New Requirements

[mk9750 11]

This thread was spun from another thread.I just got the 2004 Requirments book. I looked for the changes made to the Merit Badges I counsel: Communications and Personal Management. The changes to Communications are quite minor. They added back a requirement to plan a COH or campfire. But other than that, the requirements have been massaged, not really changed.

 

Personal Managment has quite a few changes, and, I'm happy to say, they are mostly good ones. The badge is certainly not any easier, which has been the case with a number of othe badges that have changed over the last few years. They don't have an emphasis on "pay yourself first", which I think is important, put it is discussed in the new pamphlet (the Merit Badge pamphlet for both of these two are available at our Council's Scout Shop). I'm sure that I can place some more emphasis on it to get the point across.

 

They added a couple of requirments that on the surface seem kind of cheesy. They want a Scout to discuss his feelings about a number of money issues. My first thought was that this was silly, but after thinking about it, there certainly is often a different frame of mind one has with moeny in their pocket and without.

 

All in all, I give the changes a thumbs up. (I'm sure everyone was waiting with worrisome looks on their faces for my proclaimation, eh?)

 

Mark

[Fuzzy Bear 12]

I am not sure what to say.

 

I can't think of an argument for or against.

 

I am without a snide remark or an ugly name.

 

There has to be something I am missing, oh yes, now I

 

know.

 

Good Job!

 

FB

[NeilLup 13]

If you like the new requirements, may I suggest that you write to National and tell them that. In particular, tell them why you like them vs. the old ones.

 

Normally, they hear only the complaints.

[packsaddle 753]

mk9750, the suspense was terrible...I hoped it would last.

[Bob White 20]

Hi Guys,

I really hate to be the one to say ..."I don't think so", but..."I don't think so"!

MK take a look at the back cover to see what it shows as the last publication date for communications merit badge. I have a feeling that the book you are looking at was published before the recent re-write. Communications has almost totally changed. Check out the new requirements here.

http://usscouts.org/usscouts/mb/mb005.html

 

Bob

[frank10 12]

I just wish they would revise Computers MB. Requirements last updated in 1993! Get real.

With such hard requirements as send a message over a network and Visit a business that uses computers.

 

It's now about on par with basketry. No wait, that's not fair, in basketry you have to make something.

[mk9750 11]

Bob,

 

I'll take a look, as you suggest. But the requirements to which I have always asked the Scouts to work come from the Requirements book, and I had been using the 2002 edition until I just got 2004.

 

I've been reading the new booklets, but I started with Personal Management, so I haven't really studied the new Communications booklet yet. But, as I've displayed so many time is in the past, I could be wrong. So tonight I'll take a look and make a more thorough comparison.

 

Mark

[mk9750 11]

After posting the previous message, I used the link Bob provided. I'm working from memory here, but:

 

New Req. #1 is new completely.

New Req 2a is new. 2b is a rewording of on old req.

New Req. 3 is an old req.

New Req 4 is mostly new. It does contain components of an old req (how to introduce a speaker).

New Reqs 5, 6, and 7 are carry overs from the old reqs.

New Req. 8 is brought back from the reqs of about 5 years ago.

New req. 9 is basically the same as the old req.

 

The only significant changes then are the addition of new Req. #1, 2a and adding back # 8, and the addition of an interview in Req #4. this is more significant than I thought, but I still wouldn't call it a major rewrite.

 

Mark

[packsaddle 753]

Wingnut, I appreciate your acknowledgement of the timeless nature of basketry. But just for fun, let's see if we can put together just what was happening for computers back in 1993. As I remember, for my day job I still had a DOS machine, I think, with a 10MB hard drive (a somewhat intelligent typewriter). The newest machines we had were using Windows 3.1 or Norton Commander. We used dot matrix printers for drafts and a daisy wheel (remember those?) for letters. Microsoft bloatware was just emerging. I think we still had a working Apple IIe somewhere and I knew people who scoffed at using a 'mouse' but did it anyway - reluctantly.

But...in the classroom, we had 40 Macs in a lab networked with server-based drives and software, shared laser printers, and each interfaced with lab instrumentation and running programs that didn't require manuals. Man, have things changed!

 

[Bob White 20]

Computer merit badge is probably the most challenging one to re-write do to the rate at which the technology is changing. It will be completed no later than 2005 and is expected to be the most often updated of all the MB pamphlets.

 

Remember that this is a huge task, to revise every merit badge book between 2000 and 2005. It is simply impossible to do them all at the same time.

 

Be patient, the new computer MB pamphlet is forthcoming.

[NWScouter 9]

The computer mb before '93 had the scouts writing programs to make a database to make a Troop and Patrol list and other such. In '93 the change was a very good upgrade if even late.