Why it is sometimes hard to be a student on CD.

[Sperkowsky]

Originally Posted by BrennanB

I was a student in 2013. Also you don't need to make threads to be an active person on CD. Sometimes I think we even have too many repeat/nonsensical/boring ones.

Ah I see where I missed some stuff. I mistook you switching teams with switching roles.

Thanks for the clarification.

[JesseK]

Originally Posted by Sperkowsky

I still hold to that statement it was just taken out of context.

This seems like a terrible idea, considering how vague and non-specific the "this" and "life" in your post was. Ignorance to the multitude of meanings does not mean you aren't accountable for them in peoples' minds.

Your real reputation is not a set of dots in the User CP. It is measured by little nuances, such as whether people listen to you rather than constantly interrupt, correct, troll, or otherwise ignore you.

[gblake]

Originally Posted by DonRotolo

CD is quite different than most of the Internet, in that we enforce civility (and grammar and spelling and...). But not just for the sake of doing it*, but to (try to) help some realize that unprofessional expression is not conducive to, er, professionalism. If you write like an idiot, your career can be jeopardized: Learn here, not after it counts for a lot.

Indeed, but with effort one can communicate very subtle nuances. It just takes a high level of literacy. English can be an exceptionally precise language.

*Well, most of us don't

Speaking of grammar, and literacy...

I don't know why it took me so long to notice, but earlier today when I was quoting what the CD reputation system says about me, I did notice this: Saying someone has "a reputation of being beyond reproach" makes sense; but saying they have "a reputation beyond repute" is complete nonsense, even worse than the famous "all your base are belong to us".

And it's not just a CD typo, apparently many reputation systems use the same phrase (all stemming from some original mistake?).

Regardless, I really, really hope the CD admins can fix that phrase.

Blake
PS: Admins - If anyone offers to pay to have it left the way it is, just to annoy me; let me know what they offer, so that I have a chance to outbid them.

[cadandcookies]

Originally Posted by gblake

PS: Admins - If anyone offers to pay to have it left the way it is, just to annoy me; let me know what they offer, so that I have a chance to outbid them.

One box of Krispy Kremes?

[Sperkowsky]

Originally Posted by cadandcookies

One box of Krispy Kremes?

2 pies of NY Pizza.

[Rachel Lim]

Originally Posted by Sperkowsky

Just curious do not take this the wrong way. Were either you active on chiefdelphi as students. I should say I am not the only one with these feelings I have had over 10 students say the same thing.

I'm a student.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Ok Sam,
I went to give you a green dot because I thought this was a refreshing thread after so many robot related ones. But I find that I have given you too much already because I was told I had to spread them around.

Here is a true story. When I first signed on to CD, I didn't post for a long time. I watched what others had written and started a few responses but never submitted. Then something made me take the plunge. The rest is history.

[ATannahill]

Originally Posted by Sperkowsky

2 pies of NY Pizza.

New York pizza, are you trying to lose? I'll offer 47 cents.

[theawesome1730]

Sperkowsky,

My rookie year seems to have paralleled yours in many ways. Being the naïve freshman that I was, liked to brag, I wanted to tell others off, I came very close to revealing a robot feature my team wasn't prepared to release, thought it was acceptable to post my incorrect interpretation of rules as fact etc. One amusing instance is when a team asked how to power a 18v 775 at 18 volts, without thinking I simply just said that nothing could exceed 12 volts on the robot so it wasn't necessary. Of course that isn't the case, but younger me didn't think checking was important. Basically I earned a negative rep (just how much you may ask? enough that after 300+ posts, I still have a single dot) and a teammate had to set me straight. I was very appreciative of this and have tried to be a good spokesperson for the team since. I'm sure I still make mistakes, but I'm only human.

As far as being a student on CD, I don't think it's all that bad. Students have to be open to criticism. Mentors on CD serve the exact same purpose here as they do in life: to teach, be it robots or social. Many mentors joined CD well after having made some of the same mistakes we do, the difference is that they've learned from them so they know what not to do now. Everyone has to learn at some point and sometimes it ends up being humiliating. (I'd imagine people learn quicker the more awkward it feels) A good rule to follow in discussions is "would I say this to a judge/mother/grandma?" if you answer yes, you can likely be safe. Sure, there will still be critics, but that's a given. If answering no, strongly reconsider. Take a few minutes to consider what you want to say and how it will be taken when you say it. Use that preview post button! 9/10 times I have to fix something. (Including this one) ((2 times.)) (((and still had to go back and make an edit)))

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by Andrew Schreiber

Dude, even MINE is beyond repute. I don't think anyone that knows me would say that. And it's not like I shy away from posting controversial stuff.

