[Rick TYler]

There are two real questions here:

1. Should there be a token of recognition for participation in FRC?

and

2. If the answer to #1 is "yes," what form should that recognition take?

Some of the arguments here have been financial, so I thought some facts might help to inform this discussion. The current medals are 2.75" with a custom ribbon. A few minutes spent on Google show that you can buy large lots of medals of this size in gold, silver, or bronze for less than $2 each.

Pricing the pins is a little harder, because they come in lots of different sizes and quality, but if FIRST is trying to save money, let's just assume a mid-range price of $.75 per pin. You can substitute whatever value you like, but high-end enameled pins are about $1.75 and cheaper "soft enamel" pins can be 50 cents or so.

According to the FIRST annual report, they handed out 50,000 FRC medallions last year, for an acquisition cost of $100,000. With our 75 cent price, pins would be $37,500, for an acquisition savings of $62,500.

Also according to FIRST's annual report, they brought in $14.4 million in program registration fees. Their total income was nearly $30 million. FIRST's cash, cash equivalents, and other assets increased by nearly $5 million last year. I cannot imagine that saving $60k on individual recognition to the students in the program is the best possible place to save money.

EDITED: I just found out that I pretty much recapitulated a post from Billfred from a few days ago. Oops.