scoutldr

Youth protection experts recommend against having your child's name on their clothing. A stranger could approach them and call them by name, making them think that the adult knows them.

Make sure you give them a template to go by for proper placement. One of our adults "outsourced" the job and it came back looking worse than if he had done it himself.

Back then, "Den Mother" was the only position a female could hold. Every Wednesday afternoon we would ride our bikes over to Mrs. W's house right after school for our den meeting. This was after wearing our uniforms to school all day (every week!).

Welcome to your new hobby! First bit of advice is to pick a "segment" of the hobby and focus on it...CSP's, Lodge flaps, Philmont, etc. You can't do it all (I tried, but my wife objected to the space requirement!). I have focused on the council, lodge and council camp where I have spent 30 years scouting. In the scouting environment, there are a few unwritten rules to observe. Patch trading should generally be "one for one". No money should change hands. Adults do not trade with youth. Seal the deal with a handshake and both parties should go away friends. If you want to know the "worth" of your patches, there are several sources...the OA "Blue Book", and the "Guide to Scouting Collectibles" by George Cuhaj. Also watch ebay for an idea of what things are going for. Older felt or chenille patches and "first flaps" (the first flap issued by an OA lodge)can go for $1000 or more.

"Who expected a heat index of 100?" he said, adding, "There's a lot of other things that could be done in the future, and I'm sure they're going to rewrite the book. "They were ready, but they weren't ready for that level [of heat]. What community is? New York wasn't ready for 9/11." As a lifelong resident of Eastern Virginia, just a few observations: 1. We expected it. Heat indices of 100 or above happen EVERY summer in July and August. Typical summertime highs above 90 with dewpoints above 70 are the norm. Anyone in Virginia who doesn't know this must live in a cave. 2. Our council camp, located an hour south of Richmond, has been suffering in attendance in the past few years, and the most common complaint is heat. It's really no hotter than when I first attended the camp in 1966, or when the settlers came in 1607. The only variable is the physical condition and tolerance of those attending. 3. Heat illness can be minimized by proper hydration, rest, shade, nutrition (electrolytes), and acclimatization. Acclimitization means "training" your body to cope with the heat, much like you would "train" for a Philmont trek or high altitude hiking. Those who work/play in the heat every day are usually not affected by it. 4. Could it be that we have become "soft"? Taking someone from an air conditioned office, or an air conditioned chair in front of a Playstation, and then transporting them the next day to an outdoor sauna-like environment with a much higher level of physical exertion is a recipe for heat illness. Units from a milder climate planning to travel to Virginia, should plan and train for it, just like you would doing "Philmont work-ups". I wouldn't dream of taking my Virginia troop to Alaska for a winter campout without proper training and preparation...that would be dangerous and irresponsible. 5. This is not to minimize the responsibility of the Jambo staff...who should have recognized and planned for the above factors...we call it "Operational Risk Management" in the military. Predict and plan. Having unacclimatized people hike 5 miles and then sit in an open field under a hot sun for hours is just stupid.

John is correct...we must be about the same age. The "Lion-Webelos" book can still be found routinely on ebay. Also back then, dens were not segregated by rank, until you got to Webelos ... the Webelos den patch was a yellow diamond with a blue "W" in the middle. I was in "Den 7" all the way through.

You mean we should be more rigorous than what the schools are? I have actually had scouts ask me "what's the minimum I need to do to get this signed off?" Scoutwork and school work are just annoyances that take time away from video games and instant messaging. And the parents are just as bad...they just want the check mark so they can move on to the next activity. They just want the Eagle so junior can put it on his college resume. After all, they're really busy.

I didn't mean for my response to be "harsh". What I meant was, if you can't/won't wear a complete uniform, for whatever reason, then the question of what's "suitable" is really up to the wearer. I don't always wear a complete uniform when camping, but I do try to keep the colors reasonably close. What really gives me heartburn is for scouts (and adults) to show up for flags at summer camp with a uniform shirt and bright orange (or red, yellow, green, etc) shorts. At least make an effort... All of my uniform parts now come from eBay. SOmetimes you can get shirts with the tags still on for half price. My favorite was the "Den Leader shirt - only worn once" - lol. The last time anyone else sewed on a patch for me was when I was about 11 years old, when my mom turned the job over to me.(This message has been edited by scoutldr)

To be safe, I would ask the SE to consult your Council's legal counsel. He's probably being paid a retainer to answer questions like this. I suspect I know what the answer will be though...it's the part about making 100 copies and including the cost in the camp fee that will be the sticking point.

It's amazing to me that someone, like the SE maybe, didn't check with National about the appropriateness of the $52 fee. I'm sorry, but the professional staff and Executive Board of this council look like idiots. Or was it all a publicity stunt?

Since neither choice would be correct uniforming, it really doesn't matter.