Me neither. I must have padded my stats with Caption Contest rep.

[EricH]

You can post controversial stuff and get away with it fairly often.

The trick is HOW you post it. And that's the hard part. I'm willing to bet that with proper care, you could post a thread on the most sensitive topics in FRC (like... eh, just to pick one, the dreaded student-mentor debate) and have a constructive discussion. The catch, of course, is that proper care. Most people don't take that kind of care...



A quick note on the rep system: I don't give negative rep. I can't say that I haven't thought about dishing some out, but you've got to be a special kind of ______ for me to reach for the red rep button, and usually I figure enough folks have beaten me to it that I don't need to. However, I also don't give out a lot of positive rep. Or neutral rep. (Neutral rep, IMO, is useful for a quick, short warning message--a shot across the bow, if you will--that someone is borderline. It also helps fend you off of them...by forcing you to rep a bunch of other people if you really want to dose the red.) My general philosophy is "with great power comes great responsibility", and because of that I'm just as likely to PM as to rep.

[logank013]

Originally Posted by EricH

A quick note on the rep system: I don't give negative rep. I can't say that I haven't thought about dishing some out, but you've got to be a special kind of ______ for me to reach for the red rep button, and usually I figure enough folks have beaten me to it that I don't need to. However, I also don't give out a lot of positive rep. Or neutral rep. (Neutral rep, IMO, is useful for a quick, short warning message--a shot across the bow, if you will--that someone is borderline. It also helps fend you off of them...by forcing you to rep a bunch of other people if you really want to dose the red.) My general philosophy is "with great power comes great responsibility", and because of that I'm just as likely to PM as to rep.

As a student, there is nothing better than a PM from a mentor about a controversial thing that was posted. It's a whole lot better than getting publicly shamed in a post by someone quoting you in a reply and saying their issue with the post in public. I've gotten a few PMs about posts which have led me to edit the post or delete these posts. That's a great way to fix an issue. Quoting an issue and then addressing the poster in a negative way in a reply is just unproductive, embarrassing, and prolongs the issue (and sometimes hurts feelings but that isn't super usual). So to get to my point, thanks so much for PMing. Not quoting and replying in public.

[GeeTwo]

Unless you post a WAI photo or frame a post in terms of your role on your team, I am likely to be unaware whether you are a student or mentor or alumnus or otherwise. I realize I may be in the minority there, but I can't really comment on the student-vs-mentor issue in too much detail.

The reputation system is better than nothing, and better than some other systems, but far from perfect. Most of my rep points seem to come from a handful of reps given by individuals on the first and second pages of the rep sheet (sort members by reputation). The ones that I like the most are those with comments like "Suggestion worked 100% Thank you so much!", even if they're only worth a few points.

Negative and neutral reps with a decent explanation are good at reminding one to read and/or think about posts before replying. There have also been a few times where the same post has drawn both positive and negative rep; that is always amusing.

Negative reps which seem to come out of the blue, with meaningless explanations or from people who read something into a post that isn't there (even when I look for it) are useless. If I don't know what I did wrong, how can I fix it?

Heretofore, I have only given 15 reps in 28 months, all positive. I have sent a similar number of PMs on negative issues. I will probably begin giving rep points a bit more often, taking care to explain why.

Finally, I am against changing "reputation beyond repute" to "reputation above reproach". The one that's there is a bit silly, but the proposed change is too strong for the number of people with that rating.

[EmileH]

Originally Posted by gblake

And it's not just a CD typo, apparently many reputation systems use the same phrase (all stemming from some original mistake?).

Any forum site that uses the default vBulletin reputation system and didn't change the phrases would have this error you are mentioning.

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by Sperkowsky

Gray dots?

Again I like the dot system for the most part. I think a quick PM reminding someone that what they said is out of line may be the better way to handle the situation sometimes.

I like gray dots. They are a good option.

Mentors receive green, red, and gray dots. I've collected quite a few of all of them. The gray ones are the ones that I look to for information and clarity. Many good private discussions have come about because of the gray dot option. I have also had meaningful discussions from the red and green dot options, as well.

Hopefully, like being on a team, CD is a learning curve for many. Especially those who are committed to being passionate and engaged members. The cool thing about students is the growth aspect of being a team member and a member of CD. That is a given for this community. What is not a given and should be paid more attention to, is the growth and development of mentors. Mentoring, like robot design, is an opportunity for continual development and practical application in all aspects of the teams, programs, and in the CD community.

As you can point out your growth in participating in this forum - so can many mentors. It is a learning curve for everyone. Some of us can tend to forget that.

Jane