nolesrule

"Can someone please explain to me what these scouts that are a week or two away from turning 18 and have not completed their projects are thinking? " They are probably wondering why all these adults care more about Eagle than they do.

"A boy does not have to complete two years to become an OA member." That's right. The only mention of 2 years is that the camping requirement must have been met within the 2 years prior to the election. Of course with monthly 2-night over-nighters (except perhaps the month of summer camp), the camping requirements can be easily met in 6 months.

"Ok, first lets get some terms correct. "Venturing" is the name for the BSA's program for youth 14-18, formed into Crews. These youth, btw, are called "Venturers". " Since we're all posting in the spirit of accuracy, it's 14-21. But I'm willing to 'venture' that the "18" was just the brain and the fingers not in sync.

Well Beavah, if I'm mistaken, then I guess the online YPT training was not clear enough on that point, because that's how I absorbed the information. Wouldn't be the first time something wasn't clear...grammatical parsing and all that.

Well, you can say all that about any training on any subject in or out of scouting. Doctors, lawyers, accountants, contractors, plumbers, teachers (and I could keep adding to the list) take training, get degrees and certifications, etc. Doesn't necessarily make them good ones. Some people take Wood Badge for the beads. Some take it to improve themselves as Scouters.(This message has been edited by nolesrule)(This message has been edited by nolesrule)

"When we talk about the requirement to notify an SE about a youth protection issue, we're talkin' about allegations of sexual battery or actual injury or death that occurred in a Scouting context." I'm having a little trouble parsing this; it may just be the grammar. I can't tell if you were you saying that the allegations of sexual battery had to occur in a Scouting context. The online YPT training I retook 2 weeks ago stated that any allegations of abuse need to be reported to the SE, whether in a Scouting context or not.

1989 was when they put an end to the skill awards. You had to earn 8 of the 12. Some were required for each rank, and the others were elective. Tenderfoot required Citizenship and one other. Second Class required Hiking, First Aid and any other to total 5. First Class required Camping, Cooking and any other to total 8. The 12 Skill Awards were Camping, Citizenship, Communications, Community Living, Conservation, Cooking, Environment, Family Living, First Aid, Hiking, Physical Fitness and Swimming.

Based on a quick ebay search, and without knowing what patches you have, I'd say not much. Maybe $3-5 each. Might be better off trading or donating them to a collector...unless you feel like prospecting and want to hold onto them for a few years.

" I was a 14 year old first year staffer (CIT, they called us) in 1980; I made $10 a week, with a 7 week program, including staff week." Buffalo Skipper, when I staffed, CITs worked for free, they also didn't work staff week and only the best of them were asked to stay the entire summer camp...they might have been paid for that last week or so, I'm not sure. For some reason, I got to be regular staff without ever being a CIT. I'm not sure if it was an age thing or just my scouting experience resume. I only worked the one summer, as I went out of country on a youth group trip the nex

I was referring to Daddy_O's posts.

When unit elections are held, as long as at least one youth is elected, then the unit committee can nominate 1 adult for every 50 (or fraction thereof) registered youth in the unit (and must be approved by the Scout Executive). The adult must meet the same camping requirements as youth, and should be chosen to help fulfill the purpose of the OA, not as a recognition of service. Female leaders can be selected as long as they meet the camping requirements. The camping requirement can be waived for district and council level nominations.

Are camp salaries for staff really that high? As a 15-year old first year staffer in 1992, I made $40/week ($200 for 4 camp weeks plus a staff week), which would translate to $62 in 2008, although I have no idea how much our council is actually paying these days. Of course, I was provided with all but 3 meals a week, and a place to sleep (translation: the green canvas camp tents) and an air conditioned staff lounge.

[shakes head... again] This forum troll thing is getting old.

I personally have no problem with the FOS system as long as they do a presentation, distribute and collect the pledge cards (and money) and leave it at that. No asking for more. No forcing people to sit through another presentation. Being OK with $0, $5 and $10 donations. Perhaps if a unit is within a small percentage of a Gold Card status level (which gives discounts on advancements and camp fees to the unit), it might be ok to say something, but not do a second presentation. It would need to be a small percentage though.

Perhaps we need to look at the breakdown of wear the FOS money actually comes from? How much of it comes from people with children in the program? How much of it comes from individuals/families without children in the program? How much of it comes from business donations? I don't have the answer, but it is relevent to the discussion.

We handled the Dilgar. We can handle a few stray unit leaders. (to paraphrase the captain who started the Earth-Minbari war)

Fees are mandatory. Donations are voluntary. There are many out there who would just drop out if you started increasing the costs in a mandatory fashion. With donations, those same people could still give a little if they can, which is more than if there was a mandatory $100 fee and they dropped out. A fee on a per-family basis? Is it fair for a family with 1 kid in scouting to have to pay the same fee as a family with 3 kids involved? Either way it's just another subsidy, except the fee is mandatory. We may also need to consider the leagal and tax ramifications of having fees vs. donatio

" And as to the arm pocket... well, what are you supposed to put in there anyway? A GPS? Compass? Gum? flashlight? Shirley not a pack of cigarettes! Who did they talk to when the ran the beta test on this stuff? Seriously!" The technology pocket, its official name, is designed to hold an mp3 player. There is a tailored hole inside the pocket so a headphones cord can be run inside the shirt. My compass goes in a front pocket.

I would prefer the ankle zips too, but with the single length alter-to-fit pants, it's just not practical. A 7" zipper would be useless for me seeing as I had to cut off 6 inches of material and there's another 2 inches of it hemmed inside the cuff.

I never had a pair of the old switchbacks. How long were the ankle zippers? They'd have to go away from the new idea of one inseam length per waist size, which I assume was done to reduce inventory needs.(This message has been edited by nolesrule)

Forget references or letters. As a Life Scout they made me fill out an application for Eagle Scout. That wasn't listed in my handbook under any of the requirements. I tried to explain that it wasn't a requirement, but that wacky District Advancement Committee just wouldn't schedule my EBOR without one. A bit tongue in cheek, but the DAC does have leeway regarding how they handle requirement #2 in regards to soliciting recommendations. Their mistake here was not making their procedure known ahead of time, if indeed they did not.(This message has been edited by nolesrule)

"I'm glad the did away with the cuff zipper. I have a 28" inseam and can't wear ANYTHING off the shelf. I like a cuff that can be hemmed. " That. Unfortunately I'm an exact average of my mom's 4'11" and my dad's 5'7".

Hehe. Give a pregnant lady her favorite chocolate? I might lose some fingers accidentally.

Yeah, I thought about doing that. But I'm one of those pathetic scouters who knows nothing about sewing and relies on my wife to put patches on my shirt. Last thing I want to do is have her sew a pocket back on because I ripped too much seam. I do feel guilty about having her sew the patches on (especially since I needed a new shirt put together on 3 days notice due to that pen leak I mentioned). I really need to learn how to do it someday.

I like the tech pocket as well, but it is a major pain to get the POR patches on them. It's the "pen pocket" that I find annoying, and I always carry a pen. The seam they added to separate the pen from the rest of the pocket makes the main pocket almost too small to be usable.(This message has been edited by nolesrule)