From: whs70@dancer.uucp (22501-sohl)
Subject: Re: Does his leadership still count?
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 92 19:06:55 GMT

In article <1992Oct7.170918.17512@cbnewsl.cb.att.com> stank@cbnewsl.cb.att.com (Stan Krieger) writes:
>Here's a BSA advancement question.  There has been a difference of
>opinion over it among typical members of Boards of Review-
>
>  A boy who advanced to First Class while in the 6th grade served as
>  a Den Chief while in the 7th grade.  At the time, the Scoutmaster
>  determined that his work was satisfactory and that he did meet
>  the leadership requirement for Star;  the Advancement Chairman
>  at the time (me) was also satisfied that he met the requirement,
>  so it was recorded on his advancement record.
>
>  He never completed the other requirements for Star (primarily
>  merit bades and service project) and dropped out of the Troop
>  after the 7th grade.  He has just rejoined (10th grade) and
>  because we have "High Adventure" activities for Star and above,
>  he wanted to know what it would take for him to advance (and he
>  specifically mentioned that he thought the leadership requirement
>  was already met).
>
>Would you count the leadership, or would you make him hold another
>job for 4 months?  I'm prepared to accept it, but there have been some
>questions being raised; the issues are-
>
>     1.He was not registered as a Scout for 2 years, so what does
>	carry forward over non-continuous membership.  Clearly,
>	things that are awarded, like merit badges and rank, are
>	his, but what about things that are subjective judgments?

While it is unique to have "dropped out" and then rejoined after two
years, see nothing wrong with giving credit for the Den Leader's 
position he served in.  If the boy stayed in the troop and did nothing
for two years, there wouldn't be any issue at all if it was signed off.

>     2.In case any members of the BofR feel that they need to verify
>	what the boy has done, there is no longer any record, except
>	that 2.5 years ago, the Scoutmaster at the time said he
>	did, and there were no objections at the time.  (Also, the
>	rule under which our BofR operates is that the boy is
>	presumed to have met the requirements unless the BofR can
>	prove differently; a maybe/maybe-not or a "We don't know"
>	conclusion means the boy passes, which in this case means
>	that unless anybody knows explicitely why his work as a
>	Den Chief wasn't up to our standards, we have to accept it.)

Unless there was some reason to doubt the word of the former scoutmaster,
why would anyone question it?  Give the boy the credit.

Personally it is nice to see that the boy in question has returned to
scouting.  I wouldn't want to raise any unnecessary roadblocks to his
advancement now unless such a "roadblock" was clearly called for by
some strict application of BSA advancement rules (none of which come to
mind).

Standard Disclaimer- Any opinions, etc. are mine and NOT my employer's.
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Bill Sohl (K2UNK) BELLCORE (Bell Communications Research, Inc.)
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