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What's a "blurker"? Or a "pavement princess"? Or a "plokta"? What does "peeps" mean? Writer Paul Dickson knows. A confessed addict to collecting and identifying slang words, Dickson has written a new and updated dictionary of American slang.

The non-profit College Board reports that the average annual cost of a four-year private college is now above $30,000. Sending a student off to a year at a public school now costs, on average, nearly $12,800.

The double-digit tuition hikes of recent years have slowed, though tuition is still rising faster than the inflation rate in some places, according to the College Board. The group has released its new report on tuition increases at U.S. public and private universities.

Investigators are looking into the weekend death of Brian Schubert, a pioneer of the extreme sport of B.A.S.E. jumping. The 66-year-old died when his parachute didn't fully open during his 876-foot jump from West Virginia's New River Gorge Bridge. Melissa Block talks with NPR's Noah Adams, who witnessed the jump.

With record-low approval ratings, Republican congressional representatives are scrambling to get ahead in the polls. With only three weeks to go before midterm elections, everyone is asking whether the GOP can hold on to either house of Congress.

A year ago, California voters rejected Arnold Schwarzenegger's vision for the state's future by defeating his entire slate of referenda. He then apologized for battling with nurses, police officers and teachers, not to mention assorted Democrats in Sacramento. Now Schwarzenegger's back on top.

The population of the United States has officially reached 300 million. According to government calculations, America reached the milestone at 7:46 a.m. ET on Tuesday. The United States is only the third country in the world to reach 300 million people.

President Bush defended his diplomatic strategy with North Korea at a news conference Wednesday, saying bilateral talks with the nation during the Clinton administration just didn't work to curb its nuclear ambitions.

In Manhattan, witnesses saw a fireball at the apartment building on the Upper East Side, where a small plane crashed into a high-rise condominium. Reports indicate that N.Y. Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle and one other person were killed, with two other possible fatalities.

NPR's John Burnett has written a new book about his career as a journalist. It's called, Uncivilized Beasts and Shameless Hellions: Travels with an NPR Correspondent. Burnett talks with Lynn Neary about the stories he's covered.