[David Brinza]

The title of this thread's somewhat misrepresents the article - I didn't see criticism of State Senator Johnson's support to the Long Island First Robotics Competition (sic) or other special projects funded by the legislators.

I venture to say that Senator Johnson strongly believes his support to FIRST is a GOOD thing. I doubt that he has any qualms with the story; it reports budgetary items of public record that may be affected due to budgetary issues.

FIRST teams generally do a good job of acknowledging the support of sponsors. This is a good time to remind the public how well-spent that money is for our future. Financially difficult times can lead to the "seed corn" being consumed. Defending the funding for worthwhile programs is a lot easier when good "outreach" is practiced by those programs. Publicly thanking the sponsors can make a difference. I really like Koko Ed's advice: write a brief letter to the editor to help educate their readers about FIRST.