SemperParatus

Maybe its just because its been a bad week for me, but I am SICK AND TIRED OF ADULT HEAD CASES in scouting, school, sports and everywhere else that seemingly have nothing better to do than impose their unreasonable demands and create artificial obstacles for children, just to fuel their own egos. You know the type I am talking about. Scouting seems to have more than its fair share, although the other areas of kiddom - school and sports - is equally littered with small-minded adults on extreme power trips to the detriment of our children. As parents and youth leaders, why do we allow it to continue. These nitwits need to be dealt with quickly and severely and permanently. Certainly, a mistake in judgment can be made from time to time, but it is pretty easy to spot a true head case. We need to purify our organization, our schools and our ballfields of these self-centered, egomaniacal fruitcakes that give our institutions bad names, make our jobs that much harder to clean up the shattered mess they leave behind, and most importantly, to protect our kids. To often, we coddle their behavior... 'Well, that's just Sam, we try and ignore him.' Or, try and help them... 'Surely more training is needed.' Or, turn a blind eye... 'He's a great coach. They're winning right?' In most instances, these responses just give them more impetus to continue their campaign to fuel their unfounded sense of self worth by trampling on the hard work and dreams of children. I say enough. No quarter to head cases. Its about time we take them out once and for all, hard and fast. Like I said, its been a bad week.

I for one would not be unhappy to see her 16" guns fire a few rounds at the Golden Gate bridge while on her final voyage to the port of Stockton. I wish her well in her retirement years.

This is an interesting conundrum. I feel bad for the discourteous treatment that has been shown your son. The MBC is in the wrong...changing his mind months after his previous sign-off, but until he signs off on the entire badge completion he is probably within his rights to go back and do a final review of the individual requirements that had been signed off to ensure that nothing had been overlooked. While your SM is not directly involved in the MB process, he does have a vested interest when something happens in the troop that causes scouts to be discouraged and upset, MBCs to become angry and parents to wonder what the heck is going on. He should get himself involved to broker a satisfactory resolution to this matter. He is in a position to help and should, taking the 'hands-off' approach is a weenie way out of a what could become a very negative situation. Your son has several choices; (i) fight the counselor to have him honor his previous sign-off (not recommended), (ii) be the bigger person and re-do the requiremnet to the MBC's satisfaction, (iii) finish the badge with another counselor.

The difference between the Troop that I work with and McDonalds is that we are not in business to sell a product that has been turned into a homogenous unit. We are there to serve each individual boy as best as we can. The majority of time, that means that the BSA standards, guidelines, rules, regulations, procedures, model, programs, policies, whatever you want to call it, are employed and with great success. Sometimes a tweak is made with even greater success. Sometimes a tweak falls on its face. Sometimes complete ignorance of the BSA model is found and that needs to be corrected immediately. But to lump all nonconformity to the printed perfection of the BSA as 'bad' and 'wrong' is a slap in the face of every dedicated scouter that is doing his best to follow the program, while keeping his eye out for any chance to capture a boy's interest and develop his character using some hook that may not be printed in the thousands of pages of BSA literature. We are not paid to flip kids like hamburgers, we are devoted to working with young men to develop character. The BSA does not have all the answers to that quest and never will. Granted, the BSA program has been very successful for nearly a century in this country, but lets credit that success to where it comes from - the thousands of dedicated volunteers that have committed their time, talent and energy to find a way to make scouting real, rather than just pages in a book. Dats my two cents.

If they gave out jelly glasses again, would that appease us? OGE, you are absolutely correct...the profits being made by the producers and refiners is unconscienable. Competition is nonexistent in the industry because of the incredibly high price of entry and investment. Our politicos are AWOL on the issue because the Republicans are staunch capitalists and the Democrats need the profits of gas companies to do the only thing they know how to do...bash Bush. In our lifetime, things will not improve. We can revel in the fact that there is a time coming when technology will render Exxon et al about as relevant as a hoop skirt manufacturer. In the meantime, ride a bike in protest and improve your health.

Aarggh matey...me thinks you are headin' for the plank. Is there a reason that adults should be encouraging boys of this age to celebrate an alternative lifestyle that includes pillaging, plundering, a bottle of rum, dancing on a dead man's chest, debauchery, felonious conduct, murder, arson ... Oh, I'm sorry...its all about fun. YoHoHo, let the good times roll.

Nick, You're not suggesting that Lisa'bob is Bob White, are you? If she is, then I like the new BW alot.

I would have absolutely no problem if a CO chooses to limit unit membership to the faith that it promotes. That is their right as CO. Personally, I don't think its the best way to go about scouting, but that is just my opinion. Those with a similar opinion would simply find a more open troop, or start a new one where another is not available in the area. In most instances, I would expect that an open troop would be much more successful because of its diversity and ability to attract more boys. A thread a couple months ago highlights the problem of a CO changing its unit membership requirements in mid-stream. A phased in approach would be acceptable to me with grandfathering of any existing scouts of different faiths. This may take 7 years or so, but it would help to ensure that each scout's experience is not adversely affected.

