SLIDESHOW: Worst states for small business SLIDESHOW: Worst states for small business

How business-friendly is your state? Drawing on data from 12,000 small business owners, Thumbtack.com released their list of the worst states for small business.

How business-friendly is your state? Drawing on data from 12,000 small business owners, Thumbtack.com released their list of the worst states for small business.

How business-friendly is your state? Drawing on data from 12,000 small business owners, Thumbtack.com released their list of the best states for small businesses.

How business-friendly is your state? Drawing on data from 12,000 small business owners, Thumbtack.com released their list of the best states for small businesses.

Transportation accidents capture the attention of millions due to the high drama and dangerous situations involved. These accidents are some of the most memorable incidents involving air travel.

Transportation accidents capture the attention of millions due to the high drama and dangerous situations involved. These accidents are some of the most memorable incidents involving American air travel.

A look at those who have passed away so far in 2014.

A look at those we've lost so far in 2014.

These 10 appliances take the most energy, but these power-saving tips can make a difference in your monthly energy bill. All the information comes from the U.S. Department of Energy.

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Free medical services offered to east Arkansas residents

Have a law degree from Harvard or MBA from Northwestern's Kellogg? Wall Street may want to buy your student debt.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Social Finance, a company that uses crowdfunding to refinance student debt, just packaged a bunch of those loans and sold them.

It's an increasingly popular form of lending called peer-to-peer, or P2P. Firms like Social Finance (SoFi) and contemporaries Lending Club and Prosper pair people who want income with people looking for credit. It's an end run around traditional bank lending.

SoFi's niche is refinancing student loans. But not just any loans. To even be considered for getting money through SoFi, you have to have attended one of a small number of selective colleges like Harvard, New York University and Northwestern. Their alumni provide the money -- The students must also have a job lined up after graduation.

The loans tend to be debt for law school, business school and medical school. And while these grad students carry a median $77,000 in debt, they are also bringing in an average of $183,000 in salary a year. Their average FICO credit score? 776. It's another sign of how the credit market is only open to a select few.

Related: Big bond investor Bill Gross says rates will be low for years

Packaging these kinds of loans into bonds is a pretty recent phenomenon. SoFi and hedge fund Eaglewood Capital, which securitized a bunch of Lending Club consumer loans last year, are the only two companies to do so.

The big ratings agencies, who serve as a gatekeeper to the big bucks in debt markets, have largely stayed away from these types of loans. But they're starting to warm up.

Canadian firm DBRS has an investment-grade rating on bonds SoFi put together last year. And Standard & Poor's has also recently given SoFi its high-grade blessing.

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Investors help the rich pay off student loans

MADISON Since Sunday, July 13, Drew University has been hosting 85 of the top science students in the state of New Jersey for the prestigious three-week Governors School of the Sciences, which will continue on the campus at 36 Madison Ave. in Madison through Saturday, Aug. 2.

The high school students are being exposed to college-level science learning, research and facilities, under the guidance of Drew Universitys faculty.

In 31st Year

This is the 31st year that Drew University has hosted the Governors School, a state-sponsored, summer residential enrichment program for high-achieving high school students that started in 1984. The goal of the Governors School in the Sciences is to introduce students to scientists and advanced science and mathematics topics they are unlikely to study in high school, in order to broaden their appreciation and knowledge, and to help prepare them to study science in college.

During their stay at Drew, the students are taking courses on topics ranging from chemical bonding to the cell biology of cancer; working on lab experiments involving computer science, biochemistry and physics; and taking part in projects that involve psychology, chemistry, physics and ecology, among other disciplines.

In addition to their coursework, the students are attending seminars from outside speakers, and will spend a morning talking with Governors School alumni and parent volunteers to discuss career options.

Nobel Prize Winner

The Governors School in the Sciences at Drew University is an academically rigorous program that challenges some of the best high school students in New Jersey to reach new levels of understanding about the sciences, said N.J. Secretary of Higher Education Rochelle Hendricks. Taught by Drew University faculty, this talented group of students may have a Nobel Prize winner among them.

Thats what happened when Governors School alumnus Adam Riess returned in 2012 to share his Nobel Prize with the students, Hendricks observed.

Most Governors School students are accepted into excellent schools, including some of the best universities in the world right here in New Jersey, he added.

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New Jersey's top high school science students broaden horizons at Drew University

The Executive Committee of the Alumni Association of the New Jersey Medical School is scheduled to meet with the Rutgers University Alumni Association on July 11, 2013. No formal relationship exists between our two organizations at this time. We will keep you advised of the progress of our relationship.

