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by Wendaline Perez

Hope was at an all-time high yesterday (September 21) among youth, political and community activists around the nation who have been relentlessly advocating for the passage of the DREAM act - which would give the chance for thousands of undocumented students to remain in the U.S. legally and pursue a higher education – as they awaited to hear the Senate’s verdict on the passage of the Defense Authorization Act, which included passing the DREAM Act as an Amendment this afternoon. Unfortunately their DREAM evaporated when a group of Republican senators voted to block the defense bill in the Senate.

photo via Getty Images

The Senate failed to raise the necessary 60 votes to pass the Defense Authorization Act, but it was in no doubt a close call. The vote was uncertain all the way up to the vote as Democratic leaders were reportedly trying to negotiate an agreement with Republican senators who were against the bill to reach the 60-vote count they needed to proceed. In the end, the vote was 56 to 43 against proceeding to the Defense Authorization Act.

Deferral of the DREAM Act is a setback to DREAM Act advocates who were hopeful they had the votes to pass the bill this time. Mary Giovagnoli, Director of the Immigration Policy Center, responded quickly to the Senate’s decision stating:

"The Senators who voted 'no' today are ignoring unequivocal evidence that the DREAM Act is good for military readiness, the American workforce and the U.S. economy. The energy and enthusiasm of thousands of young people who have poured themselves into promoting the DREAM Act has not been wasted, however. Because of their efforts, more people today understand the importance of DREAM to our economy, our military, and the future of our country than ever before."

What do you think about the Senate’s rejection of the DREAM Act? Sound off in the comments below or @MTV3!

Tags Cultura, Education, Immigration, Politics, the DREAM Act

In our latest installment of Deep Thoughts, Blogamole contributor Michael Lopez channels "Stand and Deliver" to remind you that knowledge is power.

By Michael Lopez

We know it’s still summer break and the last thing any of us want to think about right now is school. But let's get serious for a minute — the results of a new study have revealed that the number of Latino students expected to return to school this fall is way lower than we would have expected.

The American Council on Education (ACE) recently released their Gender Equality in Higher Education: 2010 report, a followup to studies conducted in 2000 and 2006. Unfortunately, the results are showing some very discouraging college stats for both Hispanic men and women.

Believe it or not, only 42% of Latino men ages 24 or younger are in college right now. And that figure has dropped since 2000, when the percentage was at 45. Yes it could be worse, but c'mon fellas! Don’t you think we’re more than capable of beefing that stat up?

College education leads to more opportunities, intellectual enrichment, and phatter paychecks once you grab that diploma! And don’t get us started on high school. Only 51% of Latino young adults born outside the U.S. have earned their diploma.

Male immigrants, who represent one out of every three Hispanic young adults, are at a particular disadvantage. But listen to this one: Only 81% of U.S. BORN Latino young adults actually complete high school. 81%? What’s up, all you in the remaining 19%? Get that diploma and keep it moving!

Remember, a person with a Master's degree earns about $31,900 more per year than a high school graduate — a difference of as much as 105%!

Things are a little bit brighter for American Latinas. According to ACE, while only 9% of Hispanic young men go on to earn their bachelor degrees, young women total 14% (the same percentage as African-American females).

The people behind the study take these figures seriously, and so should you. Jacqueline E. King, an assistant VP at ACE said, “Raising the attainment rate of Hispanic men-and women-looms as one of the most significant challenges facing American education.”

Blogamole doesn’t like going for the whole preachy vibe, but we KNOW Latino young people are capable of a lot better than that. So go ahead, enjoy your summer, but when you get back to school STUDY HARD! Work toward college and that degree, because if there’s anything we love, it’s showing all naysayers that we mean business!

For more information on how to pay for your college education, visit the Hispanic Heritage Foundation web site.

What do you think about the results of this study? Sound off in the comments or @MTV3!

Tags College, Deep Thoughts, Education, Latinos, Surveys

A few weeks ago, E! reported that famous bebé Suri Cruise owns, in addition to "over 100 pairs of shoes and a wardrobe that would rival any A-lister," the coveted iPad.

An eyewitness told Life & Style that Suri recently put her stuffed animals aside to use a drawing program on the expensive device while Tom and Katie carried on a conversation with dining partners. She played with the iPad for about 20 minutes before the family headed out of the restaurant just before midnight.

With a current price tag of $499 and up, are her parents spoiling her — or are they simply preparing her for our "Minority Report" future?

