AlFansome

I'm the COR for 5 units sponsored by my Kiwanis Club. Our IH changes every year (new president) and I just call our council registrar to change the name in the council database. No app, no registration, no paperwork.

I'm looking for some opinions on merit badges from the assembled masses, so I'll throw out some questions and comments and see what sticks: - What are some effective things that the PLC/SM can do to encourage the earning of non-Eagle/non-summer_camp merit badges? In our troop, which I feel is well run by all accounts, it seems that 99.9% of merit badges earned are either at summer camp or are Eagle-required. - We never do actual "classes" on a particular badge, but the PLC will typically pick a badge each month related to a theme or outing, and then have knowledgable scouts introduce the topic and provide some instruction. For instance, a scout may bring in his GPS receiver and lead the others geocaching behing the meeting place, or experienced skiers may bring in their gear before a ski outing, or we may work on knots and signals before a climbing outing, or we'll do a pioneering outing, or whatever. One time, coin collections were brought in a some numismatic info was discussed. In these cases, at the end, there's always a "go see the SM for a blue card if you're interested in learning more and working on the merit badge". However, very rarely are there any takers. - Devil's advocate: Should we care about this? Does a "good" troop have a more active MB program? Comments, thoughts?

Basement- Here is the District Scorecard for JTE. http://www.scouting.org/filestore/mission/2011_JTE_District_Requirements.pdf Council Scorecard is at http://www.scouting.org/filestore/mission/2011_JTE_Council_Requirements.pdf One of your DE's goals (I'm sure) is to make Quality District. Notice measurement #1 for District...how many of your units made Bronze in JTE. This is where his push is coming from for better or worse. Twocubdad- With all the higher math required for JTE, you really almost have to have really good records in TroopMaster to figure all this out with any certainty. Our troop tracks all participation, serivce hours and rank advancement in TM, so for us, it was easy to just check the records.

The announcement is at http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/Marketing/Tell%20Your%20Story/SpeakersBank.aspx

What about Environmental Science? Totally doable in a short period of time without much more than studying up on the topic for most requirements (with proper choosing of elective portions). Seems to me that Env Sci plus Communications/e-Prep plus Citizenship in the Community would be the way to go.

Close to 90% of the pictures in the book look like they come from a single, large chess tournament. See page 70 and notice most of the shots of the boys playing throughout the book come from that tourney. (Notice the chairs and tablecloths). Perhaps it was simpler and cheaper (?) to send a photographer (or use stock photos) from a tourney than to stage, setup and pose a photo shoot?

Depends on your council. Here's what ours says. The last sentence would apply to you if you were in our council. Note also that the whole thing about "official scouting events" is completely false, IMHO, and Council is way off base on that one. Note also that this policy means that we need a Tour Plan (for example) when a few scouts are going to Roundtable to help with recruiting, or pretty much anything other than a normal meeting. "The Risk Management committee of our council determined that a tour plan is required for all outings, regardless of distance or length of time. BSA insurance covers only registered volunteers and Scouts for official Scouting events. Injury claimants have been denied coverage because there was no paper trail to prove that an activity was a Scouting outing. An approved, filed tour plan makes your event an official Scouting event. Regular den, pack, troop, team, or crew meetings at normal meeting locations are considered official Scouting events and do not require tour plans. An overnight trip always requires a tour plan, even if it is being held at your normal meeting location."

Random thoughts: - A very bad idea to do a "parents of" or other made up group to charter the pack. How would that provide you with a CO that's helpful? The folks in the CO are the same as the folks on the committee and other parents. How does that help you get more support? Also, while things are OK now, just wait until politics, a strong-headed parent, or some big issue comes up. - Cost: forming your own 501©(3) org costs $$$. $850 just to the IRS for certification not to mention state fees, annual reporting costs, drawing up the initial paperwork. Why bother without much gain? - Are there any Boy Scout troops in your area? Doesn't sound like you pack has a sister troop. Maybe using the same CO as a troop would be the way to go. Also, it's perfectly fine for a CO to sponsor more than one pack. - Finally, on one hand, you say that you want support and a CO that really owns the pack, and other the other hand, you don't want a CO to meddle nor to "give" you pack to an outside organization. Doesn't seem to me that you can have it both ways....either you get support and give up a bit of control, or you don't.

Seems to me the easiest thing to do is talk to the Mom (no e-mail), relay your concerns about how the boy will be accepted in the pack, and ask her what she'd recommend. Maybe she's been through this before, maybe she has some websites or other resources parents could go to for education, maybe she has some description or wording of her son's condition that parents (and you) could share with the other boys in the pack. I would also ask her about techniques or other tips on handling the scout at pack meetings (both on her and your parts) so as not to overly disrupt the meeting.

To answer the OP's question with wording from National itself, see below. Note that as others have said, different Councils operate differently and your mileage may vary. From the "Guide to Advancement - 2011": --------------------------------------- 9.0.1.7 References Contacted Council advancement committee membersor others designatedcontact the references appearing on the Eagle Scout application. This may be done by letter, form, or phone call. For reasons of privacy and confi dentiality, electronic submissions are discouraged. It is acceptable to send or deliver to the references an addressed envelope with instructions, and perhaps a form to complete. The Scout may assist with this, but that is the limit of his participation. He is not to be responsible for follow-through or any other aspect of the process. It is up to the councils designated representatives to make every effort to collect the responses. If after a reasonable effort no response can be obtained from any references, the board of review must go on without them. It may not be postponed or denied for this reason, and the Scout may not be asked to submit additional references or to provide replacements. Completed reference responses of any kind are the property of the council and are confi dential, and only review-board members and those offi cials with a specifi c need may see them. The responses are not to be viewed by, or returned to, the Scout. Doing so could discourage the submission of negative information. For the same reason, those providing references shall not be given the option of waiving confi dentiality. Once a review has been held, or an appeal process conducted, responses shall be returned to the council, where they will be destroyed after the Eagle Scout credentials are released or the appeal is concluded.

