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The day FIRST looses sight of it's primary goals in an effort to sustain itself is the day FIRST will loose the respect of it's students. If FIRST needs to "polish up" and resort to savage beatings and destruction to gain ratings and support of the public, what is the purpose of sustaining FIRST, if the messages it is trying to send are blocked by public appeal?
Joe, I don't disagree with you that FIRST needs more support to survive in the future, but I've seen company after company fall due to astronomical growth rates. With a steady trickle of media coverage and students graduating and starting their own teams, FIRST's growth has been steady and relatively constant for the past few years. Aside from that, the supporters FIRST does have, NASA, Disney, Delphi, UTC, Autodesk, etc. support FIRST because it's educational, and prepares students for careers in their respective fields. Pepsi, McDonalds, Coke- look what they do support- NASCAR, various sporting events- huge markets for them and their product. They make more in sales at those events than they invest in the events themselves.
Basically, it's extremely difficult to change a culture while expecting them to support what's changing them. I think the best way to change the world is slowly, one person at a time, as more and more students push all they can for FIRST teams all around the country.
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