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Unread 23-05-2005, 22:32
Marc P. Marc P. is offline
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Re: The Ideals of FIRST have Changed...

Quote:
Originally Posted by BurningQuestion
I think that FIRST needs to make its program more economical to different demographic areas. If FIRST can make the program more economical, then I believe it will be able to do its job even better; reach the areas that need FIRST the most (poverty-ridden areas), and allow existing teams to expend more money on the culture-change part of the FIRST program. I don't know how exactly FIRST should go about doing this - in fact, I don't have the slightest inkling. However, I do believe that unless FIRST changes something about the economic accessibility of the program, the founders' dream of "a FIRST team in every high school" will not be able to become a reality. As it has been reported already, there are currently not enough resources to support a large amount of FIRST teams in a small geographic area. The FIRST program is a "money-guzzler", as wonderful as it is, and in order for the program to spread, I agree that there needs to be reform in the areas of funding.
I think this is where the FIRST Vex Challenge will come into play. From what I've read and seen in Atlanta, it seems the Vex system is poised to provide FIRST's ideals an outlet to reach areas which otherwise would not be able to sustain a FIRST Robotics team.

The important thing to remember is FIRST is about Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology first (no pun intended, really), and a robotics competition second. Looking through the "Does FIRST give out too many awards" thread, and looking at the current list of awards, there are very few awards focused on the actual competition itself. Out of the list of 20 awards, only 3 or 4 are directly related to the competition structure. The rest have more to do with the functions of the team, from the design/fabrication of the robot, to web design, sportsmanship, spirit, Chairmans projects, Engineering Inspiration, safety, etc. Compare that to some of the awards of years past, such as play of the day, number 1 seed, offensive/defensive match of the day, etc.

Just as Woodie and Dean said in the introduction video at each regional- the competition is a celebration of all the hard work put into the build season. Not only in physically building the robot, but the engineers/parent/teachers/mentors putting forth their time and energy to teach their skills and share experience with students. In that sense, it really doesn't matter how much money a team has, or how well a robot does. The only thing that really matters is the understanding and appreciation of the technology and science behind how the robot came to be. Ideally, this would result in students going to college/university to pursue careers in whatever they find themselves enjoying throughout the FIRST experience. It could be mechanical/electrical engineering, business, accounting, or whatever. At the end of the competition season, if the students are pumped up about coming back the next season, or starting some team off-season projects, or about moving on to college, then FIRST has achieved it's ideals.

Last edited by Marc P. : 23-05-2005 at 22:34.
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