[mechanicalbrain]

Arrrggggh I really don't like the name of this thread. Its a little provocative in some ways (no offense Andy i think our chat was great!). OK so Ive decided to amend my view a little. I still believe everything i posted before but Ive come to realize that it doesn't matter. My opinions and everyone else's only really apply to our perspective teams. While these posts are good in showing how other teams are run no team plan is better than any other. I don't think anyone should be shot down for their opinion ghansel and i hope nobaody did. The only reason a teams organization is wrong is if it no longer provides a fun and educational environment for the students or if it hampers a team from exemplifying FIRST goals. I think ultimately a team that is completely student run or mentor run (or a mix) is no better than any other (unless of course the reasons provided occur). I think a good part of the posts here supporting student run teams need to be specific. Honestly their is nothing wrong with mentors on teams but most of the posts here aren't talking about that. What there talking about are teams where mentors strong arm the students. This is something i think almost everyone(and some who agree probably do it without realizing it) here agrees should be avoided unless its absolutely dire. I personally hate it when a mentor OR student strong arms other students by suppressing their ideas. I think a good thing to keep in mind is that their truly is no such thing as right or wrong to this because a specific team will work better to certain leadership methods. The only real tragedy is when a team becomes so static that it can't adapt.