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Flush with success 11-15-03 AP

SINGAPORE - Pop the lid on the cleanser, get out the scrub brush and be sure to leave the seat down - it's time to get ready for World Toilet Day. The Singapore-based World Toilet Organization has begun collecting tips to improve bathroom etiquette to mark the day, held annually on Nov. 16.
The suggestions will be used to create the agenda for next year's World Toilet Summit in Beijing, the group said in a statement Friday.

"If everyone joins in, there (will be) better public toilets and happier people," said Jack Sim, a founding member of the World Toilet Organization and president of the Restroom Association of Singapore.

Suggestions already posted on the group's Web site include: teach children to aim, wipe the toilet seat after use and praise owners of well-kept toilets. Tips can be sent to info@worldtoilet.org.

The toilet group is encouraging the public to speak out about the toilets they use.

"Be it brickbats or bouquets, give feedback to the owner of the toilet," the group's statement said.

The next World Toilet Summit, which brings together academics, sanitation experts, toilet designers and environmentalists from around the world, will be held on Nov. 19, 2004 in Beijing.

Issues discussed at this year's meeting in Taipei, Taiwan last month included mountain toilets, trends in rural toilets and the impact of toilets on tourists' impressions of a country.
S.C. Man Finds Alligator in His Garage 11-15-03 (AP)
ORANGEBURG, S.C. - A man had an uninvited house guest this week - a 3-foot alligator. Michael Hunt found the alligator in his garage Monday afternoon.
"He stood up on all fours, opened his mouth and growled," Hunt said. "I hit the button to close the garage door to keep him in there."
Hunt rushed into his house and called 911. Orangeburg County Animal Control and Orangeburg Department of Public Safety officers removed the reptile. It was relocated in one of the county swamps, Hunt said.
It's not clear how or why the juvenile reptile made its way into the garage.
Hunt said he was most concerned about the safety of children who could have stumbled across the alligator.
The average adult alligator is capable of reaching more than 13 feet in length and can weigh in excess of 600 pounds. Mature alligators have a crushing power of 3,000 pounds per square inch in their jaws.