For all of you who were at BAE GSR, you heard Dean's rather radical proposition for homework this year.
For those of you who didn't, Dean declined to specify the homework until Representative Bass spoke. He had said, however, that he wanted to see every high school in the country offer FIRST. Bass said, somewhat off the cuff, that he'd try to make New Hampshire be the first state to do that.
Dean, in response, asked each and every FIRST member to write a letter to each and every Congress member in their state and tell them about their positive experience and urge them to come to a competition. Obviously it's too late for this first week, but maybe it could happen for next year. Anyway, the important thing is that Dean also asked that he be personally CC'd on each one of these emails.
I'm starting to send mine out for New Hampshire.
For you NH FIRSTers, Judd Gregg can be emailed via a form
here. John Sununu has a similar form
here.
Charlie Bass makes it easy and gives an email address:
cbass@mail.house.gov
Does anyone know the actual addresses to Gregg and Sununu? It would be nice to email them and know that even if it gets filtered it's getting filtered by someone by hand and doesn't simply drop into a black hole.
And what about Dean? Best email I can find for him is
contactdeka@dekaresearch.com, but that's specified on the website as something that doesn't go to him...can anyone else help out here with info?I want to send my emails tonight...let's start clogging inboxes! Politicians
do have to listen to us...
--Petey
p.s. Can Brandon or someone sticky this (or their own explanation) on the front page? I figure it's Dean's homework...it's important....
p.p.s. Sent off the first message! Boy, will they soon be receiving a flood...
Quote:
Good evening, Senator Gregg.
I expect this email to be not the first you will receive tonight from a member of FIRST Robotics (www.usfirst.org).
Today, you see, was the final day of the BAE-sponsored New Hampshire regional competition, and Dean Kamen used the occasion, as he always does, to assign each and every FIRSTer "homework." This homework, if completed, would spread the message of FIRST--that is, the message of the importance of science and technology and the need for gracious professionalism in all social dealings--through team members.
Well, this year, Dean and Rep. Bass bantered back and forth about the need to support programs like FIRST. And reasoning that there is something wrong about the ubiquity of, say, sports programs--that is, programs that, while physically entertaining, will not be career options for 99% of participants--when a realistically career-oriented program like FIRST is still only available at 1100 schools nationwide.
Dean urged us to email our Congressmen, and I thought it was a reasonable request. As politicians, it seems your duty is to serve the people, and I believe that the popularization of FIRST would be a great service indeed.
In high school--I am a college freshman at the College of William and Mary--I partook of many extracurricular activities. I played football. I was editor of the school newspaper. I played in a band, produced rock concerts for charity, wrote and directed skits during pep rallies, and acted in two plays.
But no activity meant more to me than FIRST Robotics. I am not an engineer: I've not the technical mental mastery needed for that sort of rigorous education. I wish I did, because I do believe that through science and technology we can solve a great many of the problems that still plague our planet and our people.
FIRST competitions, if you have never been, are amazing. The BAE one ended today, and it was a blast (as it always is). To see 53 teams of students--ranging in size from 6 members to 60--readying, playing, cheering, fixing, and replaying a robot that they made in six short weeks is truly a sight to behold.
So here is my request of you:
I know your time is valuable and scarce. But please, attend a FIRST regional at some point. Allow yourself to be impressed--for it is an impressive sight--by the dignity, the intelligence, and the work ethic of these amazing teenagers.
And then do the right thing, and help Dean's vision come true. Help make FIRST as ubiquitous as football. Help encourage American students to approach real problems and to seek practical solutions through science and technology.
This isn't about big government or small government. This is about showing up to some Regional events and speaking favorably about them. You're a politician, sir: the press follows you, and the press will report on FIRST. Push schools to pick it up and offer it. Maybe create incentive packages. Do whatever you can to provide these experiences to students, and rest comfortably in the knowledge that you have done something that will have a long lasting and incredibly beneficial affect on the youngsters of our nation.
The New Hampshire regional will be back next year at this same time. In the meantime, though, there will be a regional event at Aggannis Arena at B.U. in Boston on March 23rd-25th. It is the first regional in Boston history and promises to be a good one.
Best,
--Chris Peterson
Alum of Team 1073
Hollis/Brookline High School
Hollis, NH
p.s. I've provided some helpful links in case you need more information on the program.
www.usfirst.org: the official FIRST site, with resources for teams.
www.chiefdelphi.com: the "official unofficial" site for FIRST team members, with pictures, conversations, and discussions about the program. It also contains lists of post-season competitions, many of which take place in our area.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIRST_robotics: Wikipedia entry about FIRST
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