Stimulus Pays for Night-Clubbing Research

(Berkeley, California) Maybe I'm reading too much into this report, but it seems that heralded stimulus money is being used to pay for a bunch of people to party.

In Berkeley, the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation received a $499,384 grant from the National Institutes of Health for a study of risky drinking patterns and decision-making in nightclubs.

Brenda Miller of the institute Prevention Research Center said the project went through a scientific review process before receiving funding in late September.

She said she hired two part-timers immediately, and just recently hired a full-time project manager. In February, she expects to hire 12 to 20 part-timers who'll do the fieldwork in Bay Area night spots.

"Most of the money for this grant is set aside for data collection, getting data collected out in the field "... and we really need a fairly large staff to do that," Miller said.

"Young adults who are in the 21-to-30 age range are the most likely to apply for these jobs because it involves being up late at night "... and they will have the easiest rapport with people who are going to the clubs."

The research will analyze drinking patterns of young adults to study how group interactions influence, when, why and how much people drink, she said. Nightclub-goers might be offered a small fee to participate.

The aim is to develop strategies that will "result in safer practices among young adults when they go out for an evening," Miller said, by reducing excessive drinking, drug use or risky sexual behavior.

I suggest that the only reproducible finding to be gleaned from this research will be that all the stimulus money allocated was spent. And, if my assessment is correct, it's entirely possible to collect evidence that stimulus money is, in actuality, being pissed away.