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He's a serious question....

If things were this bad, why didn't kids call their parents and tell them what was going on?

Why didn't they just quit? It's happened in the past, a core of kids walk out and then it makes people notice.

In today's day and age of lawsuits and overreacting to the first thing said about anything, I wonder why someone didn't pick up the phone and call someone.

Plus if all this was going on, why did the webmaster wait till the end of the year ? If you want to talk about lawsuits and criminal acts, well then the webmaster is a knowing party of what was going on and should also be held accountable for these issues.

If he knew the bus driver had no cdl and that bus wrecked, he could be held responsible and considered a partner in this issue.

If you have ever been in a classroom with a professor who was extremely outspoken about certain things (politics, for example) you risked your grade or reference by disagreeing with them. Kids that age as a whole do not have expereience to combat this.

The webmaster may have been trying to go thru channels (DCI) to get things done; and they did not to the degree that they needed to be. Also, he may have felt pressure to get his pay first...and that is understandable, since there was building up evidence of the lack of integrity of the leadership of the corps.

Many of these members and staff are young; and they are inexperienced with dealing with strong personalities who can intimidate and threaten (not to mention their invested hope in the organization and its success restrains them)...therefore, there has to be strong oversight by responsible adults with the power to call the shot if it needs to be. Shot one was bringing the Troopers director in to finish the tour.

Also understand that peer pressure could have kept things in-house ('what goes on here, stays here'...which is manipulation at its finest <**> ); and the usual atmosphere of touring tends to have a hard focus on the show to the extreme; and sometimes reality is put aside. (Ask any member how hard it can be to readjust after a season..it was hard for me!) Add to that the fact that some members may not realize at times they are being mistreated and put into danger, and the difficulties for parents to see everything that goes on 1000 miles away with the touring corps, and it is a recipe for abuse, neglect, and endangerment to occur.

Remember, in most abuse situations the abused does not always speak up out of fear. Because you are 18-21 years old does not mean you are up on adult perspectives...and it is up to the more experienced of us to observe, question, demand, and if need be, change these situations before someone further gets hurt or dies. And make examples out of those individuals who caused these situations and start screening others to avoid mismanagement and abuse. And maybe this is a wake-up call to this activity to get its house in order before it is forced upon it. And that would be very bad :(

Edited by prodigal bari
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I too would like to quiet this thread down, as Matt has asked, but I do feel that I need to respond and hopefully not look FOOLISH to Mr. BASTimpanist! I don't know where he got the cold tomato sauce/ half-cooked noodles, but it wasn't from me. I don't know about cheese sandwiches but I do know about cooking over 300 grilled ham and cheese sandwiches for over 2 hours in order for everyone to get at least 2 of them. I already explained the Raison Bran incident in another post. As far as volunteers being able to go to back to sleep, when was that? We went to bed later and rose earlier than the corps, often not getting showers for days on end. Sleep was never very plentiful while on tour! I really enjoyed my time with the corps and have many wonderful memories, but it makes me think twice about doing it again if this is the kind of gratitude I get.

Again, I never felt that my child was in danger. I was in constant communication with my son and was aware of the problems as they occurred. Yes, there are many problems that need to be addresses and fixed. I just hope that those viewing this realize that this whole thing is being blown way out of proportion. A few malcontents do not necessarily respresent the ideas or experiences of the whole corps.

Please, can we just let this thing die down now and let the proper people handle it without our continuing to feed the fire?

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As far as volunteers being able to go to back to sleep, when was that? We went to bed later and rose earlier than the corps, often not getting showers for days on end. Sleep was never very plentiful while on tour! I really enjoyed my time with the corps and have many wonderful memories, but it makes me think twice about doing it again if this is the kind of gratitude I get.

Corps "mom" to Corps Mom.. let me just say (and this is in NO WAY my attempt to make excuses for Trey -- I think that's his name -- and his comments to you), please don't let this change your impression of volunteering with drum corps.

