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Unread 04-04-2008, 09:27
Rich Kressly's Avatar
Rich Kressly Rich Kressly is offline
Robot/STEM troublemaker since 2001
no team (Formerly 103 & 1712. Now run U.P. Robotics (other programs))
Team Role: Mentor
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Rookie Year: 2001
Location: Pennsburg, PA
Posts: 2,045
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Re: GP? I think not.

Quote:
Originally Posted by DanTod97 View Post
So because they can, they should. because thats apparently the way FIRST does things.
If these teams were spending all of their time and resources on ONLY winning events, there might be a grain of validity to what you are alluding to here. However, these teams and many more like them who are perennial "winners" spend an awful lot of their time helping other teams out (mine included) all year long.

And let's look at the big picture. FIRST doesn't exist for it's own sake at all. Students carry skills and life experiences into school/job interviews, not trophies. We exist to try and provide a better future with an understanding of how technology, innovation, and invention can be utilized for creating more win-win scenarios in the world today. How on earth are we going to prepare the next generation to solve the world's most difficult problems in a socially conscious way by artificially setting the bar lower?

Woodie Flowers himself, perhaps the only person on the planet who has the kind of perspective required to really make these kind of "gp judgements" (although you'll never catch him doing it) says flat out that what we do is "not sticky sweet," instead he admits it's "...really, REALLY hard."
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technology, innovation, and invention without a social conscience will only allow us to destroy ourselves in more creative ways