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While waiting for some news, any news..... I don't think I really appreciated just how good Cadets 2018 was given the circumstances. I feel after last year, Cadets really have a better chance to be competitive this season... ...this is primarily an attempt to bump this thread...

the balls out clean drumline

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! I hope everyone here has a safe and wonderful holiday!

there's no going back well, unless a corps does a nostalgia bit like bloo did awhile back

Speaking from first hand knowledge, there are indeed corps that already have this exact policy in place - you are right, it protects the student, and protects the adults. Mike

Forget the recent past stuff in the news articles for a moment. Look at how the vetting process might work moving forward. Corps A hires: XX staff who have contact with MM. XX support people, such as admin, cooks, prop staff, drivers, other volunteers. The corps perform all of the new background reporting requirements, which need to have zero tolerance and/or wiggle room: Criminal Licenses Other avenues of investigation (such as online searches and references) No issues are discovered What are you thinking that corps A will do regarding DCI? Send DCI information at the individual person level? Sign off that everyone complies with the DCI requirements? Sending DCI information on individuals certainly raises the risk of PII being released/misused, so just keeping an "Excel spreadsheet" may not be the best idea if you want DCI to maintain personal information at the individual level.

In lieu of all the pitfalls, shortfalls, errors and omissions of background checks and database populating and maintenance, here’s a completely different idea: A strictly enforced policy of NEVER allowing one-on-one interactions between staff and MMs. There must at all times be at least TWO staff members present if there’s any interface with one MM. Let this policy be broadcast and frequently discussed with staff and MMS until it becomes second nature. There is no reason for one-on-one private interaction between staff and MM. I think that by removing the opportunity for malfeasance, you will greatly reduce the actual malfeasance. And don’t say it’s not possible. Of course it’s possible. Do it.

and Happy Holidays to all with that!

No. She was reported to be 19 when the season started.

correct, but it would eliminate the pass the trash mentality we have seen. And it doesn't need to be NASA level science. Hell, an excel spreadsheet would do.

It is not the Auto Insurance Companies responsibility to care if the kids are safe or not on DCI Tour however. Its not their business, 'not their calling.. Thats the responsibility of DCI and the Corps themselves to keep the kids as safe as humanly possible. . Besides, kids " on DCI tour " have no bearing at all on either the kid's driving record, nor on the family's auto Insurance rates. Unless the kid was driving one of the Corps vehicles ( doubtful ) that was involved in an accident that required an Insurance payout. its typically the Corps Commercial Auto Insurance Policy that pays for the damages and injuries to those injured in ( say ) a Corps Bus accident on tour. Not the MM's Family's Personal Auto Insurance Policy. Parents of MM's today are in no danger of having their family's auto insurance rates go up, nor their kid dropped from the family's auto Insurance policy as a result of anything that happens on a DCI 9 week summer tour, Bluzes.

I said this in another thread, but i'll repeat it here: Funny you mention this. I was talking to someone today who thinks the reporter has some agenda and wondered why I’ve been such a hard ### towards dan, the board, the corps etc. its easy. Whenever there’s been criticism what’s the power brokers standard reply? “ it’s for the kids” “ don’t criticize, you’ll hurt the kids”. well, until May 2018 the collective powers that be, including Dan, the board, the corps boards, and so many others IGNORED this issue and allowed way too many KIDS get hurt by people that shouldn’t have been around. Like we see with the Catholic Church, tell them to leave but don’t block them from being involved. Sweep it under the rug. Teaching license suspended? No biggie I know you can make my horn line better. It’s been the worst kept secret for decades, and enough people had to know specifics, and did nothing. We know people reported stuff before last year, and it was ignored or worse, people were threatened to stay silent. but yet it’s all supposed to be about the kids right? That’s what those at the top have stressed repeatedly. Kids, kids, KIDS!! yet when someone did anything sexual with a kid, either in or out of dci but was allowed to work there, the safety of those same kids was ignored. that is why I continue to demand people be held accountable for past inaction. Yeah it could take down some big names. In fact I’ve been suspicious of some resignations and their rationale the last 18 months. I am glad dci is taking steps. I truly believe in any restructuring the inmates should not be in charge of the asylum. None of them have earned that right..... because despite their mantra of “ the kids”, they’ve proven their safety really wasn’t as important as they claimed.

...or an EKG blip.

Well....they'll certainly save on transportation and housing costs! Diamond Bar is only 40 miles from Pasadena....about three hours drive as we measure distances in the L.A. region!

