[Mike Heinowski]

Our biggest problem has nothing to do with the robot but rather with the parents. You see over the summer some of the parents decided that they wanted to be more involved with our robotics team. This is perfectly understandable and we even welcomed this change. We ended up creating a beast, so to speak. They decided that it would be good to collect dues from the students at a cost of $40 a piece. They also decided that these due would be "optional." Now eight months later their new definition of optional means required. Now our Vice President doesn't have $40 just lying around readily available to pay his dues (which are now $50 because they are late). The worst part is that they actually told him that he could not be on the team any longer. Lucky for us he refuses to leave. This is just a small taste of what our parents are trying to pull.

If anyone has any ideas on how to handle this kind of thing, because most of our team is fed up with it, PLEASE let me know.