Someone emailed me this article, which is about 7 years old and is, of course, not rooted in truth, from the Onion:
A gambling-addiction study by researchers at UNLVs Gaming Studies Research Center has “gotten way out of hand,” sources close to the project reported Monday.
Gambling
Addiction & Behavior
“Just one more sample group,” said study director Robert Layton, nervously snapping the clasp of his lucky clipboard. “I have a hunch about this batch, a real hunch. I think its gonna be a honey.”
Layton, who has been conducting research in the lab and the field since March 2001, is studying relapse rates in habituated long-term gamblers. He is aided in his research by colleagues Dr. Steven “Shooter” Ojeda, Dr. “Big” Arnold Stangel, and non-faculty laboratory assistant Fancy Nancy, who was enlisted in the belief that she might, for reasons unknown, have a favorable effect on results.
The study, which is now nearly $10 million over budget, was supposed to have been completed by this past May. Layton continues to gather data, however, insisting that the big breakthrough, or “payoff,” is just around the corner.
via Gambling-Addiction Study Gets Out Of Hand | The Onion – Americas Finest News Source.
It’s not as funny as it could be, but I thought that people might like a laugh. I’m laughing at the idea that an academic group dedicated to the study of gambling could have a budget of anywhere near $10 million, let alone $10 million over budget.
A lot of people think that the Center for Gaming Research is like the Center depicted in this article, with a phalanx of researchers in lab coats analyzing gamblers’ brains in real time. Actually, it’s mostly me acquiring books, assisting scholars, and poring over gaming statistics in an effort to make relevant public policy points. It’s kind of like those reality…Zumanity billboards.
Speaking of work, I’m close to announcing several more speakers for the Gaming Research Colloquium Series. Stay tuned!