http://www.vpr.net/audio/programs/84/2013/01/2013-0124-vermontedition.mp3
Last week President Obama called for more research into the effects violent video games have on young minds. Vice President Biden told representatives from the video game industry that they needed to address how they are perceived by the public. Indeed, the public conversation about violence in our society often lays some of the blame at the feet of the video game industry.
According to the Princeton Review, Champlain College is one of the top video game design schools in the country. Professors there are teaching the next generation of video game designers, and they think a lot about how they are perceived by the public and the role of violence in video games. What will the next generation of videogame designers look like? How do the designers themselves think about violence in video games? We'll talk with Amanda Crispel, and Ann DeMarle, both professors of video game design at Champlain College.
Also in the program,in February 2009,the Vermont House and Senate passed S.13, An Act Relating To Improving Vermont's Sexual Abuse Response System. Also known as Act 1, it was created in response to the death of Randolph 12-year-old Brooke Bennett.Four-years after its passage, the Sexual Violence Prevention Task Force has issued a report looking at its effectiveness. Linda Johnson, a member of the task force and executive director of Prevent Child Abuse Vermont, discusses the findings and recommendations of the report.
And VPR's Kirk Carapezza reports on an unusual procedure that was used in the state Senate this week. Chittenden County Senator Philip Baruth backed off his support for a gun-control bill and decided to withdraw the bill instead of letting it languish in committee.
