The University of Rochester's merry prankster troupe The Chamber Boys sent their agent Patrick to play the ol' "fake professor" gag on a bunch of freshmen — and he aced it.

Steven Landsburg is an economics professor at the University of Rochester. Formerly a Slate columnist, Landsburg is well-versed in the art of the high-minded counterintuitive take, like "Don't Vote: It makes more sense to play the lottery" and "Do the Poor Deserve Life Support?" With this as his background,…