HELP! Co-Worker Problem!

[glee]

Okay, this might seem like a really trivial problem, but it is driving me NUTS at work and making my work day a real struggle. I was wondering if anyone could give me any advice.

I work in a "cube" environment, and there are 4 other people in cubes who are close round me. We had a new guy come and sit over here recently (starting about a month ago), and I don't know him and he's not even in my group of the company. But he has this intensely irritating habit of clearing his throat about 4 times a minute. And this is not a normal clearing-of-throat, but it is very very loud and long and... well, just intrusive. And this is not because he is sick - it's been going on for the whole time he's been over here.

This is driving me nuts, but I don't know what to do about it. It is loud, distracting, and just downright annoying. But I feel helpless. First of all, I'm not a very confrontational person. Secondly, he's not even in our group. I just don't know what to do, but this is making me miserable. Does anyone have any suggestions, ANY suggestions atall, as to how I can handle this situation?

I have tried putting my headphones on, but even if I have them really loud I can still hear him every time he does this. It's weird- it's so loud and so constant, I can't believe his family/personal friends haven't ever mentioned it to him.

This sounds silly but is really important to me and I'm at my wits end. PLEASE - any advice? Thank you!