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DeanRx

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DeanRx last won the day on March 7 2014

DeanRx had the most liked content!

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About DeanRx

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    Junior Member

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    California
  • Occupation
    Medical Field
  • Interests
    Getting away from the city, golfing, non-pc jokes and second guessing draconian rules made by autocrats who have never spent a day of their professional life actually doing the tasks they sit in judgement of....
  • Biography
    I was born... then I grew up.... now I try to adult, but I don't take it too seriously.... with any luck, I'm about half way done with life... hope the second half is just as interesting as the first half. Wish the second half would take longer than the first :)

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  1. Yes, I really do not understand this change... if a patrol wants to have a patrol meeting at a public park, why the need for ANY adult supervision? Out of uniform, a group of six or so boys meeting up at the park to hang out is normal boy behavior. But wear a scout tee shirt and discuss scout stuff... all of a sudden it requires TWO registered adults to supervise it?
  2. The one thing that would be great is a “skip directly to the test” portion for those of us who have done it EVERY TWO YEARS for over a decade now. I under the need to update it. But much like a lot of BSA training, it’s pretty straight forward and most Changes are cosmetic at best and seem to be new admins peeing on the fire plug (so to speak) so they say they did something new.
  3. I think there is a LOT of adults that have a fear of things not going as planned. The patrol method is the definition of things not going as planned. Most of the time, it is barely controlled chaos. When I have to talk with parents because they are upset that there is "free time" scheduled on campouts, we have a problem. If the entire day from sun up to sun down isn't scheduled... then what is being accomplished? and Gasp!, a boy might get into trouble without someplace to be at all times ! I firmly believe this should be required reading before ANY adult it allowed to sign up as a l
  4. Unfortunately, I have found a couple axioms in my 10+ years as an adult scouter. I have served as a DL, a CM, a CC, a MBC and an ASM since my now 17 year old eagle scout joined as a Tiger at age 6... 1) The WB aloofness abounds in BSA. Either you've done it or you haven't. If you haven't - there are some who will write you off as a leader with any knowledge worth sharing. 2) There are HUGE fiefdoms within most training groups within districts and councils. I have volunteered in the past to help train at the district level for BALOO and IOLS. Mostly first aid and fire building...
  5. Unfortunately, UCs are much like DEs in my 10+ years as a scouter... Hardly ever hear from them. When you do, you can bet its about one of two things: 1) recruitment and more likely 2) Can I do a FOS presentation? They're also good for showing up at your Blue and Gold once a year (in cubbies) and bumming a free meal off the unit the one time a year you see them
  6. Sometimes we need to be reminded of perspective. I've often offered up the undisputable fact when someone is arguing for or against the relative risk of a scouting activity... that more than likely the most dangerous thing we do in scouting is riding in a vehicle, for multiple hours at a time, with other non scout drivers on the same roads.... The most dangerous thing we EVER do in scouts (by far) is driving to and from scouting events... and no one thinks twice about it.
  7. They work right up until the phone's battery goes dead. There's a reason the GPS is always secondary to the map / compass / orienteering skills as primary. The primary still works when you have no power or you can't lock onto the satellite for some reason Its all very elementary in the classroom setting, or even on a course in the local park... things get very real when you are 3 days out on Northern Tier in an area with nothing but a bunch of dotted lakes hooked together with little dotted portage trails and the patrol of scouts have a difference of opinion about which portage trail i
  8. 1) I echo the thought of rotation of RT nights. I get that for consistency sake the 3rd Thursday of the month works well... unless that is your unit's meeting night... or you work late shift every Thursday, etc... 2) As hard as it might be... go VISIT units !! My largest pet peeve with district folks (both vols, but especially some DE pros)... is the ONLY time you see them all year is when they want to show up at your Blue and Gold or a Troop COH to pitch FOS. If you can get there to ASK volunteers who are already giving both time and money to the organization for MORE money... you can
  9. Yeah Hawkwin... it is a serious question. From the standpoint that over the past 12 to 18 months (at least), BSA seems to have taken the "boys" for granted. Its ALL BSA4G, ALL the time. Don't think the boys do not notice this. What I mean by asking if they ever cared... does the powers that be in Irving actually care about the scouts? Or is it (and has always been) about how to retain the most members? I ask this because back when they had the LDS pumping their coffers and meeting rooms full (and to a lesser extent the Catholic churches).... then it was OK to exclude gays, it was OK
  10. "Now tell me why boys should not feel they have lost their Scouting program? I predict BSA will lose more boys than girls gained for a net loss of overall membership. Faced with this reality, they'll change to program to make it even more girl-friendly. Boys are the failing segment of our society right now, and nobody cares - nobody. " The crux of the argument to me is in this sentence... I don't think ANYONE believes this is not a great opportunity for female youth. But, did anyone stop to ask IF it was in the best interest of the male youth? Yes, males need to learn how to interact wi
  11. I think there are a few issues at play that might not be considered in the research article. First, the internet provides two things that were lacking in previous generations 1) anonymity - youth can go on chat boards and social media and ask / inquire / experiment with very fluid gender dynamics without much repercussion. Often, this can be done in an online culture that is very open to these ideas and is at least neutral towards them if not outright encouraging instead of disapproving. 2) They can find like minded youth, struggling with the same gender identity issues. They find not
  12. I don't have much else to add than what others have stated... but its an excellent question... There are times I wonder if the checks actually get done. If they do, what they actually check? Obviously, and offense that could endanger a minor (child abuse / molestation / DUI / etc)... but as another poster stated, I'm not sure if you write bad checks, that will even come up (depending on what BSA asks about). Then if the record is sealed or expunged... or if the record was plead down to a misdemeanor... or if it was recorded when they were a youth... all reasons it might not show.
  13. My older son had one of his letter of recommendation written by his younger brother (who just joined the troop from cub scouts 4 months ago).... detailing how his older brother has mentored him, served as den chief for his wolf den, etc... through the younger lad's entire scout career thus far. Pretty cool that the older boy asked his kid brother to do that. Even more cool that the 11 year old put together a letter of recommendation that was better than a lot I've seen from references when I've done hiring actions for adults applying for jobs.
  14. I hope more units are seeing that. This is the only thing that will keep BSA afloat with the departure of LDS looming... I have since aged out of pack activities with my boys, so I do not have a good feel for how many cubbies are coming from siblings versus new scout families. If the majority are from the later group... this bodes well for the membership health of BSA. It bodes well for the leadership needed to support BSA4G units too.
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