99% of the kids on the field really don't ever see the things we (especially those of us on cook crew) do to make sure that their day is seamless. All they see is that they wake up, stumble outside, there's food on the plate.. they go practice.. come back.. there's food on the plate.. they go practice, perform.. come back.. there's food on the plate. They don't (and probably don't NEED to) see that the cooks are typically first up, last down on tour. They just need to know there's food on their plate when they need to refuel to support the activity they're putting their bodies through.

No one who has ever volunteered will EVER doubt the hard work you did.. we all do.. we've all been there. Seems when you're at your most exhausted.. scraping the bottom of the barrel of inspiration to keep going, some sweet kid comes along randomly and gives you a hug or a big genuine toothy-grinned thank you for something as simple as a cheese stick. Then all the hard stuff disappears. I don't doubt that Trey and every other kid who walked through your food line fully and thoroughly appreciated every morsel of food -- even if they didn't like everything you served.. but here's the part that -- if you weren't there to witness -- it's easy to miss from their perspective.

While you were on tour, those kids got three squares and a snack most days.. and even you mentioned there were times when the meals served while you were there weren't "ideal."

Now imagine you're a marathon runner. Every day you have to train as hard as you can for 8 - 10hrs a day.. in the hot sun.. in the humidity... the rain.. the wind.. keep training.. keep pushing..

If you miss even ONE full, balanced meal you feel it in the most awful way. Your body gets panicky. Your blood pressure goes wacky. Your systems start to perform at lower than their peak capacity.. and when you're training for that marathon, you need to be and stay at peak capacity. If you miss more than one full, balanced meal over the course of your intense training, your body responds more aggressively and you can experience all kinds of extreme symptoms.. even requiring hospitalization.

When we ask these kids to go out and practice for 4 and 5hr blocks while they're on tour without giving them the opportunity to fill themselves with some level of proper nutrition, these are the things they experience. And being asked to do it even just a few times -- because of the extreme response your body has to it -- that tends to be the prevailing memory of the overall experience.

I know YOU did your job.. and you obviously did it well.. but you couldn't be there the whole time. If something like these reports was happening -- even infrequently -- it can't go unaddressed. Please don't feel it's a personal affront to you. You couldn't be there the whole time. This is a larger issue.

I promise you.. PROMISE YOU you were and are appreciated for the work you did this summer.

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I too would like to quiet this thread down, as Matt has asked, but I do feel that I need to respond and hopefully not look FOOLISH to Mr. BASTimpanist! I don't know where he got the cold tomato sauce/ half-cooked noodles, but it wasn't from me. I don't know about cheese sandwiches but I do know about cooking over 300 grilled ham and cheese sandwiches for over 2 hours in order for everyone to get at least 2 of them. I already explained the Raison Bran incident in another post. As far as volunteers being able to go to back to sleep, when was that? We went to bed later and rose earlier than the corps, often not getting showers for days on end. Sleep was never very plentiful while on tour! I really enjoyed my time with the corps and have many wonderful memories, but it makes me think twice about doing it again if this is the kind of gratitude I get.

Again, I never felt that my child was in danger. I was in constant communication with my son and was aware of the problems as they occurred. Yes, there are many problems that need to be addresses and fixed. I just hope that those viewing this realize that this whole thing is being blown way out of proportion. A few malcontents do not necessarily respresent the ideas or experiences of the whole corps.

Please, can we just let this thing die down now and let the proper people handle it without our continuing to feed the fire?

I got the cold tomato sauce/half cooked noodles off the food truck. I got the CHEESE SANDWICH off the food truck. It could be that you weren't there. It could also be that you don't know what I and many others went through, so you don't need to try to negate what I said, because that makes you a FOOL. I was grateful for every meal and every person who cooked them, and I always said thank you. THAT is the gratitude you got from me. If that is not enough for you then you are asking too much. I'm saying right now, to you, thank you for being there for us this summer. Yet, I'm calling you a fool because you are trying to tell me what happened to me, and that IS absolutely foolish of you.

