Kristian

There is BSA and then there is scouting. These are 2 distinct philosophies yet that doesn't seem to be accurately reflected in how this poll is written. I certainly think that bsa needs to stop believing that leadership skills are more important than outdoor skills.

dont agree to teach badges at merit badge fairs - this in many way defeats part of the purpose of the adult interaction with mb counselors, also you will always have scouts who will show up without even reading the requirements or doing any prerequisites/projects to completing the badge and yet they will still expect to be given the badge. dont do the merit badge as part of a troop meeting esp with essentially the whole troop. this like above is not how either the merit badge process or troop meeting should be. always try to be as knowledgeable as possible about the badge. whats in the booklet should never be essentially the limits of your knowledge on the subject. go above and beyond in further research into the subject so your might be able to interact with the scout especially in any areas they might be particularly interested in. try to be as interactive as possible. actually doing something, going on trips, interacting and meeting with others will be a much more enjoyable and memorable exp for the scouts than reading from some books. accept the fact that most scouts will only see you for the eagle required badges and that its rare to actually have a scout from another troop actually seek you out despite that method will often lead to the best experiences.

I wouldn't expect much interest in this merit badge. First of all its essentially bookwork and research which generally isn't something a boy will willingly choose to do and likely will only do in school. Also it isnt eagle required so that immediately will knock it off the interest lists of many other scouts. It likely would help the scouts to learn about the history of scouting as understanding early scouting is essential in realizing where it is currently going astray. More of this information really should be a standard part of the handbook.

I cant imagine another nonprofit actually looking to bsa for advice in meeting the needs of their customers/volunteers/members. I doubt there is any other nonprofit in the country that has managed to piss off so many people and yet somehow believe they are actually doing a good job.

while i am certain many would disagree with me another option is not including certain information on the medical forms. bsa has no reason to know your medical insurance provider, or social security information for medical purposes. and as far as the immunizations only tetanus seams required. for all other past conditions and medication you can simply leave it off and be treated just like anyone who collapses out in public. allergy information i would still always include as leaders really should know that.

http://advancement.ppbsa.org/pdf/512-927EagleScoutServiceProjectWorkbook.pdf page 17 as stated above. pg 18 for instructions

having online registration only which would drop anyone who hasnt paid for that year would certainly help. of course if registered = active = member there still would be issues. having each council publish somewhere on their website the numbers of scouts in each individual unit would also help. some councils have totally made up numbers to meet certain goals though this practice isnt that common even though it continues despite repeated investigations.

http://www.bsa-discrimination.org/html/mem-scandals.html

a plaque at the site of the project and possible another one to display in their business is a pretty common way nonprofits thank their donors. though if you truly have the money for it an after court of honor party somewhere is going to be definitely enjoyed.

could be solved simply with an adult male trek leader. surly this is no shortage of those at a scout camp.

she isnt wrong. and saying she is putting scouting in georgia at risk by actually following the law is one of those reasons why bsa has been loosing so many lawsuits lately.

yes its true its adults that are screwing up scouting but georgiamom is still correct. while its absolutely true that she has no legal tax liability beyond giving that information to the CO the troop/pack financial information should be included on the chartered organizations tax return if they meet the threshold to file. some scout groups do have hundreds of thousands of dollars in assets (normally land, or vehicles). these groups some of which do have their own independent nonprofit may file for themselves and not some church or something they may meet in. you are generally safe as most scout groups dont have enough assets or money transfers to actually trigger an audit. and generally the irs only audits those who they believe they can get money out of. a cpa or licensed tax preparer however could expose themselves to liability for knowingly filling an inaccurate return as some on this board seem to be at least indirectly advising.

BSA should be stigmatized for discriminating against certainly families just because they aren't a man and a woman.

