Trevorum

OGE, I should mention that in our council our advancement person (who is involved with disabled people professionally) has requested that we NOT involve council regarding proposed alternative requirements for T-2-1. Thus, the council committe has delegated items #3 and #5 to the unit. The other items stand.

LongHaul, That's an excellent observation and I have to admit I have not thought of it before. In this case, the Scout has (note use of present case) Asperger's Syndrome. Along with a number of behavioral and socialization issues, this Scout was terrified of water. The first year at summer camp he suited up but would only sit on the side of the pool. The second year we felt he was making tremendous progress because he would actually stand in the shallow end. His parents recognized the immeasurable benefits that Scouting was providing for their son and were reluctant to request any special considerations for him. Eventually however, it became clear that he would not progress past 2nd Class without making some adjustment to the swimming requirement. I met with the parents and we developed the alternative hiking requirements. At the time, there was no idea that he would ever be able to swim at all. But, as you suggest, he felt badly enough about sidestepping (as he put it) the swimming requirement that he eventually was able to learn to swim. Not very well, but enough to satisfy the MB counselor. (He elected not to try his hand at the Lifesaving MB, though.) This fellow has since completed the high ropes elements of our COPE course, has trekked Philmont, and is currently working on his Eagle project. For a kid who was uncoordinated, introverted, and socially marginalized at age 10, he has come a lonnnng way!. We're pretty proud of him.

You don't comment on the new Eagle's character or scouting history. In your opinion - the COH incident notwithstanding - did he deserve to become an Eagle? If so, you could point out to the grumblers that 'everyone deserves a break', and this holds true within scouting as well. The "break" sometimes comes earlier for some guys and later for others (as in this case). Sometime the "break" is not widely known and other times it is (as in this case). As SM I have tried to see the big picture of each Scout's unique situation in helping me determine when to be rigid and when to be flexible with regards to interpretation of requirements. (That being said, I'm generally known as a stickler.) Let he who doesn't want the break for himself throw the first stone.

We've had some fellows in our troop with various medical situtions that precluded them from some standard scouting activities and I've consulted with council regarding procedures. In short, up until Eagle, all advancement is approved at the unit level. Alternative requirements should be agreed to in advance in a consultation between the parents and the SM. Appropriate medical documentation should be available if requested by the SM. The same procedure is followed for merit badges between the parents and the counselor. Only where an entire Eagle required MB is impossible does the council becomes involved. I have approved alternative requirements for 1st Class swimming where the 11 y.o. scout was psychologically incapable of submerging his head, due to a recognized medical syndrome. In this case, I approved a set of alteratives which involved hiking. Ultimately, this scout was able to overcome his disability and earn the Swimming MB straight up. He is now working on his project.

$700M. That's a lot of yummy! Anyone know the total popcorn take, nationally?

Lots of us here on Scouter.com seem to have terrific (or sometimes merely half-baked) ideas on how to improve BSA (or, nodding to Kudu, Scouting in the USA). A few of us might say things are okely-dokely just as they are, but I get the sense that many folks here would like to improve just this one little thing, or "tweak" (grins at OGE) that one aspect. So, let me ask each of you: If you had the office and the authority, what one change would you make in the BSA of 2007? And what effects would you forsee from making that change? I'll start. I would drop the DRP as a condition of national membership and allow individual units to impose that condition on unit membership if they so wished. Assuming no other changes, I don't see many effects in the short run. Eventually however, I think opening the doors to all families would have a positive effect. I know not all of you agree with this notion of inclusiveness, but rather than telling me how I'm wrong, tell all of us what you would change.

fox, an excellent question and one that we rassle with on a periodic basis her on the forums. However, our cast of characters (and I use that word advisedly) changes regularly, so there's alwayts a new perspective. I agree with Beavah that all troops have some protocols that are unique to their unit. And I agree with OGE that having some kind of written "primer" is a good thing to hand to new families. Units can't rewrite the advancement regs, but there are always some issues that need to be spelled out because there will always be somebody (usually a parent) who will push the line as far as they can. Issues with money are particularly troublesome and should be spelled out. For example, can Johnny transfer the results of his fundraising efforts to another troop? Can he use those funds for his Eagle project or just for summer camp? Our troop also has explicit policies on what types of unacceptable behaviors will get a scout sent home from a campout.

