It’s an early afternoon on a crisp fall day in an average college town.  In preparation for the game, young professionals are piling into local bars and restaurants to see their alma mater play.  The late risers are lining up at the numerous downtown coffee shops to inject some caffeine prior to kickoff.  After the game, there are more festivities – food, drinks, and celebration. 

Nothing seems out of the ordinary, until one learns that the federal government occasionally labels such towns as among the poorest in the country.  This backwards fact is made possible by the government’s formula that determines distribution of anti-poverty funds.