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From: Clark in MI
Category: General Category
Remote Name: 65.216.75.240
Date: 25 Oct 2004
Time: 01:03:26 PM
You've got to consider the OA angle from both sides. Yes, the first thing that springs to mind is that the disqualified observing team is receiving OA from the building team. However, just because there would be no penalty against them this year as they were already out of the competition doesn't make this only a question of ethics. The building team would definately be at risk of OA from the "observing" team. OM rules are quite explicit that team members may not change once the team's solution begins to be discussed, let alone built. That includes exposing the team to other team members. Even if the observing team swore to not say a thing while observing, there would still be a very real possibility that something would be said. It's kind of like when 7 kids go into Spontaneous and 2 have to sit out. It's only for a couple of minutes, but it's really hard for those sitting out to remain totally neutral about what they're seeing in front of them. Take that level of potential for inadvertant OA, and think about how much more potential there would be for a team to observe another over an entire OM construction meeting. I think it's too much temptation to resist. I would strongly urge against such a temptation. It's a nice idea, but nothing beats building and testing on your own. Particularly if you are concerned about not giving the judges any cause to object.