During the call, Biden talked about the importance of ensuring families can afford to pay for higher education, saying that accessibility to higher education is one of the essential elements for reaching the American Dream.

“Any country who out educates us, out competes us,” Biden said, adding that other countries looking to compete economically with the United States aren’t cutting funding for education.

Biden highlighted elements of the president’s higher education plan, including ensuring many students won’t have to pay more than 10 percent of their income toward their federal loans. He also reiterated President Obama’s call for a “Race for the Top” type accountability system that holds universities accountable by withholding federal aid to institutions that do not actively seek to make changes to their school to allow for lowering tuition costs and increasing the quality of education.

The vice president also voiced his support for a federal DREAM Act , which would give undocumented students a pathway to citizenship if they’re pursuing higher education. Obama also called on Congress to pass such legislation during his State of the Union, saying he’d sign it.  

During the call, Biden called the young people enrolled in college “the greatest generation,” citing their propensity for giving and service and thanking the young men and women serving in the military.

“Roland Martin’s tweets were regrettable and offensive. Language that demeans is inconsistent with the values and culture of our organization, and is not tolerated. We have been giving careful consideration to this matter, and Roland will not be appearing on our air for the time being.”

Roland Martin’s twitter page has been noticeably less controversial since Super Bowl Sunday, and his blog this afternoon had a post promoting awareness about an anti-gay hate crime. 

CNN has not announced when Martin will return to the network.

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CNN anchor Roland Martin is in some hot water after several controversial tweets he made about a Super Bowl ad featuring a nearly-naked David Beckham.

Swedish fashion retailer H&M introduced its “Beckham Bodywear” line with a 30-second spot during the big game that placed the soccer star-heartthrob front and center in nothing but his underwear.

Reaction to the ad was mixed, but most viewers moved on to the next entertaining Super Bowl commercial. Martin, however, couldn’t seem to let it go.

Immediately after the ad aired, Martin tweeted: “Ain’t no real bruhs going to H&M to buy some damn David Beckham underwear! #superbowl”

So maybe Beckham’s new clothing line just wasn’t to Martin’s liking, and the tweet was an innocent way of expressing that? The political commentator upped the ante in another tweet two minutes later:

If a dude at your Super Bowl party is hyped about David Beckham’s H&M underwear ad, smack the ish out of him! #superbowl.

Martin faced immediate backlash for the tweets. One Twitter user asked if it’s acceptable for him to define masculinity for everyone else, to which Martin responded, “Yes. Deal with it!”

While Martin claims his tweets weren’t anti-gay, a quick look at his Twitter page suggests otherwise. Earlier Sunday he tweeted: “Who the hell was that New England Patriot they just showed in a head to toe pink suit? Oh, he needs a visit from #teamwhipdatass” And several weeks ago he tweeted: “Ladies, if your man don’t like sports, send his azz back to the factory. He came to you defective! #rolandsrules.”

In a video shot during the 2008 presidential campaign, Martin said that the Democrats had to make room in their party for anti-gay evangelicals, saying that gays had too much influence over Barack Obama.

There are several more tweets and comments that we could include here, but the point is clear. Even though some of the remarks were made in jest, Martin continues to imply that there’s something wrong with men who aren’t masculine enough by his definition. LGBT advocacy groups, including GLAAD, have already launched an online petition calling for him to be fired.

Martin has since backed off, claiming his tweets about the Beckham ad were anti-soccer and not anti-gay.

That claim is almost as laughable as Martin’s own fashion endeavors. 

The Champions for Change White House program is seeking individuals and organizations that have spent the last two years teaching others about the benefits of the Affordable Care Act. Since its passage, the legislation have provided coverage for more than 2.5 million more young Americans and helped ensure those with preexisting conditions can afford coverage, among other benefits.

The White House wants to highlight these “champions” for their efforts in raising awareness about what the Affordable Care Act has done for Americans over the past two years. If you know an individual or organization that has been educating their community on the benefits of health-care reform or helping others benefit under the Affordable Care Act, nominate them using this form by Feb. 16.

The Affordable Care Act was signed by President Obama on March 23, 2010.

Progress at Penn. The University of Pennsylvania saw a significant increase in the amount of applicants identifying as LGBT in the early decision round for the Class of 2016, reinforcing the school’s status as the most gay-friendly college in the United States. “Penn consistently, and more recently, has been seen as an environment that is supportive and welcoming across the board of LGBT students and allies,” said Dean of Admissions Eric Furda. Though the Common Application doesn’t include a check box for applicants to indicate sexual orientation, many students choose to self-identify as LGBT through their essays and other written material.  [The Daily Pennsylvanian]

Not Going Quietly. Florida students protested outside the offices of state legislators in the wake of a resounding defeat in the state Senate of a bill that would have extended in-state tuition rates to U.S. born children of illegal immigrants. Though it failed in the upper house, the bill is also making its way through the state House of Representatives. The House version would also extend tuition benefits to undocumented students. “We reside here in [Florida],” said one such student. “We pay taxes, we belong to this community.” The activists say they’ll continue to protest in the coming days.[The Ledger]

Out Of This World. High school senior Erin King celebrated her acceptance into the Massachusetts Institute of Technology by sending her acceptance letter on a space mission. Students admitted into MIT follow a tradition where they do something creative with the capsule containing the letter, and the Georgia teen sent hers 91,000 feet into the atmosphere. King produced a video documenting the feat and was remarkably able to recover the capsule after it returned to Earth by using two GPS-equipped radio transmitters. Looks like she’ll do just fine at MIT. [Huffington Post]

MTV recently released My College Dollars, a financial aid application on the popular social networking site that helps students fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms and gives them information on other available scholarships.

