NE-IV-88-Beaver

sheldonsmom, The current curriculum is designed for Boy Scouts and Venturing both. One of the main problems is making the lectures and examples relevant to both groups.

The new procedure is that even if you do an "in-person" YPT course, the trainees must go on-line and take the test to complete the training. As a facilitator myself, I think the "in-person" is much better because the presentation information can be tailored to your state, county, etc. laws as well as the BSA requirements and provide a question and answer period. But I have to ask myself, who is going to sit through an hour and a half presentation when they still have to go on-line to finish the course and be certified. Not many! Just do the 25 - 30 minutes on-line and be done with it! I think that we may have become obsolete.

It's a National thing!!

"What if you went to a troop and they didn't allow a 20 year old, highly qualified in child psychology, camping skills, physical fitness, knot tying, citizenship, etc. skills be a Scoutmaster? Would you walk?" Wouldn't they be following BSA rules that a Scoutmaster needs to be 21 years of age/ How could the CO be faulted for that?

Controversies such as this can make a Scout drop out as well! But perhaps nwasness handled it better the whole situation better than some of the posters here seem to be able to. Yeese! Such drama! It's simple - the CO has a policy, which they are allowed to under BSA rules, which restricts the inclusion of women in Scouting activities; accept it or find a new troop. This is not the only such troop and doesn't deserve the labels that are being applied to it. Why must some posters always stoop to that level?

Great post on how boy-lead can work if given the chance! Could you post periodic updates on how your troop is doing? I think that it might be an interesting lesson for all of us to see how well a boy-lead group functions even though this group was established with a short term focus. They don't have a lot of time to get themselves up to speed before they're going live, putting their plan into action. Stosh, you should be commended for the way that you brought this about. Three big howls!!

OGE, Wear 'em with pride and don't worry about it! I wear my doodads and on occasion, it can start some interesting conversations. I was honored to receive the Silver Beaver over twelve years ago. Certainly didn't campaign for it; in my district and council, that's a pretty sure way not to get recognized. I didn't say, "Well, I'm done, there's nothing else to get!" Being in it for the boys, it hasn't slowed down my involvement either. I can only think of a few individuals over the last thirty years that I thought were in it for what they could get out of it and not for the boys. They soon disappeared after they got what they wanted. The simple answer for all is - Wear 'em if you want, don't wear 'em if you don't!! But don't try to figure out the motive behind what someone else does! Don't judge them, get to know them first and see whether they're just old and still act like boys or "good old boys"! You might be surprised at how many are just old and act like boys because that's who they're there for!!

People were being turned down for using CPAP machines. You had the opportunity to resubmit your medicals stating that your machines were battery-operated. This seems a little strange to me since battery-operated means that they will need to be recharged on a regular basis which, in effect, is the same as directly operating on electric. In my small circle, I know of three people that this happened to.

The simplest thing to do is to toss the the problem in your council's lap. Do they have a problem with the publicity? Has there been any guidance from them? If you feel that he has been deceitful and had giving BSA a problem as a goal all along, don't recognize him as an Eagle Scout within your troop. If you maintain an eagle Honor Roll plaque, don't include him. There is little else that you can do!

Scoutnet should not let the younger son be registered or record any advancement if his age is accurately input. What others rules will this Den Leader decide don't apply to his family as he goes along? How will he enforce rules for other members of his den when they confront him with, "Well, your sons don't have to follow the rules!" Seems like a bad situation from the start and one that will only continue to get worse, if not nipped in the bud!

Make them the Roadkill Squirrels and forget about it!! A flattened squirrel on the patch solves all of your problems................(This message has been edited by NE-IV-88-Beaver)

"All it means is that the boy has fulfilled a set of requirements by which he is measured both objectively and subjectively and had attained a rank in the scouting program." Why has Eagle lost some of it's prestige? It has to be awarded to anyone who completes a check list of "do" items - the "objectively" side. The "be" side is where the "subjectively" used to be and where the biggest changes have been made in today's Scouting program. National advancement policy changes are taking away the ability to "measure subjectively". Look at the current definition of active - just being registered totally takes out the issue of being subjective in a Scout contributing to the overall program. Demonstrating Scout Spirit in their daily life was totally subjective on the part of the unit leader - no more, just matters what letters of recommendation say! What Scout would be dumb enough to ask someone for a letter of recommendation that wouldn't supply a favorable one? With changes like these, more will get the award, but it will have lost it's value. If this trend continues, the award will have lost a certain amount of prestige and will not be recognized as a great achievement! Is this in the best interest of Scouting, I don't think so! Respect for those who have earned Eagle is on the decline. Is that something that we really want to see?

OGE, Is there a subliminal message in your post? Your message isn't quite as clear as the other posts!

I'm using a Sullivan Series V CPAP machine having logged over 16,000 hours on it. While camping, I am currently plugging my machine into a Diehard Portable Power 1150A system but that only gets me two nights at best. This became a real issue with Jamboree staff registration this year. Anyone who had a CPAP listed on their medical got rejected unless they resubmitted their form with a notation that their CPAP was battery-powered. I'm supposed to be there from July 21st to August 5th, a total of fifteen nights. I couldn't find any system that could give me any where near that length of battery life. So everyone that I know with a CPAP said that they had a battery-powered machine knowing full well that they were going to be continuously recharging their batteries. I don't know what Jamboree gained by this except for making staff aware that they couldn't depend on and wouldn't be responsible for providing a continuous power source for those needing CPAP machines. Yet everyone can plan on bringing and operating a small, personal fan, go figure!!

Basementdweller, I'm curious about your power system for your CPAP machine. This became a real issue with Jamboree staff registration this year. While camping, I am currently plugging my machine into a Diehard Portable Power 1150A but that only gets me two nights.