[gblake]

Originally Posted by cbale2000

Gail Alpert (the first contact listed on that page) is the president of FiM and would likely be the best person to contact if you were interested in emailing them directly. She is usually pretty good about returning emails fairly quickly too.

OK Thanks - I'll shoot her a request soon if she doesn't beat me to the punch by posting something here. [EDIT] Request sent. [/EDIT]

Originally Posted by cbale2000

I think the issue is that if you have overlapping programs it becomes harder to sell the more expensive, more time consuming one to new schools. In most areas it would just make sense to just go with the easier option, but FiM has facilitated solutions to these problems through getting state grants to cover funding, and various workshops to help rookie teams throughout the state (amongst other things) that these things aren't really problems as much as they are excuses.

Surely you didn't mean to write what you just posted in that paragraph.

In the following paragraph, if you replace "me" with any student, parent, administrator, sponsor, or other member of a community, what you just wrote is this:

Because FiM thinks they know better than I do what I want to do with my time, energy and tax money, they have put in place a system that cripples any HS-aged attempt to participate in the normal FTC process that the rest of the world uses. And further, because they think that workshops and grants (and anything else they supply?) are the only things standing between my current desires, and the obviously better choice of starting an FRC team (the more expensive and time-consuming choice), that I now have no excuse for not starting one, if I want to participate in FIRST's/FiMs programs?

Say it isn't so! Surely you miscommunicated the FiM message/motivation, or placed a wrong emphasis on some part of it (or I misunderstood you).

Blake