Hello I'm Stuart Rice, and welcome to Parent Psychology 101. How many of you remember your parents having this talk with you: Well, sweetheart, now that you're not a minor anymore, you can have pre-marital sex, which is really romantic at best, and immoral at worst.  Here are some birth control pills and you'll need these condoms.  Happy birthday, sweetie. What's that?  You don't remember the you're an adult now – go have sex talk?  Well, there's a reason for that – it probably didn't happen.  Your parents aren't stupid.  They don't want you to have a shitty life.  There's a reason why I'm concerned about George Hopkins having sex with kids in his corps, and it isn't just another reason why he's been such a lousy influence on drum corps. I'm not here to hand you a slide rule to help you determine how far you should go with your mystery date.  But I am going to suggest that you need to understand how your parents feel about that kind of thing in drum corps – and how you will feel when you're a parent. Every parent wants their child to be happy.  That's the definition of parenting – making your child happy.  So unless the parent is an indulgent idiot, they're thinking ahead, figuring out what will give their child lasting happiness.  They're worrying about who is going to be introducing their child to sex  (and drinking, and drugs, and crime – anything that might screw up their life).  Some parents look at sex as a resume to be developed early to qualify their child to marry into a rich family.  As for myself, I won't stop worrying about my daughter until she's married.  If my daughter avoids pre-marital sex, it will not screw up her life the way it has screwed up other people I know. One of the other things about being a parent is being pro-active about your child's development.  You want them to learn and experience.  So you look for activities to help them.  You would like to think that drum corps, the second largest youth program in the United States, might qualify.  It certainly did a lot for me in the short time I was involved (so much so that I post almost exclusively on RAMD).  But it will not be doing anything for my daughter.  Not a chance in hell. Not with people like George Hopkins and Tom Hope running things. When a sex offender story hits the news, parents aren't saying, oh, I'm sure its not a child molester – its probably just someone being immoral, or statutory rape maybe.  We parents aren't going to pull out a slide rule and start calculating incomes, ages, number of dates, etc.  Someone that has sex with kids is a sex offender.  Period. My wife also worries about my daughter coming into contact with sex offenders.  She's educated herself.  She know those in our neighborhood by face, and when we're out driving, she'll sometimes say, a sex offender lives on this street.  We're not judging them by the age of their victims.  Pedophiles start out as rapists, and rapists start out being immoral.  Its all one long continuum. People (and youth organizations) which obstruct justice and hide these people from the public and the law are equally suspect.  I can understand why many young kids on RAMD _object_ to examinations along these lines – they have never looked out for someone the way parents do.  But who is looking out for the victims of Tom Hope and George Hopkins? Organizations like the BSA and Catholic church have wisely chosen to deal with these issues publicly and unsympathetically.  The world we live in demands that, and that is one of the many reasons why these organizations are not dying the way drum corps is dying.  DCI has never been the sharpest knife in the drawer as a youth activity.  But how this youth organization can condone sex offenders like Tom hope and George Hopkins is a mystery to me.  They're not only condoning sex offenders – they're rewarding them.  Tom learned that having sex with kids in his corps buys you a DCI career! Whose in charge here?  Certainly not parents.  The only thing I can conclude is that the sex offenders are in charge. Stuart E. Rice www.marchingresearch.com

Stuart,     Being a former military person let me give you some advice on attacking the enemy. Plan your attack carefully Make sure you have 100% of the facts Know where they are Will you attack head on and have others attack with a flanking move? Know your enemy better than they know you Attack quickly and precisely     With that said......All you are doing is lip service.   You talk the talk but ain't walking the walk.  All these accusations on people you don't know and sharing your slanderous opinions with all on RAMD ain't getting YOU nowhere.  If you were an intelligent person and decided that this is a cause you believe in then you should have done a sneak attack.  Attack immediately and do it the right way and legally.       You sir aren't to smart about your actions.  AND, if you like drum corps so much why are you trying to destroy what little we have?  Your public accusations are wrong.  You have yet to supply ANY proof to these claims.  If you are in the know, open your mouth, then you better be prepared to let it all hang out.     So some advice for you......go back to your war board and plan your attack better. << I am going to suggest that you need to understand how your parents feel about that kind of thing in drum corps What corps did you march with?  Did you have a bad experience? << As for myself, I won't stop worrying about my daughter until she's married. I take it you don't trust your daughter 100%, sounds to me like you didn't do a very good job as a parent.  My oldest lives in California with his mom and I know that I can trust him FULLY. <<  DCI has never been the sharpest knife in the drawer as a youth activity.   The gentlemen you have mentioned DO NOT work for DCI.  They work for the corps that hire them. Now go back to the above and try it the right way, if you feel that these accusations are personal to YOU! Keith Hall     Royal Coachmen 1969-77     Frontiersmen (summers 1977and 81) On staff with:     Lockport-Rochester Renegades (summer 1982), Rochester Patriots, Schlossgarde (DCD Champs 1987,88), Rochester Crusaders  and Heatwave (Orlanda, FL)

<<  DCI has never been the sharpest knife in the drawer as a youth activity.   The gentlemen you have mentioned DO NOT work for DCI.  They work for the corps that hire them. Now go back to the above and try it the right way, if you feel that these accusations are personal to YOU! Did I say they work for DCI?  No I did not, bright eyes.  Now go back, read, and think before your next brilliant sneak attack . Stuart E. Rice www.marchingresearch.com

<< and folks like yourself who enable them to seduce youth. Now you are saying things that aren't true my friend!  I don't allow this to happen anywhere.  You sure you are who you say you are?  You sound like someone else that changes things around on RAMD. << Well, he doesn't live with you.  That's gotta help. He lived with me for 12 years.  I call and talk with him EVERYDAY.  I have complete trust in him because of the way I and his mom and stepfather have brought him up. << Did I say they work for DCI?  No I did not, bright eyes.  Now go back, read, and think before your next brilliant sneak attack .   You blamed DCI for this as well as the mentioned individuals.  I am not sticking up for these people just telling you how you should handle this. Obviously you know better than the rest of us so go ahead don't listen, you are soooo much more intelligent than us.  Please continue. Keith Hall     Royal Coachmen 1969-77     Frontiersmen (summers 1977and 81) On staff with:     Lockport-Rochester Renegades (summer 1982), Rochester Patriots, Schlossgarde (DCD Champs 1987,88), Rochester Crusaders  and Heatwave (Orlanda, FL)

The world we live in demands that, and that is one of the many reasons why these organizations are not dying the way drum corps is dying.  DCI has never been the sharpest knife in the drawer as a youth activity. <snip Drum corps - and drum & bugle corps - is not dying.  Even if there were to be no active corps, there will be drum corps alumni for at least the next 40 years around. Further, drum & bugle corps is a genre - and abuse, fraud and other ethical crimes is not part of the definition. DCI is NOT drum & bugle corps .  EVERYONE and EVERYTHING are NOT the only game in town - and never will be.

Keith Hall and Stuart Rice, debating this issue . It's a media event now...