acco40

Tiger badge, Tiger Patch? Boys who are Webelos Cub Scouts this year should not have a Tiger Badge. They may have earned a Tiger STRIP (small rectanglar patch, similar in shape to ther RECRUITER strip). Not sure what you are referring to when the term Tiger patch is used.

In my son's troop, we have been having a myriad of leadership gyrations. The current Scoutmaster publicly told the troop he was stepping down "in the near future" in the February time frame. The troop had a trying summer camp (June) and an "eventful" summer. Finally he notified one SA (not all), the COR, DE and selected other Council staff of his intention to step down in August. At the late August SM meeting, which the SM was not present, one of the ASMs pushed to have himself designated as the "successor" SM. My comment was that until I was notified publicly that the SM was stepping down, I would not participate in selecting a new SM. Two weeks later I asked the SM about the issue and his comment was that he told the COR he was stepping down and refused to tell the full committee and troop memebers. However, the troop committee chair was aware of his actions. Well, two weeks have passed, the SM decided that he will remain, the committee chair resigned (unrelated) and appointed a new comittee chair. My beef in all of this is that the COR and the full committee should be involved in selecting (committee function) and approving (COR and CO) a new SM and Committee chair. The SM issue is touchy. He did formally resign. Then he before another SM was "installed" he decided to keep on as SM. Should he have that option? My view is that once he has resigned, only the Committee and COR/CO can reinstate him or elect to go with someone else. The day after the SM decided to remain or should it be regain the SM position, The SA who had his eyes on SM quit. I feel like a cast member of "As the World Turns." What does all of this have to do with SPL requirements? The SPL was the son of the SA who left. So now we have lost our SPL and the old/new SM is appointing a new SPL (which I will soon tell him is not his function). Although I do not necessarily agree with the end result of who the SM, SPL & Committee Chair are, I vehemently disagree with the process of how they were selected. Those individuals, however, can't seem to separate my dislike of the process with their own egos. Comments?(This message has been edited by acco40)

I'm not sure what you are referencing. Are you commenting on the new Cub Scout rank handbooks (i.e. Wolf, Bear and Webelos handbooks) that may be out in August? To my knowledge, national sent up a trial balloon at Philmont to see the reaction to the new books. Nothing is definite yet to my knowledge. Cub Scouts is getting younger with the Webelos Cub Scouts more and more sucked into Boy Scouts and away from the Pack (new uniform, rank badge, etc.) and Tiger Cub Scouts more integrated into the Pack. Character is the new theme it seems.

"After a Scout has completed all of the requirements for any rank from Tenderfoot through Life and has had a Scoutmaster conference for that rank, he appears before a board of review composed of three to six members of the troop committee." {Straight out of The Scoutmaster Handbook} My question, who schedules the board of review, the Scoutmaster or the Scout? I would like the boy to take the initiative but only the Scoutmaster (or his designee) knows if the boy "passed" the Scoutmaster conference initially. Comments?

As per Bob White's comments about wearing the neckerchief "in" or "out", it really doesn't matter but a Troop or Pack should all wear the uniform uniformly. That is either all wear it under the collar or all over the collar.

I work with kids from many different troops as well as adults. Name tags are a blessing. When an adult or youth take a training class, what is the first thing the staff does, issue name tags. What do football teams do? Put names on jerseys or in my day, on piece of masking tape on the helmets. Get a bunch of like age boys all in the same uniform and you want me to pick them out easily? I have identical twins in our troop! Name tags are greatly appreciated. I think we are a little too paranoid on this subject.

Franklin was right, the eagle is a lowly scavenger. Long live the Bears.

A boy may be registered in a troop as a boy scout. He may also belong to a Venture Patrol within that Boy Scout troop. He may also join a Venturing Crew outside of his troop. The term "Venture Crew" is no longer valid. The correct term is Venture Patrol. The term "Venture Scout" is also no longer valid. Members of a Venture Patrol are Boy Scouts. Members of a Venturing Crew are Venturers. Don't feel bad. Most people screw up these terms.

It is my understanding that the Wood Badge for the 21st Century attempts to teach leadership skills, common skills necessary for committee members, den leaders, scoutmasters, etc. The skills many wish the course would teach sound like a litany of outdoor skills, not very relevant for a commissioner, committee chair, etc. What some of you would like, in my opinion, is a course like SM/SA Outdoor Fundamentals II; a "graduate" or second course to the last troika of the new SLF training . {This course doesn't exist to my knowledge. Just a suggestion on my part.}

C-34-02; C-23-02, etc. The "C" I assume is for the Central Region, the "02" obviously is for the year (2002). I have heard different answers for the "34", "23", etc. Do these numbers designate specific Councils within the regions?

I agree somewhat with yaworski & maai. It is a bullying incident and not sexual harassment. Around my neighborhood, the boys (10 - 13) call the other boys "gay" as an insult. I try my best to stop it. The reason the boys use the term is that it gets a rise out of the other boys, it sounds "mature" to them, etc. If calling them "green" got the same response, that is what they would use. Our society in general is phobic about all things sexual. The boys pick up on this and use it for bullying purposes. Think about this; one boy makes fun of another boy's penis. Is that sexual harassment? No, just plain bullying. Rape is an extreme for of bullying. It is done for power and control, not sexual gratification (excluding consensual statutory rape). The decision to send the offender home or not is difficult. If there was any shread of evidence that the victum of bullying still felt threatened, by all means send the bully home. Notify the bully that if any such behavior is repeated, he is gone. It is our duty to provide a safe haven for all Scouts.(This message has been edited by acco40)

"agree to disagree agreeably" - I like that. I've noticed that Scouting often brings out the best in people and computer forums, and the anonymity it gives, tends to bring out the worst.

