Acid Test

In our case, I and my son very much welcome a completely fresh start even if it means he will have to make all new friends, so having a group carry over isn't leveraging to us as it may be to other packs/troops.

Thanks for the wonderful remarks - very helpful for us since we have limited knowledge with boy scouts. The Camporee was a lot of fun and we got to spend time a solid troop. My son shadowed a patrol for a day and I got to observe other troops in action. While it was only a snapshot, I was able to rule a couple of troops out very quickly. One, for example, for their repeated unruley behavior even with adults sitting around. Another I have serious concerns with based on unruley behavior and their class b shirts - maybe I'm a little critical, but having "bad to the bone" written on the back and a skull wearing a bandana and with cross bones on the front says a lot about decision making to me. We also learned about another troop we didn't know existed and ruled back in another that had great organization, leadership, and behavior.

It is different in our area - cub scout dens usually go into different troops and not necessarily the one nearest or most associated with the pack. Why? The troop in our area has had major issues, so every January and February, there is a scamble to find a troop. I took on the search early and as part of our search, there are troops that use the green patrols and others that mix them.

Cub Master should hand over his den leadership responsibilities to the father of the new scout. See if there is somebody else in this den of now 10 scouts who wants to move to the den of 8. If not, 8 and 10 is still a good balance and a reasonable number.

Please disregard the post just above this one. I was in the wrong thread. Sorry.

(This message has been edited by Acid Test)

Great advice and we are well into looking at several troops. In fact this last weekend, we camped with a troop at a Camp-o-ree and saw several troops in Sam Houston in action. One of the items on my comparison matrix is the council since the camp facilities for many council events are held there. I had heard a rumor that the Bay Area facilities were not being maintained adequately and this is a concern for me. Thanks for your reply!

I have a Webelo I who will be crossing over in less than a year. As we look for a boy scout troop with him, we are seeing two approaches to patrols with new scouts: 1) The new scouts form a green patrol and stay together as almost as "Webelo III's" 2) Mix the new scouts with existing patrols within the troop Any recommendations on the pros and cons of these approaches? The green patrol seems to be much more popular in my area.

Hi all!! I have a Webelo I who will cross over within a year to become a boy scout - can you believe it - less than a year away! So, we began the search for a troop in our area. The good news is there are 13 troops within 10 miles of our house. The bad news is there are 13 troops within 10 miles of our house. Since we live on the border of two councils, we can choose between the Bay Area Council which covers where we live and south and the Sam Houston Council (our current pack is in Sam Houston) which borders us north and west. What should I look for when selecting between councils? Does anyone have any experiences with either council, but preferably Bay Area, they could share. But please, let's try to keep this as positive as possible. If you really have negatives, could you forward them to my email address at cdouglas408@yahoo.com instead of posting them here. Thanks in advance!!

I am putting together a training matrix for our pack's adult leaders and had some questions. Could somebody advise? thanks Are assistant den leaders required to take the leader specific training? Does a den leader need to take the leader specific training each year as they move from Tigers to Wolves to Bears to Webelos? How often do leaders need to be retrained? I have a couple of answers already: Youth Protection Training (on-Line) Every 2 Years New Leader Essentials Once Cub Scout Leader Fast Start (on-line) Den Leader Specific Training (Tigers, Wolves, Bears, Webelos) Charter Organization Representative Training Cubmaster Training Pack Committee Training Safe Swim Defense (on-line) Stay Afloat (on-line) WeatherHazards (on-line) Basic Adult Leaders Outdoor Orientation (BALOO) Outdoor Leader Skills for Webelo Leaders

The ignore feature is your friend. Join the other 15 (or more by now) who have found the way.

fscouter provided you a complete explanation of his/her actions. If you are still not satisfied with the outcome then contact Terry or call for his/her resignation as a moderator. But I agree with a previous post - either act or move on. There is power in numbers.

Eamonn, Could you post Terry's e-mail or a way to get ahold of him. As an observer, it sounds like posters here have a re-occurring issue with a single moderator. If Terry appointed this moderator, he should be made aware of the issue before we lose some valuable contributors. FOUND IT - click on the picture of Bill at the top center of the page. It will take you to a message Terry wrote. There you will find a link on the left side to send him a private message Here is the link: http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=172740(This message has been edited by Acid Test)

My former pack had kids out selling popcorn before the recuitment night at the local school. The timing is a bit tight and some new Tigers found themselves joining the pack after other kids had sold popcorn down "their" roads. They were encouraged to do the best they could. My question is whether or not this is the case elsewhere.

You may end up with stricter or unfair moderation well beyond. I think some of the issues on the thread in question I caused by confronting one the forum duds. This escalated and things boiled a bit. If this caused a moderator to become sensitive to other posts, I apologize.

This thread is to share your experiences on how best to sell popcorn. Here are a couple that proved useful for us: 1) Pre-order - that way the boys have the popcorn in-hand to sell. Studies have been done that show people are several more times likely to buy when the product is immediately available 2) Combine a pack event with the popcorn kick-off - perfect opportunity to have an outing with the popcorn kick-off 3) Make the boys pledge to sell as certain amount - goals, goals, goals!!!

