Suspend a FSAE team over a bikini pic?

LainfordExpress wrote: FSAE at my school were a bunch of pretentious pricks at my school, so screw 'em I say.

Don't care for the blokes in the program here at PSU either.

Still don't think their time and effort should be wasted like that though.

Woody wrote: Something's fishy here. I seriously doubt that there is an actual Canadian girl in that photo. Note the complete absence of tottoos and cigarettes:

Well, you can't see the traditional tramp stamp location, and she is a pasty white color...

Boy, it sure does suck that if you want to use space, tools, and money you dont own to do something, than you have to follow the owner's rules, doesnt it?

"One of the bitter ironies of the present situation is that the photo shoot was intended to promote women,"

BULLLLLLE36 M3. There's nothing about that photo that promotes women. The article goes on to say that she was a key member of the team and 'needed' 'the' photo (=/= 'that' photo) to get into a calendar. Thats not promoting women, thats promoting YOURSELF, and if you happen to be a woman you are promoting ONE woman, not women. Thats not the kind of help that people concerned with women's empowerment are asking for, yet that's clearly the implication of that snarky and stupid quote.

Vigo wrote: Boy, it sure does suck that if you want to use space, tools, and money you dont own to do something, than you have to follow the owner's rules, doesnt it?

Probably unwritten, completely arbitrary and quite likely made-up on the spot "rules" that you have one shot at abiding by or it's boom, suspended, no warnings, no appeals, do not pass go. Seriously, do you really think there were "no bikini photos!" signs posted around that shop? It's not like they were deliberately rabble-rousing and trying to "stick it to the man, maaaaan."

I stand by my theory that one of the academic rivals of the faculty advisor for the FSAE project is playing politics and pulled some strings out of his arse to make a posturing statement. That kind of bullE36 M3 completely permeates the academic system at every level.

If this happened to my team, I would be beyond livid. The fact that the university in question is reassuring the students that they will get full academic credit amounts to nothing more than a slap in the face.

I think it's BS to stop the entire team from racing, but it's entirely within their rights to do so. If you want to stand on others' shoulders to promote yourself (i.e. for career or to get into a calendar) you better not piss off the shoulders you're standing on, and this woman and the team members that were involved did so. Whether they knew thats what they were doing is something else.

Make no mistake, an entire team just lost numerous high-end job opportunities due to someone high up getting "offended."

Sucks to hang your future off someone not getting annoyed with you. Sorta doesnt matter what kind of car you build at that point.

mine too. I did mini baja. Much more fun. 130+ cars on the same course not some lame 4 with a designated passing zone... booooo to the rules.

Must google this mini baja phenomenon..

Oh, OK. Danica poses for Sports Illustrated, and it's cool.

ehhh, not cool but definitely legal.

The main difference is that Danica in SI makes IndyCar more money.

Yup, the big money in FSAE doesnt come from the students so there's not much risk in throwing them under the bus. It is sad to see it actually happen, though.

ALSO, as far as being "PC" is concerned - I think it's more insulting to the woman in question when something like this is considered some transgression. Did they think she had no choice in the matter? Seriously it was probably her idea in the first place! Some junkwad in the uni's PC dept. (whatever it's called) is sitting there going, "aww, gee lil' missy, we'll protec' yuh from them nasty men with cameras" and doesn't realize that attitude is a million times more insulting than a decade's supply of thong-of-the-month calenders. Sheesh.

I dont really think that's what's going on here, i dont think the university's concern for the woman in the picture really had anything to do with it. I think the university was mostly just exercising their right to determine how students use university property to portray the university. Im sure the students didnt think of it in such terms, but at this point they are just pawns in a gesture that's intended to dissuade other students from taking advantage of school property and branding to promote their own causes, and the woman and the other teammembers were not really central to the university's concerns or decisions.

Probably unwritten, completely arbitrary and quite likely made-up on the spot "rules" that you have one shot at abiding by or it's boom, suspended, no warnings, no appeals, do not pass go. Seriously, do you really think there were "no bikini photos!" signs posted around that shop? It's not like they were deliberately rabble-rousing and trying to "stick it to the man, maaaaan." I stand by my theory that one of the academic rivals of the faculty advisor for the FSAE project is playing politics and pulled some strings out of his arse to make a posturing statement. That kind of bullE36 M3 completely permeates the academic system at every level.