I never felt I was in danger either, because whenever those feelings arose (which was often) we took care of ourselves. And just because I'm telling personal accounts of what happened, doesn't mean I'm committing slander or blowing anything out of proportion. The truth just hurts. And the reason it's being made so public now is because people are tired of nothing being fixed and in fact...getting worse. But I suppose I'll let it go now, so that the masterful broom handlers at Capital can sweep it under the rug and not do a #### thing about it. Again.

And I hope you are not accusing me of not having fun this summer, because I did. The family around me made it awesome to be there everyday, through the next wave after wave of crap that came at us.

And of course when I say something, I speak for the whole corps and everyone involved with it. In fact, whenever I say something, I speak for the entire DCI organization. And the whole world. The entire world believes what I believe.

^0^

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This is a digression but considering that much of the horror stories deal with not being fed, whatever happened to the corps pulling up to the area that had 3 or 4 restaurants and saying you have 60 minutes to be back on the bus? Ive never understood why corps decided to take on this added responsibility of carting around a food staff and in many cases horrendous cost of feeding the corps itself. Back in the paleolithic days, when I was on tour with another corps before Scouts, thats exactly what they did. As we got off the bus they handed us an envelope with our daily allotment for eating, money which we ourselves had given them at the start of tour.

So why do corps today have to carry their own commisary staff? It isnt like there isnt going to be any food available when they get to the show location! This approach may have made tour a more pleasant experience for the members of Cap Reg.

Ok, back to the topic of discussion.

Edited by MantkuJPusskertant
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Corps "mom" to Corps Mom.. let me just say (and this is in NO WAY my attempt to make excuses for Trey -- I think that's his name -- and his comments to you), please don't let this change your impression of volunteering with drum corps.

99% of the kids on the field really don't ever see the things we (especially those of us on cook crew) do to make sure that their day is seamless. All they see is that they wake up, stumble outside, there's food on the plate.. they go practice.. come back.. there's food on the plate.. they go practice, perform.. come back.. there's food on the plate. They don't (and probably don't NEED to) see that the cooks are typically first up, last down on tour. They just need to know there's food on their plate when they need to refuel to support the activity they're putting their bodies through.

No one who has ever volunteered will EVER doubt the hard work you did.. we all do.. we've all been there. Seems when you're at your most exhausted.. scraping the bottom of the barrel of inspiration to keep going, some sweet kid comes along randomly and gives you a hug or a big genuine toothy-grinned thank you for something as simple as a cheese stick. Then all the hard stuff disappears. I don't doubt that Trey and every other kid who walked through your food line fully and thoroughly appreciated every morsel of food -- even if they didn't like everything you served.. but here's the part that -- if you weren't there to witness -- it's easy to miss from their perspective.

While you were on tour, those kids got three squares and a snack most days.. and even you mentioned there were times when the meals served while you were there weren't "ideal."

Now imagine you're a marathon runner. Every day you have to train as hard as you can for 8 - 10hrs a day.. in the hot sun.. in the humidity... the rain.. the wind.. keep training.. keep pushing..

If you miss even ONE full, balanced meal you feel it in the most awful way. Your body gets panicky. Your blood pressure goes wacky. Your systems start to perform at lower than their peak capacity.. and when you're training for that marathon, you need to be and stay at peak capacity. If you miss more than one full, balanced meal over the course of your intense training, your body responds more aggressively and you can experience all kinds of extreme symptoms.. even requiring hospitalization.

When we ask these kids to go out and practice for 4 and 5hr blocks while they're on tour without giving them the opportunity to fill themselves with some level of proper nutrition, these are the things they experience. And being asked to do it even just a few times -- because of the extreme response your body has to it -- that tends to be the prevailing memory of the overall experience.

I know YOU did your job.. and you obviously did it well.. but you couldn't be there the whole time. If something like these reports was happening -- even infrequently -- it can't go unaddressed. Please don't feel it's a personal affront to you. You couldn't be there the whole time. This is a larger issue.

I promise you.. PROMISE YOU you were and are appreciated for the work you did this summer.

