acco40

Following in Quixote's footsteps: The banning of controlled substances would prohibit anyone from taking prescription medications (a controlled substance) during my summer camp (a BSA owned facility with youth participants). Lawyers be damned. Don't smoke in view or smell of the youth. If they happen to see you smoke, YOU are at fault, not them.

With Bush, Iraq is personal, North Korea is not. Heck, SH tried to have his father assassinated. assassin - from Arabic hashshAshIn, plural of hashshAsh one who smokes or chews hashish As for the politics, as they say, money talks BS (not Boy Scouts) walks.

Along a similar vein, A year ago I had a den leader who wanted to include both of his sons in his den. He used that as a stipulation for volunteering to become a den leader. The boys were a year apart in age and in school year. He wanted the older boy to work on his Wolf along with his younger son (2nd and 3rd graders at the time). I told him that the third grader should be in the Bear program, regardless of his lack of previous Cub Scout experience. After awhile, he finally understood but wanted them in the same den regardless; one working on Wolf and one on Bear {den was primarily

Bob White, you refer to Cub Scout requirements prohibiting a 9 year old from earning his AOL. I do not believe this to be correct. Similar to Boy Scout joining requirements, I only know of grade requirements OR age (Be active in Webelos 6 months since 4th grade OR becoming 10 years old.) Am I missing something?

Sign of the times: "He treats us like men. He lets us wear earrings." --Torrin Polk, University of Houston receiver on his coach John Jenkins.

I was a registered Scouter (Den Leader) and when my older son joined a Boy Scout Troop I filled out an application to be an ASM (continuing to be a den leader). Fast forward to two years later and I was asked to become Scoutmaster. Lo and behold, the previous SM never turned in my application for ASM (even though I took leader specific training and outdoor training for SM). Being dual registered with the den leader as my primary position, I was not aware that I should have received two registration cards. The only way I found out was when I was helping with rechartering and found out I was

It is my understanding that your son lists/asks for individuals to give letters of recommendation for him. However, he will never see those letters. After the Eagle board of review get finished with them, they are destroyed. I admit, I'm struggling to remember what I've had in training on this subject. I've never had to deal with the process directly.

UN resolutions were passed with respect to Iraq. Iraq has violated those resolutions. Now the question becomes, what does the UN or any other independent country do about it? The UN has no real standing army. The UN has passed resolutions that we (USA) have not been too enamored with and have choosen to ignore. No one doubts that Saddam is a "bad guy." After listening to Powell yesterday, I say we have legitimate reasons for attacking Iraq (violation of UN resolutions). But the USA has a very long track record of NOT attacking every tyrant in the world who uses force, torture, etc.

Have them come over to my house and see who can do the dishes the fastest! We have held cooking contests where the boys need to plan and cook a meal with a strict spending limit. The task may be cook a dinner for under $30 that feeds a patrol of eight. Each patrol goes off and plans, purchases and then cooks the meal (and cleans up). This takes at least two troop meetings. The judges can either be the SPL/ASPL or the SM/ASMs (taste tester). After the official taste test, everyone eats! The "finals" are usually held during the monthly outing.(This message has been edited by acco40)

I believe that a "chat" could possibly augment a PLC meeting but not replace it. You lose so much online by not being able to read tone, voice inflection, body language, etc. We need to teach the boys how to deal with people. I also believe the "niceness" factor increases when in person vs. on-line (especially when on-line means anonymous).

Role models & behavior. We should not make role models the occupation of Saints only. Take for example the behavior of smoking. I don't smoke, my parents and some of my siblings did. My children were taught, by the public school system that smoking is "bad." Young children have a very difficult time differentiating bad behavior from bad people. They were confused when told smoking was bad and that their beloved grandmother smoked. Was she a role model for the grand kids? You bet she was. Children (and some adults) need to know that good people can have bad habits. They also saw t

To diverge slightly from the Don't ask, I'll tell ... debate. In the early 70's, females were not allowed to hold all adult leadership positions within the BSA. For example, females could be den mothers but not Cubmasters. Without arguing the merits of this policy, how did the policy change of allowing female leaders now hold CM, SM, etc. positions come about? Did anyone have their membership revoked for debating this topic either in private or public? I'm guessing that public and private discourse both weighed in the decision. Can anyone elighten me on this topic?(This message has

A little like pulling teet? I assume that that was a typo but dare I ask what the correction should have been?

