Petition to Diminish Mentor Involvement

[pntbll1313]

Originally Posted by Andrew Schreiber

Bolded was changed.

Liking the changes!

To the OP, please just use the search function on CD and save yourself what this thread is about to become... getting old

[Tom Bottiglieri]

Only 99,999 more to go! C'mon people!

While we're at it, let's get the white house to ban all metal on robots! WOODBOTS ONLY!

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by Tom Bottiglieri

Only 99,999 more to go! C'mon people!

While we're at it, let's get the white house to ban all metal on robots! WOODBOTS ONLY!

You've been talking to Ian again haven't you?

Also, while we're asking for things let's have them ban wheels with more than 10 sides. And drivetrains with an even number of sides.

[MentorForChange]

Originally Posted by pntbll1313

Liking the changes!

To the OP, please just use the search function on CD and save yourself what this thread is about to become... getting old

I'm aware that similar threads in relation to drive coaches exist, as a longtime lurker of CD. However, my views extend beyond those previously mentioned, and I didn't want my views to be immediately dismissed like in those threads.

[g_sawchuk]

I really hope that this isn't serious. Part of FIRST is the concept of students working alongside experienced mentors to develop new skills. Although during build season some teams should allow students to do a bit more of the work, the mentors play an essential role and should never be told to do less or not be allowed to help as much in competitions. I think where we stand right now is perfect.

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

This has to be a troll job....

Either way, this is hilarious.

[BrendanB]

You can tell kickoff is getting nearer when the same horse beating topic comes around again.

[Anupam Goli]

This ought to be fun to watch.

Edit:

I'm liking Andrew Schreiber's changes

[AdamHeard]

It's just a bummer someone's joke is potentially going to draw possible attention from outsiders (hopefully not).

Teams go to the white house almost every year representing FIRST, something like this petition makes the organization publicly look bad.

[Cory]

OP is hilariously misinformed.

[connor.worley]

I was hoping for an actual argument on the petition page (out of curiosity), but there's nothing...

[Chris is me]

I think you fundamentally misunderstand what FIRST and FRC are about, and what the mission of this program is.

FRC is not about finding the best students in the world / North America.

FRC is not about having a competition where those that refuse or don't utilize mentor help are put on a "fair" playing field with those who accept mentor help.

FRC is not an "adult hands off" competition where students have to learn and apply complex engineering principles entirely by themselves.

FRC is a competition where students and mentors work together to solve the tough engineering challenges that come with building a robot. Teams in this competition interact with, compete with, and help a variety of other robotics teams of varying backgrounds, budgets, and resources in order to achieve the common goal of inspiration. Above all else, FRC exists to inspire students to pursue STEM careers and inspire the greater community to recognize the importance of STEM.

The key elements there - the student-mentor partnership, the inspiration, interaction with differing teams, are all hurt by your proposal. Banning mentor involvement results in less functional, and thus less inspiring, robots. Banning mentor involvement puts more burden on students to already have the skills they need to help an FRC team; quite frankly the students who walk in knowing how to machine / design aren't the kids that need inspiration. In a quest to make the competition more "fair" (a loaded word which in this context means "every team is run the way [you] want them to be"), you reduce the diversity in team backgrounds and resources. This may seem like a "good" thing at first, maybe, but the result is more similar robots, less chance to be exposed to something new, a lower target for students to be inspired by and reach for...

Lest you feel I'm posting merely to defend my own ability to play with robots, I can assure you, that's not my intent. I work tirelessly with my team to get as many students engaged and involved as I possibly can. These rules would get in the way of how I've been able to do that.

[orangemoore]

I don't like how you have set up this thread with an anonymous account. If you have a petition that you don't want to be associated with it then why have you created it at all.

If I don't know who you are I don't think its worth discussing this topic or supporting it.

Plus its against the rules to have more than one account

Creating multiple accounts for a single person is not allowed.

[KeatonM]

I was under the impression that there is (or at least was in the past) a rule against anonymous posting on CD. If there isn't anymore it should probably be reinstated.

I'm all for having this discussion as soon as I know that the OP isn't just trying to start fights/troll.

MentorForChange, why not associate your name or team number with your account?

[orangemoore]

Originally Posted by KeatonM

I was under the impression that there is (or at least was in the past) a rule against anonymous posting on CD. If there isn't anymore it should probably be reinstated.

I'm all for having this discussion as soon as I know that the OP isn't just trying to start fights/troll.

MentorForChange, why not associate your name or team number with your account?

Same Here

A Name and Team number would be nice.