Totally agree, from experience I have worked with corps that one member will tell you that they didn't get fed well, while another member will tell you that some of the best food (and largest quantities of food) they had in their lives were while on tour. So while a some may not appreciate there are others that do, you cannot please them all. And sadly enough, we all remember the bad times and good times more than the normal times, having food for them was the normal times that kids will probably not fully remember, yet they will remember the times they did not have food. So as Steff said, even though they may not say it to you, you were and are appreciated and don't let this ruin your feelings about Drum Corps.

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And of course when I say something, I speak for the whole corps and everyone involved with it. In fact, whenever I say something, I speak for the entire DCI organization. And the whole world. The entire world believes what I believe.

^0^

Your sarcasm destroys your credibility. As a member of Capital Regiment, you do not speak for me.

And to bariparents, THANK YOU for all you have done to help the corps. You are not a fool.

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Can I request for this topic to be locked? Am I allowed to ask for that? :lol:

If the author of this topic would like it to be locked, then I can lock it.

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This is a digression but considering that much of the horror stories deal with not being fed, whatever happened to the corps pulling up to the area that had 3 or 4 restaurants and saying you have 60 minutes to be back on the bus? Ive never understood why corps decided to take on this added responsibility of carting around a food staff and in many cases horrendous cost of feeding the corps itself. Back in the paleolithic days, when I was on tour with another corps before Scouts, thats exactly what they did. As we got off the bus they handed us an envelope with our daily allotment for eating, money which we ourselves had given them at the start of tour.

So why do corps today have to carry their own commisary staff? It isnt like there isnt going to be any food available when they get to the show location! This approach may have made tour a more pleasant experience for the members of Cap Reg.

Ok, back to the topic of discussion.

1. Good corps understand the need to feel their members well. The physical demands placed on the participants (150-200 sets vs. 30; at break-neck speeds and astronomical demand) have increased by factors since the 70's, to the point that they are world-class athletes (remember the IU study that placed the cardivascular activity of a corps member at the level of a world-class runner..do you see any huge kids in the top 12?); and therefore need to be fed very well; and come of the modern corps can put out one heck of a meal.

2. Time is of the essence. It is quicker to feed the corps at the rehearsal/performance site than going to the local strip mall.

3. Food is a lot more expensive at fast-food places; and there is no way to make sure the members are eating healthy and enough to fuel themselves for a 4-5 hr rehearsal block. You are also at the mercy of location...some places you have to go may not have the infrastructure to actually feed properly 150+ athletes and staff.

You could get by in the past (and some didnt...see some of the older horror stories on other posts) with leaving the kids on their own; not now and be competitive...or even safe. Drum corps is as much an athletic activity as it is musical; and to not provide proper nutrition while physically pushing them past their limits in dangerous heat conditions (as many corps HAVE to do) is bordering on criminal. And dont even think about being competitive anymore...

Edited by prodigal bari
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This is a digression but considering that much of the horror stories deal with not being fed, whatever happened to the corps pulling up to the area that had 3 or 4 restaurants and saying you have 60 minutes to be back on the bus? Ive never understood why corps decided to take on this added responsibility of carting around a food staff and in many cases horrendous cost of feeding the corps itself. Back in the paleolithic days, when I was on tour with another corps before Scouts, thats exactly what they did. As we got off the bus they handed us an envelope with our daily allotment for eating, money which we ourselves had given them at the start of tour.

So why do corps today have to carry their own commisary staff? It isnt like there isnt going to be any food available when they get to the show location! This approach may have made tour a more pleasant experience for the members of Cap Reg.

Ok, back to the topic of discussion.

I can't imagine this ever working! For one thing, it would be more expensive. I marched in a corps that fed us extremely well. There was always food left over. Even with all this food, buying in bulk, and making it themselves, the actual cost of the meal ended up being around $1.25 per member. Secondly, although I missed fast food, I can't imagine eating it every night. At least with my corps (and I know of others) there was a nutritionist that designed the meals. I sometimes didn't like some of the meals, but they were all, for the most part, balanced. This is extremely important for the type of activity that these kids do. You can't just give everybody money and expect them to eat smart every night. Div 1 - 60 minutes? right.

Eating at the show site...Hot dogs and pizza every night?

I can't see how this would work at all.

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