Kewl, now drum corps fans can remember this theory by associating it to Vanguard, drum corps is RADIX

No employee should have his/ her non employment activities " tracked " by an employer as a condition of their hiring, nor while working there. No matter if its a tracking by the employer on what they say on social media, or whether or not the employee does volunteer work, belongs to a political party, drinks extra large glasses of sugary drinks, or attends church, synagogue, or mosque, or are non believers and sleep in,. Or engage in ANYTHING outside of their employment that is legal. Its frankly, none of their GD business. If one is engaging in illegal activities apart from their employment, thats why we have Law Enforcement, and Prosecutors, and Courts. An employer should never be granted extraordinary powers that go beyond that limited to the narrowest of the employer- employee relationship outlined in the understood duties of the position they were hired for. People who BREAK the laws should not be in the same category as law abiding citizens. The latter should not have to have their Liberties diminished because of the wilful wanton acts of the law breakers.

So, because you believe that there is a loss of individual freedoms and privacy protections in some areas of life now, you want to extend such loss of privacy protections to DCI so that DCI employers can track your non employment related activities 24-7 too ? Even if you are a law abiding citizen ?

Unless the person who suffered the abuse presses charges, there is little that can be done in the criminal courts against the perp. That is what happened in, the Cosby case. The one and only woman still within the statute of limitations came forward (at nearly the last minute) and criminal charges against Cosby proceeded. The judge permitted some of the woman from earlier incidents to testify to show a pattern of behavior, but none of those events were charged. He was convicted on the only incident available. Ditto Hopkins, He is "only" charged with the two women from the recent past. Hopefully others will be permitted to testify as happened with Cosby, but those are the two that the prosecutor needs to prove to the jury. In the case of teachers, outside of the criminal justice system schools can go through licence removals and professionals sanctions against teachers, but that is separate from the criminal side, which has nothing to do with the school district. The new laws like here in NJ then permit...in fact mandate...that 1) a job applicant must agree to allow the new district to go back 20 years (in NJ) to research any issues from the past and 2) schools must disclose such information when asked. Drum corps checking a new hire have no access to school systems, so I'm not sure how something like that might work, especially if the applicant was not convicted of a crime and did not lose a license.

This. Is. Hilarious.

Yep. When I got my 2nd wind and started marching DCA, we did the show in Orlando. I wanna say it was 2005. Unfortunately, the unis didn't get cleaned and had sat in the uniform trailer for a few weeks after the previous show in Wintson Salem. We all know how hot it gets in Atlanta so they had been marinating for a while in the back of that trailer. To say they were a little odiferous would be an understatement.

They look like Cavies 2.0, except in cream. They also took equipment off a truck with “SCV” painted on it. Still thinking...ah, yes! The (schwack!) Horn Snap.

Thank you for saying it better than I could. In addition what you said, think about the long unsafe bus rides with fatigued drivers, tons of kids getting sick on tour, kids breaking bones and getting concussions during unsafe drill. It’s never been about the kids. Maybe it was in the very early years of touring before this endless arms race of more more more bells and whistles started. But it hasn’t been for a long time. What can you do? Vote with your feet. Stop financially supporting the activity until you’re satisfied things have changed. And don’t stop speaking out. Everywhere.

The Minnesota Brass, Inc. board of directors hired Katy Matuzak (formerly Bensen) to serve as executive director of the organization at its meeting on Dec. 17. Her predecessor, Jeremy Semler, is no longer with the organization. Matuzak has served in numerous leadership capacities over the past five years and has been a longtime performing member […] View the full article

I watched a YT video called "Highlights of 2018 DCI Finals" and with the exception of the Vanguard, I didn't recognize a single corps with all the bizarre uniforms. Let's hope the pendulum swings back so that corps will wear their traditional-yet-updated uniforms so we can recognize them and cheer them on. Isn't that what DC is mostly about? With the news about sexual predators running rampant in the ranks of major corps, DCI may be brought down. Hopefully, a new organization will take it's place with more traditional and progressive rules. DCI wants all this news to go away.

Jeff, I am not singling you out I respect your and BRASSO's, MelloDude (who is far from Mello) input. But do draw the line that having fun with the square root symbol was evil. I been holding back because this is not a political forum. There is a bill in committee, nicknamed the PedoBill sponsored by two congress members on the left that are aimed at lowering the age of consent. I say this now because it's Christmas and the wife is not pummeling me that much so pummel away. There are other places where the evils of this are being discussed and no reason to drag this out here. The way these bills work is they can die in committee (which this one should) or become part of an omnibus bill and be thrust upon us. Where would that leave our discussions on keeping things safe, in any activity?