[Woody1458]

I just hope that the people who post in contradiction to this thread understand that everyone is allowed their opinion. I happen to agree with him. I believe that adult interaction with the robot is way above what should be allowed. I don't think this is the students fault, the team structures fault, or even the adults fault! People naturally want to be involved. The thing is that adult who want to get involved get involved because quite simply they are the adults. It takes incredible restraint for an engineering adult to not take control of engineering, something that he/she must do, in my opinion. The one time I really understood the importance of this was this season. I was working with our engineering mentor on our elevator's spool when we decided to make a food run, of which I went with. When i got back a half hour later and found him sitting in a chair doing nothing. At first I wondered why he hadn't finished it without me, then I realized that He wasn't really working on the spool, he was working on me. Thats when I realized how much the teams with (sorry to be frank) irresponsible adults, are losing. I walk by pits, and see adults bouncing ideas off each other, making calls, being innovative, and acting on those decisions over and over again. I think this is a real hit to the purpose of FIRST and something that students really should sit down and talk to with their mentors. Remember! They work for you, not the other way around!