[Emily Pease]

I think that each year there are more and more rookies who haven't quite gotten past the "so...this is like Battlebots, right?" idea, or they're just not well-versed in the FIRST mentality. You just have to be patient and teach by example.

I do kind of agree with you about the change in atmosphere around here, and my guess is that sometimes, the new members here don't "look before they leap" (they don't read through the forums to make sure they'll be saying something appropriate to this audience), and they probably should.

Overall, though, I think that FIRST and the CD community is as great as ever.