4 ms·

Sounds like they sure can go outside. The written issue seems to be that the school is keeping them on a cell tower tether. That is weird. Are underground parki

Sounds like they sure can go outside. The written issue seems to be that the school is keeping them on a cell tower tether. That is weird. Are underground parking lots also banned if they are off school property? No cell coverage, likely higher probability of injury/robbery etc. I wonder if "safety" is a dog whistle for something else. Or will the admin reverse its decision if every student gets a satellite phone, or goes with a team of professional trained guides?

metei 9y ago
Honestly, probably just best for the club to shut down and reform as a Venturing Crew. Same concept, much more independence, and you get access to the properties and resources that Scouting International and the Boy Scouts of America both offer. I've yet to run into any issues going on trips as a gay couple in crew, its solidly not bad. Much more of a collegiate atmosphere than Boy Scouts too, and no uniform requirements or competitions either!
- wlesieutre 9y ago
  There’s at least one Venturing Crew in the area already (https://www.facebook.com/Venturing21/ https://www.facebook.com/Venturing21/) and I’m sure Venturing is a fine option, but it’s ridiculous that they would need to go that avenue. I’m also not sure what equipment has been purchased over the years, but reforming as an unassociated group would mean losing that. Also their ability to reserve rooms on campus for meetings, have a table at the “Involvement Fair” where incoming students can scope out all the clubs, no office space or storage in the student union building (not sure if PSOC has this or not, but many clubs do), etc. Given what PSU is demanding here maybe BSA would be a more useful parent organization, I just can’t believe they even need to consider it. Going hiking in central PA is not a complicated endeavor. You can drive 15 minutes off of campus and you’re out in the woods with poor cell coverage, that’s just how things are.
  - wlesieutre 9y ago
    Venturing is also age capped 14-21 which would potentially block people in their senior year or anyone who’s going to college later in life. Maybe better to be unaffiliated and more inclusive.
- avhon1 9y ago
  "Venturing is an inclusive program through the Boy Scouts of America for males and females aged 14-21 (or 13 and completed the 8th grade)." [0] A Venture crew would not be accessible to many juniors, most seniors, or (almost) any graduate students. [0] http://www.venturing.org/learn-more.html http://www.venturing.org/learn-more.html
  - skissane 9y ago
    Scouts Australia runs a program called "Rovers" for 18–25 year olds: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rovers_(Australia) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rovers_(Australia) Maybe there is no equivalent in US Scouting.
    - avhon1 9y ago
      The Boy Scouts of America offers 3 coed programs for teens/young adults (in addition to its well-known "Scouts" program): * Venture Scouting (aged 14-21), * Exploring (aged 10-20) [0], * and Sea Scouting (aged 14-20) [1] However, there are plenty of university students that would be too old to take advantage of programs that had an upper age limit of 25. [0] https://www.exploring.org/about-us/ https://www.exploring.org/about-us/ [1] http://join.seascout.org/join/ http://join.seascout.org/join/
ttsda 9y ago
That's was what immediately came to my mind, are a couple of iridium phone subscriptions too much for a university budget? Especially for something as important as keeping contact with nature that is so often missing in the modern urban life, which should be heavily promoted by them, not dismissed as "risky".

metei 9y ago

Honestly, probably just best for the club to shut down and reform as a Venturing Crew. Same concept, much more independence, and you get access to the properties and resources that Scouting International and the Boy Scouts of America both offer. I've yet to run into any issues going on trips as a gay couple in crew, its solidly not bad. Much more of a collegiate atmosphere than Boy Scouts too, and no uniform requirements or competitions either!

wlesieutre 9y ago
There’s at least one Venturing Crew in the area already (https://www.facebook.com/Venturing21/ https://www.facebook.com/Venturing21/) and I’m sure Venturing is a fine option, but it’s ridiculous that they would need to go that avenue. I’m also not sure what equipment has been purchased over the years, but reforming as an unassociated group would mean losing that. Also their ability to reserve rooms on campus for meetings, have a table at the “Involvement Fair” where incoming students can scope out all the clubs, no office space or storage in the student union building (not sure if PSOC has this or not, but many clubs do), etc. Given what PSU is demanding here maybe BSA would be a more useful parent organization, I just can’t believe they even need to consider it. Going hiking in central PA is not a complicated endeavor. You can drive 15 minutes off of campus and you’re out in the woods with poor cell coverage, that’s just how things are.
- wlesieutre 9y ago
  Venturing is also age capped 14-21 which would potentially block people in their senior year or anyone who’s going to college later in life. Maybe better to be unaffiliated and more inclusive.
avhon1 9y ago
"Venturing is an inclusive program through the Boy Scouts of America for males and females aged 14-21 (or 13 and completed the 8th grade)." [0] A Venture crew would not be accessible to many juniors, most seniors, or (almost) any graduate students. [0] http://www.venturing.org/learn-more.html http://www.venturing.org/learn-more.html
- skissane 9y ago
  Scouts Australia runs a program called "Rovers" for 18–25 year olds: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rovers_(Australia) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rovers_(Australia) Maybe there is no equivalent in US Scouting.
  - avhon1 9y ago
    The Boy Scouts of America offers 3 coed programs for teens/young adults (in addition to its well-known "Scouts" program): * Venture Scouting (aged 14-21), * Exploring (aged 10-20) [0], * and Sea Scouting (aged 14-20) [1] However, there are plenty of university students that would be too old to take advantage of programs that had an upper age limit of 25. [0] https://www.exploring.org/about-us/ https://www.exploring.org/about-us/ [1] http://join.seascout.org/join/ http://join.seascout.org/join/

ttsda 9y ago

That's was what immediately came to my mind, are a couple of iridium phone subscriptions too much for a university budget? Especially for something as important as keeping contact with nature that is so often missing in the modern urban life, which should be heavily promoted by them, not dismissed as "risky".