Poll: Role of Political Advertisement on ChiefDelphi

[Brandon Martus]

There have been many thoughtful and insightful responses in this thread.

In the very near future, I plan to sit down with the coaches of our team and come up with an official response (either in this thread, a new thread, or in the rules) which will expand the rules, moderation policies, and hopefully clear up much of what was talked about in this thread. We've talked about many of the things you've brought up (allow no political/religious/chit-chat/non-robotics, allow all discussion, allow with heavy moderation) and never come down to a definite solution.

The biggest problem, I think, is there are thousands of you (the general user) and less than 30 of us (the moderators/administrators) and it's really hard to keep track of everything and continue on with our normal everyday life. It will probably come down to just adding more moderators, and making a better set of 'what to do when...' rules.

So ... stay tuned.

[Ken Leung]

Originally Posted by Brandon Martus

There have been many thoughtful and insightful responses in this thread.

In the very near future, I plan to sit down with the coaches of our team and come up with an official response (either in this thread, a new thread, or in the rules) which will expand the rules, moderation policies, and hopefully clear up much of what was talked about in this thread. We've talked about many of the things you've brought up (allow no political/religious/chit-chat/non-robotics, allow all discussion, allow with heavy moderation) and never come down to a definite solution.

The biggest problem, I think, is there are thousands of you (the general user) and less than 30 of us (the moderators/administrators) and it's really hard to keep track of everything and continue on with our normal everyday life. It will probably come down to just adding more moderators, and making a better set of 'what to do when...' rules.

So ... stay tuned.

Ok guys, let's wait to hear from the Chief Delphi leaders for the final answer. Team 47 is nice enough to provide a service for the FIRST community, it is their website and their forum, and they are the ones who decide the policy around here. Our opinions, as always, are only opinions and suggestions.

You guys have provided lots of great opinion about this matter, like Brandon said, your voices are heard and will be considered as always. I trust the fine folks of 47 to make the final decision.

Thank you Chief Delphi for your hard work for the FIRST community.

[suneel112]

I definitely think the name calling and "baby jesus" rant in the linked thread should not be allowed, but to ban politics completely, that is also not a good idea.
To ban politics would mean that politics has no place in FIRST, which is completely wrong. FIRST has become a huge program, and government funding of FIRST teams could help continue growth of the program and allow the less-affluent teams to go to competitions. This all has to do with politics. I think discussing politics on ChiefDelphi is great, as long as it is FIRST related. Bush policies on FIRST and science and engineering should be discussed, as it would create more intelligent discussions on ChiefDelphi. In addition, discussing the relation of the political world to the scientific world could come in handy in the future, whether you are applying for a job at NASA, applying for a research grant, or working for the defense, telecommunication, or energy industry.
I do, however, think that religious fundamentalism (the baby jesus quote was fundamentalism) has no place on the forums. The quote showed contempt and utter disdain for the other cultures that make up this wonderful country.
If you must digress to express your political views, here are some forums to express your views:
Liberal Forums:
Move On PAC
George Bush, the Officious Website
Conservative Forums: (I don't know too many of these, though)
The Free Republic

To sum it up, I think political discussion should take place, as long as it is FIRST-Related (or science and engineering related).

[Adam Y.]

Personally can we aslo remove the reputation points system from any political discussion. I found it odd that I got negative reputation from one person and then positive reputation from another on the same post. If I really wanted to have someone approve of my political opinions I would have become a politician. Questions related to robotics yeah but not politics.

[MikeDubreuil]

I was very leery to post in this thread but finally have decided to. I try not to say things If I don't have anything nice to say but I think I have some important things to say about that thread.

1.) I was slightly upset that the original poster simply asked everyone to sign a petition without offering a reason. If you feel strongly enough to ask us to sign a petition you support, you should try to persuade us into it. I'm fairly unfamiliar with the ACLU and the petition page offered little information as to what the petition was for other than the meaningless "I'm a democrat and Bush is bad" ideology.

2.) David Kelly is a Chief Delphi moderator and initiated the replies with a very negative ACLU and pro-Christian post that ended with the following "The ACLU makes baby Jesus cry." I understand he is from the so-called "Bible Belt" of the United States, but not everyone on this forum shares his zealous sentiment for the Christian religion. I do realize that the term "makes baby Jesus cry" is often used as a humorous joke, but it is generally considered inappropriate.
When Tristan Lall explained why the ACLU wasn't as bad as David made it out to be in his first post, even correcting him on the improper use of the word fascism, he closed the thread.
Whether it may be the case or not, from the casual observer it looks like David Kelly initiated a heated discussion, when it became clear he was wrong he closed the thread.

I personally, did not see a reason for closing the thread. Everyone besides the first replier, David Kelly, responded with a carefully thought out and un-inflammatory post.

I think that political and religious conversations should be allowed. I think that as a group we collectively represent the technical elite of the world. There's some really bright people here and I want to hear about their views on other topics in addition to robotics.

Be it as it may but the Chief Delphi team hosts the forum for the whole FIRST community. And for that we share an immense gratitude to them. Given the circumstances, I think Chief Delphi should allow the "hot topic" discussion because there isn't another forum out there with this type of community.

However, it takes class and tact to reply in a responsible manner in a political or religious thread. You have to act with Gracious Professionalism. We all embrace this concept at competition, why not on the forum?