SR540Beaver

I would have liked it if you had made your poll a yes or no vote. Yes to include Venturing, no to keep it just Boy Scouts. I voted the option of "I don't care", but I do care. Boy Scouts and Venturing are both BSA programs, and they share many of the same goals.......but they are very different programs. That isn't to say that there are not youth in Venturing who are worthy of being recognized for their selfless service, they just aren't eligible because they aren't Boy Scouts. Venturing doesn't even have to be outdoor oriented. It always dumbfounds me that we have two divergent programs that people keep wanting to bring back together. Venturing is the un-scout program.....and I don't mean that as an offense. Let me explain. There are folks and boys out there that complained about uniforms, ranks, POR's, all that stuffy structure and the exclusion of girls. So what does BSA do? THey develop a program that is coed, uniform optional, advancement optional and a loose structure that can encompass many a program emphasis. And what happens? They want to be Boy Scouts and go to Jamborees, high adventure bases, summer camp, OA, etc. I'm not against the Venturing program, I'm really not. But why don't we just cut to the chase, sundown Venturing and all the overhead and expense of a struggling program and make Boy Scouts coed? Do that and girls can become Eagles, be elected to OA, go to Jamborees, etc. Problem solved.

My experience is that the guys coming from scouting don't care about the awards......or the leadership positions. They've been doing that their whole scout life. The girls on the other hand seem to run the crew leadership and do work on awards. I went to a young lady's Silver Award ceremony this weekend.

I had the pleasure of attending my first ever Silver Award ceremony this weekend. It was for an outstanding young lady who staffed my NYLT course last fall. She's become quite the role model and a mover and shaker in our Council's Venturing program. She comes from a scouting family and can out-scout most boys I know. I was surprised and honored that she called me forward to present me with a Venturing Mentor pin. I have three Eagle Scout Mentor pins, but not a Venturing pin. I typically try to keep my uniform low key, but I do wear each of my mentor pins along with my Eagle Scout father pin on the left pocket flap. Do I look like a general from a banana republic? Probably. But if a boy....or girl thinks enough of me to consider me a mentor and honors me with a pin, I'm not going to disrespect them by not wearing it.

Don't be an island unto yourself. You may not see any value in roundtable, but it does offer networking opportunities. I have real issues with our units that isolate themselves and "do their own thing"......because most of them end up not having a clue what they are doing as a result and run bad programs.

Hot water? I suppose they could put in outlets for hair dryers and curling irons too.

Having been a Chapter Adviser, I've sat in on a good number of our annual Vigil Selection Committee sessions and watched the process in action as the youth discuss the candidates and vote. They are a tough crowd who take their responsibility serious. For those who may be unaware, only the youth vote and Arrowmen who are eligible can't be involved. We go with two youth from each chapter who are either already Vigil or not eligible yet. The discussions and voting are frank and honest concerning who is deserving and why. Now, that being said, I don't really recall all that many kids 15 or under being considered as the standard the boys use is fairly high for how long a boy has been giving service to the Lodge. I know that as an Adviser, my rule of thumb was that I would not nominate a guy from my chapter unless he had given the chapter two solid years of service in ceremonies, elections, chapter leadership and service projects. But sometimes kids do get elected and do get voted when I personally think they shouldn't have based on my own standards. The year I was eligible for Vigil, I was not allowed to attend the selection committee.. At the callout, I was surprised to hear the name of a kid from my chapters name called. I had no idea who he was as he had never darkened the door of a chapter meeting or provided service thru ceremonies or elections. I believe what happened was that he had served that summer on summer camp staff and his buddies voted him in. I've never seen him since either. So sometimes some slip thru the cracks, but as long as they are providing selfless service, I have no problem with a 15 year old boy getting Vigil.

The story talked about the possible number of visitors. It never said that they would be participating in the program areas. Knowing people who visited, they were only allowed in the visitor center as advertised. Knowing a number of staffers and the adult leadership for our 4 contingent troops and 1 crew, they were never bothered by visitors being allowed inside the Jambo footprint. They had the place to themselves.

