FIRST - Reason for existance

[Steve W]

I started this thread to extend the debate found in the Reputation points thread. The question being debated is whether FIRST's mission is that of US or worldwide base. Originally FIRST was based on improving things in the US. What are your thoughts now that so many teams are from outside of the US and growning in numbers?

[Ryan M.]

Originally Posted by Steve W

I started this thread to extend the debate found in the Reputation points thread. The question being debated is whether FIRST's mission is that of US or worldwide base. Originally FIRST was based on improving things in the US. What are your thoughts now that so many teams are from outside of the US and growning in numbers?

That's a good thing. FIRST might have been started in the US, but it has spread because people have seen what it is all about and what it can do.

[Joshua May]

Originally Posted by Steve W

I started this thread to extend the debate found in the Reputation points thread. The question being debated is whether FIRST's mission is that of US or worldwide base. Originally FIRST was based on improving things in the US. What are your thoughts now that so many teams are from outside of the US and growning in numbers?

I don't think anyone can really argue that it isn't a worldwide venture. Sure, it started out in the US, because getting something like this to work in the US was a big enough job. Now we have surpassed that and the bar has been raised to an international effort, I've even heard talk of a possible Brazilian Regional, which would certainly spur some huge interest in FIRST. Really, you can't be an international organization and only help the US.

[Arefin Bari]

FIRST is the best thing ever happened in my life... and i know that a lot of you out there would agree with me that it was your best thing in life... it did start out in US... but now its worldwide... soon we will be seeing teams from across the world... i appreciate and thank EVERY single personality whos working each day and being dedicated to FIRST and keep it running...

[Bharat Nain]

Reason of Existance of FIRST: To inspire students to do something in the field of Science of Technology

It's simple, it does not matter, if FIRST was meant to just inspire kids in US or all around the world, just because it has touched lives all around the world.

Is that explanation good enough?

[MikeDubreuil]

FIRST inspiring students to pursue careers in technology was the short term goal. The thought process was that by getting more kids into technology the United States would keep it's dominant position in technology. Which is why all of Dean's current speeches are about the problems with outsoursing technology.

Everyone keeps saying rasing the bar is expanding internationally. That has never been a goal of FIRST. Dean Kamen constanly refers to the statistics for the United States. I don't remember exactly, but around 5% of high schools in the US have FIRST. Rasing the bar to him would mean getting 10% involvement.

Don't take what I say out of context. I would agree that the goal for FIRST is to inspire kids to pursue careers in technology. This applies locally to teams around the world. However, the ENTIRE goal was for the kids to pursue technology for the benifet of the US.

Not one person can explain to me why they believe FIRST's goal is to benifet the world... yet, Dean Kamen's speaches explain how techs jobs leaving the United States are a bad thing. Until you explain this, most of your attempts to explain FIRST going internation seem moot.

[sanddrag]

Originally Posted by mechman108

FIRST is the best thing ever happened in my life...

To expand on that, perhaps the question needs to be asked "Why shouldn't it be the best thing that has ever happened in a foreign student's life?" I honestly don't know exactly what FIRST claims their mission to be but whatever it is, it is working and it is working worldwide.

[Elyse Holguin]

I'm sticking with what I've already said here.

[Rich Kressly]

To me FIRST is, and always has been, about working toward a societal change where the number of people who are positive contributors outnumber those who only take from society. Competing as a means to strengthen the entire society is what FIRST is about. American society, as the country with the most wealth and resources, has an obligation to take the lead in the endeavor to stregthen/bring together the global community.

[Jessica Boucher]

http://web.archive.org/web/199611250...ws/960905.html

Simple as that. The text of it is:
"Effective immediately, we have officially changed our name from "U.S. FIRST" to "FIRST". FIRST stands for "For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology". The name was changed in order to reflect our desire to expand access to our programs to all youth around the world."

I see it as an economy issue, though. FIRST's inception in the early 90's was built in an economy that desperately needed to pull itself up by the bootstraps. Jumpstarting the US economy helps all US companies out, including Dean's own.

As time marched on, with the popularity of the Internet gaining speed as well as the gradual re-consolidation of companies, globalization became a huge aspect of US business, more than it ever had been before. This may have been part of FIRST's desire to go global - to mirror the economy.

Or maybe the opportunity came up to take on an int'l team and the thing snowballed, I don't know. I find it interesting, Steve, that you brought this discussion up, being from 188. Were you FIRST's first int'l team? I'd love some insight into this.

