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News

International brief

December 3

Thai politician accused of raising votes with Viagra An unidentified candidate for Thailand's parliamentary elections in December may have used Viagra to court elderly male voters at social functions, a campaign worker told the Bangkok Post Friday. "The politician is giving out Viagra to gain popularity and votes," said Sayan Nopcha, a campaign worker for the People's Power Party based north of Bangkok in Pathum Thai province.

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News

Group collects books for D.C. jails

By Rachel Trainer | December 3

Justice Not Jails, an AU prison activism group, collected more than 500 books in a book drive this semester to expand the libraries in all wings in the D.C. Department of Corrections, according to Ava Page, a member of the group. The group's goal is to use initiatives such as rehabilitation centers, affordable housing and education to mobilize convicted criminals rather than sending them to prison.

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News

University prez pay rising at dramatic pace

November 29

The salaries of public and private university presidents are rising rapidly, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education's annual executive compensation survey. In fiscal year 2006, the most recent data available for private institutions, 81 private-institution presidents made at least a $500,000 per year salary, representing a 200 percent increase since 2001, the survey showed.

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News

Complaint questions VP vote

By Ethan Klapper | November 29

An anonymous person filed Nov. 19 a complaint against Student Government Vice President-elect Paul Grever for campaigning inside Mary Graydon Center before the polls closed, but the Board of Elections determined at a hearing the same day that Grever did not violate any policy, according to SG Board of Elections Chair Amy McConnel.

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News

Metro brief

November 29

Hundreds gathered at the Redskins' headquarters in Ashburn, Va., Tuesday to mourn team member Sean Taylor, who died one day after being shot at his home in Palmetto Bay, Fla. Fans formed a circle Tuesday evening around Taylor's number, 21, painted on a grassy area in front of Redskins Park, Fox 5 News reported.

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News

International brief

November 29

An 83-year-old woman from Guardbridge, Scotland, was saved from a potentially fatal super bug by ingesting feces from her daughter, according to The Telegraph, a U.K. newspaper. Ethel McEwan was near death from Clostridium Difficile, a bacteria that can cause severe colon infections, when she received the treatment, which involves feeding a close relative's liquid feces down a tube into the patient's stomach, the Daily Record, a Scottish newspaper, reported.

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'Red' campaign falls short in AIDS fight

By Allie Feras | November 29

The Product Red campaign could do more to fight AIDS in Africa if it focused less on consumerism, said Erin Burns, national organizer for the Student Global AIDS Campaign, at "The (Red) Question" forum Tuesday night in the McDowell Formal Lounge. "The messaging of the Red Campaign tricks people into thinking it is making a huge difference," she said.

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News

Vans to run from Nest to CVS

By Anthony Jaffee | November 29

The Student Government plans to begin running free shuttle vans next semester from AU's main campus to the Tenleytown branches of CVS and Whole Foods to give students a lower-cost alternative to The Eagle's Nest. The primary goal of the program is to pressure The Eagle's Nest to decrease its prices, according to SG President Joe Vidulich.

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News

Italian Embassy to host Kerwin's inauguration

By Jimm Phillips | November 29

rmine whether they will charge for tickets to AU's 2008 Founder's Day Ball, according to Presidential Chief of Staff David Taylor. If there is a charge, it will be no more than Founder's Day tickets have been in the past. Last year, Founder's Day tickets cost $15.

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News

Overprotective parents impact college success

By Caitlin Hillyard | November 29

College students with helicopter parents, or parents who constantly hover over their children's lives, may be getting more out of their college experiences than those whose parents don't interfere, according to a recent study by the National Survey of Student Engagement.

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Groups unite, display talents for AIDS slam

By Kaylor Garcia | November 29

The three students who make up Hard Hat Area stepped onto the Tavern's main stage and played a musical medley with their guitars and harmonica. Right next to the band, a long row of tables with representatives from several clubs sold shirts, gave out buttons and stickers and served cookies and drinks to entice students and give them information as part of AIDS Awareness Week.

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News

National brief

November 29

A former student is suing Chicago's DePaul University for designation as an honors student despite not having the qualifying grades. Michael Walters claims he participated in "grade forgiveness," a university policy in which low grades can be removed from the group of grades used to calculate grade point averages, according to the Daily Herald, an Illinois newspaper.

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News

Pa. loan agency exploits subsidy

By Christopher Cottrell | November 29

A Pennsylvania student loan agency exploited a federal subsidy program to receive $34 million from the government, according to an audit report issued last week from the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Education. The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency had been ineligible for the money it received between July 1, 2003, and June 30, 2006, according to the report.

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D.C. boasts top Peace Corps volunteer rate

By Laraine Weschler | November 29

D.C. has the highest per capita number of Peace Corps volunteers currently serving abroad compared to the rest of the nation, according to Stephen Chapman, Peace Corps public affairs specialist. The District has 2.2 volunteers out of every 25,000 residents, surpassing last year's top state, Vermont, he said.

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News

Police blotter

November 29

Tuesday, Nov. 13 Members of a fraternity assaulted a student in his off-campus home. Wednesday, Nov. 14 A tractor trailer ran over a stop sign in the tunnel. A student in Centennial Hall was verbally threatened by her roommate with bodily harm. Friday, Nov.

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Tickets can now be sold via new Facebook app

By Howard Perlman | November 29

A company that helps event planners sell tickets online launched Nov. 5 a Facebook application called "Ticketing" that would allow AU clubs and organizations to sell tickets to events posted on Facebook. TicketLeap, the company that created the application, was interested in making the application after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg opened his social networking site to external developers last June, according to Carolyn Daniel, TicketLeap's corporate manager.

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Campus brief

November 29

AU received a Grand Award last week in the Urban University Grounds category for exceptional grounds maintenance in the Professional Grounds Management Society's 2007 Green Star Awards competition. The Green Star Awards program acknowledges grounds with a high degree of excellence in terms of landscape design and construction.

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