Technologists and science fiction fans have known for decades that touch screen devices would inevitably be a part of everyday life. The New York Times reports that back in 1972, computer scientist Alan Kay outlined the specs for dream hand-held computer of the future, with rechargeable batteries a touch screen and the ability to deliver books. In describing his Dynabook,
he wrote “such a device is possible that a target price of $500 is not totally outrageous.”

Grown ups may be the current primary demo for the expensive iPad, but according to Fast Company, the device and its forthcoming tablet competition have the potential to become indispensable tools for children. The device can act as a picture book, coloring book, audiobook, TV, educational game player, and visual toy.

Industry leaders predict that touch screen devices will replace books with interactive, connected apps, and in the process, kids becoming indoctrinated with technology, adopting to new interfaces and developments easily due to early exposure. Teens are already developing apps for the iPad, signaling a shift in how young people will communicate. Read more...

Tags Education, iPad, Suri Cruz, Technology

We recently caught up with 'Yearbook Chronicles' cast-member Martha, who sent us the following note about what she's been up to since the show aired, and shared some of the advice she wished someone would've given her about the realities of teen pregnancy.

Hey everybody, it's Martha! My life has been really good but I'm still struggling to get my high school diploma and do something for me and my son to move on forward. It's hard but I have learned never to give up! For all those girls out there, be very careful! Teen pregnancy is one of the hardest obstacles in life. It comes with a lot of struggles and things that can knock you down if you let yourself.

I have been strong for my son, but I could have prevented it from happening. I went from being a 16-year-old teenager to having my life change as a mom. Now I'm 18 with a 2-year-old son. It's hard but heart-warming to see how my son looks forward to seeing me. If your boyfriend tells you "if you love me you will have my baby" or "if you love me you will give it up to me" -- and those are the famous words most guys use to get you girls to be with them -- that means they don't truly love you. True love will wait and not force you. It's hard 'cause you might love that person, but you will love yourself throughout life knowing you weren't a fool to fall for those dumb words. Live your teenage years and have fun.

As for me, I have school and work. I don't have time for teenage life to go out with my friends but that's a life I chose to take. Be smart girls and protect yourselves! Be safe. If anybody would like to personally talk to me you may I would be happy to hear and answer any questions you may have! You can reach me at my email martha.mendez91@yahoo.com.

The highly-acclaimed documentary 'Yearbook Chronicles' aired last year on MTV Tr3s, and gave us an inside look at los problemas that Latino youth face en las escuelas. It also explored some of the most compelling reasons for the high Latino high school dropout rate, including teen pregnancy.

Did you know that 30% of female high-school dropouts stated teen pregnancy as the reason for dropping out of school? Among Hispanic girls who've left school, 38% of them stated teen pregnancy as the reason -- compared with 21% for non-Hispanic girls, it is sobering to think that this seems to be more frequent among Latinas.  While there are of course many other reasons besides teen motherhood for dropping out of school, and some girls leave school before they get pregnant, these two things have been closely connected. 69% of Latina teen mothers drop out of high school, and most teen moms who have babies by age 18 never finish high school, with only about 3% of them finishing college by age 30.

More startling facts? 52% of Latinas get pregnant at least once before turning 20 — that means if you're Latina, you're more likely than not to get pregnant as a teen. With nearly 3 in 10 girls becoming pregnant before they are 20 throughout the U.S., this is not just an issue for the Latino community, but a problem that needs to be faced head-on by la comunidad entera.

The good news, as Martha says in her note, is that unplanned and teen pregnancy is completely and 100% avoidable.  Fore more info and resources on the topic, check out The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy at www.thenationalcampaign.org, and www.stayteen.org.

Tags Education, National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnan, Stay Teen, teen pregnancy, Yearbook Chronicles

We all know that Shakira is an amazingly talented singer and dancer, pero la sexy Colombiana is also a leading advocate for children and the founder of ALAS, a non-profit organization that promotes Early Childhood Development (ECD) policies in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Yesterday, the Grammy Award-winning artist joined forces with the president of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, to launch an $300 million Early Childhood Initiative.  The program will go towards funding development programs that will provide children from birth to 6 years of age with adequate nutrition, health care, and stimulating environments to give every child a fair start. There are approximately 22 million children in Latin America who have no access to education, and Shakira is making every effort to try to change that and help ensure a more positive future that will boost economic growth, global security, and peace by investing in early education for children. Que buena causa, verdad?

Before arriving at the World Bank, Shakira had the opportunity to discuss with President Obama their shared interest for the promotion of ECD programs in Latinoamerica as well as in the US.
According to Shakira:
"Education has the power to change children’s lives but also the lives of their families and entire communities."