PS - Don't you love when you hear people call it US FIRST? I grin every time

[Sean Schuff]

I think if you want to understand the reason for FIRST’s existence you need to look more at the big picture. All of the little things like keeping America on the cutting edge or inspiring our young people or filling jobs from within are all great goals but what is the ultimate goal? My view is that, whether we believe it or not, FIRST has the ability to impact entire societies, and even the whole world. Pie in the sky? Maybe – but we all need to dream and DREAM BIG!

Take a look at what motivates Dean. Money? No. Power? No. Influence? No. It seems to me that what motivates Dean the most is the ability to give the world what it NEEDS, and not what it WANTS. Case in point – the Segway. Some can look at it as a rich man’s toy. Others can see it as the latest tech gadget. I see it as a first step toward real change in transportation. The first step toward a solution to the problems of metropolitan congestion, noxious emissions, and a necessary radical revamping of the way we look at transportation. Or how about the Slingshot, Dean’s generator and water purifier? Do we need generators in this country? Do we have a pressing need for potable water in the U.S.? No. This invention is for third world countries that don’t have access to those things like we do. Dean is making the world a better place on some of the most fundamental levels. And he is doing it through FIRST as well.

FIRST is a means to an end. It has the ability to inspire young people to take charge of their world and be the ones to solve the problems that really matter. It is the “classroom” where we all can learn so many valuable life lessons. But the lessons are no good to anyone if we just leave them in the classroom. We need to take them out to the rest of the world and make real changes to our society. While FIRST is huge in our minds, it is really just a small but extremely vital part of the bigger picture. And we need to keep our eyes open to that picture.

Just my 2 soapbox cents.

Sean

[Madison]

Is it only obvious to me that FIRST and Dean Kamen are not inextricably attached at the hip? They are autonomous, independent entities that can and will function without one another. Sometimes, though, it seems that Kamen forgets the same things that people around here forget -- when you open your mouth, you're not only representing yourself, but also the organizations that you are associated with. Like it or not.

FIRST's stated purpose has been unchanged for eight years, as Jessica has already pointed out in this thread. The name change announcement and subsequent descriptions of the purpose behind FIRST and its Robotics Competition are conspicuously lacking any sort of the America-centric sentiment and, undoubtedly, will continue to do so. If that were to change in any official capacity, I'd quickly figure out what constitutes a resignation and hand it in along with my nameplate, my reputation points and my stapler. That is not the organization I entered into six years ago and not an organization I wish to support in any capacity.

FIRST and its supporters are not, by any indication, against outsourcing of jobs to foreign countries -- whether they be Canada, Mexico, India or elsewhere. Companies like Microsoft, General Motors, Daimler-Chrysler and Boston Scientific have each outsourced jobs to international plants and production facilities.

I didn't have the benefit of being able to attend the Championship this season, so I did not hear Kamen's speech and cannot write about it with any accuracy. Given its topic, however, I can surmise that two things might have been happening.

First, Kamen may just be immensely hypocritical and playing the role of propagandist and recruiter for the corporations who back FIRST. It's all too easy to forget that, while the engineers, scientists and technology professionals we work with through the build season are often talented, engaging, inspiring people, the corporations and companies they work for are often engaged in some unsavory business practices, questionable political lobbying efforts and manufacturing processes that damage the environment -- among other things. It's important that Ford is inspiring students to pursue engineering, but do we really want those students to go on engineering sport-utility vehicles that travel only ten miles for each gallon of gas burned? Is that what we're inspiring students to do with this program?

The other possibility is that Kamen sought to apply pressure to these corporations to change their business practices; to become environmentally conscious, to end outsourcing of jobs, and to research and develop technologies that will benefit the entire world -- not just the United States. That is a goal I can stand behind and am hopeful that someone with a little less fervor about their American nationalism can assure me that this was the case.

The foreigners who are taking these outsourced jobs are doing so at a fraction of the salary that an American expects -- and they can do so often because they're simply grateful that their family can eat. Those people deserve such jobs far more than someone who wants ten times as much so their kids can wear Nike shoes and get driven to school in the family's Ford Excursion.

If Dean Kamen or any of the other CEO's represented through sponsorship of FIRST want to send a real message to this program's participants that says, unequivocally, their focus is on preserving jobs for Americans, the best thing they can do is to take a pay cut. When they can prove that they're motivated by something other than increased profit margins and shareholders returns, that sentiment will shift the paradigm of what it means to operate a business in this country.

Until I see that happen, I'm content in believing the stated purpose of the FIRST organization, not the remarks of Dean Kamen, and will continue to believe that FIRST is about inspiring the next generation to conduct business, value achievement, and support each other differently than the generations before it. Should it happen, I believe that it will also set an admirable example worthy of emulation and will be happy to remain involved in the program.

