WASHINGTON

COST OF COLLEGE TUITION RISES AGAIN, BUT AT A SLOWER RATE

College tuition rose at a somewhat slower rate this year, climbing 10.5% at public four-year colleges and 6% at private ones, a study found. State budget cuts have forced public colleges to pass on more of their costs to students in recent years. The College Board reported yesterday that the average tuition for in-state students at four-year public schools is $5,132 this year. Last year, tuition rose 13%, the first double-digit increase in a decade. Including room and board, the overall cost for in-state students at four-year public schools rose 8% to $11,354, following a 9% increase last year that was the highest since the early 1980s. At private four-year colleges, tuition, room, and board rose 6% to $27,516 this year, the College Board said. Most students do not pay the full sticker price. If they were to get the same level of student aid as last year – those figures are not yet available – the average student would pay about $8,000 at a public four-year college this year. David Ward, president of the American Council on Education, which represents public and private schools, welcomed the easing of tuition increases but called for a public debate on the “quiet cost-shifting from state support to tuition that continues in far too many states.”

– Associated Press

JUDGE WON’T STAY CAMPAIGN FINANCE RULING

A judge yesterday denied the Federal Election Commission’s request that she temporarily set aside a ruling striking down several government rules on political fund raising. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, though denying the FEC’s request that she stay her September ruling pending the outcome of the commission’s appeal in the case, said the FEC rules she overturned will nonetheless remain “on the books” until the commission writes new ones. In addition to requesting a stay, the FEC had asked the judge to make it clear the regulations she struck down would remain in effect for the November 2 election. In denying the commission’s stay request, Judge Kollar-Kotelly wrote, “The court declines to stamp the commission’s ‘business-as-usual’ tactics and request for delay with the judicial imprimatur of approval.” The commission should act in line with the court’s opinion and stop working against “both congressional intent and the public interest,” the judge added. The FEC’s stay request was opposed by two sponsors of the nation’s new campaign finance law, Reps. Christopher Shays, a Republican of Connecticut, and Martin Meehan, a Democrat of Massachusetts. The two sued to overturn several commission regulations they contended opened loopholes in the law; the judge agreed and struck down more than a dozen. The 2002 law prohibits national party committees and federal candidates from raising corporate, union and unlimited donations and broadly bans the use of such `soft money” in federal elections.

– Associated Press

HEALTH

TESTOSTERONE PATCH HAILED AS FEMALE VIAGRA

PHILADELPHIA – Menopausal women had more sex and were happier about it when using an experimental hormone patch hailed by some as a possible female equivalent of Viagra, doctors reported yesterday. Women on the testosterone patch had sex about four times more than they usually did in two months compared to only one additional session for women given a fake patch containing no hormone, a study found. Those who got real patches also reported more arousal, pleasure, and orgasms, and had better self-images. “We found an increase in activity, an increase in desire and a decrease in distress,” said Dr. Robin Kroll, a Seattle gynecologist who reported results of the study yesterday at a meeting of infertility specialists. The research was sponsored by Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals, which is developing the patch, called Intrinsa, with Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. It was the first big test of the patch in women who went through menopause naturally and complained of low sex drive. A previous study in women who became menopausal because of surgery found similar results, and the companies already have asked the FDA to approve its use for those women.

– Associated Press

WEST

WITNESS SAYS PETERSONS WERE WELL-OFF

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – Scott Peterson was not experiencing money problems and stood to gain more financially if his pregnant wife remained alive, a defense witness testified yesterday at his murder trial. Martin Laffer, a certified public accountant and former Internal Revenue Service investigator, testified yesterday that the Petersons appeared to be in good financial shape. He said Mr. Peterson was paying $1,300 a month toward the mortgage on the couple’s home, $50 more than the minimum required payment. “Does it appear to you they were doing well for a young married couple with a baby on the way at their age?” defense attorney Mark Geragos asked. “Yes, they were fine,” Mr. Laffer replied. “Is there anything you see from the credit report that indicated Mr. Peterson did not have good credit?” Mr. Geragos prodded. “Not at all, just the opposite,” Mr. Laffer said. Prosecutors have suggested that aside from Peterson’s affair as a motive for murder, he hoped to gain from a $250,000 life insurance policy taken out on Laci Peterson more than a year before she vanished.

– Associated Press