phones can exhaust battery power which might be needed in a real emregency. (The Department of Homeland Security also lists a cell phone as a basic emergency preparedness tool.) Better yet, the guide mentions on page 436 that FRS radios and the Amateur Radio Service should be utiliz

Our local Amateur Radio club (www.qsl.net/k5eph) is working on a project to build a medium power Amateur Radio repeater at a BSA camp in Texas. This repeater will serve as an additional courtesy and convenience to the thousands of people who use the camp each year, many of whom are ham radio operators. Further, it will be a great teaching tool. Our club teaches the Radio and Weather Merit Badges at the camp and it will be wonderful to actually DEMONSTRATE what a repeater is rather than just TELL the students that these repeater thing-ma-jigs exist out there in the world somewher