Apology

[Katie_UPS]

To roughly quote the kind folks of EWCP:

"Although tensions are getting high, keep your GP"

To interpret: Be nice.

[Andrew Schreiber]

I'm not sure how I feel about this...

You have killed my reputation, and as I have found by doing research on the forums whenever someone says the things I said they get their rep destroyed.

OP doesn't understand why what he said was wrong. Most of the people on here are pretty level headed folks, we encourage discussion round these here parts. What we don't encourage is attacks on teams. If a person could come up with a reason for why mentors should not be involved with the design and fabrication process I'm sure it would lead to interesting discussions (as it has numerous in the past). However, these arguments must be done in a logical and thought out fashion that doesn't attack anyone.

For example, a good friend of mine and I had an interesting discussion last night about this very topic. You'd be mildly surprised that the points raised towards having more student involvement were actually quite interesting and led to a very cool discussion.

That's neither here nor there, the point is that we have the freedom to speak our minds but we also have the responsibility to do it respectfully. I may never agree with anything you say but I can respect you if you are able to articulate it in an respectful manner.

And one last thing, while it appears your "reputation" is destroyed... I've gotten negrep more times than you care to know, I like to think it is a decent indicator of how well I am articulating my point. The last time was from someone who asked me why I was such a jerk. At first I was a little mad at them but then I cooled down, read what I posted and I did feel like a jerk. I needed that smack in the face to realize that I was being a jerk. I'm just happy they did it privately.

[waialua359]

I think that the only bad decision made here was originally posting a video of Team 175, without getting all of the facts and/or permission prior, using it to get your point across.

Your opinion is a valid concern that you share, for which personally I may not agree with in principal. However, if you ease the tone of your post, perhaps others can chime in and give constructive feedback.

I would only suggest that you share your beliefs without making reference to why the opposite is terrible.

On a personal note as to how our team works together to build a robot, it's not 100% student built.
It's not because our students dont have all the skills/knowledge/experience to make the concepts that THEY themselves came up with come to fruition.
It is our primary goal to have them do as much as they can, but at the same time, make sure that its realistic in meeting the time constraints as well.

Do what works for you folks, respect others for their own beliefs, and have fun competing in FIRST.

[Daniel_LaFleur]

Originally Posted by nileshp87

Secondly, sorry CD, I will not be apologizing for stating my opinion. Especially when I did not name anyone but Buzz (If you get insulted by ignorance or whatever you want to call what I said, that is your problem). You have killed my reputation, and as I have found by doing research on the forums whenever someone says the things I said they get their rep destroyed.

I do not see your opinion as the issue (whether I agree with your opinion is a different story). The issue is the way you conveyed your opinion (accusatory).

In life, many times, we need to present an argument that may be unpopular. Doing so without being inflamatory is a worthwhile skillset.