Advancement in GSUSA? Doesn't exist anymore. They just got rid of all the IPs, Junior Badges, Try-Its and the like. Replaced everything with "Journeys" and some associated badges that are nowhere near the breadth and scope of previous ones. My daughter is 12 (with a twin brother in Boy Scouts) and can't wait to get into Venturing since the program materials put out by GS National are so soft and "girly". Lots of chatting and group-think but no real goals or milestones AT ALL. The only thing close are the Silver and Gold Awards which are akin to the Eagle project (and in the Gold case, maybe even harder). IMHO, the only way to get a fulfulling GS experience for a girl who enoys the outdoors is luck upon a GS leader who has the same focus and tailors the troop experience that way. There is NOTHING in the GSUSA program that encourages or promotes a real outdoor experience that I can tell. In my daughter's troop, I lead hikes that follow the local BSA Council's hiking series and the girls eat them up...get consistent 50+% turnout on 6-10 mile hikes with 1500-2250 ft. of gain. We throw in geocaching, some trail food prep, and it's a blast. As I say though...nothing in the program to encourage it. We're also lucky that we're 2 hours from the Sierras and there are some GS camps up there that really do a great summer program. My daughter did 3 days of backpacking last year with bear bags, water purification and sleeping under the stars...loved it. But again, you've got to be lucky to have self-motivated volunteers to do these types of things.

Ask and ye shall receive... http://scouting.org/filestore/training/pdf/ILST%20FINALS%202011%20-%20Item%20Number%20511-016.pdf Fyi: We worked off a draft version of this syllabus at our last TLT and the unanimous verdict from the scouts was that it was a big improvement (i.e. more fun, less boring) than the previous syllabus.

Here they are, I think. http://www.walmart.com/ip/Starter-Men-s-Fashion-Compression-Shorts/16416164 Google is your friend!

You can find a draft syllabus of the new TLT at http://www.ktc-bsa.org/pdf/TLT%20Beta%20_KTC-B2_%2006-23-2010.pdf We just ran this new course in our troop and the boys unanimously agreed that it was much more fun and engaging than the previous version. We used no Powerpoint, incorporated all the games and activities and didn't get that glazed-over look until right at the end. Whether they retain and incorporate more of the skills taught is still TBD... Also a few Councils have noted that TLT is being replaced with ILST (Intro. to Leadership Skills for Troops). See http://www.boyscouts-ncac.org/openrosters/DocDownload.aspx?orgkey=1988&id=88093 for a reference. I would assume that the new syllabus noted above will become the core of ILST.

14th Amendment? It's unconstitutional, you know. :-) http://www.barefootsworld.net/14uncon.html http://www.civil-liberties.com/cases/14con.html

Yep...except mine was specific to my role as a Chartered Org Rep and asked questions like "Are you contacted by Council on a regular basis?" and "How actively involved with your unit are you?"

I'd also add that IMHO the "customer" for local Councils many times tends to be the donors/patrons/financial-supporters of the Council and not the Chartered Orgs nor the Scouts.

AT&T & BSA partner to plant trees: http://www.att.com/arborday/?fbid=Ea9lLazsHFk More info at: http://www.arborday.org/boyscouts

> Would the iinternational community even think about a no-fly zone if Libya still had nukes? Really? You may want to check your facts. Much like Iraq, Libya never had nukes ... just "weapons of mass destruction program related activities" (as the Cowboy said about Iraq after we found not much of any WMDs).

> I do know this: nothing remains the same. There is change always and it comes very quickly. And > the things we are discussing here are tiny things compared with what is inevitable. Reminds me of something a popular philospher(?) from Canada once wrote: "Changes aren't permanent, but change is."

...(This message has been edited by AlFansome)

Do I get a patch?!? :-)

Lower. I knew that going to Caltech would come in useful someday!

Regarding solvent pension funds: See Exhibit B1 in Appendix B of the PDF at http://downloads.pewcenteronthestates.org/The_Trillion_Dollar_Gap_final.pdf Short answer from the Executive Summary: "In 2000, slightly more than half the states had fully funded pension systems. By 2006, that number had shrunk to six states. By 2008, only fourFlorida, New York, Washington and Wisconsincould make that claim." The number of solvent pension funds would be larger, depending on your definition. Of course, the numbers are from 2008 so some salt should be added when digesting.

If the IH has a problem with the COR's decision, then he/she can always replace the COR, since the CC reports to the COR who reports to the IH, strictly speaking. If you look at the Adult Leader Application, it needs to be signed by the "chartered organization head or representative", so either the IH or COR can sign the app....it's up to the IH as to how it's handled and who has the ability to sign the apps and approve the leader. http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/04-113.pdf has more info. From page 4 of this document: "The head of your organization must approve all adult leaders and committee members, or this task may be delegated to you. This approval occurs once at the time of initial recruitment, again each year at the time of rechartering, and whenever adult leaders change registered positions, such as from committee member to den leader."