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boomerscout

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Posts posted by boomerscout

  1. someone proposed the school system (specifically NYC) becoming the CO. That cannot happen because of anti-discrimination laws regarding public institutions.

    Most of us realize teens are curious about, and experiment with, lots of things as they transition from child to adult. They have questions about sexuality, about authority, about drinking...Mom & Dad may worry about little Billy being "experimented" on after lights out and the tent flaps are closed. And, little Billy may be too afraid to ever say anything about it.

    Sleeping out under the stars may solve the problem -- except in bear country. One man tents have been suggested, but not to popular acclaim. It has been suggested that gay Scouts have not caused any problems in Europe. Good! Do Euro Scouts use two man tents? The supply catalogues I've looked at show Scout tents sleeping six to eight, with smaller tents sleeping four to five. Hell on backpacking, but safety in numbers??

  2. "I would really strongly object to utilizing a food bank to provide food for a scout outing"

     

    you have reacted instead of thinking this through! What is the difference if the Scout eats his share of the family's food bank food at home or out at camp -- NONE!

    Obviously you have never volunteered at a foodbank. the intake person requests D/L and current utility bill with matching addresses.

    our troop just finished our quarterly canned food drive for the foodbank. How many food drives do you do?

    Scouts are people too. they are just as deserving of food even if they are out camping

     

     

  3. my biggest cost is having to get up before dawn for many programs!

    sometimes we have a zero campsite cost because we do a half-day of volunteer work at the site. no patches for our own troop campouts

    it helps to do a lot of volunteer community service projects, especially if you get a photo & write-up in the paper. Makes the fund-raising a lot easier later. We don't do any door-to-door fundraising--too much a pita for the homeowners

    I suppose if a patrol & their parents are really strapped for cash they can pull their grub from the local foodbank

  4. not knowing how to swim increases your chances of a sudden funeral. When I lived in a small town none of the public schools had pools, which meant they didn't teach swimming in gym class. It was understood by most of the citizens there that if you get into water over your head, you drown.

     

    Two years ago, two of these kids -- ages 12 & 14 -- went wading in a creek. They stepped into an unseen dropoff. The bodies were found three hours later.

    By not knowing how to swim you are blocked from an awful lot of the outdoors. No-one with any sense should ever allow you to get into a canoe or a fishing boat. You miss out on Northern Tier or Seabase. Later on you miss co-ed pool parties

  5. "About a year ago there was a city gov't that laid off all of its grounds crew. The city then requested that volunteers show up a couple of days a week and mow the city's lawns together, a job that used to belong to the grounds crew. "

     

    Since when did unions become the county royalty? In a democracy no government job BELONGS to anyone. More communities should promote & expect volunteer citizen turnout as a way of enhancing community pride and spirit.

     

  6. "I don't even see why that needs to be a government job. Just bid it out."

     

    You may be unaware of all the patronage jobs needed to reward the loyal followers (with taxpayers money).

     

    Building trails takes a skill level most Eagle candidates don't have. You just don't go out and start hacking away with your machete! Surveyors and watershed biologists had to be in on the planning from the talking stage. Sounds as if the union was asleep, and some citizen ragged them with "hey, look, some kid has to do your job for you" They just couldn't, noway, nohow let such an egregious insult go unchallenged -- else even more citizens might wonder why these clowns had to be on the payroll at all.

    So much for promoting community spirit

     

  7. it looks like half the troops attending were ooc. if camp woebegone is so bad, why did so many ooc units attend? were any of these ouside councils represented all four weeks? Reason I ask is that word would have spread from week one, and no one would show by week four

  8. weren't the Native Americans also immigrants to this land? Didn't later waves of them push out the earlier waves?

    Not all Hispanics are illegal aliens. Many were already in this land for generations when John Smith landed at Jamestown.

  9. Abel:

    I really believe we're saying the same thing here. The MBC has overall responsibility for his program. His "underage" helpers assist in the teaching, but he does the final review of each class. I am thinking of, for example, rifle shooting which is usually over-subscribed. One MBC can't handle the entire class by himself, especially when it's one-on-one time. If not for his helpers, there may be no class at all.

    Many council camps put age restrictions on merit badge classes. Some because the over subscription would swamp the facility. So, they suggest these mb are better for second year campers. Other mb need more physical maturity, such as rowing or archery. And, others need more emotional maturity -- such as motorboating.

    From where does your camp get its staff? Many hire college students for the summer; this doesn't seem to be a problem

  10. Abel:

    are the camp grounds used for anything besides the 4 weeks of summer camp? Do the Arrowmen do anything to improve the camp?

    Letting the camp fall apart may be on purpose if your council really wants to sell it to developers "See, no one comes here, so why do we need it?" Money has to come from somewhere for all those paid staffers!

    Minimum age for MBC is 18. However, camp merit badge classes may be taught by anyone super well qualified -- even if 14 -- although not younger than 16 is prefered. MBC still needs to do the actual sign-off.

  11. for hats I like the Tilley or the Indiana Jones style, maybe the Eddie Bauer. I really like the Australian hat with one side turned up, but we probably want something more American

    for uniform I like the fringed buckskin -- fringes keep the rain off -- with embroidered porcupine quills

  12. BSA had shirts without collars in late 50s/early 60s. They were used with the shorts & kneesocks. Concurrent was shirt with collar-to be used with the trousers (with the silly button flaps on the front pockets)

  13. OGE: Our forefathers were aware of this when they worked on the Constitution. Majority rules, but there are supposed to be written safeguards protecting the minorities. This doesn't always work soonest as many of us are naturally xenophobic.

