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Texting for the Youth Vote
Tweet Share on Facebook February 1, 2008 CommentAs youth organizers predicted, young voter turnout is surging in the presidential nominating contests. To keep the momentum rolling through Super Tuesday, Student PIRGs' New Voter Project is announcing it will text 20,000 young people with reminders to vote on the eve of the February 5 contests in 24 states.
To date, the numbers of young people have increased exponentially over 2004. In this year's Iowa caucus, turnout of voters under 30 tripled compared with 2004 and 2000. Large increases in the proportion of young voters were also seen in New Hampshire and South Carolina.
—Bret Schulte
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House to Take Up Higher Ed Act
Tweet Share on Facebook February 1, 2008 CommentThe House is planning to finally take up its version of the long-delayed Higher Education Act reauthorization bill late next week.
Staffers say the floor vote on the College Opportunity and Affordability Act is tentatively scheduled for Thursday. The Senate passed its version of a reauthorization bill last summer. The House bill, which was approved by the Education and Labor Committee in November, has many controversial provisions, such as publishing a "hall of shame" of colleges that raise tuition dramatically. It also creates several new scholarships, including one for veterans.
And it sets tighter rules for student lenders to prevent the kind of scandals that made headlines last year.
—Kim Clark
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Morning Buzz: Feb. 1, 2008
Tweet Share on Facebook February 1, 2008 CommentPresident Bush yesterday pressured the Senate to approve the economic stimulus plan that recently passed the House. Senate lawmakers have been attempting to add additional measures to the package that would expand benefits to military veterans and some wealthier individuals. Bush said that the plan needs to be approved quickly to get money into the hands of American consumers.
Microsoft has made a surprise $44 billion offer to buy Yahoo Inc. The move comes as Microsoft attempts to find new ways to compete with Google Inc.
The FDA is warning doctors that many popular epilepsy drugs — such as Pfizer's Neurontin, Novartis AG's Tegretol, and Abbott Laboratories' Depakote — can increase the risk of suicide or suicidal thoughts. The announcement follows the FDA's completion of a meta-analysis of more than 200 studies on approved epilepsy medications.
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