Forget about reality
A professor at the University of Maryland got $200,000 in grants from a state and private partnership for his now-disavowed study of Fifth Quarter Fresh chocolate milk, based on the company’s claims that it could improve the brains of concussed football players. The chocolate milk company provided $20,000 and, apparently, $8,910 was from Allied Milk Producers, whose funds the university is returning.
My country ’tis of thee, money, football and celebrity. Forget about reality. It is easier for a university to obtain funding when it relates to football. The frontrunner in the presidential race is a rich celebrity who is selling us snake oil. The candidate who wants college to be free for students who qualify has what are considered far-fetched ideas for a future that delays gratification based on what is best for the majority long-term.
It feels good to be around the famous and wealthy, who make us believe we can be, too. The child in us wants to believe in magic, lottery tickets, football and snake-oil cures and not concern ourselves with preparing realistically for the future.
Susan Church
Paris
This story was originally published May 6, 2016 at 6:45 PM with the headline "Forget about reality."