    As to declining Scout membership. Some have stated Scouting is a middle-class institution. Well, the middle -class has been declining for years thanks to government bungling from all parties. So, if middle class shrinks, number of boys shrinks.

     

  14. "Is there any way I can get you not to try to dominate and assume authority, and not to be defensive when that authority is questioned? Since you're a man, maybe not. :-)"

    How we pee seems to control our destiny. I admit to feeling rushed enough (for some reason) to have been using male shorthand. I should have taken the time to explain my reasoning instead of flashing back to a similar episode years ago that was finally solved as I suggested. So, this was definitely very poor leadership on my part.

     

    "How could I get you to consider that your comments (perceived as sexist) were possibly inappropriate?"

    No one problem-solving method fits all cases, and therefore wastes time & energy.. Each solution needs to be custom-fitted to its problem. I did become (too) alarmed at the previous suggestions because I knew they would only harden the resolve of the bigots. If what I proposed led to a solution, then it would hardly be inappropriate. If not, then yes.

    Perceived as sexist? More like a case of ruffled feathers! I advocated no lessening of equal opportunity, equal access to programs and equal divisions of the spoils.

    I do worry about the increasing feminization of boys because that seems to lead to lifelong mental health problems all through adulthood. There have been several books written about this--many by women authors. Guy problems need to be solved guy fashion. I am by no means suggesting only guys can solve society's problems--far from it

    Running away--voting with your feet--most times just makes things more divisive. It just reinforces my way or the highway.

    I hope you never become aggressive. An aggressive person makes frequent UNprovoked attacks ending with stabbing his opponent in the back

  15. "Leading change to become more diverse is critical for Scouting to remain relevant."

    This sounds like a mission statement dreamed up by some corporate consultant. They say they want diversity, but most all the line execs always seem to be WASPs. Any minorities seem to get shunted into support positions. So, that could change.

    It would be wonderful if all the Rangers at Philmont could be minorities. Ditto for the guides @ Northern Tier. If BSA drops the religious motif, then many church COs may drop the BSA. At best, I would perceive a split into Boy Scouts and American Heritage Boys.

    Homophobia is much more difficult. Many just don't want to accommodate people with different gender preferences. This is reinforced over & over most any Sunday in many, many churches. Parents are made fearful that their innocent little Johnny may be tenting with a gay boy who will prey on him. If you can first change the ministers, you are a miracle worker. Our hetero sexuality isn't even as openly discussed as it is in Europe.

    An all gay troop? I feel that troop would be constantly pointed at and ridiculed and ostracized at any Camporee. On the other hand, if they skipped all district & council activities, it would be that we failed them.

    As for inner city troops not working out. How much fun could it be to take your 10 mile hike down Woodward, Michigan Ave or 42nd Street? Has anyone ever told them--with copies of old pix--that some of the more famous Mountain Men & Explorers were minorities? That on many ranches over half the cowboys were minorities?

    Let's have an issue of Boys Life where all the people in the photographs are minorities and see what happens

  16. "but the whole posting comes across as a bit sexist."

    OakTree: Are you also female? When guys have a problem, they eventually work it out amongst themselves, even if it means getting in each others face a time again. I've noticed at work that women, on the other hand, seem to want to complain to the Boss. It's not sexist to say that male and female brains are wired differently.

    The suggestion for Toastmaasters was serious, and Toastmasters is not sexist. There are easier ways to change a campfire conversation than the PC approach. If you hear a conversation you don't like, and you try the PC approach, likely as not you'll be told if you don't like it just leave. A little skill, on the other hand, can get any conversation headed in better directions.

    Pulled from a psychology journal: "Men and women approach problems with similar goals but with different considerations. While men and women can solve problems equally well, their approach and their process are often quit different. For most women, sharing and discussing a problem presents an opportunity to explore, deepen or strengthen the relationship with the person they are talking with. Woman are usually more concerned about how problems are solved than merely solving the problem itself. For women, solving a problem can profoundly impact whether they feel closer and less alone or whether they feel distant and less connected. The process of solving a problem can strengthen or weaken a relationship. Most men are less concerned and do not feel the same as women when solving a problem.

     

    Men approach problems in a very different manner than women. For most men, solving a problem presents an opportunity to demonstrate their competence, their strength of resolve, and their commitment to a relationship. How the problem is solved is not nearly as important as solving it effectively and in the best possible manner. Men have a tendency to dominate and to assume authority in a problem solving process. They set aside their feelings provided the dominance hierarchy was agreed upon in advance and respected. They are often distracted and do not attend well to the quality of the relationship while solving problems.

     

    Some of the more important differences can be illustrated by observing groups of young teenage boys and groups of young teenage girls when they attempt to find their way out of a maze. A group of boys generally establish a hierarchy or chain of command with a leader who emerges on his own or through demonstrations of ability and power. Boys explore the maze using scouts while remaining in distant proximity to each other. Groups of girls tend to explore the maze together as a group without establishing a clear or dominant leader. Relationships tends to be co-equal. Girls tend to elicit discussion and employ "collective intelligence" to the task of discovering a way out. Girls tend to work their way through the maze as a group. Boys tend to search and explore using structured links and a chain of command."

    What I gleaned from the original post is that this is a guy having problems with other guys. I therefore attempted to tailor my advice to guy methods of problem solving. Your hostility in that I stated the female approach to problem-solving wouldn't be the best here shows a complete lack of empathy with the problem itself just so you could be politically-correct.

    No, neither I nor anyone else ever complains to our CO. I can't even imagine it happening.

     

     

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