The Meaning of FIRST

[MooreteP]

Originally Posted by bduddy

My ideals of what FIRST should be almost certainly do not match those of the FIRST leadership. I would suspect, in fact, that that applies to many here. No matter what they say, I will continue to believe that if a community is spending many thousands of dollars per year, the time and energy of many students, teachers, and mentors, the limited resources of a school, and much more into a robotics team, and all it is or is hoping to get out of it is to "inspire" some students, then something is very wrong.

I agree that, in most cases, targeting specific teams with circumstantial evidence (which luckily doesn't happen too much around here) helps no one. As a Bay Area resident I've heard plenty of stories about how 254's mentors never let students touch the robot except for drive practice, and I've also heard from a former 254 member that their mentors were useless and never did anything. Almost certainly, neither is the exact truth, just like all of the half-heard stories or rumors that occasionally pop up here and elsewhere.

Almost certainly do not match? That is some serious hyperbole, my friend.

So, could you be more specific about what your ideals of FIRST are, and why the almost certainly do not match those of the "FIRST leadership"?

There is the vague notion of what "inspiration" really means in the context of FIRST.
Definition: The process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.
Why do you demean this ideal?

How about Recognition? Helping our world to recognize the value of the engineering and the other skills like marketing, fundraising, and project management that are essential to the creation of an improved society.

You're entitled to your negative opinion, but could you be more specific about what is really eating at you? What do you see as being "very wrong"?

How much money does your local school and community devote to athletic sports activities? Much less than they devote to robotics is my guess. What is the point of this expenditure, other than to provide bread and circuses for the masses. At least in FIRST, all of the students stand a better chance of going professional.
(BTW, I have an awesome bracket for the NCAA)

I agree with you that targeting this thread with no substantive evidence or even an alternative idea "helps no one".