You may not have liked GWB's politics. At times, I didn't either. But there is no question that he didn't share equal concern for every citizen of the US. Obama has decided to speak out about a local case that is only a national story because the race mongers like Sharpton and Jackson along with a complicit media fabricated an issue where none existed. Obama chose to point a finger at whites being racist against blacks. Obama chose to emphasize that blacks have a history and experience that they view today's world thru and ignore all of the progress that has happened. After all, he is black and President of the US. Obama chose to ask what we can do to make things better for young black men? His comments were pointed at white Americans. He chose at that moment to represent a single segment of society and chastise the rest. Agree with him or not, Bush represented the interests of every American. Obama chose a different path with this speech. It's a path that any color POTUS should never travel. He chose to speak to a self defense case already decided ina court of law and make it a race issue when it wasn't.

The day of service has been known from the outset. I sat on our Jambo committee and attended the previous two as an ASM. I too questioned whether it is a good thing or not. Considering that there was some push back from locals concerned about a chunk of land in their rural area being turned into an encampment with 40,000 people, providing service to that community goes a long way them wanting this in their backyard. Plus, given the scout oath and law, doing service anywhere you are at just fits. I know it costs a pretty penny. I spent close to $10K for my son and I both to go to Jambo in 2005 and 2010. You certainly want to get as much bang for your buck as possible. That is why when I was ASM, we would run them out of sitting around camp all day or setting up right outside of camp and patch trading. Their parents had spent $3k for them to go. They could sit on their butts for free when they got back home. I also have to take into consideration that those who chose to staff Jamboree, have to pay the Jambo fee, provide their own transportation and use their vacation time. They are paying to go do a job with long, hot hours without many creature comforts. I'm torn. On one hand, people paid to play and doing service isn't playing. On the other, service is what Boy Scouts do. As to using the OA to do it, the OA's service function is primarily to their camps where a scouts service is to the community.

I dream of an America where the President represents ALL Americans and not just the ones who look like him.

Because you can't seat 40,000 people in 15 minutes.

I have no issues with the song other than it gets really old really fast. I'd rather hear the 15 to 30 second announcment than a bunch of people singing multiple verses complete with coreography for a few minutes.

A jury selected and approved by both the defense and the prosecution who heard and saw all the evidence disagree with your opinion on the case. Trayvon started the physical altercation and Zimmerman ended it in self defense.

Trayvon chose to take an action too and it cost him his life. Just like Zimmerman should have stayed in the car, Trayvon should have walked into the house. Neither person's life would have changed.

Putting on my moderator hat here. From a long history of being a member here at Scouter.com, I know how the membership feels about editing and/or deleting posts. They don't like it. Neither do I. While we give a certain amount of leeway in the Politics and Issues forum, the Scout Oath and Law still apply. Do NOT call (or imply) anyone a racist, idiot or anything else unfriendly, uncourteous or unkind or you'll find your post edited or deleted or the thread locked.

No, Zimmerman isn't a victim at all. He can just get in his car and go to the grocery store without a care in the world. I mean, why worry if people like Giant's wide receiver Victor Cruz tweets things like, "Thoroughly confused. Zimmerman doesn't last a year before the hood catches up to him.†Or Falcons wide receiver Roddy White tweeting, "All them jurors should go home tonight and kill themselves for letting a grown man get away with killing a kid". That's just two examples from only the sports world. There are plenty of other folks out there seeing this case thru a racial lens calling for his death. No, Zimmerman hasn't a care in the world since he "got away with it".

Considering the findings by the FBI, the DOJ will have a hard time bringing civil rights hate crime charges. http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/07/12/155918/more-evidence-released-in-trayvon.html#.UeM9mT7DVoY

First, the trial had nothing to do with the "stand your ground" law and was tried based on classic self defense. Second, while some may turn their nose up at the news source reporting, the facts presented are correct in the media demonizing Zimmerman with fabricated data and making this all about race. http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Journalism/2013/07/13/Media-Zimmerman-Coverage-Rap-Sheet

