Hal_Crawford

Eagle counts for a point. Senior Patrol leader is known as the head of the club - at least at the local university (my wife was a faculty rep on the admissions requirements team). It is true a B is an F for top schools today as well. However - the stress, anxiety, etc. that is being push on kids is insane. And the A needs to be in an AP course. I was shocked to learn 10 years ago that my alma mater's average GPA for entering freshmen is now in the vicinity of 4.0. This is not because all these freshmen were straight A students in high school; it is because of the bonus points for passing AP exams.

Local authorities insisted on latrine upgrades at our council camp over ground water concerns. A lot of improvements are health and safety related.

Well said qwazse. I would love to see your flow chart for the G2SS. ;-)

I don't think anyone is trying to make scouting all about STEM. The campouts are still the main draw and always will be. But there is nothing wrong with merit badges such as Sustainability--which gives scouts and alternative to Envi Sci which has been required for a long time. I remember a few years ago I was on a high adventure trek with a group of scouts. As we backpacked up and down hills there were two scouts that talked incessantly about processors, operating systems and programs. The occasionally would stop to observe wildlife or a great view but the tech talk was what kept them going. They are Eagles and aged out now. It should come as no surprise that they are engineering students. Some scouts are drawn to STEM and some are not. It is good to have the options.

At least Peace Presbyterian didn't confiscate the troop gear. St. Raymond's RCC in Springfield, VA took not only the gear but the troop accounts as well.

I wonder if they expect their boys to be trustworthy?

Declining membership and increasing Eagles probably indicates diminished recruitment and improved retention. Not as many boys are choosing to join but those that do are more likely to remain active and earn the Eagle award. When I was young, almost every boy joined scouts but many of us dropped out long before earning Eagle--I do not remember any Eagles in our troop. When my son joined scouts there was a a 50% attrition the first year but after that most stayed and a large proportion of those became Eagles.

Just have to point out that professors cannot do whatever they want. Even tenured faculty can be overruled and in some cases sanctioned for misbehavior. Twocub's son is handling this well; he is doing the right things but he may still find that he is given and unfairly low grade that could hurt his academic career. He should be ready to go to the dean if his efforts fail. There was a chemistry professor at my university that used his own special curve to make sure that no more than 30% passed Chem 101. He openly said his mission was to weed out unworthy pre-meds. Students were able to prove that he used an arbitrary grading standard and though the prof was extremely tenured he was removed from teaching that class.

An article in the Washington Post about a local Catholic church that has kicked out its BSA pack and troop and is replacing them with a TLUSA unit. Apparently there has not been a lot of impact in the National Capital Area Council as only two other troops have made this move out of 1700+ units. http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/no-virginia-catholic-priest-is-in-minority-in-region-in-breaking-with-boy-scouts-over-gays/2014/02/15/949229f4-95f4-11e3-8461-8a24c7bf0653_story.html?hpid=z5

In the end, the scout does the work and earns the word regardless of whether parents are involved or not. It the parents do the work for the scout he isn't going to make it to Eagle.

I would expect dogs to align with Sirius, not Polaris.

BSA can waive just about any requirement to right a wrong. I have seen a couple of articles about Eagles being awarded to elderly former scouts. In one case a scout had completed all the requirements but the paperwork was lost or overlooked in the days after Pearl Harbor. The scout enlisted and never received his award. He confessed to a nursing home worker that he always regretted not receiving his Eagle. The employee contacted the council and records were found or reconstructed and the veteran received his Eagle. The other story involved a former scout who had completed all the requirements except for Swimming Merit Badge. He had not been able to earn the MB because there were no pools for blacks in DC when he was a scout. BSA decided he had done everything he could and awarded this octogenarian his Eagle award. Point is, if BSA wants to award Ryan Andersen the Eagle award they can--irrespective of age or time limits.

Why is it always Utah?

I know some healthy family relationships where there are two moms or two dads. I also have known some really unhealthy ones where there was a mom and a dad and some of those got better when one or the other left.

You make a good point. In our troop, most who are still in at the end of 8th grade earn Eagle--usually close to their 18th birthday. Those who have Eagled earlier have stayed in until they aged out and two are currently assistant scoutmasters.