Who exactly is "they?" I am a Webelos den leader and a Scoutmaster. There always seems to be a confusion of who does the den chief work for, the troop or the den. In practicality, the den chief works for the den or den leader. A troop can't force a den chief onto a den, but conversely, a den leader can only ask for a den chief which is ultimately a Boy Scout position. My experience is that a boy who decides that he wants to become a den chief makes himself available to a pack or den and then works very closely with the den leader. It is important for the den leader to realize that

That, BW, is a very reasonable policy. I just wanted to make clear that not agreeing 100% with all of the BSA's policies does not automatically make one a candidate for expulsion. Their is a proper and a non-proper way to go about change as you have stated. I remember a few years ago when the Supreme Court decision was first made, a group of Scouters in the St. Louis area (I read an article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch) wanted to form a parallel scouting organization that accepted gay leaders. I emailed to them my opinion that if they wanted to change the BSA policy that they should

"The BSA doesn't distinguish between an avowed homosexual and a person who speaks out against the BSA." Be careful here BW. What exactly do you mean by "speaking out against the BSA?" You want to make changes for commissioners with respect to roundtables. Is that speaking out against the BSA? IMO, no. NJCubScouter may want to change the BSA policies on sexual identity. Is that speaking out against the BSA? You may argue that one is a procedure and one a basic "ethic" or "moral" but I believe that is hollow. I agree with NJ and the BSA about the Declaration of Religious Princ

BW is correct, CC and SM (or CM) is a problem waiting to happen. One committee position that I think can work out rather well and sometimes even better than a non-family member, is Advancement Chair and SM. From a record keeping and database management perspective, keeping it all under one roof sometimes aid the process (one computer/notebook, easily reviewed by both, etc.). I'm an SM and I specifically DO NOT want my signature on the Troop checkbook. Although I agree that the Committee answers to the CO, I really believe the Committee should help support what the SM needs to carry out

In southeastern Michigan, check with John Dyer-Hurdon who "runs" a local Scouting Museum in Washington, Michigan (just north of Detroit). See: www.ojibwa-cvc.org/museum.htm

I have the following Merit Badges from that era: Atomic Energy, Cinematography, Computers, Electronics, Environmental Science, and Space Exploration Sorry, couldn't resist. Congratulations to the the "young" man on his accomplishments. I wish I could help. Earning his Eagle at 14 years of age was quite an accomplishment in those days (still is if you ask me).

One of the tasks that I believe both Presidents Clinton and Bush did/do very well is in comforting the nation after tradegy. Clinton after the Oklahoma City bombing and other occasions and Bush after 9/11, Shuttle, etc. That is a task that I would find very difficult to do.

Bob, I too want to congratulate you on your leading thread post. I have a foot in both the Webelos program (den leader) and atthe troop level (Scoutmaster) so I consider myself unbiased in the Pack vs. Troop debate. When the boys in the Webelos den receive their Arrow of Light, the leaders ARE DONE (assuming that they earn it at the end of their Cub Scout experience). Remember, part of the AOL requirements are to experience an outdoor outing with a troop, attend a troop meeting, fill out a Boy Scout application, have a Scoutmaster Conference, etc. It is not the Webelos leaders job

I am dead set against any type of self mutilation in the members of my troop. That is why I don't allow anyone, female leaders included, with pierced ears. Also, you can never tell with those circumcised males, poor mutilated fellows set a very bad example. Worst of all are those LASIX souls with mutilated eyeballs. Come on people, get over it. What we don't like (I hate body perforations, and hope my daughter never gets any) and what we should and should not allow is taken care of by the BSA and our COs. The SM and CM should not be setting policy on these matters of personal prefe

The first thing that I practice as a Unit Commissioner is that you should not step in and do the roles of the Scouters for the unit. One of the packs I'm serving is losing their CC and CM in less than two weeks (Webelos II parents whose sons are crossing over). They have no replacements. I've been asked "what do we do!?" and have given them advice - written job descriptions for each role, a willingness (for the past threee months) of the current CCand CM to mentor anyone who may be interested, tips on recruiting volunteers, and on and on. You can lead a horse to water ... The parents

I believe we should ban all avowed smokers from scouting. They do not serve as proper role models for our youth. If a former Eagle scout takes up smoking later in life, strip him of his rank. YOu may feel the above is in jest but acutally smoking (use of tobacco products) to me violates more concrete scouting values as stated in the Oath, Law, youth protection, policy, etc. than sexual orientation ever did. Problem is, the BSA is not funded by strong anti-smoking groups.(This message has been edited by acco40)

I've recently become a unit commissioner this fall for two packs and two troops. I was asked to become UC for the troop I'm in but declined for obvious reasons. Yes I'm new but trained. One of the packs I am a commissioner for is brand new. I view my "job" as a mentor for the units. To units that want my help I gladly and cheerfully help all I can, remembering to for the most part respond to questions and quietly observe, not preach and tell them how to "do it." Some units don't want me to do much more than pick up and deliver their charter renewal paperwork. If so I backoff and c