With some small talk about the President's immigration reform, Obama assured the singer that his staff is doing everything possible to address the 11 million undocumented people in the country.

The combined efforts of ALAS and those of the World Bank and other leading organizations ensure a brighter future for the children en países latinos.  Shakira, thank you for being such an influential Agente de Cambio!

Photos via Getty Images and Marlon Correa

Tags Agentes De Cambio, ALAS, Early Childhood Initiative, Education, President Obama, Shakira, World Bank

When Edgar Sandoval left his native Venezuela with $50 in his pocket and hopes in his heart for a better life in the United States, all he could think about was his sister who was waiting for him at the airport and the mother he had left behind. At Wednesday night's Hispanic Scholarship Fund Hall of Fame Gala, he told the crowd a story about when he first arrived at the Admissions Office at Rutgers University. "I want to be an engineer," said the young Sandoval, whose SAT scores according to the admissions counselor was "not up to par" for most students entering into the School of Engineering. He was recommended to study Sociology. He said, "so I received my Bachelors Degree in Sociology and then I received my Masters Degree in Industrial Engineering."

This is the perseverance and determination that all 5 inductees of this year's 8th Annual Hispanic Scholarship Fund Hall of Fame Gala displayed on Wednesday night. The emcee of the event was none other than CNBC's personal finance correspondent, Carmen Wong Ulrich. This year's inductees and honorees were:

- Triunfador, Carmen Baez, President, DAS Latin America, Omnicom Group
- Brillante, Adam Aponte, M.D., Medical Director, Brownsville Multi-Service Family Health Center
- Optimista, Edgar Figueroa, Executive Director of The Wi-Fi Alliance
- Altruista, Sandra R. Hernandez, M.D., CEO of The San Francisco Foundation
- Inspirador, Edgar Sandoval, General Manager, North America Marketing at Procter & Gamble

Zaily Valloy, a student attending Fordham University addressed the crowd and recognized Goldman Sachs and their brand new program, 10,000 Women. This program is designed to increase the number of underserved women receiving a business and management education and also improve the quality and capacity of business and management education around the world. Ms. Valloy was selected as one of the first women to be a part of this program and took the opportunity last night to thank her mother and recognize her as the inspiration and role model in her life. In its 34 year history, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund has awarded close to $280M in scholarships to more than 90,000 students in need. For more information on how to apply for scholarships, you can go to www.HSF.net.

Photos via Hispanic Heritage Fund

Tags 10000 Women, Carmen Wong Ulrich, CNBC, Education, Hispanic Scholarship Fund, Politics

FACT #1: Every 29 seconds a student in the United States drops out of high school

FACT#2: Latinos have the nation’s highest high school dropout rate, 2x higher than the national average.

FACT #1 + FACT #2 = UN PROBLEMA MUY GRAVE!

Why are so many Latinos dropping out of high school?  Too many times people assume that high school dropouts are just lazy, they don’t want to study or do homework so they drop out, but is that la verdad? We know that Latinos no son ningunos perezosos, and we take pride in being a group of hard-working people, so claramente this one-size-fits-all assumption is wrong.  It's become an easy excuse to ignore the Latino dropout crisis.  So what can be done to change these misconceptions?

Before we can find a solution, we need to know what the real problem is.  That's why this September, MTV Tr3s presents 'Yearbook Chronicles,' a documentary special that takes a glimpse into the lives of 8 Latino teens from Bell High School in southeast Los Angeles. Estos jovenes all began their high school journey together, but faced with different circumstances and challenges along the way, they don't all make it to graduation.  'Yearbook Chronicles' tells las historias of the soon-to-be graduates, and also explores the various reasons why their former classmates decided to drop out of la escuela.

'Yearbook Chronicles' premieres on MTV Tr3s on Saturday, September 26th at 2pm EST. Until then, watch the exclusive trailer below to learn more about the show, and keep it locked for more info to come!

Tags documentary, Education, teaser, Tr3s shows, Video, Yearbook Chronicles

Ivy Queen is proving that it is never to late to get schooled! The "Queen of Reggaeton" may have dropped out of high school 15 years ago, but the Boricua decided to reclaim her thrown and started taking secondary courses in Puerto Rico last week.

Money and fame fades, but this diva knows that the power of knowledge is never lost. Question is, how is she going to take notes with those super long uñas? [MTV Tr3s Radio Noticias]

Photo via Wire Image

Tags Chisme, Education, Gossip, Ivy Queen, MTV NEws, Puerto Rico