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- From: stank@cbnewsl.cb.att.com (Stan Krieger)
- Newsgroups: rec.scouting
- Subject: Getting "official" answers (was: Hangmans Noose)
- Message-ID: <1992Dec21.060342.1850@cbnewsl.cb.att.com>
- Date: 21 Dec 92 06:03:42 GMT
- References: <1h0vrmINNon0@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu>
- Distribution: usa
- Organization: Summit NJ
- Lines: 61
-
- >>>I,ve heard that it is against scout policy to make, or show how to make a
- >>>hangmans noose to scouts, is this true?
-
- >> I though it was against the law to make a noose.
-
- >As far as I know, there is nothing illegal, nor is it against OFFICIAL BSA
- >rules to make or teach how to make nooses. HOWEVER, no Scouter I know will
- >teach the noose, nor let the boys make them. They are not Knots used for
- >any legitimate scouting purpose.
-
- Using this question as a lead-in, one of the things that I've noticed
- in my 6+ years as a Scouter is that other Scouters seem to "know",
- as "fact", various "policies" or subsets of policies. Sometimes I
- wonder how these get to be "known" and at what level (national, region,
- council, district, or troop) they are determined.
-
- Since I've been primarily involved in advancement, here are a few of
- the conflicting things I've heard-
-
- 1. The Board of Review does not have the authority to reject a
- candidate for advancement. If they did have a problem with a
- candidate, their job is to report back to the Troop Committee
- and determine what procedural changes are needed to make sure
- the problem does not occur again. (At least National, via the
- "Scouting" magazine, has mentioned that the BofR has the
- authority to not advance a boy; their suggestion was to
- schedule a follow-up session at the time of rejection.)
-
- 2. Concerning membership of Boards of Review, I've heard the
- following conflicting statements-
-
- a. Assistant Scoutmasters are not allowed to sit on a
- Board of Review.
-
- b. ASM's can be a member but it's discouraged,
-
- c. There's no problem with ASM's being on a BofR.
-
- d. ASM's can sit on a Star BofR but not a Life BofR.
-
- 3. Ask 3 people who can sign off on merit badges, and you'll
- get at least 4 answers. Among the various stories I've heard
- are-
-
- a. The District Advancement Chairman must approve all merit
- badge counselors, including those who want to work with
- only their own Troop.
-
- b. The District Advancement Chairman need only approve
- District-wide counselors, but a Scoutmaster can approve
- Troop-only counselors.
-
- c. A Scoutmaster can sign off as the merit badge counselor
- if he feels that the boy did complete the requirements
- (typically this involves badges worked on at camp).
-
- --
- Stan Krieger All opinions, advice, or suggestions, even
- UNIX System Laboratories if related to my employment, are my own.
- Summit, NJ
- smk@usl.com
-