Oh i agree that it's unfair, im just stating that thats the chance you take with ANY authority when you dont know their rules or dont have enough brownie points with them. How many times have you signed an end-user/license agreement without knowing what was in it? We all take these chances and frankly we can all be thrown under the bus at any time. Thats part of blithely subjugating yourself without having a back door or a healthy dose of paranoia, and thats what we all do on a daily basis.

I think not letting them race is total BS and there should be an appeals process, but even if there were, it probably wouldnt move fast enough to right the original wrong of missing the race.

unevolved wrote: Make no mistake, an entire team just lost numerous high-end job opportunities due to someone high up getting "offended." Many students, like myself, tailor their entire college career around the Formula programs, and if this were to happen, my past four-plus years would be for naught.

Ha ha ha ha..

I thought the same thing while doing SAE stuff.. "I'm going to get some awesome job when I get out of school and design cars for the rest of my life and it's going to pay a lot and I'm going to marry a cheerleader".

FSAE and Mini-Baja folks are too interested in the hands on to get into any job that is "High End".. They're too useful and you'll be stuck most of your life being the dude who figures things out that some VP screws up... I know some dudes who got good jobs with the Japanese car companies, but after a few years, but completing PFEMA's on mini van doors aren't why we all went to school.

Maybe it depends on your school, but I would say that there were more "high end" jobs from participants within the SAE program to those outside. Mind you "high end" and automotive do not necessarily go hand in hand. Think more composites and petroleum.

Jay wrote: ALSO, as far as being "PC" is concerned - I think it's more insulting to the woman in question when something like this is considered some transgression. Did they think she had no choice in the matter? Seriously it was probably her idea in the first place! Some junkwad in the uni's PC dept. (whatever it's called) is sitting there going, "aww, gee lil' missy, we'll protec' yuh from them nasty men with cameras" and doesn't realize that attitude is a million times more insulting than a decade's supply of thong-of-the-month calenders. Sheesh.

^THIS

Also this may be the first pic of a woman in a bikini posing with a car she helped design. Sad bit of history to go with it.

Conspiracy theory about this one: What if the administers decided to suspend the team for the sole purpose of making sure the story and the accompanying picture get plastered all over the Internet, in an effort to get prospective students to think there are more hot girls at Waterloo than they think?

huge-O-chavez wrote: Ha ha ha ha.. I thought the same thing while doing SAE stuff.. "I'm going to get some awesome job when I get out of school and design cars for the rest of my life and it's going to pay a lot and I'm going to marry a cheerleader". FSAE and Mini-Baja folks are too interested in the hands on to get into any job that is "High End".. They're too useful and you'll be stuck most of your life being the dude who figures things out that some VP screws up... I know some dudes who got good jobs with the Japanese car companies, but after a few years, but completing PFEMA's on mini van doors aren't why we all went to school.

I'm not necessarily talking about the automotive industry. I don't want to work in the automotive industry. But as of right now, our entire '11 Formula Hybrid team has job offers from somewhere. Which is more than most programs can say. You can't deny the appeal on a resume.

In reply to Vigo:

You may be correct, but whether or not this promotes women, the young lady is more conservatively dressed than have the young ladies on a New Jersey Shore beach in July. I don't think that college rallies in which girls go topless to gain attention for women's rights issues do much for women, but it is done for time to time and is accepted in the interest of feminism.

So what if it was a bit of self promotion. There was nothing in that photo which should have resulted in the suspension of the team.

So what if the photo had been totally, irrefutably of a gay guy?

Would that have merited the same response? Would it have been viewed as exploitative and insulting? Same intent, different application...

I went to to university in Waterloo. I'm truly embarrassed. This is the feminist PC police at its worst.

TR8owner wrote: I went to to university in Waterloo. I'm truly embarrassed. This is the feminist PC police at its worst.

As an Alum, you have more power than most of us to change the course of events.

In reply to stroker:

I wouldn't care if the person was gay, straight, male or female, there is nothing offensive of a person wearing a bathing suit which is acceptable on any beach, at any pool or at numerous charity car washes in the free world.

Moparman wrote: In reply to stroker: .... there is nothing offensive of a person wearing a bathing suit ....

See, but there is in the eyes of the University in question. I just want to know if they're protecting women, or if they're protecting any other groups as well.

Protect me from Waterloo, please.

So what if it was a bit of self promotion. There was nothing in that photo which should have resulted in the suspension of the team

I didnt say there was anything in the photo that i consider to be justification for fugging the team over. I was only talking about the quote that i quoted, which i think is stupid, presumptive, and misleading.