Little foxes spoil the vines

Please explain to this taxpayer, who was denied rehabilitation for her daughter because working with her was too expensive and too time consuming, just WHY we even THINK of funding this kind of expense. The government should let a group of average citizens make the decisions on cutting out this kind of gristle. See, it isn't even fat. It is gristle which should cause anyone to choke.

46) Taxpayer Money to Study How College Students Use Mobile Devices for Social Networking – (IN) $764,825

The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded over $760,000 to the University of Notre Dame to study the wireless and social networking habits of college freshmen. ―Don‘t college kids have any shame? They‘ll spill their guts on Facebook before talking to a real live person,‖ commented a press release touting the project. It made no mention of a public policy benefit to the taxpayer-funded research.

Two hundred and fifty participants will receive phones, each containing a ―lightweight agent that tracks how students use the phones and how they interact digitally with fellow students.‖

The monitoring will include:

 Location data, such as proximity to other participants;

 Digital communications, such as social networking, email or texting;

 Digital marketplace, such as app purchases, usage and music.

―We are honored to partner with such a highly respected university on this landmark study,‖said Sprint CEO Donald Hesse, who happens to be a graduate of Notre Dame.

Looks to me like our government will fund ANYTHING but hypoxic/anoxic brain injury research.