RuddBaron

Has anyone seen District Committee members working with units, showing up to meetings, going on outings, etc.? I mean AS DC, not as a Scoutmaster in SM uniform who is also on DC. My registration is DC, and I like to do this so I can see what is actually going on in the units in my District, how they do things, what they'd like to see happen, let the adults and boys interact more personally with the District, etc. As a boy I saw our Unit Commissioner at meetings on a rare occasion, but that was it.

The black sash was the original one. I had one that I wore with my official red-on-white sash when in costume. Another member of the ceremony team had a fully-beaded sash with the legend down the back that he used in costume. I will state that my black sash was STOLEN at an Ordeal. Scout spirit in action. "Spiriting" away the sash, I suppose.

"Boys will be boys" does not include needlessly dangerous and stupid activities like you mention. You can and should set a standard of conduct for troop activities, especially when it relates to fire. If they don't follow the policy during an outing, send them home IMMEDIATELY. If the parents won't come, deposit them at the local police station. Be prepared for some flak, but never never never back down. Years ago at a Jamboree my Jambo troop had a kid with a real discipline problem. The adults kept threatening to send him home, even to the point of calling his parents numerous time, bu

Fear not. This isn't a post about ADHD. In response to the following segment, "Spurred by the pain of hitting the fence, Ken came off it and unloaded a single right hook on the other boy that nearly broke his jaw. Both boys got ISS, the other boy got 2 days for starting it and my son got 3 because he did really hurt the kid," I will say the following: This is part of the problem with society today. One is punished for self defense? If your son had just taken the abuse, the other kid would have been the only one to be punished. Hmm...now what's wrong with that picture? It sounds a lot like the

I'm baaaaaaack. To paraphrase Charlie Chan, here is humble suggestion. If a Scout does as you indicated, DON'T pass him for Eagle unless his performance improves. Surely the intent of the requirement is to teach the boys responsibility and have them help lead the troop. Merely being the name listed by the office hardly does that. Of course, there are other more immediate solutions to a QM not doing his job. Depending on the circumstances at hand, one could have things the troop is doing delayed until the QM and senior scouts show up to lead. Peer pressure resulting from punishing the g

I'm not familiar with Pony Club levels. Part of the reason the requirements are not higher is to allow for the differences in disciplines. An eventer, for example, isn't necessarily going to jump as high as a show jumper...and a Western rider won't likely jump at all. The other reason is that, as you pointed out, the level of instructor ability has to be very high. If I make the requirements much higher, we run into problems in that area. Again, though, this depends on your definition of expert. The definition I use for the purpose of this award is that an expert is one who is competent

They have to know about horse diseases for the merit badge. But, it could be added as a requirement for this award at a higher level of knowledge. Since we're talking about a joint award already, what's your opinion as a Girl Scout leader about having the award be sponsored by BSA, GSUSA, and Pony Club?

Of course, the head of BSA, the National President, isn't paid a dime. Yes, I agree we need to attract high quality administrators for the CSE post, and salary is one major way of doing that.

>>> In your mind, does a boy ever become a man? My experience is, as long as adults think of boys as just boys, there leaves little room for boys to ever be treated as men. Yes. Legally when they are 18, but the process of maturation actually continues on up. One must give boys more and more responsibility and privilege as they age, based on their demonstrated maturity. Yes, we're the adults, and we have a responsibility to control their environment so that they can mature without being given so much freedom that they can't handle it. Ever notice how kids who were extremely shelt

Excellent idea. The person for whom I am considering naming the award is an old pony clubber, so that might just work.

It depends on the TA and school. Where I went they would indeed charge you for it and also perhaps give you a grade penalty. But, most of my TA's would not tolerate messes. Their method of coersion was the grade penalty.

Close. I meant mountain hiking. At a stop, for instance, they might get too close to the edge trying to get a good view. Boys are still boys, and sometimes they get curious and need a little jolt of direction.