Stuff for Denless Dads to do... Encourage your son (and other boys) in scouting Serve as an ASM (or SM) Serve on the Committee in a leadership role -chair, advancement, training, equipment,treasurer Mentor a scout in a junior leadership role Register as a merit badge counselor Serve as your troop's pack liaison Provide transportation assistance Get involved at the District level Serve on boards of review Take advantage of all training opportunities Share trips with your son (sometimes) Wash the SM's car Act as an Eagle Scout advisor Head up your unit's FOS campaign Offer assistance in special areas of knowledge Attend all Courts of Honor Smile and laugh often Take a long nap to recover from cubs Start a uniform exchange program Be positive...don't gossip...be patient Stay in cubs...just because your son is moving on doesn't mean you have to go. Encourage your son (and other boys) in scouting Congratulations on making a difference in the lives of the boys in your den.

I am sure this has been covered before, but... Is one's individual membership conferred by the BSA National Council or the local Council? I was always under the impression that local Council conferred membership. If that is the case, then this Council could revoke membership for nonpayment of the fee? I like the idea of all units in Monmouth petitioning for transfer to another council.

It may be that some of these boys from different packs know each other from school and other activities. If that is the case, you may have a lot more flexibility then you think. With your retention rate, I would probably go with two patrols of 12 each to start (something about the number 12 that appeals to me and sounds scoutingish), rather than 3 patrols of 8. This may mean some dens split a little, but if some boys know each other then that may not be a big deal. Now about that retention rate...

Hi Stephanie, You are among friends here. Congratulations on your first year in Scouting. Here's to many more.

Our CO is a Catholic Church. There are no restrictions on membership or adult leadership based on one's faith.

The Monmouth Council website includes a 2004 annual report (not 990) which touts their move to a brand new facility - from the picture of the building included in the report, it looks like brand new construction. They overspent on a new headquarters building and now they demand the boys and their families to bale them out. This council management gets no sympathy from me.

I am still recovering from putting my dog down a few months ago. I still expect to see her lying in her favorite corner, waking me up with her morning alerts of prowling squirrels and being greeted at the door. Have you read A Life With Dogs by Roger Welsh? Great book. Its helped me get over some of the sadness of saying goodbye to a good friend.

Wishing the Black Jaguars the best of luck, 100% retention and a healthy and happy scouting experience.

Guidestar.com has the Form 990s for Monmouth Council through 2003. They seemed to be doing fairly well. In 2003, the Council showed a $291K 'profit'. The balance sheet reflects a net fund balance of $1.5 million. Also in that year it looks like there was a $1.5 million capital improvement (new headquarters?) that was funded with debt. The SE was Matthew Thornton who was paid $92K during the year (up from $60K in 2001). The Monmouth Council website is showing a new SE - Lee Marconi. The financial freefall over the past two years certainly coincides with the change in SE. They can spin this anyway they want, blaming all sorts of reasons, but in the end it is up to management to ensure that the necessary staffing cuts (payroll is 50% of Council revenues) are made to avoid desperate situations like this. IMO this Council is done. The good thing is that there are dedicated volunteer scouters in that county who will ensure that the boys continue to have a solid scouting program.

Have you considered storing them in those clear view baseball card sleeves, to protect them from damage and preserve their original condition.

Encouraging a boy to sing that song is hazing That should really move this discussion along. I have never really understood these songs. They usually go on so much longer than the announcements themselves. Talk about a complete waste of time. The discourteousness of using such terms as 'your bull' and 'windbag' has no legitimate place in scouting, especially for boys of cub scout age.

Welcome. I enjoyed your site and surprised myself in how much Dutch I could almost understand. I wish you a safe trip to our country.

EIKY'mon, we've used this rafting outfitter in Ohiopyle. There are a number of them to chose from. They are all lined up in a row inside the park. http://www.laurelhighlands.com Here is the Laurel Caverns site...the wild tour is a good one. http://www.laurelcaverns.com Eagle90, the Youghiogheny River runs through Western Maryland, WV and PA. http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/western/youghiogheny.html I ran the Cheat River years ago when the water was low. I would definitely like to check that out in the spring. Eamonn, We'll be heading up to Ohiopyle again in August, maybe we can stop by for high tea. (This message has been edited by SemperParatus)

Welcome. Get all the DLs, ADLs and other MCs together and go to the same COR and UC and let them know that you all support the CM and not the CC. While you are at it, ask the COR to appoint another CC since this one does not have the confidence of the pack's leaders, has not taken training and is on some kind of power trip to appoint himself CM.

While we're looking... Where's Uncleguinea?...I haven't seen him on the habitrail lately either. Where's Bob White?...He seems to have flown the coop. Where's DugNevius?...He appears to have gone underground. Where's Juris...Has BSA, Inc. finally taken legal action against him? Where's fotoscout...Has he choked on a marshmallow? Where's mhager...Has he finally found religion? Where's Fat Old Guy...has he merely slimmed down and gotten a facelift while in witness protection?

Give me the Class Vs of the Upper Yough...a sure-fire cure for constipation. For scouts, the Class III/IVs of the Lower Yough are outstanding. Combine with a real caving experience at Laurel Caverns and camping at Ohiopyle SP and you have a near perfect weekend.

Trev, what a boo boo you've made. Now all the clawset pundits are coming out of their smokey lairs.(This message has been edited by SemperParatus)