OldGreyEagle

Actually, Nike has given us the way for the boys of the troop he serves to earn the badge. Since insects who live in Nike's house need to die, we have to extrapolate that insects that live in the scouts house need to suffer the same fate as those in Nike's house. Likewise the insects in the homes of the relatives and friends of the scouts. It shouldn't take too long to collect 50 insects with that amount of resources. I mean insects in the garage are almost in the house, could come in the house and they need to die, insects in the yard could come into the house and they need to die as well. BTW, how many of the scouts are vegans and how many of them have leather baseball gloves? On the other hand, Nike, if you wish, contact National and propose the photo option, cant hurt even a fly(This message has been edited by oldgreyeagle)

Its the circle with the Mountain top in the top half and the V in the lower half. I had to wait until she was 21 to see it to be sure it wasnt a Youth Protection issue

Been walking around downtown Bethlehem over the weekend at Musikfest, Avril Lavigne's concert was Friday night, Denis DeYoung was on hand Saturday night with Kool and the Gang in one venue and .38 Special in another on Sunday. And tonight it's Boston's turn. And I have to tell you, there were not many people under 30 or so who were not sporting a tattoo. heck, the new DE of my district has a tattoo on the small of her back, of course its in the shape of the Venuring symbol, but still its a tattoo. Whether we like tattoos or not, they are on the rise, whatever happened to judging people based on their charactor and not the decorations on their skin?

Ahh, but the first sentence says: "Two registered adult leaders, or one registered leader and a parent of a participating Scout or other adult, one of whom must be at least 21 years of age or older, are required for all trips or outings" Now, if I write in a post somewhere that only Venturing Scouts can shoot guns larger than .22's, I know a plethora of posters who will quickly descend upon me and tell me in no uncertain terms what a filthy disgrace I am to Venturing because I should know that there is no such thing as a Venturing Scout. As such, the first sentence does not pertain to Venturing. The second sentence says: "There are a few instances, such as patrol activities, when no adult leadership is required." Now, since the Patrol Method is not part of Venturing, this cannot be concerned with Venturing. Therefore, there are not non-adult outings in Venturing. That leaves the final sentence: "Coed overnight activities require male and female adult leaders, both of whom must be 21 years of age or older, and one of whom must be a registered member of the BSA." And that is what Venturing Crews should follow

NeilLup, in the section titled "Leadership Requirements for Trips and Outings" it reads: "Two registered adult leaders, or one registered leader and a parent of a participating Scout or other adult, one of whom must be at least 21 years of age or older, are required for all trips or outings. There are a few instances, such as patrol activities, when no adult leadership is required. Coed overnight activities require male and female adult leaders, both of whom must be 21 years of age or older, and one of whom must be a registered member of the BSA." Clearly the first two sentences do not involve Venturing Crews, the sentences are: "Two registered adult leaders, or one registered leader and a parent of a participating Scout or other adult, one of whom must be at least 21 years of age or older, are required for all trips or outings. There are a few instances, such as patrol activities, when no adult leadership is required." So, a Venturing Crew need only one registered BSA adult member and another adult, over 21, of the opposite sex for a coed overnight activity (This message has been edited by oldgreyeagle)

At the summer camp I recently attended, there were several young lady staff members. A few were daughters of other staff members who were in the kitchen because the Council could not hire enough male staff to round out its roster. The DE of the District I serve was the Scoutcraft director of the Camp in 2003, there is nothing that kills the stereotype of a female as a sex object quite like meeting a strong competent woman (whatever her age). Oh, did I mention she was in the Crew I was with?