Again, there are benefits to holding quasi-joint meetings (same time, same place, some overlap) as tdyer56 and others have stated. However, a problem exists for someone like me who is active in both Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. I can't attend both meetings simultaneously. Why not have the meetings run with a slight overlap (end of Cub rountable, beginning of Boy Scout roundtable) but consecutively. I think that would benefit all.

OGE, I'm a bear too, (Da Bears, Da Best) and had fun on my first three days of WB. Got ideas for my ticket but a longs ways off from filling it out. Stay tuned.

Bob White, It sounds like in your post that you believe that Oscar de la Renta (or his company) was paid by the BSA for his services. I have no idea if this is true or not. Do you?

Just last year my council began having joint roundtables for boy scouts and cub scouts (same room). However, they have traditionally been on the same evening and location (school). They overlap very briefly (5 minutes or less) and then breakout to different areas. My problem is that I would like to attend both!

I'm not sure if the complete uniform was designed by de la Renta but I believe that the neckerchief (scarves or scarfs?) for female cub leaders are designed by de la Renta. I has his signature on it!

Sorry, this should be in the "uniform" thread. I hit the post new topic instead of the reply button. Sorry.

I'm not sure if the complete uniform was designed by de la Renta but I believe that the neckerchief (scarves or scarfs?) for female cub leaders are designed by de la Renta. It has his signature on it!

Rooster, it is not my intent to debate the merits of creationism or evolution. However, statements like "No one denies that Jesus existed." prove nothing on their own. No one doubts that Muhammad (or David Koresh or Jim Jones for that matter) existed either. That does not make the religions that they preached "correct." Also your comment about "repeated designs in nature that screams there must be a creator" can be just as easily used to "scream" that evolution is at work. Why do the bone structures of some whales closely resemble that of a cow? Is it because of evolution or because a supreme being decided to "re-use" a well thought out plan? Your comment that "We should not promote a theory to be taught that contradicts many religions without scientific proof and/or allowing those faiths to present their alternate theories." Usually in a science class, science is taught and in the eyes of the vast majority of scientist, evolution is the accepted theory. I would love to see the schools, both public and private, offer comparative religion classes. Let the students see the major similarities and differences of the world's major religions. However, I don't think a Baptist minister would be the perfect choice to teach such a class. Look at Einstein's or Stephen Hawking's view on a supreme being. It shows a nice mesh between "hard" science, faith, and religion. Excerpt from Hawking - Since events before the Big Bang have no observational consequences, one may as well cut them out of the theory, and say that time began at the Big Bang. Events before the Big Bang, are simply not defined, because there's no way one could measure what happened at them. This kind of beginning to the universe, and of time itself, is very different to the beginnings that had been considered earlier. These had to be imposed on the universe by some external agency. There is no dynamical reason why the motion of bodies in the solar system can not be extrapolated back in time, far beyond four thousand and four BC, the date for the creation of the universe, according to the book of Genesis. Thus it would require the direct intervention of God, if the universe began at that date. By contrast, the Big Bang is a beginning that is required by the dynamical laws that govern the universe. It is therefore intrinsic to the universe, and is not imposed on it from outside.

My science book (at college I believe, mid '70s) mentioned God/creation as well as evolution. I thought it handled the topic very well. It stated that there were two dominant beliefs for the creation of life/man. Some believed that a higher being (God) created man, animals, etc. and other's believed in evolution/Darwinism. This book will concentrate on the latter. I'm obviously paraphrasing the book's contents but I thought it was interesting that the science book mentioned creationism (is that a word?).

de la Renta is known more for his work with women's wear and not traditional mens shirts. Although he works primarily with female fashion, he has many philanthropic activities which may interest him in helping scouting. Was your posting an attempt, and I emphasize an attempt, at humor?

Thanks for the response guys. Yes, I've had fast track and basic leader training for both positions. My concern was that I determine my primary position and not the trainers. From your responses, it sounds like I do have the freedom to choose my primary position, good! OGE, I'm in the Clinton Valley Council (Southeast MI) and will take the training at D-Bar-A scout camp (Metamora).

What determines ones primary position as a Scouter? I am currently a registered Webelos Den leader and an Assistant Scoutmaster. From a registration point of view, my primary registration ($7.00 and soon to be $10.00 fee) position is Webelos Den Leader and my secondary ($1.00 fee?) is SA. However, because my den will cross over in five months after my Woodbadge course and I plan on remaining as a SA for at least a few more years, I would like my Woodbadge training to be oriented around my SA activities where appropriate. I stated such in my application. Does anyone foresee a problem with this? Training begin this upcoming weekend and I have had no feedback to date {other than an acceptance letter).(This message has been edited by acco40)

This reminds me of teachers/schools allowing parents in the rooms during school. Every parent should have a right to watch their children, without interfering, regardless of it is scouts, school, sports practice etc. That is why they are called guardians.