PHILADELPHIA –- University of Pennsylvania freshmen John O'Malley and Will Son, have been selected as best-video winners in a national contest run by Facing Up, a non-partisan project exploring long-term challenges of the federal budget. They will share a cash prize of $500.

Facing Up is a national consortium comprised of The Brookings Institution, Concord Coalition, The Heritage Foundation, Public Agenda and Viewpoint Learning.

Judges hailed the student’s video, "Man on the Street 2: Facts and Figures," as “an excellent slice of life on campus talking to students about the federal budget and national debt, serving up a few shockers and surprises along the way.”

The video can be viewed at facingup.org/man-street-2-facts-and-figures.

O’Malley and Son created the video as members of a freshmen seminar course taught by Donald Kettl, professor of political science at Penn.

“John and Will took on one of the toughest issues out there — finding a way to make the trillions of dollars of federal spending real for ordinary citizens,” Kettl said. “They found a way to talk about real issues for real people. We’re very proud that Facing Up recognized their accomplishment.”

The competition cited the student designed-class Web site, pound-it.org, for exemplary material.

Additional information on the contest winners is available at
www.facingup.org/students-face-up-nation039s-finances-fall-2008-contest-winners.