Borgess Run Camp officials pointed with pride Tuesday to the announcement that their 500-person assembly of talent had been selected as the sole test group for a national study on health outcomes.
A nationally recognized team of researchers will be in camp for the remaining nine weeks looking at the long-term health effect of wearing funny hats.
"I couldn't be more pleased," said Chris Crowell, a funny-hat pioneer of sorts. "I think it's great scientists are finally getting at the root causes of good health." Crowell, in fact, traces his patented "keep moving" phrase to things he heard from other kids when he wore funny hats as a youngster.
Conducting the research will be a team from the University of Kentucky, noted for their landmark study on funny nuns, proving they live, on average, 10 years longer than their sour sisters. "We know that laughing is good for you physically, psychologically, emotionally and socially," said lead researcher Tammy McGraw. "We feel we're just scratching the surface on the role that hats play in that dynamic."
"Well, I feel completely vindicated," said Amy Shaffer, who initially was rejected as a Team Leader candidate because she wore a funny hat to the One One Run. (Her appeal was successful, and after this week's announcement, camp officials admit they weren't even completely aware of the implications of the so-called "Crowell Rule," upon which Shaffer based her appeal.)
Kristen "Pippi" Schmidt also expressed relief after the Pink Puffers' investment in pink hats this past week. "We were kind of out on a limb there, but now we're excited to see if -- as they suspect -- this study proves we'll be 'hat healthy."
One camp critic predicted the study will be a flop. "Don't kid yourself," she said. "All they care about is statistical significance and everyone knows that 400 is the magic number. They chose us because they figured out of 500 campers, they could find 400 mentally stable guinea pigs. Boy, are they going to be disappointed."
No comments:
Post a Comment