nolesrule

I joined at a time when I wasn't involved with Scouting at all. I have no idea what our Council does with NESA, other than they had a NESA fundraiser CSP about a decade ago, which I still don't have in my council CSP collection. I need to look into what, if anything, they are doing now.

Is it? I haven't looked at the requirements.

/pause to find the requirements.....

OK, so in addition to all the other requirements, Eagle Scouts specifically would have to "buy" their award by joining NESA. Interesting.

Well, I guess if you want to earn the award and are an Eagle Scout, get that membership now before the prices go up. Or get 2 for twice the price. :-)

Really, those requirements makes no difference to me, just like when they added the NESA Lifetime version of the Eagle square knot, since i was already a Lifetime member prior to the additions.

The resume line thing doesn't effect me either. I'm a stay at home dad and the sole proprietor of 2 businesses. I don't have much need for resume line items.

Hey Beavah, I agree with you in principle that this sort of thing should be handled by concensus with program and committee working together. I also agree that the COR/IH gets the final call on these matters.

That said, this is a finance issue, not program. It also appears that the committee is listening to their customers (scouts and families) and wanted to make some financing changes to accommodate their customers (scouts and families) needs, while the SM is not. Th SM should really not be getting involved in finance issues. The program side should not be collecting money, should not be distributing money. The SM should be concerned with making sure the program is good.

In all the years as a UC I've been sitting in on troop committee meetings and watched troops operate, only one time did I ever see a SM meddle in financial operations, and it nearly tore the troop apart.(This message has been edited by nolesrule)

NESA is more of a support organization, so it makes sense that we don't get nearly as much back as we put in. I'm not sure why we'd call it dues. It's just a fee. We have no membership voting rights on anything.

As for the increase, well, it's been nearly 20 years since an increase, so it's hard to argue with it. The increases are still significantly below the 20-year inflation rate. $25 20 years ago is $40.42 now. $180 then is $291.04 now. That's 61.7%. But they only increased the fees by 40%. If you plan on supporting NESA and what they do, the OP is right. Renew or buy the Lifetime before the prices go up.

And don't forget, with the Lifetime membership, you get to wear the Eagle square knot with the mylar silver border on your uniform. Just throwing that out there to irritate the people who get angry about square knots. :-P

"But if you change the angle of most LCD or LED screns a little bit, it's worse than looking through welding glasses or a 35mm camera film negative. "

Don't buy the cheap monitors that use older LCD technology. The decent ones have much better viewing angles. You get what you pay for.(This message has been edited by nolesrule)

Well, I've been a Lifetime member for years, but I can't honestly say I feel I'd get my money's worth out of paying annually, even at current prices. The only obvious tangible benefits are the magazine, pocket and wall certificates and a pin.

The real benefit is in the scholarship availability, but unless you're college age, it's not much of a benefit. I assume membership fees also go toward that.

The unit receives the award, not the individuals in the unit. I'd probably leave it up to the unit to decide.

But in practice, at least around here the last few years, is once the patches have been distributed usually based on the official roster counts, it's next to impossible to get your hands on more.

"Like the FSU alum states"

Hehe. made me laugh. But yeah, my immediate family (including spouses) has a total of 13 bachelors, masters and JDs (not to mention two CPAs due to the degrees) from FSU across 8 graduates.

And to follow-up, for everyday uniform use, the youth have the oval rank patch, the adults have the square knot.

Because the Insignia Guide says this:

"Eagle Award, silver medal suspended from scroll, No. 00135; sterling silver, No. 00112; Boy Scout. Adults wear only on formal Eagle occasions. "

http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/Media/InsigniaGuide/06E.aspx

"The Book" states (to paraphrase) that the sash is worn when participating in an OA event (chapter and lodge meetings and weekends, section event, NOAC, service corps, etc.) or when acting as a representative of OA or performing service as a member of the OA.

I don't have an issue with less strict than by the book, within reason. As for a Court of Honor, I think it would be more appropriate to wear the merit badge sash (for youth only, obviously) than the OA sash as it is a troop event, unless there is also a callout taking place.

"The consistently highest salaries at this and all our sister institutions are....coaches. No academic value whatsoever but people seem to be just fine with that. "

Can't say the same for other schools, but at my university the athletic department budget is essentially independent of the rest of the university, and is supported entirely by incoming sponsorships, ad and event revenues and booster club donations. It is not supported by state dollars.

But yes, coaches, especially the high-profile ones, are usually the highest paid employees at colleges.

As for no academic value, I would argue that successful athletic programs can breed increased alumni loyalty (an emotional response), which can lead to increased donations to academic programs (in addition to the athletic donations). It may be somewhat indirect, but it does have an impact.