Excellent thoughts from the founder of the feast. 1. That reminds me of something my own dad taught me: "Having the last word in an argument isn't all it's cracked up to be". 2. Despite our nom de plumes, I have always assumed that anything I post here can be printed out and handed over given to my SPL, the CC, my UC, or my DE. Not to mention my mother. 3. I appreciate packsaddle's dry wit and good sense. I appreciate Merlyn's impeccably reasoned positions as Devil's Avocate. I enjoy SemperParatus' puns. I appreciate OGE's calm influence and steadying aura. I admire LisaBob's infallibly polite and thoughtful posts. I'm glad for the diversity provided by DanKroh. I always admire the detailed historical contributions of Miki. I And you know what, I even miss Rooster's entertainly fundamentalist notions. I could go on like this but you get the idea. Dang, I wish we could all meet around a real campfire one day ...

Whew! I'm so glad that Kudu thinks that "being taken seriously is vastly over-rated.". Now we can just take him as comic relief. (jk!)

From the transcript, I can't tell whether he's naturally inarticulate or is being deliberately obfuscatory.

heh, heh. I volunteer to pour the mug of cold water down Cheney's sleeve.

Excellent news for the family and all scouts. Once he realized he was lost, the boy didn't wander and clearly knew how to survive. His dad said he expected that his son would be making beef jerky out there!

Sentio aliquos togatos contra me conspirare ...

et tu, OGE?

This thread is only tangentially related to scouting... A comment in another thread about linking earning Eagle with getting a driving license and/or a car led me to wonder how other scouting families deal with your new driver's first set of wheels (regardless of Scout rank). Do you give it to him as a gift? Does he earn the money himself? Or, do you subsidize the cost? And how about auto insurance? Do you pay, does he, or do you share the cost somehow?

"Question Authority." Always good advice (at least in a free society).

I recall one survival campout a few years ago. Cooking rules: no matches, no metal. Once the fires got going (not all that hard, actually) we witnessed a facscinating variety of cooking techniques. Most memorable was the patrol that boiled water in cardboard milk cartons - directly over the flames. I kid you not.

Some of the best Scouters I have ever known are professionals and some of the worst are volunteers. (Or is it the other way around? I always get this confused ...) Two sides of the coin. I can tell you one thing though, I'm sure glad I'm not a professional. The closest they get to working with the boys is toting up membership tallies. Not to mention having to wear a suit all the time.

And you can bet that those on the "inside" feel pretty dang virtuous about excluding those on the outside.

I was told that originally the base camp was at Cimarroncito. At some point (60s? 70s?) it was moved down to the the flats. I'm not sure what is the fly date on the public aerial imagery, but the pattern of tents at base camp sure looks like a series of rosettes, not the linear arrangement there now.

Ive been waiting for someone to respond to packsaddle with the one obvious benefit to those in the program: social group exclusivity allows those on the inside to feel more virtuous about themselves. By erecting an impermeable barrier between themselves and those on the outside of the social group, people highlight differences and obscure similarities (Think: We dont allow black people in our country club, even if they, like us, are wealthy and have Ivy League degrees). Where the differential is emotionally laden, we can sniff and tell ourselves that we dont care to associate with their kind.

My sons were shocked, shocked I tell you, when they discovered I had a MySpace page. I think I singlehandedly made the whole concept uncool for them ...

For the sanity of all the rest of us ... Brian, please insert, "In my opinion, " before Ed's posts. And Ed, please preface your opinions with, "In my opinion, " Maybe we can avoid the constant bickering ...

Congratulations to your son, Semper, and to his dad!

You know, there are people out there who think Elvis is God.