FIRST isn't about trying to end outsourcing -- it's about trying to inspire within the youth that participate an admiration and respect for the benefit of the work being done by engineers, scientists and technology professionals. It's about teaching them that the benefit in inventing the portable insulin pump isn't in the gobs of cash you can squeeze from the deal, but in the lives you save. It's not about harboring resentment towards people who do the same or better work for lower wages, it's about reawakening their spirit of accomplishment and pride in Americans. It's about rekindling a fire of discovery that illuminates how clearly the things we give to others are far greater than the things we earn for ourselves.

[Jessica Boucher]

Have you ever read Microsoft's mission? "To enable people and businesses throughout the world to realize their full potential."

Huh? I thought they were a computer software company!

Usually missions/visions are pretty broad, they're conveyed in that way so that a multitude of people can relate with them. Thus, Microsoft isn't just making software, they're enabling people. Pharma companies aren't making drugs, they're changing lives. The means to that vision usually change more frequently, since the vision hardly ever changes at all.

I see the whole changing society thing as FIRST's mission/vision. Dean says it here: “…to create a world where science and technology are celebrated….where young people dream of becoming science and technology heroes….”.

Point is, the means to that end may have changed, but the vision/mission stays the same. So whether we be part of a national or an international organization, we're still changing the culture no matter what.

The reason why I structured my previous argument as such is that the conversation was more about the means change of broadening from a national org to an international org, not about why FIRST exists.

I think that this thread is a bit misleading in the title (but I can see why it was listed as such...so I mean no offense, Steve ). I think it's a great thing that FIRST is international now, and I primarily think that because it reflects the state of industry today.

[MikeDubreuil]

Originally Posted by Sean Schuff

I think if you want to understand the reason for FIRST’s existence you need to look more at the big picture. All of the little things like keeping America on the cutting edge or inspiring our young people or filling jobs from within are all great goals but what is the ultimate goal? My view is that, whether we believe it or not, FIRST has the ability to impact entire societies, and even the whole world. Pie in the sky? Maybe – but we all need to dream and DREAM BIG!

I agree 110 percent. FIRST has the ability to change the world. However, I have an issue with the semantics of the situation.

In FIRST, your primary goal is to build a robot; with intended consequences, such as positively changing lives. Dean Kamen's vision for FIRST is to bolster America's tech companies, which will create technology that will have the intended consequence of bettering lives all over the world.

Currently FIRST and Kamen's visions...are blurry. In the press, FIRST claims how they are looking to better the world; in speeches, Kamen's focus is the US. I don't think you can simply dismiss them as separate identities since he is the founder and the most influential member on the board of directors.

EDIT:
I also don't see how FIRST is really going international. Sure, there are teams from other countries participating. And those mentors who represent those countries are providing great experiences and opurtunities for their students. However, there isn't a single member on the board of directors who represents another country.

[Collin Fultz]

Originally Posted by MikeDubreuil

Dean Kamen's speaches explain how techs jobs leaving the United States are a bad thing.

I saw/heard/felt a totally different speech in Atlanta. To me, Dean was saying that outsourcing is ok because America will find something else to do and move on. To me, he said that "outsourcing" brought us together with the rest of the world...made us one planet instead of many different nations. To me, it's time that we think of ourselves as one planet. Some nations already do that...and I commend them. Is America there yet? Kind of...not really. Am I? No...but I'm willing to work on it.

Also, I thought Dean's speech had a lot to do with 254's winning the Chairman's. When I heard Dean's speech, I turned to Jason Kixmiller (sitting next to me. We were also Chairman's Contenders and felt like we had a good shot at winning.) and said, "Well...any picks on who won the Chairman's Award." and all he could respond was, "Yah...no kidding."

By those two occurences: 1.)Dean saying America will move on. 2.)Cheesy Poofs winning the Chairman's. I am led to believe that to Dean, outsourcing is ok. It won't kill America...simply make it do something different...something better...something smarter.

I also agree with M.

Originally Posted by M. Krass

Is it only obvious to me that FIRST and Dean Kamen are not inextricably attached at the hip?

I've only been in FIRST three years. In that time...I've seen Dean move more away from being tied to the hip of FIRST. To me, for a lot of people who have been in FIRST a while, DEAN=FIRST. In today's FIRST, however, FIRST>DEAN. That is in no way meant to slam Dean...but he, Woody, and one other guy who I don't know the name of (sorry) created an organization that grew like a wildfire. It's bigger than one person...to Dean Kamen I say, "Congratulations." But Dean is not FIRST.