The 51st National GSUSA convention is being held in Indianapolis this year October 30th to November 2nd. As one Girl Scout leader put it, "this could be a major convention in terms of impact on the organization."

Somewhat cynically, I also heard it suggested that a lot of change was being proposed purposefully this year while most of the members are otherwise preoccupied with often unpopular Council mergers and the new Journeys program.

Although I do not believe this was done on purpose, I do believe that some of the proposals to be voted upon at the convention should not be rubber stamped by the delegates but should be very thoroughly debated and perhaps rejected.

First and foremost, there is a proposal on the table that would eliminate the GSUSA constitutional requirement of geographical diversity on the National Nominating Committee. In fact, the current proposed slate of members for that body seems to have been chosen as if approval of this amendment has already happened. The National Board is going to be in a pickle if the delegates do not vote to approve this amendment because the proposed slate would then be unconstitutional.

All that I can come up with in way of an explanation is that the nominating committee did not want to take the time to seek out qualified candidates west of the Mississippi because I certainly don't believe that all those qualified to serve live conveniently along the eastern seaboard. To return to the amendment, however, I also do not believe it serves the interests of the girls in the unrepresented half of the nation to approve this measure.

Someone besides me is less than enthusiastic about some of the proposed amendments for this year's convention. You can watch some YouTube videos on these subjects and more:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4ESW4oCKX4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxauDk5EcqQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q03SeASYTlI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnZ02QwnI0s

I particularly agree with this individual's assessment that the National Board is attempting to consolidate power at the expense of the National Council. If the delegates to this year's convention do not educate themselves, they may unwittingly vote to approve to limit their own powers.