On Campus, It's One Big Commercial

I'll be my mortgage money on this.
I bet Natasha Singer was either an intern for the New York Times this summer, has been a New York Times intern at some point, or is a campus stringer for the New York Times.
I bet she came up with a story idea about students who represent companies--from Red Bull to Target--and sold it to the New York Times.
The result: A story on the front page of the Times Sunday Business section.
I thought the story was very good. I'd like to know your thoughts. Take some time, read the story, and post them in the comments area below.
One more thing, take a look at the multimedia elements with the story. There's a video, a photo slideshow and, I believe, part of a podcast. This package for the web follows the format the was developed for NPR and which we will base group projects on at the end of the semester.
OK, here are some questions that you can, or cannot use, to frame your thoughts.

1. I this story is too long for reading on the web. Can you edit the story into a length that you think is appropriate for the web? If so, email me you edited version.
2. What do you think of companies using student brand managers to "reach students where they eat, sleep, study and sweat?" 
3. Can you provide any examples at Menlo of campus brand ambassadors, student reps for companies such as HP, Microsoft, etc., or corporate-sponsored academic competitions?