Dickinson students tackle global warming through game (with video)

nvesting in the stock market, reducing carbon levels and losing or misplacing billions of dollars was all just another part of the game for Dickinson College students on Saturday.

Four groups of students finished the college’s National Symposium on Global Warming with the Climate Change Game, working as corporations, governments and individuals to affect climate change and reduce carbon emission from their respective organizations.

"It puts people in charge of the global climate,” said Medard Gabel, a consultant with Big Picture, Small World, which designed the climate game and helps educate students and corporate offices on the subject matter. “It’s about changes we need to make as a society to deal with the climate change. There are things we can do as governments, corporations, organizations and as individuals.”

Each group was given a set of strategies released by international scientists on what people could do to help alleviate the problem in their respective areas, such as raising fuel efficiency standards. From all 17 corporations, governments and organizations listed, the groups chose to represent, the Chinese government, U.S. government, Chinese individuals and Wal-Mart.

With students within the groups working against each other as “change-makers” and “keepers of the status quo,” the game wasn’t entirely easy, especially when the goal was a 200 billion ton reduction of carbon. Students also tried to outdo each other, funding certain programs and making deals or merely bribing two students representing the media outlets for preferential treatment.

“You have to keep all of your interests in mind when you’re making deals,” said senior Topher Murray, who represented the U.S. government and nonchalantly dropped a billion dollars in front of the conservative news reporter. “You’re picking and choosing what to invest in and have to think about who it will affect negatively, who it will affect positively, who matters more to me and our own self interests.”

Source: The Sentinel Online