From 1bc370ec674f94ce563077ba82546618e92d82ef Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: knolax <1339802534.kk@gmail.com> Date: Fri, 9 Feb 2018 11:45:16 -0500 Subject: added orion exit rationale. --- cont/orion.html | 74 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 74 insertions(+) create mode 100644 cont/orion.html (limited to 'cont') diff --git a/cont/orion.html b/cont/orion.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..00c9af6 --- /dev/null +++ b/cont/orion.html @@ -0,0 +1,74 @@ +[TITLE] [DATE] +-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- +I'm stepping down as vice president of ORION, below is my reasoning for leaving. + +- - - - - - - - - - - - ---=[Why I'm Leaving ORION]=--- - - - - - - - - - - - - + +-Preface: + + To start off, I'd like to say that I don't think there's anything +objectively wrong with ORION, and that I'm leaving mostly because it wasn't what +I expected it to be. I wish the remaining members of ORION good luck on their +mission. + +-The Mandelbots: + + ORION was founded initally as a way for us to get funding for our +robotics team, The Mandelbots. This was the reason I joined ORION, but after the +last competition season I feel that that's no longer the case. ORION has moved +on to different goals, and I feel has distracted us from robotics. + Despite efforts by all of us to avoid them, we ran into the same issues +of bad time management that we did last year. In order to fund our team we had +to apply for grants through ORION, most of which only came in close to our +qualifier date. As a result the parts that we needed to build our robot came in +3 days before the qualifier, giving us only 3 days to build. However, the +late-coming grants don't explain why for the months before that, little or no +progress was made on the aspects of robotics that weren't so dependent on new +parts. For example, coding started only about a week before the competition, and +very few prototypes were built with the parts that we had from last season. + During those months without parts, we spent most of our meetings working +on other things. I admit, I too am guilty of this, but the one thing that has +taken up the most time in our robotics meetings was ORION. The thing with ORION +work is that the tasks it involves like applying for grants and planning for +future projects are all official business related to robotics, but nonetheless +are not robotics. So in my opinion they merely presented us with a more +acceptable way to procrastinate on the robot. We even had members of the team +who spent almost every meeting working on ORION projects that had nothing to do +with robotics. + There's nothing inherently wrong with focusing on ORION with our time, +but it's not what I signed up for and it's not why I agreed to host our robotics +meetings. + +-The Future of ORION: + + "ORION is a stem nonprofit ..." is how we would always introduce +ourselves while doing outreach, but it doesn't say much about our goals and how +we aim to acheive them. What ORION currently has in the works is a python class +and a potential robotics camp in Ghana. Personally, I disagree with these +projects, but this is in no way some sort of indictment. + For one, a single member of ORION has been the only one working on the +python class, and has requested that they be the only one to teach it. In the +months they have been working on the curriculum they have never even shown it to +other members of ORION, as far as I am aware of. There's nothing objectively bad +about this but I personally feel that given the python class is one of our main +focuses, there should be more collaboration involving all of us. + Ghana on the otherhand, I disagree with on the basis that it's too +misdirected. Why is it that we are running these camps in far off places with a +vaguely humanitarian goal? Shouldn't we focus on our own communities, and don't +they deserve to be taught by people from their own communities? The implication +has always been that because of economic reasons those communities can not set +up camps of their own, but if this is true then there are deeper issues to be +solved. To do things like set up a camp for them is like giving a band-aid to +someone who's just lost an arm. + +-Conclusion: + + It is because of all this that i'd like to leave ORION and will no +longer mention my previous association elsewhere. I wish the rest of ORION the +best of luck. This document will be hosted on my personal site, and any current +members of ORION are welcome to have any comments they have be hosted alongside +it if they email them to me at 1339802534.kk@gmail.com. +[SETTITLE]Leaving ORION +[SETDATE]2-9-2018 -- cgit v1.1