The purpose of the resume

In my job, I have to write a lot of recommendation letters.

I'm sitting here trying to draft one for one of my many students who are trying to get into law school and something made me pause.

Why do we need an "objective" statement on a resume?

I mean...people oughta understand why they are getting a resume from a particular individual. If it comes with a job application, you shouldn't have to write "To expand my skill set while contributing to a friendly, competitive work environment" at the top of the piece of paper. The person doing the interview/application collection understands that you want a job. Everyone has to eat and live indoors, so it isn't necessarily a bad thing that you are applying for a job.

I wonder if the world would be a better place if people started putting as their objective statement things like "To make mad cash and buy a plasma TV" or "To retire at age 53 and run away to Barbados with my secretary."

What do employers think when they get these? My current student's here seems pretty good, but what if they are really awful? If I got one that was so filled with jargon I would probably not interview the person. Something like "To work in a fast-paced, diverse company while increasing my knowledge of the information technology industry" would be option-73ed pretty fast, I would think.

Do people really read these?