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Congress Slashes Funding for Peaceful Conflict Resolution Game

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the how-are-our-children-supposed-to-become-warriors-with-this dept.

In a departure from the usual video game setting a recent educational video game called "Cool School" was designed to teach kids peaceful conflict resolution. Unfortunately Congress has decided to slash the funding of this program that has been receiving rave reviews from the testers at schools in Illinois. "Cool School focuses on taking players through a school where just about everything (desks, books, and other objects) are alive and have their own personality. Over the course of ten levels and over 50 different situations designed by Professor Melanie Killen and then-doctoral student Nancy Margie (both of the University of Maryland). The primary goal of the game is to teach students how to solve social conflict through skills like negotiation and cooperation. During the title's development, Killen and Margie were able to work with some talented members of the video game industry, including independent developer F.J. Lennon and animator Dave Warhol." The game is now available as a free download and will play on both Mac OS X and Windows XP.

12 of 84 comments (clear)

  1. Funding slashed for a finished game by CogDissident · · Score: 5, Funny

    So, they're "done" with the game, effectively. What part of their funding do they still need? The "sit on their asses and collect money for work they already did" fund?

    Thanks slashdot, for providing no link to the article where the funding is being slashed, just two links to a game and people's reviews of it.

    1. Re:Funding slashed for a finished game by eln · · Score: 4, Funny

      Clearly the only way to settle this is to kick ScuttleMonkey's ass for writing a poor summary.

    2. Re:Funding slashed for a finished game by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Advertisement funding!

      You didn't think all the advert stories have been posted for free, now did you? Slashvertisement was all they could afford now!

    3. Re:Funding slashed for a finished game by Shadow+Wrought · · Score: 3, Funny
      That's also what's holding back Duke Nukem Forever, I suppose.

      Really? I heard that Peaceful Conflict Resolution accelerators simply weren't fast enough for Duke's "Resolutions."

      --
      If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
    4. Re:Funding slashed for a finished game by Theoboley · · Score: 1, Funny

      Sorry Kids... Looks like you'll have to go back to solving your conflicts the old fashioned way. Guns, Knives and Fists. Hooray Congress !!!

      --
      Stupidity only gets you so far, then you've gotta try
    5. Re:Funding slashed for a finished game by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Making something available to everyone != Delivering it to everyone. Oooh, I know this one. "Making it available to everyone" isn't illegal. If the RIAA come after them then Congress have a cast iron case here.
  2. Damn! by Slicebo · · Score: 5, Funny

    Let's fight 'em!

  3. no funding? by jollyreaper · · Score: 2, Funny

    What would be funny is if they threatened Congress to restore funding.

    --
    Kwisatz Haderach
    Sell the spice to CHOAM
    This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
  4. Re:Really.... by courtarro · · Score: 3, Funny

    Now, in true /. style I didn't read TFA but I did read the summery and it doesn't say anything about Linux or source code.

    Wow.

    Also in true /. style, I didn't read your whole comment, but I saw something in there about "governed" and "WINE" and you made no mention of "legalized". Frankly I think the US Government has no right to prohibit alcohol sales.

  5. Re:Really.... by Znork · · Score: 3, Funny

    this could be a real problem for Linux adoption

    Obviously, someone running Linux or other F/OSS OS doesn't need a game to understand the advantages of cooperation or peaceful conflict resolution. Kernel, license or editor conflicts almost never devolve into physical violence.

    How fun would an appropriate game be?

    "Mark doesn't agree with your indentation style. What do you do?"

    a) Create my own fork
    b) Develop software that will display the code in the viewers indent style
    c) I demonstrate my indentation preference by indenting Marks face with my fist
    d) I write my own new software with a new license allowing only derivative works with the same indentation style

  6. Re:Really.... by 0p7imu5_P2im3 · · Score: 2, Funny

    While I understand your sentiment, I respectfully disagree. I agree that over 95% of the US, and probably the world, use Windows directly. However, indirectly, everyone uses Unix or Linux.

    Today the world revolves around the internet. Something like 65%-70% of internet servers run on Linux and 15%-20% run on some non-Linux version of Unix. (These numbers may have changed since I last checked.) In fact, the root of the internet, some 13 root name servers, all run on Unix/Linux.

    Since the internet revolves around these Unix servers, and the world revolves around the internet...

    The world does revolve around my chosen operating system! [Insert Maniacal Laughter here.][Overlay Thunder Claps within Maniacal Laughter.]

    --
    Resistance is futile. Your technological distinctiveness will be added to our own. You will become one with the morgue
  7. Re:Really.... by Minwee · · Score: 3, Funny

    Hans Reiser?

    Well, 'Hitman' was a game too, you know.