The app provides students with star-studded informational (and inspirational) videos—starring Jason Derulo, for instance—with information about state and federal aid; it also automatically alerts students about scholarships based on their Facebook information

My College Dollars is not replacing governmental services, but is working to bring the information and resources to more people. The app provides FAFSA information and contacts for more assistance, as well as a thorough explanation of the processes of FAFSA, scholarships, and other aid programs.

The scholarship listings number in the hundreds, from general art and science scholarships to major-specific awards. A student majoring in aerospace, for example, would find results on both general science scholarship and ones related to aerospace on My College Dollars. Some searches will still garnish 250 results, but the app links to College Board where such a search can be further refined.

Both high school graduates and current college students can search scholarships by state, minority status, and gender. The options for minority status however are not completely inclusive: there is no option for multiracial students.

Other problems exist in an “ethnic background” box where nationalities such as Chinese and Japanese are named but not others like Korean or Thai. Like any new site, there are always ways to improve. My College Dollars could take a few straightforward steps to make the app more inclusive and appeal to a greater audience.

My College Dollars must be able to truly make a difference in the lives of students who use the app, if it fails to provide results, future aspiring college students will have look for help elsewhere. It’s great that a major company like MTV is investing in America’s next generation—especially when so many students don’t even know how to access the resources to apply for college aid.

My College Dollars will work to help expand the reach of federal aid. By reaching more students, and providing them with resources to help them attain higher education, MTV could move the bar set by College Board and college prep companies up a notch.

College assistance has now flowed into the social networking stream—whether My College Dollars succeeds or not. 

Rep. David Rivera (R-Fla.) introduced the bill, called the Adjusted Residency for Military Service Act (ARMS Act) last month, and it’s already causing a stir among American immigration advocates.

The bill takes the DREAM Act, which would provide a path to citizenship for undocumented young people who pursue higher education or military service, and removes the clause allowing immigrant youth to become citizens through education.

In December 2010, the DREAM Act passed the House by a vote of 216-198, but failed in the Senate by five votes due to a lack of bipartisan support.

“If somebody is willing to die for America, then certainly they deserve a chance at life in America,” Rivera told the Miami Herald.

But many immigration-reform supporters find this bill troubling.

Ai Noorani, the executive director of the National Immigration Forum, described the ARMS Act as a “distortion of the DREAM Act.”

Some reformers argue excluding legalization through military service would give undocumented youth the wrong incentives for enlisting. It’s dignified to enlist voluntarily and such a move should be applauded, they say, but there are other ways to serve your country and benefit the American economy.

And some say the ARMS Act would send the wrong message to American citizens and the rest of the world by valuing military service over the education of the country’s future leaders.

Policymakers and education officials frequently discuss how the United States can improve its education ranks in relation to the rest of the world and part of the solution lies in the DREAM Act. Many undocumented youth are motivated and dedicated to leading successful lives and being productive American citizens.

These immigrants are young people with budding potential to develop the U.S. workforce and middle class. Denying them a right to citizenship is only detrimental to the U.S. society and economy.

The federal appeals court found itself in the national spotlight after delivering a high profile ruling in which it upheld a decision to strike down California’s controversial Proposition 8, which outlawed same-sex marriage in the state.

The decision caused a frenzy, crashing the court’s website within minutes of the announcement, and Prop. 8 instantly became one of the top trending topics on Twitter.

There’s no doubt that the decision is welcome news for California’s same-sex couples who saw their right to marriage revoked when Prop 8 narrowly passed four years ago.

But the decision may not be as far-reaching as marriage equality advocates would have liked.

Some policy experts are skeptical that the ruling will have any significant impact outside of California, as the court’s opinion may have been too narrowly tailored.

Indeed, the Ninth Circuit largely ignored the sweeping language employed by District Judge Vaughn Walker when Prop 8 was rejected the first time.

Walker deemed the ballot proposition unconstitutional on the grounds that “tradition alone … cannot form the basis of a rational law.”

Such a rationale, if used by a federal court, would have effectively rendered unconstitutional any state law banning gay marriage. The Ninth Circuit instead struck down Prop 8 because it took away rights that same-sex couples enjoyed prior to its enactment, heavily citing precedent established in the Supreme Court’s decision in Romer v. Evans.

The difference is critical.

The court’s decision can only be used as precedent in cases where same-sex couples were previously granted marriage rights and then had them rescinded, which is not the situation in the overwhelming majority of the 44 states that do not allow same-sex marriage.

The court’s saving grace may lie in the strong likelihood that the Supreme Court will ultimately review the ruling. Should the high court agree to hear the case, it would have the opportunity to reject Prop 8 using a much broader rationale that could potentially legalize same-sex marriage nationwide. Conversely, however, the Court could choose to uphold Prop 8—a decision that would be a devastating setback for the LGBT community—or decide not to hear arguments.

The Ninth Circuit’s ruling on Prop 8 should certainly celebrated—but with a caveat, as the specific language of the decision does little to advance the cause of marriage equality on a national level.