Competition Commentary .:. Team UAH 2003

2002 © Sarah Yeldell. Original artwork and website design except where noted.

Student Commentary on CNCCC Response

Note: These are individual student opinions and letters, and should not be construed as the official opinion of the UAH faculty.

From: Sarah Yeldell
Reply to CNCCC

"As stated in our official protest, FIT's boat is smaller than ours. This was obvious from mere observation and their own website confirms this. We successfully performed our flotation test only a few minutes before they did and encountered no difficulty. Therefore, there were absolutely no 'concerns about the size of the flotation tank.' Any claims to the contrary are false."

From: Todd Watts

"FIT's paper score was a 64.
64 x 5 = 320
320 / 3 = 106.667 out of 100 possible points
Now, if the Judges were so discontented with all of the design reports, why is it that they were giving extra credit?"

From: Sarah Yeldell
Reply to CNCCC

"Whatever this year's outcome, we believe it is obvious that future competitions will require more direct oversight from the CNCCC. Whether that be a CNCCC representative observing, two or three judges appointed by the CNCCC from outside of the Southeast Region, or some other form of surveillance is, of course, up to you."

"A student who sees this situation sees that it is acceptable to lie to cover up mistakes. Members of ASCE are supposed to set an example by which students will conduct their careers upon graduation. If you teach them now that blatant lies are tolerable, then ASCE has failed."

"It is clearly stated in the rules that no graphic should be larger than a circle that is 24 inches in diameter. If that is the case, then how could a graphic that spans the width of a boat that doesn't fit in a 3 ft wide tank (a graphic that is quite obviously paint) not be penalized? Final product points are not based solely on the aesthetics of the boat.

There were several boats in this year's competition that required no structural elements or internal flotation and from an engineering standpoint (this is an engineering competition) those boats should all be placed ahead of any boat or school that is not innovative enough to design a concrete mix that floats on its own."