Just wondering on how your pack handles the popcorn fund raiser with the new Tigers. Are they fully expected to sell or do they get a pass since they are just joining?

Pack, Good post, I understand your point. Would it make sense to try FScouter off-line to get clarification? Maybe a private message away from the public eye would reach an accord sooner. Best of luck AT

Packsaddle wrote: Evmori, also as I remember, you have indeed made disparaging remarks about the ACLU, perhaps not in that thread but plenty of other times. Perhaps the forum moderator takes issue with your characterization. I offer this irony: I am, at this moment, performing exactly the function of the ACLU. As such, I am defending all of your rights as 'citizens' of these forums, to write posts in these forums. I am defending you against a (so-far unidentified) central authority who might, in fact, be censoring you in a manner that violates its own 'guidelines'. Are you 'getting' this? Pack, I am really quite new to these forums but am an experienced member of others through the years. It is almost as if moderation is a pot ready to boil. Things go on for so long and then the moderators lay down the law. Overall my short-term impression is that they are quite lenient. I have never seen where they would allow a person to remain a member of a forum when 15+ others have that person on an ignore list. 15!!! That is an astounding number!!! The fact that they allow this member, one that people obviously take issue with, to continue demonstrates considerable restraint.(This message has been edited by Acid Test)

Horizon: I wouldn't dispute whether or not a SSN is a solid way of performing a background check or whether many organizations and employers use it for this purpose. What is questionable is whether or not there are reasonable alternatives that avoid a BSA adult applicant from having to use a SSN when completing his/her BSA application. Reading through the several pages of previous posts reveals several - some still require a SSN but eliminates the need of having the number in BSA files or on BSA databases where the information has the potential of being compromised. As far as the AYSO, they are offering alternatives to providing your SSN to the local staff by allowing the applicant to enter their SSN on-line which is then XXX'd out on the printed application. I have a link to the site if you are interested. Additionally, some local AYSO organizations are allowing applicants to submit an FBI fingerprint and back ground application instead of providing SSN's to the local AYSO. Again, I have a link if you are interested. There is very good information found at: http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs16d-VolunteerScreening.htm There is a lot of information for the applicant which includes what to require from the searching organization. In my opinion, the BSA policies for background checks fail to satisfy several recommendations. For those who are not convinced that thread is a bunch of crap, here is an interesting cut/paste from the site: Why are volunteers worried about privacy? To begin with, background screening involves gathering information about an individual. The process starts with the collection of personal data such as name, address, telephone number, present and past addresses, and Social Security number. In these days of identity theft, it is common sense to protect your personal information. Sharing your Social Security number itself defies core advice for preventing identity theft. Questions may also arise about the amount and kinds of information covered in the background check. Does the information to be collected relate to the job? For example, should an organization routinely ask its volunteers to agree to a credit check or a Department of Motor Vehicles check when the job requires neither money handling nor driving? Data security is another major concern, with questions often left unanswered when volunteers are asked to submit to background screening. Volunteers have a legitimate right to know that personal information will be secure, either with online encryption systems or in locked file cabinets.

Thanks ScoutNut - very clear and maybe this will be useful to some folks. I am not sure whether a background check was performed or not when I was with the Greater Niagara Frontier Council. My wife and I elected not to fill in our SSN on the application and we received a phone call from the local council. After telling our story, they said they would appeal to the National Council. About 4 days later we were informed that our applications were accepted. It would be easy to speculate what happened behinds the scenes but really we don't know. BTW, the company I now work with performed a detailed background check which included fingerprinting. On my work's job application, they asked questions on criminal history. My work location is a chemical plant which produces "substances of interest" and therefore the security requirements for employees and contractors is higher than typical. My employer has my SSN. The only thing that could remotely be on my record is a single moving traffic violation 29 years ago - that's it - I have never been in a car accident, arrested, or been in court or a police station for any purpose. Also, I have never had a parking ticket - pretty amazing when you think about it.

GernBlansten, The "ignore" feature on these forums is our friend. Join the many.

I believe there were exceptions granted at some point but the strict requirement is more recent. Great information regarding the BSA accepting other recent checks. I know you can go to your local police department and have your fingerprints taken. The prints can be then used to run a check of which I assume based on your post, you can be granted a "pass" that the BSA will accept? Is this your interpretation? If so, this is a real viable alternative.

This is really wonderful!! A message posted by this user is squelched either because the user is on your Ignored User List or has a low Forum rating. To view all posts, click "Unsquelch" at the top of this thread or remove the user from your Ignored User List. And it is easy to block his private messages by using a keyword block in your e-mail reader.

Darn it, why didn't I figure this out sooner? User ignore confirmation You may squelch out all posts from evmori, who is ignored by (OGE here, the total originally displayed is not close to the total I got when I checked who was ignoring Ed, it was 15 as of approx 2:59 PM June 26, 2008)... we'll simply block any messages they contribute to threads so that you can ignore their comments when you visit. This is all you end up seeing: A message posted by this user is squelched either because the user is on your Ignored User List or has a low Forum rating. To view all posts, click "Unsquelch" at the top of this thread or remove the user from your Ignored User List. (This message has been edited by a staff member.)