Where has the GP gone???

[Rick TYler]

Jane makes an excellent point (as usual) about stepping back and taking a deep breath.

There are some great topics for discussion in even the most heated thread. It's important to remember, though, that we are not talking here about THE ENEMY who RIPPED us OFF at the tournament!! ! and hates our TEAM!!1! Everyone in the program wants it to be great: mentors, youth, volunteers, parents, and sponsors. No one is out to "get" anyone else.

We need to work together to continue to make FIRST a worthwhile program. Getting emotional on Delphi does not move us forward. Raising topics in a reasoned, orderly manner is the Way of the Engineer: it's all about solving the problems, not blowing off steam. Nearly any of the !!! topics I've seen lately could just have been done in a more mature manner.

For example: How about, "Would the students have a better experience if the mentors did less work on the robot and more teaching? How does a team transition from mentor-led to student-led?" This would have been a more productive approach than "TEEms where the mentors bild the robot are not fare to the rest of us!" I have strong opinions on this subject, which I'm far more interested in sharing in the former discussion than the latter.

Another: How about, "There seems to be big differences in the way games are refereed in different regionals, and I've seen this for years. How can FIRST improve either the game design or how officiating is done to make the whole process more fair? Here's one idea I have ..." This is far more likely to produce a desirable result than, "We were robbed because the refs are incompetent!"

Actually, any post that has exclamation marks in the topic line is suspect.

As my hero Red Green says, "Remember, I'm pulling for you. We're all in this together."