Students with big ideas to convene for Clinton Global Initiative University

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Three students at George Washington University want to build low-cost bamboo bicycles for transportation in sub-Saharan Africa. A junior at New York University wants to make a doll for every child with night terrors. Four Georgetown students want to extend microcredit to cash-strapped entrepreneurs.

This weekend, Bill Clinton is coming to town to help them.

The fifth annual Clinton Global Initiative University meeting convenes Friday evening at GWU, bringing together more than 1,000 students from 80 countries and every state to discuss how each hopes to change the world. The weekend agenda includes a one-on-one session Saturday night between Clinton and talk-show host Jon Stewart. Fittingly, the session concludes Sunday in a day of service, with students repairing homes and assembling care packages for the military.

The former president created the annual gathering as a focal point for thousands of scattershot service projects on college campuses, and to transform the more ambitious initiatives into full-fledged nonprofit ventures that endure beyond college.

(...)

Community service among college students probably stands near an all-time high, although historical data are sketchy. The most recent report from the federal Corporation for National & Community Service shows 3.1 million students volunteered 312 million hours in 2010. The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Hurricane Katrina and the 2010 Haiti earthquake each mobilized a fresh wave of volunteerism.

full: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/students-with-big-ideas-to-convene-for-clinton-global-initiative-university/2012/03/28/gIQAw8L9gS_singlePage.html

However, I immediately remembered this story I saw in 2011:

My application, which proposed a commitment that sought to aid farmers in India driven to suicide by the agricultural giant Monsanto, was denied.

I took the feeling of rejection for a couple days and wondered why my application was denied even though I saw several examples of less complex commitments submitted around the same time being accepted. (This doesn’t make them any less deserving, I only bring it up to highlight that timing was probably not a major factor).

I recently found out that President Clinton has extensive ties with Monsanto and if there is indeed a relationship between President Clinton’s affiliations and those of his organization, then this would indicate a major conflict of interest on the part of CGI U.