Mary Beth Parks , Hilton's vice president of marketing, defends the program.

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Cisco is spending "millions of dollars" on the academy program, says Scott Knell, Cisco's higher-education marketing manager in Santa Clara, Calif.

CNN: School-to-work programs: High hopes, low turnout

Working with the Direct Mail Marketing Association, Mr. Edelman's firm created an opt-out program that helped quell growing objections about junk mail.

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