That flap policy just seems to me counter-productive. I don't mind the idea of certain "work flaps" having to be earned, but it's no wonder your lodge has an issue of visibility.

Eagle92, one might argue that's what the flaps are for. :-)

And I was just giving the "by the book" answer. I almost always carry my sash with me when I'm in uniform. never know when I might need it. One year at University of Scouting, I stumbled into supporting a Brotherhood Ceremony after the close of events.

"To go with the when-to-wear-the-sash question, would an OA crossover ceremony at a B&G be considered an OA event? "

If you are specifically representing the OA during the event, then yes. Otherwise, no.

I've maintained my membership since I re-upped as a scouter 5+ years ago, though I have not attended a single lodge weekend. My wife is the full-time worker in our family and we have 2 small girls. She needs me there most weekends to wind down from the work week.

I have assisted our lodge in hosting section events, and I am in discussion with our new lodge adviser about ways I can help the lodge that don't involve committing my weekends. We've tossed around a few ideas in the realm of the communications area (I was Publications Chairman as a youth, and I'm experienced with "new media").

One last thing to mention. Membership numbers determine how many Vigil Honors there can be annually in the lodge, 1 per 50 members. So by maintaining your membership (and encouraging others to reactivate memberships), someone deserving might have the opportunity to be honored sooner rather than later.

Just some thoughts from a not-very-active Brotherhood member.

Reminds me of the the editorial comment in our paper last week where the person wrote in to say the teachers should just shut up because they only have to work 185 days a year and 6 hours a day.

My mom has been a public elementary school teacher her entire career. I just had to laugh at that in a saracstic sort of way.

The camping requirement is for eligibility to be elected (youth) or selected (adult). It is not an annual requirement to maintain membership.

And I believe it is 15 nights over the prior two years, but I'm too tired to verify.

BadenP, I appreciate the olive branch and extend one in return.

I find the subject of regalia interesting from a historical perspective. Until I came to this forum a few years back, I didn't even know that there were more than 2 beads, and I can't recall actually seeing anyone wear more than 2 until I went through my course a year ago.

Eamonn wrote, "Then there is the MacLaren tartan. Some say that anyone completing Wood Badge is allowed to wear this tartan and claim membership of the MacLaren clan? "

There is a non-voting Wood badge Membership level for the Clan MacLaren Society of North America. Closest thing I've actually ever seen to that claim.

http://www.clanmaclarenna.org/

OGE, all the credentials in the world don't make up for immature behavior, name calling and trolling. If they did, I would have reported to an admin that I thought his account was hacked.

We are all on equal level here.

BadenP wrote "Sometimes you can act like such a whining little wussy, like now. Have a nice evening. "

Case in point.

I'd love to have some citation for these whiny, wussy accusations. I certainly can't recall in my 670-something posts that I've ever ranted about anything more than once or twice, and I'm pretty sure it didn't come across as whiny.

This is a clear case of someone getting called out for displaying poor forum behavior and then lashing out at those who dare point it out. Reminds me of small children and teenagers.

As for the topic, I appreciate ScoutBox asking the question. I learned a few things about the actual topic of this thread.

BadenP wrote "nolesrule :as usual your comment was off topic and not worth replying to. "

Um, OK. As usual? What's that supposed to mean?

I've been running Internet message board communities for well over a decade. I know what a troll is. I've had to moderate my share into oblivion over the years.

I've also been reading all the WB threads lately. Those were debating course content. This was just a question with an objective answer, and it was already answered. You added nothing to the discussion, other than inflammatory remarks. The OP called you on it, and I agreed with him.

OGE wrote, "Or a simple misunderstanding with malice towards none and charity for all "

I almost fell off my chair laughing.

I agree with ScoutBox. it was textbook definition trolling.

Good luck with your ticket. I'm sitting at 4 of 5. Should have the last one completed by the end of March.

Payment method itself does not make something taxable. Payment by credit card, paypal, check, money order or cash all have the same sales tax responsibilities. If you are required to collect and remit sales tax for your sales, then you have to do so. If you aren't, it doesn't matter the payment method.

I'm going to guess that "profit margin" on the cookies makes the merchant account fees a non-issue.(This message has been edited by nolesrule)

The car I got my license with in 1992 and drove during my last two years of high school was a 1986 Mercury Grand Marquis, the boat I could cruise in with my friends (even the tall ones) and still have plenty of space.

The first car I owned was a 2001 Honda Civic LX, which I got in Nov 2000 as a b-day present to myself when I got my first good job after college. It's now 10 years old with 98,000 miles on it... so few miles because I've been working from home since 2002 and we got a mom-mobile when we had kids, so it is no longer our primary mode of family transportation.