By 1991, most of the headlines BSA was grabbing were related to the 3G's. However, in Los Angeles the Council was being audited because a former paid professional alleged membership fraud in the council's inner-city outreach program. BSA National refused to allow an outside audit of the council's rolls and reported that the council had indeed inflated its rolls, but only by about 1,800 youth. Other former paid professionals reported that the actual number was more like 16,000, from a total of 80,000. It should be noted that by 2000, the council reported about 41,000 registered youth. Another former paid professional blew the whistle on another membership scandal in 1994 on the Andrew Jackson Council (Vicksburg, MS). Brian Paul Freese, "wrote in his resignation letter that he had been threatened with termination for refusing to create fake units and pay their registration fees to national headquarters with diverted funds." "Phil Gee, a Scout volunteer who was among those who blew the whistle on the alleged practices, said local and national Scout audits found 6,000 inactive Scouts on the rolls. The council's numbers were reduced from 14,000 to 8,000 after all the "ghosts" were purged, Mr. Gee said." For the first time that we know of, an independent review of a Council's membership rolls (albeit a small section) was prepared in 1999. The University of North Florida conducted a study for the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, which provided funds to the Northeast Florida Council (Jacksonville, FL) to provide Scouting to youth in public housing projects (the report can be read here.). The Fund gave more than $327,000, over an eight-year period, to the council for this project. Of the 600 scouts the council claimed, the study could only verify less than 100 and only 125 of the 285 adult volunteer leaders claimed. After more than 25 years of public airing of BSA's fraudulent activities it should have come as no surprise to the Circle Ten Council (Dallas, TX), when federal agents raided their offices on the morning of 7 April 2000. This raid started a federal investigation into the Council's fraudulent membership reporting. The investigation resulted in the impanelling of a federal grand jury in 2003 to examine the evidence and hear testimony from government witnesses. As of January 2005, that examination was yet to be concluded. However, since the raid, the council has revised their membership rolls by -35%, or a reduction of 20,000 youth. The local United Way chapter, "which had steadily increased its contributions over 10 years based on Circle Ten's membership claims, has reduced donations" to the council each year, since 2000. "In Atlanta, independent auditors are investigating claims the metro area´s Boy Scouts inflated black membership numbers to 20,000 to gain more donations. A civil rights leader contends there are no more than 500 blacks actively involved." For more information on this current scandal, click here. At the end of 2004, we learned that the FBI was investigating the Greater Alabama Council (Birmingham, AL) for yet another fraudulent membership scheme. We'll probably read about the council revising their membership numbers in the next couple of months. However, until a paid BSA professional is prosecuted for fraud, there will be no incentive to other paid professionals to just say no to BSA National's insistence on inflating membership figures. Until BSA allows outside and independent audits to be conducted of its membership rolls, the public will have no confidence in the membership figures printed in BSA's Annual Report to Congress .

allowing the spl to tent alone is something some of my troops have done. gives him some extra space to plan out and rest from doing his job. there is certainly nothing wrong at all with letting scouts camp by themselves. if everyone wants to solo tent, and you have enough extras just let them do it.

ferns are simply going to naturally grow in that camp including around the camping areas and buildings that doesn't mean someone is planting them. while kuska is the only one here actually making an effort to protect a protected species naturally this isnt in line with the local council. they logged 200+ year old trees illegally without any punishment and then threw out the only person who seems interested in protecting the plants and trees on the camp grounds. - marking out protected species in no way disrupts camp operations unless you think the camp is better off clear cutting everything so no species left there to protect.

since he hasnt done the work he should not get credit for it. if despite your best teaching he still isnt up to the task of being the spl which can be an essential role depending on the experience and drive of the pl's you troop is going to need a new spl or the experience of all of the scouts will continue to suffer.

agreed you do seem to be missing some important information but its likely just bad luck with having courtney and gail now controlling the pack. the most likely solution is they just dont like you which could be for the most trivial and illogical reasons. the other leaders in most cases dont want to be involved with situations such as these and there will be very few or none within your local pack who might have the information to help. you always could consult with some lawyers/police regarding the bank fraud but that might not help you much. going in person to council with evidence of all of this and not leaving till you get answers might be the most productive.

building a great scouting program founded upon equal rights regardless of race, religion, gender, sexuality etc is something some.... wouldn't want to be a part of.

i personally would go with the butterfly. its chair leg system has always been the most comfortable to me when i have had the opportunity to use it. all 3 of these chairs will sink in to some extent but unless you plan on using mainly at the beach you really cant go wrong.

asking someone to give up a part of their uniform that they have spent the year with is just plan wrong. of course they will be sentimental about their necker. i think the best solution would simply be to raise the dues or fundraising in order to afford each boy to keep his neckerchief. $7 is not a big expense to ask all the families to pay.