My explanation of 17 months was done, as I thought I had indicated, as an esoteric exercise, demonstrating the absolute minimum time. No one is disputing that to do so would take the cooperation of many people and marathon sessions at the end. But I still say its possible, but not likely nor do I think it would be of benefit to the scout. But it is possible, thats all I am saying How long should it take? Well, as long as the scout needs, with a deadline of the 18th birthday of course, wouldnt want to get gigged by saying as long as the scout needs with the 18th birthday being implied and I would think understood by all who know scouting but that doesnt always work in all situations so I will add the 18th birthday part to be sure I am understood

I have always thought that of a scout "giving back" as sort of another way of "Paying it forward", that something done for you becomes the impetus of doing something for someone else. I could have got it wrong

Actually I think the minimum time from joinign to reaching eagle is 17 months. They only "timed requirement" from joining to First Class is the 30 day physical fitness requirement, you know, show progress in 30 days? So, a scout joins a troop, does the Scout joining requirements and does the first part of the fitness test and then in the next 29 days does all the requirements for the rest of Tenderfoot to First Class and then on day 30 does the physical fitness requirements, shows improvement and does BORs and Scoutmaster conferences and becomes first class, thats one month. Four months as First class, 6 as star, and 6 as life. Minimal time, 17 months. Not that I think its a great idea you understand

I am on the District Advanecement Committee and I can tell you that we generally take a dim view of Blood Drives as an Eagle Project. That doesnt mean we prohibit them, we would have to see in the write up where the Scout shows leadership. If the scout intends to call the blood bank and have a few guys set up for the Blood drive it will fall short. The Blood Bank people will set up their equipment and there is no way an Eagle Candidate is going to show leadership with the Nurses and trained Blood Bank personnel. State laws and Feseral requirements governing blood acquisition, testing and handling will be followed with or without the scout. Generally the most that an untrained person can do is run the orange juice and cookir table and that is not Eagle quality. However, saying all that, we had a scout recently do a project that contained a Blood Drive. The Blood Drive wasnt the focus, the scout also organized a Health Fair that also had a Blood Drive. Besides the Blood Bank, representatives of 12 other organizations where there and the scout put together the plan of the 2 day fair, organized set up and take down and assigned workers. It was very nice, and wasnt "just a blood drive". I can only talk about what I have seen sucessfully done in my corner of the world. Blood drives to be eagle worthy require a lot of additional activitis besides collecting blood. The main idea, how are you showing leadership and calling and scheduling the Red Cross to show up on Sunday the 19th isnt it

Nothing like thinking about something for awhile to give new perspective. The Aims of Scouting is to develop Citizenship, Charactor and Personal Fitness. How does eliminating or condensing the Citizenship badges do that? A lot of people call for the elimination or tweak of Family Life, the merit badge that forces a Scout to spend time finding out what its like to be part of the most basic of all human teams, a family. Take away cycling? Its one of a possible 3 "aerobic" merit badges, besides swimming and Hiking. Why discount it? A lot, and I include myself in that lot, want to add more outdoorsy merit badges to the required list, is that because the mission of the BSA is to produce the next generation of Man vs Wild or Survivorman genre hosts? We keep saying that Advancement is a Method, not "THE" method and that Advancement is only one of 7 methods, well, the ourdoors should be thought of the same way. Its a method, and only one of 7 at that

I have always thought of scouting skills as: Starting a fire with a single match Tieing all required knots at any time Be able to lash a tripod or other handy camp tool Be able to whip a rope Find directions at night Read a map and use a compass to negotiate an orienteering course and a myriad of other things

Please Please Please, PuhhlllllEase, There can be no Sewing merit badges in scouting. How many times do we have to go over this. Please, a Sewing merit badge would be a terrible idea. However, a Tailoring Merit Badge, now that might have merit, as it were. C'mon girls play with dolls, boys exhibit "action figures" can we get this straight? Girls sew, men tailor. Perhaps Family Life can be updated to include indoor cooking, tailoring and ironing, with a minor in laundry. Actually, I would like to see Pioneering be required, it is , after all, the most Boy Scouty of all the merit badges. There may be a dearth of qualified MB instructors though, how many people do you know can do an eye splice at the drop of a hat, some of you I know can, but how many others do you know can? But it would be fun