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The Mission of the Alumni Association of the New Jersey Medical School is to:

As a graduate of the New Jersey Medical School, you are considered a member of the Alumni Association for life. To receive special privileges, dues are required. We hope you will take advantage of the programs, activities and services outlined throughout this site. As a member you are strongly encouraged to support the College's Annual Fund campaign each year. By doing so, you help provide assistance and outreach programs to current students.

We welcome your comments and suggestions regarding how we can serve you better. We ask that you visit this Web site periodically for updated information.

As of July 1, 2013, New Jersey Medical School will become part of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.

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Alumni Association - Rutgers New Jersey Medical School

Students, faculty invited to Battle for Blood

SEBRING Students, faculty and alumni of Sebring high and Lake Placid high schools are invited to vote for their favorite school by donating blood during the 2014 Battle For Blood.

The Big Red Bus will be at Carmike Lakeshore 8 from 12:30-6 p.m. today and 1-6 p.m. Sunday.

All donors will receive a voucher for a free movie ticket and a wellness checkup of blood pressure, temperature and iron count, including a cholesterol screening.

For appointments, visit oneblood.org or call (888) 936-6283.

Bag sale to help Arc

AVON PARK Ridge Area Arc Resale Store is offering a bag sale 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, July 29.

Bring your own bag and fill it with wearable items (clothing, socks, shoes, hats, belts and handbags) for $2 per bag.

The bag sale and other posted special sales will help Arc reduce inventory to make room for newly donated items.

The store is at 899 W. Main St.

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News in brief

A longtime adviser to government officials and Fortune 500 businesses has made a $1.1 million gift to the University of South Carolinas School of Law to provide students with scholarships, fellowships and leadership development.

Jim Konduros, a 1954 law alumnus, credits the law school for helping him develop the strategic thinking and counseling skills that guided him through a career that included working with U.S. Sen. Olin Johnston and Gov. Bob McNair, advising major companies and serving as counsel to a hospital system CEO and leading several nonprofit organizations.

Made possible through the Konduros Fishermen Fund, the School of Law scholarships will provide financial support to incoming law students who have worked as a government employee or served in the U.S. armed services. Similarly, the summer fellowships will provide support to students working in public service through governmental or non-profit agencies.

The Moore School of Business is tops in the nation, and many of Carolinas science and engineering programs have achieved great acclaim, Konduros said. The stars are now aligning for the law school with a first-rate building soon to be under construction and the university presidents dedicated support. Im hopeful this gift will be part of the catalyst to put the last critical part in place: the alumni of the law school pledging their support. It is their time to contribute to the celebration.

Konduros, a native of Anderson, retires this year from what he calls his passion career, where he has spent the past 25 years overseeing millions in grants to the less fortunate as the chairman and CEO of several nonprofit organizations.

His journey in public service began in the early 1960s as aide to Sen. Johnston and advocate in the war on poverty, which he continued as a key member of Gov. McNairs staff. He brought together the S.C. Highway Commission and Appalachia Commission to construct the 72-mile Cherokee Trail (S.C. Hwy. 11) through the states foothills. He also helped create the Appalachian Community Service Network, an educational cable channel that later became The Learning Channel.

After Gov. McNairs term ended in 1971, Konduros joined a new law firm created by McNair, developing and supervising a governmental affairs practice. During his 20-year tenure with the McNair Law Firm he advised Westinghouse in its successful bid to assume operations at the Savannah River Site and helped Palmetto Health CEO Charles Beaman navigate the merger of Baptist Medical Center and Richland Memorial Hospital.

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Konduros makes $1.1 million Gift to USC School of Law University of South Carolina

Otago Girls' High School has established a permanent house system aimed at building on the school's camaraderie and competitive spirit.

Principal Linda Miller said other than for a few months in 1979, this was the first time the school had introduced a house system.

The school is 143 years old.

After consultation with pupils, staff and alumni, it was decided the houses would be named after ex-pupils - Allan (orange), Benjamin (blue), Cruickshank (red) and Williams (green).

Allan House is named after Flora Allan, dux of Otago Girls' High School in 1879 and principal of the school from 1912-21.

She attended the school from 1876 to 1879.

Benjamin House is named after Ethel Benjamin, New Zealand's first woman law graduate (1897) and the first woman in the British Empire to appear as counsel in court.