I attended the last two Jambos as an ASM and served on our council's Jambo committee for this Jambo. Unless something has changed that I am unaware of, visitors will only be allowed into a "visitor area" where they can get a limited Jambo experience. Scouts can enter this area to meet the visitors. Other than the visitor area, visitors will NOT be allowed into the Jambo area or participate in any of the activities. In the previous Jambos, visitors had access to the whole place and could participate in activities which did mean that kids who had paid a ton of money had to stand in line longer. The new Jambo model has everyone scheduled for specific activities on specific days and times. Supposedly, there is no more standing in line. You show up at your alloted time and do your thing. At least that is the plan. And all of that excludes visitors. From the Jamboree Council Guide available at the Jambo website. https://summit.scouting.org/en/Jamboree2013/Documents/JamboreeCouncilGuide.pdf The Summit Center The Summit Center will be the hub of jamboree activity set between the villages and the activity areas. The Summit Center will be the only area open to day visitors. On specific days, visitors may pay a fee and visit the Summit Center area and experience all it has to offer. The Summit Center will be open to regular jamboree participants, but day visitors may not visit the base camps or activity areas. The Summit Center will be home to the stadium shows, the military exhibit, Conservation stadium, the Disabilities Awareness Trail, Sustainability Treehouse, and all the various exhibits and displays. Also at the Summit Center will be Action Point, which will have smaller preview versions of activities taking place in the activity areas. Those activities will be designed by the same professionals who design the activity areas.

The youth are still elected by their peers for the honor. Adult nominations are approved based on their ability to facilitate the program. OA is about the youth.

It's not just Christians. For many people, it's about changing the definition of something. The sun is the sun and it's a star. Always has been. To decide you want to call it the moon and not a star doesn't make it so. Go to the superbowl some time and start yelling swing, batter, batter and homerun when they make a touchdown. Football is football and baseball is baseball regardless of someone wanting to change the defintions to suit themselves. Before someone calls me a Bible thumper or homophobic, I'm not. I have gay family members and my best friend is gay. I'm fine with it. But marriage from the beginning of time, or at least since recorded histroy has been the relationship between a nman and a woman and is the foundational unit of a family. It is what it is. Redefining it doesn't change what it is anymore than calling a touchdown a homerun. If you want to give gay couples the same legal rights as hetero couples, fine, no problem. Create the legal means for them to be bound legally. But don't redefine the meaning of the word marriage to fit it.

Well stated! My view has developed over the years to this. I believe God exists and is the creator. Is the Earth 5000 years old and was it created in 6 days? Science says no. Could a Biblical creation day be a billon years? Sure, why not. I don't concern myself as much with the how as I do the who. I won't deny science and I won't deny God. They can and do co-exist quite nicely.

We once had a member here a few years back that argued the buddy system extended to tenting and that you can't let a boy tent alone. He couldn't really prove his belief beyond what he considered a logical extension of the buddy plan. The first troop I was associated with didn't have the ability to provide tents. A tent was usually one of the items they received for Christmas or a birthday. We never denied a boy the ability to use HIS tent that he was so proud of. If they wanted to buddy up, more power to them.

I've not seen it in our Lodge with one exception. We have a gentleman who very much wants to be in OA. To put it politely, he is one strange duck. His troop has yet to nominate him. He attempted to claim he was nominated and tried to register for Ordeal. We contacted the SM and committee chair of his unit to ask if they had failed to turn in the paperwork and they told us he had not been nominated. So, we didn't actually reject him, but left it to his unit leadership to deal with. He didn't show up at Ordeal.

KDD, NYLT isn't exclusively dining hall cooking. The patrols do cook in addition to some meals being cooked for them. It depends on how each course director chooses to run their course. There is a lot of training material to cover on a tight schedule and most courses cost at least $200. Do you want to send your leadership to the course to spend their time cooking or being trained in leadership skills? Depending on the day and the schedule, we would provide particular meals. The rest of the time they cooked some pretty easy menu meals. They do the majority of the cooking, but not all. Any kid coming to NYLT will most likely have been a scout for a few years and already skilled at cooking and KP. It simply isn't the focus of the course. As far as what most of the board feels, they have never participated in the course.