I wonder if the National President suffers the same way. Perhaps not, since the Chief is a lot more visible to the non-Scouting public. I did notice a lot of security at the National Scouting Museum, right next door to HQ. I would expect there might be some attempted defacing by the groups you mention, especially of the Rockwell paintings. Now...I wonder if similar threats have gone out to Regional and Council leaders, both professional and volunteer. Either way, not to be callous, but if he is actually killed, we'll get a new one. The organization won't suddenly shrivel up and die

One of my favorite examples is what I see at the theatre. A woman is in an elegant formal evening gown, and her date is in blue jeans and a t-shirt. Hmmm.... Actually, I would say a lot of the lack of sufficiently proper uniforming is also due to the natural tendency of boys that age to challenge conformity and authority. There's a difference between a Patton-esque alteration to the uniform and a complete flauting of convention.

I'd like to think Roy doesn't do it for the money. Death threats? News to me. Please enlighten, if you wouldn't mind.

Marriott alone could pay the Scout Exec a $300K salary.

Right.... Someone else did suggest a "saddle blanket" patch, and that, or some other creative insignia, would be fine and perhaps more appropriate. I have my little Paul Bunyan axe on one of my packs, and it has never bothered me it can't go on the uniform. A patch on jods? Other than the knee patches, I've never seen that done!

No, I'm asking why their use seems to be waning. Lately I have seen nothing but the really short socks. Given the choice, the kids seem to prefer the shorter ones, as the knee socks are no doubt seen as "geeky" or at least out of style. For that matter, BSA in general seems to be considered geeky by a good number of kids. This is a bit off the topic of new uniforms, but perhaps someone can clue me in as to why?

And while we're at it...what on earth happened to KNEE SOCKS???????? I know they aren't "cool" with the current generation of Scouts, but they not only are very "scout-like" in appearance, they are EXTREMELY functional by protecting the legs. I went to a troop at the SM's request to discuss the OA opportunities with them last week. I was in knee socks...and I don't think any of the boys had seen them before. As I pointed out, those are REAL Scout socks.

Ok, FOG. I'd believe that a Scout Exec has a high salary, esepcially since a Council is sort of a corporate division of BSA. But, I've not seen numbers. I've also a Field Director who wore nice suits with French cuffs. Perhaps he just liked to dress well (a laudable trend), but that type of dress is not generally seen among those with lower-paying jobs. As for the shirts, you're right about priorities. In the warmer climates, kids can just wear a longsleeved t-shirt or the like under their SS shirt during the relatively short cold season. So, it's not THAT big a deal there, though the mo

Perhaps you need to read my post in the professional Scouter topic you started to get me opinion of Scouting professionals. I was NOT referring to the Council and District executives. I was referring to the excessively high salaries I see NATIONAL execs getting. A list of non-profit corp CEO salaries showed the Chief Scout Executive making over $300K. Is this incorrect? I am aware of the Union problem as well. But, if you want to lower price, you have to accept less surplus and/or cut costs. If you insist on it being made in the USA, which is fine by me, then the reduction in cost has t

"Is your Chem TA acting as a leader when he says, "is your glassware clean?"" Yes. If the answer is no, you must clean it. If you don't take the initiative, you will be issued a formal directive.

Ah, I see the problem! We're using different phraseology to say the same thing. Your statement, "Then again, all forms of leadership are directing in disguise," expresses my point exactly. Coaching is fine, but the coach is still the coach. Just ask Bear Bryant.

I can see the confusion! The uniform costs don't bother ME that much. And, local-level executive salaries don't bother me much, either. The executive salaries I was referring to were the NATIONAL level salaries. From what I have seen (and I could be wrong), they are quite high. For example, a listing of non-profit CEO salaries listed the Chief Scout Executive's salary at over $300,000. That's around what I recall the President of the US getting. The money has to come from somewhere. Moving it down to $200K would save over $100K. But, in part the high salary is needed to attract the cali

This is a bit late, but I wanted to say that, when I was a boy, I knew my DE from Webelos on up. When I got involved with the OA, I worked more closely with him. He was always extremely supportive. The only difference to me is that he got paid to play Scout. (Of course, there are some problem professionals.... )