If they could find a better way to implement PVC than in get over it, then I think it would be a great game.
2005 used PVC conduit (emphasis on both PVC and conduit) extensively. It was just formed into a nice geometric structure. 
I’ve also seen what shattering PVC can do in terms of distance. As in shard distance. So, just keep the PVC from shattering.
If WAGO tools are the game piece, I hope the game is try to find them in the shop. Can’t imagine the robots would be any worse at it that the students are.
That’s so disgusting. I’m not even sad, I’m disappointed and ashamed on so many levels.
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As stated before, who would say that to ANYONE?
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FTAs are trained by FIRST. Yes, they’re human and everyone screws up sometime, but they certainly know what they’re doing.
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FIRST Teams are supposed to be better than this. Remember our core values? Gracious Professionalism? “Act as if your Grandmother were watching you.” Who cares about getting an award or not… would grandma have been proud of that behavior? I highly doubt it.
I’m glad that FIRST Staff is finally letting us all know that they DO hear what goes on. I’m sad that this ISN’T the first story like this I’ve heard all season.
Let’s work on our behavior, eh folks?
EDIT: & by that I mean, ALL of us. Let’s all watch how we speak, and how we treat others, as even in the heat of competition, behavior like that is inexcusable. Let’s make sure we’re not personally doing it, and let’s gently remind others of the same if we see it happen. It’ll help make FIRST a better place.
I think this happens more often than we realize or recognize. By Bill Miller calling the attention of the teams to the rudeness, it provides an opportunity for discussions within the teams and the community.
Any time a team member is rude or obnoxious on our team, we (the mentors) address it. Whether we are made aware of it immediately or we are made aware of it further down the road, we take steps to address the behavior. It reflects poorly on the individual and it reflects very poorly on the team. It isn’t something that we want to let slide because it impacts the individual’s future and the team’s.
I always take the responsibility back to the veteran mentors first and the veteran students and parents second. We haven’t done our job fully if we have a member of the team behave in such a manner that they insult a volunteer or an award, itself. Granted, it chips away at that precious time that is so finite during build and competition to discuss team conduct. Some veteran members have heard the drill for years and don’t place the topic as a priority. Sometimes, it is an oversight on the part of the team leadership. There are a lot of reasons that the conduct of the team can suffer and damage its reputation. This is a good call on the part of Bill. He’s letting all of the teams know that poor conduct is recognized and will not be rewarded. It’s good to have it brought to our attention so that the off-season can be used to help mentor the teams in proper conduct and respect.
Jane
I seem to recall that in the original version of that game, the penalty for the losing alliance was death. :yikes:
Agreed.
I am disappointed that the blog chose to call out the regional where the story took place.
I think it would have been more effective if he had not mentioned the site or identified whether the person was a FTA or contractor or staff or “just a regular” volunteer.
I’ve seen people act like jerks in numerous locales. The education, whether or not trophies are involved, is an ongoing process.
UPDATE: Jane, our postings overlapped. You are right on.
Happened already.
I feel discomfort regarding the specific information along the lines that you have mentioned, Jenny. At the same time, because it is more specific rather than generic, it drives the point home.
This is that shade of gray matter stuff, isn’t it? 
Jane
I have to agree that swearing at someone is unnecessary and only reflects ignorance on your part. However I do think swearing has its place. It can be used to make an environment feel less formal, and actually more inviting. Also when used in certain contexts and sparingly it certainly can aid in humor (especially when you’re not expecting it). I think swearing can help lighten the tone when people tend to take themselves a bit too seriously (FIRST definitely having that vibe from time to time). Also I think there is an age appropriateness that comes into context. Swearing in front of freshman has a very different effect than swearing in front of seniors.
I would point towards Gary Vaynerchuck, Cee Lo Green, and the immi-children’s book “go the f*** to sleep” as two examples where swearing is used effectively.
Basically swearing is like a lot of other things, if you’re not smiling when you’re doing it, its probably wrong.
To anyone who swears at another out of anger, “You don’t ****ing know what you’re doing”
A more serious question, if someone acts like that on a team, and brings them down and refuses to change, should a team and FIRST abandon that individual simply because they do not approve of their behavior. I think this reflects juvenile detention methods to an extent, where it is not so much about rehabilitation but rather punishment. By FIRST outright saying that it punishes a whole team because of one individual’s words, is it in a way saying that we should abandon those who pose similar risks to our teams, to further our own chances. I think there are some real dangers in conveying a message like that. The fact is teams cannot control how everyone is going to react to a situation, and the only way to outright avoid a situation like this is to ban anyone who may act like that from a team. The kid was an idiot, I don’t disagree, but I think that a team’s GP is not directly linked to a single action by a single individual. Maybe its just me but FIRST members are not members of a utopian society, we all have flaws, and we all know there are members on our teams that pose a risk. But I would much rather have those people on my team than to win an award, because I know the effect FIRST has on those individuals is much more valuable than any award.
Isn’t this a little like the play in football where one player lands a cheap shot on another and the second retaliates? The ref sees the second and calls the penalty on him.
My question is, what did the FTA say/do to provoke the comment? You can’t tell me that the person that was doing the yelling was yelling just to yell. Obviously he/she disagreed with whatever was being told to them. Was their reaction appropriate? Maybe/maybe not. Did they go back after cooling down and apologize for their behavior? We don’t know. The bottom line is we just don’t know without knowing the full situation.
