Congressional Robotics Caucus
 

A continuation of this post:
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...96&postcount=3

Some good stuff coming up with the Congressional Robotics Caucus.
http://www.roboticscaucus.org/

Congrats to all the FRC/FTC/FLL/Botball and Vex teams participating!

Is anyone keeping track of all the FIRST teams who have presented to members of Congress? I know there have been at least 2 in the past couple of months.

Re: Congressional Robotics Caucus
 

Can we just start a list here?


2007
FRC 365
FRC 116
FRC 768
FVC 116? (not sure of #)
FVC 3053
FLL 1911
FLL 1677



2009
1727
1864

Re: Congressional Robotics Caucus
 

2007
FRC 365
FRC 116
FRC 768
FVC 116? (not sure of #)
FVC 3053
FLL 1911
FLL 1677

2009
1727
1864
1311

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Re: Congressional Robotics Caucus
 

There are several other visits to add to the list. I will have to go back in my notes to look up the complete list of participating teams and events. But the ones that I remember off the top of my head include:

1998 - Havoc On The Hill
Team 116
Team 120
At least six other teams - I need to check and remember which ones they were as we staged a full Ladder Logic competition in the main foyer of the Cannon Office Building.

2001 (or 2000? I know John Larock will remember - we were both laughing so hard at this event that we could not breathe) - University Researchers Assault On Congress
Team 116
Team 365
(this was possibly the most awesome FIRST-related event on Capitol Hill ever held. ALL of the ones since then pale in comparison. Not because of anything the teams did, but because of the speech that Dean gave to 300 university presidents and Congressional liaison officers. You had to be there to understand. Dr. Charles Vest, then-president of M.I.T., still refuses to speak to Dean because of that speech.)

2008 - Congressional Technology Caucus (I think that was it - Dave Flowerday may remember the correct event title
Team 111
Team 116

There was at least one other event as well. I think it was in 2004, but I have to refresh my memory on the details of who was there and to which group they presented. I will edit/update when I find the info.

-dave


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Re: Congressional Robotics Caucus
 

Team 16 was there!

_

Re: Congressional Robotics Caucus
 

Last month MOE 365 gave a presentation to Senator Ted Kauffman (Biden's replacement in the Senate) at our lab in Delaware.

Re: Congressional Robotics Caucus
 

Dave:

This event was in 2001. MOE was excited to be going because it was our second year in FIRST, we had been fortunate to have been part of the National Championship alliance in Disney that year, and Dean had not yet unveiled the Segway (it was called "IT" at that time). The event was a dose of reality in the midst of what FIRST meant to us at that time. Dean's speech did leave us speechless. It was one of those "Wow - how do we react to that?" moments and utterly memorable.

-J-

Re: Congressional Robotics Caucus
 

Totally !!!! off subject but last night I sat through a briefing from an engineer that spent a lot of time at McMurdo Station, Antarctica. Apparently NASA spends time there because it is the closest thing we have to some planetary regions.

So did you go to region and drive your other car around down there ?

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Re: Congressional Robotics Caucus
 

Could you guys give us the gist of the speech or tell us where we could look for it? Sounds like it made an impact.

Re: Congressional Robotics Caucus
 

In 2006, the TechnoTicks (236) visited all 435 members of the House of Representatives as well as both Senators from Connecticut.

Re: Congressional Robotics Caucus
 

It actually was one of the very few of Dean's speeches that had almost nothing to do with FIRST. To begin, it is important to understand the context. Each year, about 300 of the largest research universities in the country send their university presidents to Congress. They come, accompanied by their Congressional Liaison Officers, to lobby Congress to allocate more Federal funds for university research programs. On the day of their visit to The Hill, they gather for a breakfast forum to hear a few speakers, get a pep talk or two, and organize their efforts to scatter and visit every Senator and Representative. In one day, they visit every Congressional office and ask, beg, plead, and cajole for more basic research funds to be allocated in the Federal budget, and specifically for more funds to be earmarked and be sent their particular institutions. It is pork barrel lobbying at its very finest.

In 2001, Dr Charles Vest was the president of MIT and was in charge of organizing this particular event. He asked Dean to come and be the guest speaker at the breakfast forum (I guess, assuming that he would talk about cool technology stuff and things going on at DEKA and how basic research was a good thing, etc etc etc). Dean accepted, but the speech he gave was not one that anyone there was expecting.

I will never forget Dean's opening lines: "I want you to know that I am here under protest. I believe that everything you are doing here is repugnant and ethically wrong. And now I am going to tell you why..." And for the next 35 minutes, that is exactly what he did.

The message was loud and clear: why in the world are you crawling to Washington to kiss the behind of some twit politician that never got better than a "C" in high school science? Just to beg for financial table scraps from the government? Why don't you think about the organizations that benefit the very most from the research you do - the corporations, the ones that make products (and therefore money) from your research output? Why don't you ask THEM to fund basic research? They are the greatest benefactors, should they not be the greatest contributors? You are attacking an easy source just because it is easy, rather than because it is appropriate. Shame on you.

The amount of defensiveness, self-righteous indignation, and puffery in the room was palpable. The entire room of university presidents (and the one Senator that had just received a special "advocate for science" award from the group and, just before Dean spoke, announced how proud he was to receive a "science award" - particularly since he never received better than a "C" in high school science) sat there spluttering over their eggs and cold toast. They had no idea how to respond. It was awesome.

Dean wrapped up his diatribe by then saying "oh yeah, and we have some of our FIRST teams here to show you their robots and talk to you about how real companies and organizations show their support. You need to talk to them."

As John said, it was one of those "Wow - how do we react to that?" moments.

-dave



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Re: Congressional Robotics Caucus
 

Hello...

I would have loved to have been in that room with Dave when Dean talked.

I wanted to mention that Speaker of the House , Nancy Pelosi recently
made a trip to BAE's shipyard in San Francisco. (Sept.) While there besides showing and explaining to Mrs. Pelosi things BAE was working on , they also explained BAE's involvement with the FIRST Program. Our shipyard division
president was there , who knows the Program well (He was at Nasa-VCU this past season) and knows what the program is about. I'm sure He made sure
Mrs. Pelosi knows what the program is all about.

Re: Congressional Robotics Caucus
 

Thank you for posting this, Dave. I will read and reread this a hundred times or more, I'm sure.

This quote is where I burst out laughing and then had to regain self-control so that I could finish reading your amazing post.

Jane

Re: Congressional Robotics Caucus
 

Dave: You have given me yet another reason to be confident that I will die laughing. Gosh I wish I could have been there for that speech. Sounds pretty priceless to me.

Re: Congressional Robotics Caucus
 

Reps from Lower Merion HS Robotics (FRC/VRC 1712) we be attending tomorrow's Caucus gathering. We will share info on our experience upon our return (been scrambling around getting ready too much to add more now). Looking forward to a memorable experience (darn, I wish I'd have seen that previous Dean speech to the Univ. Presidents).