The unit in which I serve, a Troop, is sponsored by a filipino United Methodist Congregation. None of the church youth belong to our troop, and the only function the CO serves is to provide a meeting place. They recently told us they wanted us to move our meetings to another night, because it was too expensive to heat the building just for us on Monday nights. We are considering our options. Our troop membership is mixed Catholic/protestant/unchurched, white, a black Puerto Rican and one vegetarian. No filipino methodists.(This message has been edited by scoutldr)

By BEN FELLER, AP Education Writer Thu Jan 19, 6:23 PM ET Nearing a diploma, most college students cannot handle many complex but common tasks, from understanding credit card offers to comparing the cost per ounce of food. Those are the sobering findings of a study of literacy on college campuses, the first to target the skills of students as they approach the start of their careers. More than 50 percent of students at four-year schools and more than 75 percent at two-year colleges lacked the skills to perform complex literacy tasks. That means they could not interpret a table about exercise and blood pressure, understand the arguments of newspaper editorials, compare credit card offers with different interest rates and annual fees or summarize results of a survey about parental involvement in school. The results cut across three types of literacy: analyzing news stories and other prose, understanding documents and having math skills needed for checkbooks or restaurant tips. "It is kind of disturbing that a lot of folks are graduating with a degree and they're not going to be able to do those things," said Stephane Baldi, the study's director at the American Institutes for Research, a behavioral and social science research organization. Most students at community colleges and four-year schools showed intermediate skills, meaning they could perform moderately challenging tasks. Examples include identifying a location on a map, calculating the cost of ordering office supplies or consulting a reference guide to figure out which foods contain a particular vitamin. There was brighter news. Overall, the average literacy of college students is significantly higher than that of adults across the nation. Study leaders said that was encouraging but not surprising, given that the spectrum of adults includes those with much less education. Also, compared with all adults with similar levels of education, college students had superior skills in searching and using information from texts and documents. "But do they do well enough for a highly educated population? For a knowledge-based economy? The answer is no," said Joni Finney, vice president of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, an independent and nonpartisan group. "This sends a message that we should be monitoring this as a nation, and we don't do it," Finney said. "States have no idea about the knowledge and skills of their college graduates." The survey examined college and university students nearing the end of their degree programs. The students did the worst on matters involving math, according to the study. Almost 20 percent of students pursuing four-year degrees had only basic quantitative skills. For example, the students could not estimate if their car had enough gas to get to the service station. About 30 percent of two-year students had only basic math skills. Baldi and Finney said the survey should be used as a tool. They hope state leaders, educators and university trustees will examine the rigor of courses required of all students. The survey showed a strong relationship between analytic coursework and literacy. Students in two-year and four-year schools scored higher when they took classes that challenged them to apply theories to practical problems or weigh competing arguments. The college survey used the same test as the National Assessment of Adult Literacy, the government's examination of English literacy among adults. The results of that study were released in December, showing about one in 20 adults is not literate in English. On campus, the tests were given in 2003 to a representative sample of 1,827 students at public and private schools. The Pew Charitable Trusts funded the survey. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

To those unit leaders and parents in Monmouth Council who disagree with this decision, they need to be asking their CORs, "Why did you let this happen? You DO attend District and Council meetings and vote, DON'T YOU?"

For his 6 figure salary, I would hope my SE is spending his time on more important issues.

A Scout is Obedient.

This quote says it all: "None of that money is for building anything or doing anything," said Carl Gross, the council's vice president of fund raising. "It's all for paying professionals, paying electric bills. . . ." Wait right there while I go home and get my checkbook...

Well, that sure would explain a lot. Very interesting.

The "wall of separation" was first conceived by Jefferson, 1802. See, to wit: http://www.usconstitution.net/jeffwall.html

THe jambo participant/staff patch can be worn indefinitely above the right pocket. Jambo CSPs and OA flaps need to come off.

Never seen that. Most scouts keep them in those plastic pages sized for baseball cards in a 3 ring notebook.

At the very least, the sentiments expressed could be viewed as "unscoutlike" and disrespectful to adults when sung by the scouts. I first learned the song at Cub Roundtable, circa 1984, but never took it back to the Pack. I thought it was just a RT thing, to be kept among adults. If the word "Announcements" triggers the song, then avoid using that word.

Maybe there was a reason that Webs used to cross over in late spring. We seem to be pushing it earlier and earlier. I think it is irresponsible for a troop to take brand new scouts winter camping, which in some areas, would be considered "high adventure" needing advanced camping skills. Your son's experience should not have happened.

I'm pretty sure I need an avatar. What is it?

Scout units are not legal entities. The only ones with standing would be the Chartered Organization who operates the unit under charter from the BSA, the Council, or National. On it's face, I agree, it looks like the correct decision was made, as long as other organizations who discriminate are treated the same. There is no first amendment issue. Scouts can say whatever they want...they just can't have free space at the marina.