People are people and can get fired up in the heat of the moment. Sometimes they take it too far. This is life. Anybody that comes here and claims to have never said something that was inappropriate or that they regretted later is just flat out lying.
Just to lighten the mood a bit…what if that person’s grandmother swore like a trucker and that them standing up for themselves made her proud…would that fall into the GP category? :rolleyes:
I cannot imagine how adding profanity to an environment can make it more inviting to anyone I would want to invite. If this is just a failure of imagination on my part, I am quite content to leave it at that.
I found that in high stress situations such as interviewing, when the interviewer swore, it helped me to relax making the interview less intimidating. Based on many of the presentations I’ve seen I find that swearing can help to relax unnecessary tension. I don’t believe any interview or presentation should really be stressful. We should have fun with life and take it less seriously. The occasional curse helps to lighten the mood and minimize the pretentious nature of a many stressful activities.
But here we get into an ethical debate, and I guess I look at certain topics more liberally than others. As I always say with politics, there is always a right answer for both sides, so no matter how you answer, you are always right… but you are also always wrong. It comes down to personal opinion in most cases.
I love it when my mom apprehensively swears because she thinks it is critical to delivery. Hearing someone swear who almost never does creates an interesting emphasis on what they are saying.
I’m assuming you are one of the many people who never hire Gary Vay to speak because of his language. He admits that this has happened plenty of times, but that his language is part of his delivery, and helps him to give a good presentation. I think if someone else were to give his talks they would be somewhat monotonous. Now that is not only because of swearing, but it his case it helps to lighten the mood and make him more inviting and exciting.
Very good point here! Over the season I was told some pretty weird stuff by some FTA/field people that didn’t make sense. One time our robot wouldn’t connect and I asked him if we wanted us to power cycle. He said, “no, that won’t fix anything”. After a few minutes he walked off field and I reached in an power cycled and a few seconds after the RSL light was flashing we were connected.
Another time this season our programmer/HP was on the field and one of the FTA’s or assistants was trying to check why we weren’t connected and he had to explain how the system worked to her. Somewhat scary to be honest!
If someone swears at me, or at something near me, my reaction is hardly going to be one of decreased stress! I’m obviously not understanding you at all.
Hearing someone swear who almost never does creates an interesting emphasis on what they are saying.
With this I agree wholeheartedly. I don’t get any sort of connection between this and a relaxed or inviting mood, though. On the contrary, something that leads a normally mild-mannered person to an outburst of cursing is likely to make me apprehensive and ready to flee.
I’m assuming you are one of the many people who never hire Gary Vay to speak because of his language…
Never heard of him. I still know next to nothing about him – all the web search links I tried to follow were to video and social media sites that are blocked at my workplace. I figure that says enough about his desirability as a speaker, and I won’t go pursuing it further.
The “removed photo”…
Purportedly of a game element. Therefore, there was never a photo there, and Bill Miller has proceeded to start the annual torture.
BTW, with the swearing: I’m in Alan’s camp. If the situation you described happened at my workplace, whoever said it would probably get a talk with their supervisor. It might not happen on the spot, but within a day or so, they would most likely be in the supervisor’s office for a little chat. Even if it was obvious they were joking.
Sorry, I wasn’t referring to swearing at me or an object, rather I was referring to casual language. The same could be said for slang in these situations. I know when my professors swore “with” me (not at me) it was nice to see them not act superior but rather as a mutual academic.
What I was trying to say was that slang and swearing not directed at things can have an interesting effect on the tone of the conversation. I completely understand that some work places would like to exclude this type of language as it certainly offends some. Then again so is the case with using the Lords name in vain, but I don’t know of many work places that prohibit that in the same way they prohibit swearing.
protecting freedoms is an oxymoron :).
What you actually wrote was that it can have an inviting effect. If that was merely a misspelling of “interesting”, I retract my disagreement.
As for Matt’s hypothetical coffee-spilling newbie getting cursed at with a smile…were I on the receiving end of the curse, I’m pretty sure I’d be doing my best to avoid that particular chuckling employee for the rest of my time there. First impressions are hard to change, and if the first thing I hear out of someone’s mouth is a swear word aimed at me, my impression of them is going to start out very low. It’s going to be especially low if they seem to be treating it as a joke.
Matt, if I change your sentence to “First day, huh kid?” or something of that sort and omit the profanity, I have succeeded in making exactly the same statement and removed the potential to insult someone by using profanity. In the (limited) cases I can think of that people use profanity, I can achieve the same result without the use of profanity.
Dave, I both agree and disagree with your point. We do not know (though I realize there may be individuals on CD that do know) based on Bill’s statements what led up to the exclamation and what was said/done after. If it was a discussion that only the FTA and team member could hear, the language could have been acceptable. If it wasn’t, a later apology could have occurred and while the initial action may have been wrong, amends could have been made.
That said, it certainly appears this discussion was not in an area that allowed for a discussion to be limited to the hearing of the two individuals as evidenced by the fact that a judge overheard. So, is it ever wise/advisable to be using profanity where others (general public) can hear you? Remember, the other people can be young children and people that are insulted by the use of profane language.
Full disclosure: I do not use profanity and try to avoid being around people that do whenever possible.