I can’t imagine what these paranoid lunatics would make of The World in Shadow:
When Steven Barber turned in a short story this semester for his creative-writing class at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise, his instructor was alarmed. The 23-year-old student had produced an imagined account of someone on the edge of a violent breakdown, touching on suicide and murder.
“It had to be acted on immediately,” says Christopher Scalia, the instructor. He alerted administrators, who reacted swiftly, searching Mr. Barber’s dorm room and car. Upon discovering three guns, they had him committed to a psychiatric institution for a weekend. Then they expelled him.
On the plus side, it’s clear that Mr. Barber has at least somewhat of a gift for writing convincing characters. And even better, it demonstrates that the educational system will never be able to wrap its head around electronic game design. “Pressing 2 brings up the chainsaw….”