She started at Otago Girls' in 1883 when she was 8 years old and was a pupil at the school until 1892.

Cruickshank House was named after Dr Margaret Cruickshank, New Zealand's first woman to be registered as a doctor.

She was a pupil at the school from 1888 to 1891 and dux in her final year.

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OGHS introduces house system

Nearly 10 years after a rebuild reshaped Orlando's historically black Jones High, the school remains half-empty.

This past academic year, 763 students attended Jones, fewer than a third of the average enrollment at Orange County's other 18 traditional high schools. Jones was designed to hold 1,578 students.

School leaders hope that zoning changes, improvements to the school's medical-magnet program and a trend of increasing academic achievement will draw students to the now B-rated school, which also has an International Baccalaureate program.

"We've got to find a way to increase the population of the school," said Ron Rogers, a Jones alum and president of 100 Black Men, a group that mentors current Jones students. Jones, which has produced many distinguished alumni during more than a century, is still turning out "great shining stars," he said.

In the 2000s, a string of D and F grades hurt the school's population, despite the building's $47.5 million complete reconstruction. Top students transferred out, and too few returned.

The school zone now includes 1,300 public-high-school students, according to pupil-assignment director Sandy Simpson. But of those, about 550 students attend Orange charter schools or alternative programs. About 100 more attend other traditional high schools.

Though the school earned its second B grade in 2013, 40 percent of the most recent Jones freshman class had GPAs less than 2.0. Only 23 percent of the school's 10th-graders passed the state reading exam in 2014.

The school plans to encourage more students to attend tutoring year-round, participate in mentoring and character-education programs and will offer alternative classes and special-intervention groups, Principal Valeria Maxwell said in an email. She declined to be interviewed in person.

Jones is also introducing "unified attire" of school shirts and solid-colored or camouflage pants this fall.

With a history dating back to 1895, Jones was for most of its history the only high-school option for black students in Orlando, and it still has a powerful reputation in the black community. It is 92 percent black today.

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Orlando's Jones High struggles to fill its halls

CORNWALL-

Cornwall council has enticed a South Glengarry resident to eventually open a medical practice here.

Brent Patterson of South Glengarry was lured by a five-year, $150,000 medical scholarship after he was chosen by a special health professionals committee.

Council approved Patterson's selection at Monday's council meeting.

"Bringing physicians to the City is important to the well-being of all of our citizens, said Mayor Bob Kilger in a media release.

The goal of our medical recruitment program is to ensure that the community will be well served by medical professionals.

"The scholarship also helps encourage our young bright students to reach for their dreams."

A Char-Lan District High School alumni, Patterson hails from South Glengarry and recently graduated on the Dean's List from McGill University with a Bachelor of Science, majoring in anatomy and cell biology.

He will be pursuing family medicine studies at University of Toronto and, after certification by the College of Physicians and Surgeons, will set up a full-time family practice in Cornwall.

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Cornwall attracts budding physician

Published: Saturday, 7/12/2014 - Updated: 58 seconds ago

BY MARK ZABORNEY BLADE STAFF WRITER

DEFIANCE Dr. Robert R. Southworth, whose desire to help others and interest in learning came together in his practice of medicine, died Tuesday in the University of Toledo Medical Center, the former Medical College of Ohio. He was 86.

He had an apparent heart attack while a visitor at the medical center, said his son Stephen.

Dr. Southworth was in his 70s when he semi retired from his primary care practice of more than 40 years at Defiance Clinic.

He was the first employee on the first day in 1962, said Chad Peter, chief executive of what is now Mercy Defiance Clinic. He was one of our rocks in our group.

We all grew old with him, said Mr. Peter, whom Dr. Southworth hired in 1976 for a clinic administrative job. He was definitely loved by his patients. He was a very solid individual and physician, which helped our group go from 12 doctors to ultimately 35 over that number of years.

In semi-retirement, he worked in state prisons. He volunteered for the Mildred Bayer Clinic for the Homeless in Toledo and for a group at the county senior center offering respite to elderly caregivers.

He felt indebted to those less fortunate, his son said, but he would shun taking credit for doing things on their behalf. Hed much rather do things anonymously.

He was born Aug. 17, 1927, to Ella and Charles Southworth, in Beverly, Mass., and grew up in Danvers, Mass., where he went to high school. He was a stateside Navy veteran of World War II. As a child, he often went with his mother on her calls as a visiting nurse and made up his mind to become a doctor.

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Defiance doctor loved by patients