Online game lets students slash, tax their way to balanced budget

Lawmakers were shown the game last week.

University of Maryland (UM) College Park students last week finagled with federal spending and deficit reduction so that, at the very worst, they could delay economic Armageddon in the United States.

UM students, most of them majoring in public policy, experimented with ways to get the country’s fiscal house in working order Sept. 19 during the launch of “Budget Hero: Election Edition,” a web-based game that invites players to find a way – any way – to trim the nation’s debt by raising taxes, doing away with certain tax deductions, raising the age of Social Security recipients, and reining in the defense budget, among dozens of other options.

Even allowing the country to fall off the proverbial fiscal cliff – a combination of economic policies dreaded by both major parties – would keep the government running until well into 2027, according to the game.…Read More

Maryland college students spread solar power to the Philippines

UMD students collected hundreds of cans in their push for solar power.

A group of University of Maryland (UM) students are making solar-powered light bulbs more readily available for poverty-stricken Filipino families.

UM’s Filipino Cultural Association (FCA) collected empty aluminum cans last month to raise money for a charity that makes the environmentally friendly light bulbs for people in the Philippines.

Isang Litrong Liwanag, which means “A Liter of Light” in Filipino, is a charity that uses plastic bottles to light homes in underprivileged neighborhoods.…Read More

University brings old school football to the web

UM hopes to archive more football games once funding is secured.

University of Maryland (UM) football diehards will have something to watch even after their team’s final regular season game Nov. 26, thanks to archivists who are digitizing Terrapin pigskin footage from the recent – and not so recent – past.

Officials from the archives of the College Park, Md. campus said Nov. 11 that the school would release the first 772 reels of UM football film converted to the web, available for students, faculty, and fans to view 24 hours a day.

The archives game footage spans from 1946-1979, and includes film from the first-ever game played at famed Byrd Stadium, where, in 1960, the Terps played the rival Navy Midshipmen.…Read More

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