Considering the fact that there is a never ending torrent of issues with the bsa. There really is nothing wrong with the BPSA. They are primarily focused on the scoutcraft/bushcraft skills that have been declining in this country.

The Baden-Powell Service Association (BPSA) was formed in the U.S. in 2006 as an independent and traditional-style Scouting Association. It perpetuates the principles and practices of scouting laid down by Robert Baden-Powell[/url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_baden-powell] in 1907 that had been developed and refined in boy scout associations around the world for over 99 years. These principles are so fundamentally sound and the practices so adaptable that traditional scouting goes on developing and can never be dated or unsuited to any community. Our aim is to promote good citizenship and wholesome physical, mental and spiritual development, as well as training in habits of observation, discipline, self-reliance, loyalty, and useful skills. The BPSA is totally independent of, and not affiliated with, either the Boy Scouts of America or the Girls Scouts of the USA. We are members of theWorld Federation of Independent Scouts[/url=http://www.wfis-worldwide.org/] (WFIS) and as such are not in competition with other American scouting associations; we are only their brothers. We are affiliated with the Baden-Powell Scouts’ Association of England. The training scheme devised by Baden-Powell is based on using the natural desires of young people as a guide to the activities that will attract and hold them. The appeal of true scouting has always been to that element of the vagabond, pioneer, and explorer, which is part of our nature, and is at its most evident in youth. Hence the significance of the opening sequence of Baden-Powell’s “Explanation of Scouting†in Scouting for Boys: By the term ‘scouting’ is meant the work and attributes of backwoodsmen, explorers and frontiersmen. Scouting is an outdoor movement and that is part of its character. To whatever degree conditions may, at time, force us indoorsâ€â€such as weather, darkness, or town lifeâ€â€we must regard this as second-best necessity and never as a satisfactory substitute for the real thing. The BPSA believes that everyone deserves a chance to participate[/url=http://bpsa-us.org/about/#] in the movement which Baden-Powell started, and with that, we have crafted our policy of inclusion: The BPSA offers a choice for those with curiosity, energy, and independence of spirit. We are committed to providing an appropriate alternative and community-oriented scouting experience. The BPSA welcomes everyone, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion (or no religion), or other differentiating factors. Our mission is to provide a positive learning environment within the context of democratic participation and social justice [/url=http://bpsa-us.org/about/#] . We foster the development of scouts in an environment of mutual respect and cooperation. We’ll see you on the trail! For more information on traditional scouting and how scout groups work in the BPSA, please download[/url=http://bpsa-us.org/about/#] our Introduction to Traditional Scouting[/url=http://bpsa-us.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/intro-traditional-scouting.pdf] manual.

My question: does ANYONE know the National Review process and how it works? When we submitted our review request to the Regional, they convened a committee pretty much right away. However, I've been told that National doesn't operate that way, that they collected review requests and hear them all at once. can anyone confirm[/url=http://www.scouter.com/#] that? I was just told that the next National review won't be until sometime in July? There are no publicly available documents and bsa has never revealed this type of information in any post, website, or explanation regarding the appeals process. There is only a single document released by bsa that actually mentions the regional, and national review processes but it makes no mention of how to actually successfully mount an appeal or how the committees make their decisions who are on them, or how to fix these problems that you are now facing. Many people as you likely would have found chose to pursue their appeals through the court system. There are at least a dozen or so out there on issues besides the god/gays issue. You should know however that no publicly available cases have been successful. A significant number of people in situations like yourself ended up spending tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars on court appeals and the bsa process. The end result generally seems to be even if your only crime in bsa's eyes if reporting that a pro scouter engaged in membership fraud, or you tried to stop the sale of a council owned property donated specifically for scout use you don't stand much of a chance. But fighting for whats right is more important and in these cases fighting bullying (exclusion) is worth the fight. Based on the limited info you provided having the se's support seems to be a positive factor, as well as having a team of experts to assist in your case. Good Luck.

for the most part its good that this matter was eventually settled. while its unfortunate that the city did somewhat loose in this case in having to actually pay the legal fees/improvements it is a reasonable solution for all parties involved. also its not like this has any real effect on scouting. scouts rarely if ever would care about the local councils offices. scouts/scouters really only get pissed off when the council decides to sell off properties that they actually use and like such as their camps. if the overpaid pros in pa choose to they always could find some new donors to come up with the fair market rent of 200k or so a year.