Students are receiving hundreds of credit card offers each year and credit card companies continue to use food, giveaways and fast pitches to tempt students to sign up for credit cards on campus, often without the blessing of school officials, according to analysis by U.S. PIRG.

Our research, which resulted in hundreds of media hits and favorable editorial coverage in the New York Times late last year, indicates that college is beginning to seem like a pass/fail class in financial literacy.

U.S. PIRG's Higher Education Program Director Chris Lindstrom testified in Congress and worked to educate students, college administrators and legislators about the dangers of these bait-and-switch deals. So far, six states have restricted the on-campus marketing of credit cards at public colleges.

According to U.S. PIRG Public Health Advocate Liz Hitchcock, "a deliberate or accidental release of toxic chemicals at a chemical facility could kill or seriously injure thousands of Americans."

That’s the basic argument for Congress to pass the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act, which calls for the use of safer alternatives to dangerous chemicals used in plants and factories across the country.

As a result of U.S. PIRG's campaign, the bill has gained the important support of Environment and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee Chairman Gene Green (Texas), who worked with our coalition last year to organize a congressional briefing moderated by Hitchcock. Entering the new Congress, the list of local, state and national groups supporting the bill has grown to more than 50. U.S. PIRG worked with the Center for American Progress on a new report focusing on the ability of facilities to incorporate safer alternatives and processes.

On Nov. 4, 2008, California voters approved funding for a high-speed rail line that will connect southern and northern California, a victory for CALPIRG and the Student PIRG chapters in California that launched an ambitious campaign in 2007 in support of the project.

Using research that expounded on the value of such a rail line to the state, we built public support statewide for Prop 1A, the ballot measure that would fund the project. Cities and towns, chambers of commerce, environmental and smart-growth groups and public transportation allies throughout the state endorsed the measure. In the final weeks of the campaign, CALPIRG created a video that reached 200,000 Californians, urging them to vote "yes" on Prop 1A.

"Looking ahead, the effects of Proposition 1A's passage extend well beyond California," said CALPIRG Advocate Emily Rusch. "Now, other regions, from the Midwest to Florida, are considering high-speed rail to help meet their growing transportation needs."