Before we slam the author for their opinion (or worse yet, laugh at them
), we, as a community, should look at why what we have done/haven't done to give them their (perhaps incorrect) opinion. For example, many (most?) people think corportations should be kept out of public school for various reasons. On the surface, FIRST appears to not only allowing corportations to interact with students but encourges it! The entire purpose of FIRST is to get inspired by mentors who work for these corporations. As a community, we are very proud of all the corporate relationship we have, including them on our team name and t-shirts.
Of course I do not agree with the author, but I can see how we contributed to their beliefs. The best way to change their beliefs is to continue to promote and educate about FIRST.