[Kate00]

(I was going to add this in as an edit to my previous post, but I felt that it really needed to stand alone.)

I think it's terrible that 1114 has to deal with these allegations at least once a year. They do great things for their students, that's apparent through all of the posts that are remotely informed on these boards. Get over it, guys. Stop picking on teams for doing things you think are wrong. Do your research - the organization you're participating in doesn't think they're wrong. Stop making unfounded allegations. Try and bring yourself up to their level, as opposed to bringing them down to yours.

If you really want to show that a team that is more student-driven is just as good as a mentor-driven one, then focus your efforts on building an amazing robot, spreading the message of FIRST and inspiring students, and show us on the field that your robots are just as good, show us in your chairmans submissions that you do a just as good a job of inspiring students and spreading the message of FIRST. Trash-talking on these forums will not do anything.

If you can do what the program is all about just as well as they can, then why are you complaining? They inspire their students and build robots just as well as you can - who cares how they do it? I'm pretty sure they don't care how YOU do it. They aren't trying to force you to become more mentor-driven, why should you try to force them into becoming more student driven?

If you can't do what the program is about just as well as they can with your current set up, think about changing your set up. If you don't want to change your set up, and all you want to do is complain, find another organization. Maybe a science fair.

In my opinion, 1114 has become one of the most maligned teams in FIRST, just for doing what they can to inspire students. How is that right?