Why is my child NOT going to the University of New Mexico?

You mean other than the fact that it's in New Mexico?

Have you ever heard about the Ig Nobel Prizes given out each year. They are sort of the opposite of the Nobel Prize... awarded for discoveries that cannot or should not be reproduced. Who won in the 2008 Economics category, you might ask? The 2008 Ig Nobel prize in Economics was awarded to Geoffrey Miller, Joshua Tyber, and Brent Jordan, for discovering that exotic dancers earn more when at peak fertility.

Huh?

Who the hell decided that this was a necessary study? Why on earth would that even occur to anyone? I have a hard time understanding why scientists need to find out if there was ever water on Mars - so you can imagine how far my jaw dropped when I saw that this was an ACTUAL study done by the University of New Mexico. There is a blurb stating, "Brent D. Jordan's contribution to this project was supported by a McNair/ROP Scholars Program Fellowship." So money was actually spent on this bullshit study. Someone (I'm assuming at the McNair / ROP Scholars Program Fellowship) had to actually sign off on this study, acknowledging that this was information that could make a difference. Can't you picture Brent Jordan's grandmother asking him, "So, what are you studying this semester?" "Well grandma, I'm studying human estrus in the setting of a gentleman's club atmosphere and whether it is beneficial economically to perform on stage more at certain times than others." Meanwhile, Grandpa is elbowing Brent's dad with a smile on his face that clearly indicates, "THAT'S MY BOY."

Do you suppose this all started out as some sort of pledge prank, and just got outta hand? Or, is this the kind of thing state schools are supporting? Has the generation, who's motto seems to be "Be Open", getting out of hand? Am I, at 43 years old, just too old to understand?

All of the sudden I'm not so up in arms over the Mars Rover project. Imagine that.