An ethical question

[Rich Kressly]

A tight spot to be in for DEKA, yes, but I tend to agree with Al and Joe on this issue. It wouldn't bother me if DEKA sponsored a team at all. FIRST always needs more sponsors and a sponsor that already understands FIRST is a great one.

It does appear that there is an infraction of the stated rules, but it doesn't appear to violate the spirit of the rule in my humble opinion. Had this rookie team fully known that one rule (out of the whole manual and 14 updates) I'm sure they might have found a way to get the drill bit to the competition. In the end, there seems to be no unfair advantage created.

[nuggetsyl]

The team going out to get the hole drilled does not bother me in the least. I know what the rules say but i would rather them do that then not play because there robot did not have a hole.

[Raul]

I agree with the argument that they officially broke a rule but no one should nail them for it. I also would rather see everyone (not just rookies) running rather than sitting there because the rules do not allow them to fix their robot.

The fact that we all agree to ignore that the official rule was broken just supports the argument that this rule should be modified somehow.

[Joel Glidden]

Originally Posted by Raul

The fact that we all agree to ignore that the official rule was broken just supports the argument that this rule should be modified somehow.

Good point, Raul.

I think a good modification of the rule would allow a team to do anything under the sun to REPAIR their robot. I think the rule should stand as it is currently written with regards to teams adding on to, or modifying their robots.

[adventrx327]

You are very fortunate to have a mentor willing not only to spend his time, but his company's resources to help your team out. It seems to be an unfair advantage (seeing as all our team had left were hacksaws, a drill, a dremel, and assorted socket wrenches) but that's life! Some people get luckier than others. I would strongly advise that your team would try and follow the rules if at all possible but as long as you didnt strip someone from their righteous title, the functionality of your bot is most important in my book!

[KenWittlief]

I guess this is where the grace part of GP comes in

we know people are going to make mistakes, bend the rules here and there, and maybe even unknowing breaking them

grace is when someone does something wrong and you dont hold them to it, like when a ref makes a bad call, or a mentor breaks a rule with good intentions, or a spectator goes "boo!"

grace lets the bad vibes end with the first offense, and we dont need to set up a kangaroo court in the hallway of the arena to put the guilty on trial and condemmn them

much faster, kinder and more plesant to quietly smile and say nothing - than to let the lawyers take over the FIRST events

ANYTHING is better than calling in the lawyers !

[ChrisH]

Originally Posted by KenWittlief

.... grace is when someone does something wrong and you dont hold them to it, like when a ref makes a bad call, or a mentor breaks a rule with good intentions, or a spectator goes "boo!"

grace lets the bad vibes end with the first offense, and we dont need to set up a kangaroo court in the hallway of the arena to put the guilty on trial and condemmn them...

Actually the word I was thinking of is Forgiveness. A rule was broken albiet inadvertently. Apology has been made, the rest of us now Forgive the offender. End of controversy. Forgiveness is the result of Grace, which is where Gracious comes from.

If we just start winking at the rules, then the result is chaos. But if we enforce them with grace, mercy and forgiveness, the result is people want to obey the rules and feel bad when they don't for whatever reason. At least until they are forgiven and restored.

Though I wonder how willing other teams (including me) would be to forgive if they would have made it to the elimination rounds ...


Hmmm, Breaking Rules, Forgiveness, Retoration somehow those concepts seem real familiar? Where have I seen that before, a Best Seller perhaps?

[Jack Jones]

Originally Posted by Raul

I agree with the argument that they officially broke a rule but no one should nail them for it. I also would rather see everyone (not just rookies) running rather than sitting there because the rules do not allow them to fix their robot.

The fact that we all agree to ignore that the official rule was broken just supports the argument that this rule should be modified somehow.

We agree 100%!! We'd like to see them allow teams to evolve their robot throughout the entire season by letting them fabricate parts any time after Kick-Off - not just during the six-week period or at the competition.