Flock Of Seagulls Bad 80's Music and worse hair... Then again I may only be saying that because Musikfest starts today, first headliner is Avril Lavigne, you know, the girl who sang "Sk8ter boi" (sp?) Anyway, I think kids form interesting dynamics. We have Webelos dens cross over as a group and in 2 years they are all gone, families move, sports take over, people get ticked with BSA rules, whatever. Then other dens crossover and all 8 make Eagle. Was it something we did? The boys did? The first group may have had a bad first experience or the natural leader in the group decided scouts was wimpy. In the second, the natual leader says this is cool. Many dynamics in a Troop and a patrol, I think scouts find support in groups/patrols positively and negatively as well.

Rooster, you are getting confused. As bat boy was considered a derogatory term, bat youth was substituted (See switch from Junior Leader training to Youth Leader Training). As most MLB parks now have "ball girls" on the foul lines, the 2 ball girls versus one bat boy per team was deemed acceptable. There are moves to change the term for those patroling the foul lines to foul persons but most of those involved have resisted having a job title of "foul person"

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Is getting birthday punches common in your troop and what types of behavior has the suspended scout been up to in the past?

I thought the parent liason angle was already covered, by the adult leaders of the troop. The sleep away camps don't have volunteer leaders for each discreet group either. Speaking of seelaway camps, remember the original "Parent Trap" with Hayley Mills? Now that WAS a camp!!!

this may be a local thing, but in the Council I serve, the application et al must be in Council Office before the 18th birthday. Don't know if its right or not, but if you bring the paperwork in on the 18th birthday or after, its a no go to anything

can you define "tout'?

I learned a long time ago virtually nothing in "Boy Scouts" is manditory. Back in 2001 there was a "manditory" training week end for the Jamboree COntingent. In the Troop I was in as an Asst Scoutmaster, 2 kids missed it. They went to the Jamboree even though for months leading up to the Training week end it was stated several times if you missed it, you couldnt go. I had several youth ask me why the two were still going so I asked the lead guy in the Council. He told me they say manditory because if they didnt only half would show up, he thought it was great only two youth from a 5 troop contingent didnt show up. They were never in danger of being left behind. When deadlines are not real,they become like the Pirate's Code, they are more like Guidelines (Arrgghh) and thats how they will be regarded. Don't worry about it. If his kid gets in, fine for him, if not, you did your part. If anyone asks you why his kid got in when it was past the deadline refer them to Council. There are enough issues to worry about, this isnt one of them(This message has been edited by oldgreyeagle)

The boy was good enough to receive Scout (whether its a rank or not), Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star and Life. The troop must not have had any reservations on the work the youth did for those ranks, because they were bstowed on the youth. Now, for Eagle, the bar gets raised? Where was the regard for what is a Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star and Life scout? Is Eagle the only rank that matters? That truly has to be earned? Is Eagle is the only rank that requires work above and beyond the minimal requirements? What life lessons were learned by the scout as he floated thorugh, getting credit for POR's, not being "active"? Do you have similar youth in the Troop's Advancement Pipeline? What is your plan to assure this doesnt happen again? Perhaps it is better to light a candle than curse the darkness

Could be worse, could have been New Jersey back when the previous Governor was in ...

Ok Pack, so if I amend my post to say, To earn a BA, you have to have 120 semester hours of the proper type and with the requisite grade point average is that better? How many pupils say no, I don't want to graduate with a 2.01 GPA, I will wait until it reaches 2.5?

The University I graduated from has a Baccalaureate Degree requirments of 120 hours, I am not aware of any student who said I want to do more than the minimum, I want to earn 132 hours. At least, I dont think many parents agreed. Right now, in hospitals around the country there are surgeons operating on people who just got the minumum score on their license exam. Not many of them said, wait, I want to wait until I get a higher mark before I become a doctor. The requirements are the requirements, I can't say I am too fond of them as they are currently written, but they are written and we are to follow them. Should the requiremtns be harder? perhaps, but until they are changed, it is what it is