P.R. - TIME for email assault

[archiver]

Posted by Andy Baker at 1/17/2001 12:49 PM EST


Engineer on team #45, TechnoKats, from Kokomo High School and Delphi Automotive Systems.



This week's TIME magazine has jumped on the "IT" bandwagon.

We just got our copy in the mail yesterday, so it probably not on the newsstands quite yet... I think that Ashcroft is on the cover.

Anyway, a few months back, we were discussing sending emails to magazines or TV shows, trying to get more coverage for FIRST... here is our chance.

TIME mentioned Dean Kamen and "IT" twice in this edition:
1. In the "Winners" section of "Winners and Losers", it says this:
....DEAN KAMEN - Egghead gets $250k for book an secret invention. It "IT" a publisher-scamming device?
2. One of the last pages in the mag. has something like a "people" page.
...."Beckett would love IT"
....What is IT? We do not know yet. All we do know is that IT also goes by the code name Ginger, IT has amazed Jeff Bezos and Steve Jobs, IT has created a huge online buzz, and a book proposal about IT netted $250,000 advance from Harvard Business School Press, though reportedly the publisher has no idea what the book will be about. IT was invented by Dean Kamen, a recipient of the National Medal of Technology and inventor of a wheelchair that can climb stairs... (yadda, yadda... it goes on...)

So, here is our chance. TIME is paying attention to Kamen, therefore, we should write letters to the editor and comment about what they said about Kamen and how they need to also pay attention to the FIRST Robotics Competition and FIRST Lego League.

Here is the address:

Letters@time.com

Mine will be going out today.

Andy B.

[archiver]

Posted by Andy Baker at 1/17/2001 12:56 PM EST


Engineer on team #45, TechnoKats, from Kokomo High School and Delphi Automotive Systems.


In Reply to: P.R. - TIME for email assault
Posted by Andy Baker on 1/17/2001 12:49 PM EST:



TIME may call Dean Kamen an "egghead", but there are over 100,000 students, teachers and businesspeople in the FIRST community (www.usfirst.org) who call him hero.

Andy Baker
TechnoKats Robotics Team - 45
Kokomo, Indiana

[archiver]

Posted by Joe Johnson at 1/17/2001 8:59 PM EST


Engineer on team #47, Chief Delphi, from Pontiac Central High School and Delphi Automotive Systems.


In Reply to: Here's mine
Posted by Andy Baker on 1/17/2001 12:56 PM EST:



Dear Time,

As someone who had heard of Dean Kamen long before all
the buzz about IT/Ginger, I urge you to cover Dean's
much more important creation: FIRST (For Inspiration
and Recognition of Science and Technology --
usfirst.org). By hosting a huge robotics competition
each year at Walt Disney World, this movement is
changing our culture in ways that a mere invention
cannot hope to accomplish.

To understand just how radically Dean is changing the
rules of the game, you need look no further than the
FIRST Nationals (April 6th & 7th) where 10,000 plus
students will be cheering for their robot, standing in
line for autographs of Dean and Woodie (a.k.a. Prof.
Flowers of M.I.T.) and other FIRST celebs and
generally having a rip roaring good time while making
the connection between doing well in school and doing
well in life.

Stop by and see for yourself.


Joseph Michael Johnson, Ph.D., P.E.

Senior Staff Engineer,
Delphi Automotive Systems
Team leader,
Team #47 -- Chief Delphi!

1401 Crooks Rd.
Troy, Mi 48084

(248) 696-5672

[archiver]

Posted by Jessica Boucher at 1/17/2001 1:38 PM EST


Student on team #237, Sie-H2O-Bots, from Watertown High School and Eastern Awning Systems & The Siemon Company.


In Reply to: P.R. - TIME for email assault
Posted by Andy Baker on 1/17/2001 12:49 PM EST:



MSNBC, in maybe the 2nd article about IT that they put out asked "Has the man reinvented sex?" If theyre making those kinds of analogies, then the press is ready.

Mine will go out today too.

-Jessica B, #237

[archiver]

Posted by Frank Toussaint at 1/18/2001 10:12 AM EST


Engineer on team #111, Wildstang, from Wheeling and Rolling Meadows and Motorola .


In Reply to: P.R. - TIME for email assault
Posted by Andy Baker on 1/17/2001 12:49 PM EST:



Thanks for mentioning Dean Kamen.

How about some publicity for F.I.R.S.T. (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) his not-for-profit organization inspiring middle school and high school students to pursue technological careers. He achieves this by organizing national robotics competitions for mentored students. www.usfirst.org

Frank Toussaint, senior engineer, Motorola Inc.,
Mentor, WildStang Competition Robotics Team
Chicago, Illinois