[Ken Leung]

Ok folks, there is really no need to argue about this. Since when are we starting to get so touchy about giving advice to people that we have to argue about it? Just imagine you are giving a rookie workshop trying to prepared these students for a competition they've never seen before. See what you would tell them in order to help them avoid learning things the hardway.

Take a look at the following points and see if you agree with me:

1. There is a tremendous amount of useful information in the manual that will benefit any FIRST participant if they have time to read through it. Although it is not necessary, it is highly recommended to read the manual because it explain the competition very well and have lots of useful technical advice regarding the robot. Familiarizing with the rules will only help clear confusions in the future, and help teams understand the competition better.

2. It is no big deal if people don't understand the rule and decided to ask a question in the Chief Delphi Forum. A lot of people will be more than willing to supply answers very quickly. However, the answers should have the goals to a) provide a useful respond, b) teach the person how to use the manual in the area they have question about, c) point the person to the right direction if further clarification from FIRST is necessary. The key here is to help them learn how to solve problems, and not just helping them to get by until the next question.

Certainly all of you have gone through the rookie phase when you first join the competition. You should understand how hectic it is when you are doing this for the first time. We should encourage rookies to seek help from this wonderful discussion forum. At the same time, we should give them the best answers we can to ensure their survival and success in this program, and teaching them to use the manual to their advantage is one of the best answers you can give.