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College students to pay more for tuition Sunday, 07 June 2009 Students looking to attend Florida colleges next year will have to come up with an additional 15 percent to make their tuition fees. Faced with increased financial challenges, and dwindling financial support from the state, Florida colleges will be depending on increased tuition fees to balance their budgets. On Monday, the Florida Senate passed legislation on a 30 -7 vote to increase tuition fees by up to 15 percent annually for the state’s colleges. Governor Charlie Crist has indicated that he will sign the legislation. This means that all 11 state universities can now charge a tuition differential, or supplement. Currently, only the University of Florida, Florida State, South Florida, Central Florida and Florida International have that authority. The differential cannot equal more than 15 percent a year and must be approved by the Board of Governors. Compared to the rest of the nation, Florida has one of lowest college tuition rates, averaging some $3,900 per annum, compared to the national average of $6,500. Read More Hits: 60

Obama highlights Caribbean American Heritage Month Sunday, 07 June 2009 Caribbean nationals and people of Caribbean heritage are celebrating the month of June designated three years ago as Caribbean American Heritage Month. President Barack Obama on Tuesday issued a proclamation from the White House in honor of the Caribbean American Heritage Month. The proclamation acknowledges the contributions that Caribbean Americans have made over the years to the growth of the nation. It said, “Caribbean Americans have made lasting contributions to our nation's culture and history, and the month of June has been set aside to honor their cultural, linguistic, ethnic, and social diversity.” Caribbean immigrants have always been contributing to America since its beginning, with one of its founding fathers, Alexander Hamilton, the First Secretary of the Treasury hailing from St. Kitts. Read More Hits: 70   Cuba the focus in meeting of the Americas Sunday, 07 June 2009 Weeks after leaders met at the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad & Tobago in April, they convened in a meeting of the 39th general assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Honduras earlier this week. Like the Summit of the Americas, Cuba was again a focal point of the meetings agenda. Ironically, when the agreement forming the OAS was signed in 1948, Cuba was one of the 17 countries involved. Following The Cuban Revolution and the launch of Fidel Castro’s regime, Cuba was suspended from the organization in 1962. However, in recent years, most of the members of the OAS, including Caribbean nations have extended the olive branch to Cuba and are willing to reaccept Cuba into the OAS. But, the United States is adamant against this, unless there are significant democratic reforms in Cuba. The US was represented at the OAS meeting by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who in her opening speech reaffirmed Washington's new outlook on Cuba while urging hemispheric nations to stay true to democratic values. Read More Hits: 63