Fidel Castro Resigns as Cuba’s President

SAM RANDOL STAFF WRITER SRR722@CABRINI EDU

Fidel Castro stepped down as President of Cuba after suffering from a long illness; an acute infection in his colon. The resignation ends one of the longest tenures as one of the most all-powerful communist heads of state in the world. President Bush welcomes the resignation saying the news is to be the beginning of a democratic transition in Cuba that should lead to free elections. Castro made it clear he pledges to continue to be a force in Cuban politics through his writings.

Obama and McCain Sweep Tuesday’s Primaries

Barack Obama and John McCain swept the primaries in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia on Tuesday. These wins were very important for Obama, as they put him ahead of Hillary Clinton. These wins showed that Obama is able to obtain votes from many different demographics. For McCain, the wins only further his lead over Mike Huckabee for the Republican nomination. While Huckabee had a great deal of support from the evangelical and conservative Christian groups, but not enough to beat out McCain.

Harvard and other elite universities have announced that families making less than $60,000 will go to Harvard for free. Families making up to $180,000 will pay no more than 10 percent for their income for tuition.

Yale University, Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania are a few of the private institutions out there that are taking a different approach to student loans. These universities realized that it’s nearly impossible for students to afford to attend the institutions because of the costliness of the programs.

In these universities, the few students that are selected through the application process could end up paying next to nothing for an Ivy League education. Yet their applications have to go through intense scrutiny before being enrolled in the schools.

Cabrini College is a private institution just like Yale University, Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania. The reason these elite universities can give such generous aid is that Harvard for example has a $36 billion endowment, basi-

At a few institutions that have liberalized their financial aid programs, the figures show that students’ families with incomes up to $180,000 or more can receive this type of aid. Out of 27,000 applicants, only 1,650 students are chosen as contenders for the extra money. Schools like Yale have not increased the class size in about 40 years.

At Cabrini College, students like Steph Iaccarino, a freshman English and secondary education major, and Erin McCole, a junior chemistry major, observed the fact that Cabrini offers a fair scholarship in their choice of colleges.

McCole said, “My other choice was St. Joseph’s University, but they offered less. In the end, my choice was with the college that was more financially favorable.”

In a similar comment Iaccarino said, “I heard of the school and how it was known for the education program. The scholarship I received definitely determined my decision.”

According to Cabrini’s Web site on financial aid, more than 97 percent of the students that enter the college receive finan- cial aid. All students who enter the school based upon financial aid receive it through scholarships, state grants, loans or workstudy programs. Without any type of aid listed above students can always apply for a subsidized or an unsubsidized loan.

The University of Pennsylvania gave 72 percent of the incoming freshman from the 2007-2008 semester with a need-based scholarship.

In order to keep scholarships or other various forms of financial aid, students must continue to be a full-time student at Cabrini. The grade point average of those students has to be a cumulative 3.0, other grants such as Achievement and Challenge grants require a cumulative 2.0. If students receive under that, they go on academic probation.

Specifically at University of Pennsylvania the admissions’ team looks at family size, student/ parent income and assets, the amount of family members enrolled in college and any other extraordinary family circumstances.

For any questions about Cabrini’s financial aid contact the Financial Aid office in Grace Hall or go to the Web site, http://www.cabrini.edu/default.aspx?pageid=182.

Trials to be Held for Guantanmo Bay Detainees

The death penalty will be sought for six Guantánamo detainees. These detainees are being charged with playing essential roles in the Sept. 11 attacks. The charges will be announced at the Pentagon during the week. Al-Qaida commander Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is one of the people that will be put to death. It has been years since the last military execution, the last occurring in 1961 according to the New York Times.

Hezbollah Commander Killed

Hezbollah commander, Imad Mugniyah, was killed Tuesday. A bomb was detonated under his car while he was in Syria. Mugniyah was part of many different terrorist attacks in the U.S. during the 1980s. He had been in hiding for many years and was one of the most wanted terrorists. It had even been speculated that Mugniyah underwent plastic surgery to avoid being detected.

Shooting at Northern Illinois University

A former student shot and killed five students and himself on Thursday at Northern Illinois University. Steven Kazmierczak entered a lecture hall and began shooting at the students. Although Kazmierczak had stopped taking medication that he was on and his behavior changed, there were no other indicators that he would have done this. A motive has not been established yet.

Democratic Race Turns to Superdelegates

Since the race for the Democratic presidential race has been so close and neither Obama nor Clinton will be able to obtain the necessary amount of delegates to secure the spot, the race has turned to securing superdelegates. These superdelegates have to choose which candidate they support. Government officials and party leaders will determine the fate of these two candidates.