From: Dr. Bob Klein (drbob@troop111.org)
Date: Fri Aug 02 2002 - 21:33:45 CDT
You have posed some difficult issues here. First, it is worth noting
that the number of Arrowhead patches you get is based solely on how many
people were registered on the roster you turned in on Day 1 - not on how
many came in off the trail on Day 11.
On the adult who *voluntarily* took himself off the trail, I think most
of us would agree that he should not receive an Arrowhead. Unless
severe and (for some reason) untreatable, a headcold does not constitute
a major medical problem, and your description suggests that he made no
effort to return to the trail. I suspect if you asked him, he would
readily agree that he doesn't deserve an Arrowhead. And asking him may
be the easiest resolution.
On the injured Scout, boy that is a tough one. The only guideline I
ever heard (and I emphasize it was informal, not written down) was
"completion of more than half the trek and completion of the
conservation project". So the Scout in question here appears to be on
the knife-edge of qualifying. I have three suggestions: A) Call the
Ranch and discuss it with Mark Anderson and see if Philmont has some
more explicit guidelines; B) Ask the Scout himself if he feels he
deserves an Arrowhead; or C) Ask the rest of the Scouts in the Crew to
discuss the situation and vote on it; they are as well qualified as
anyone to do so. The latter may smack a bit of a popularity contest,
but if you lay out the seriousness of the issue, I suspect you will get
a mature and justified response yea or nay.
Arrowheads can and certainly have been withheld for disciplinary issues,
especially theft, fighting, gross insubordination, bad trail behavior
(starting fires, abusing water sources, carving grafitti on trees,
etc.), and similar offenses. However, the subjectiveness of assessing
the degree of infraction can lead to abuses. A recent post included a
comment that a Contingent Leader had threatened to withhold an Arrowhead
patch because the Scout in question hadn't tucked his shirt in (and was
(apparently) copping an attitude about it). That's clearly killing a
fly with a sledgehammer, and more likely represents an Advisor who is
too strung out rather than a real discipline issue.
Finally, if you discuss this with Mark Anderson, you will likely also
receive some suggestive counselling on how a Scout or Adult can
"re-earn" his/her Arrowhead after having it (rightfully) withheld for a
"non-fatal" disciplinary reason. This usually involves doing some
significant service project at the Crew's home base.
Good Luck. Hope this helps....
Jim Payne wrote:
> I recently returned from a great trek at Philmont (33-FM), experiencing
> areas of the South Country that I hadn't seen before in my two previous
> treks. In 1997 and 2000 I was an advisor with my troop's crews and all
> participants successfully completed the treks without injury. This
> summer I was an advisor to one of our council's contingency crews and
> had two of our members leave the trail prior to finishing. One was a
> scout who injured his ankle and was taken to base camp and later to Taos
> for treatment. He completed his conservation project and left the trail
> on Day 6. The other member was one of the adult advisors and he left
> the trail because he "just didn't feel like continuing". He did have a
> head cold and left on Day 7. Neither returned to the crew to complete
> the trek. When checking in on Day 12, we received all 10 patches and
> the crew leader and myself were faced with deciding, based on the 6
> requirements (page 4 of the Guidebook to Adventure), if the two had
> actually earned the arrowhead award, especially concerning the
> advisor. Apparently there are differing interpretations of the 6
> requirements even at the Registration Building where I first went for
> assistance. I would be interested to know if others have been faced
> with similar situations and how they handle them. My issue was
> primarily how to interrupt requirement 2, "Completed a
> Philmont-approved itinerary (except for medical reasons) with your
> crew", but there may be differing interpretations for the other 5. For
> example, who decides if a participant "live the scout oath and law"
> which is the 6th requirement and can a patch be withheld from a scout
> or advisor if he/she misbehaves while at base camp or traveling to and
> from Philmont?
>
> Jim Payne, 701F-2
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