A little piece of fiction

Here's a little story which a friend of mine claims actually happened (btw, I heard it from him); I like to think of it as fiction.

In a meeting of all the faculty in an elite research institution (ERI), the perceived fall in the quality of incoming students was being discussed. The issue was that while our schools are good, our colleges aren't. And, it is the output of these bad colleges who come to the ERI. So something must be done.

Someone suggested inviting a bunch of bright masters students from colleges to the ERI's campus to do their summer projects -- sort of like summer internship for research. Someone suggested that, instead of such a restrictive policy, this outreach program should be extended it to the bachelors students too. Someone else took the idea further, saying, "if we wish to catch them young -- when they are really, really 'good' -- we must go all the way down to high schools."

The discussion came to an abrupt end when an elderly professor stood up and asked "how about starting a sperm bank?"

I was reminded of this story while writing the previous post.