BROOKLYN, NY (PRWEB) June 17, 2013

On June 20th, 2013, the Allen School of Health Sciences, New York's leading healthcare training school, will hold its 53rd annual graduation ceremony at Colden Auditorium in Queens, NY. This year, 1,560 graduates will be added to an alumni base that exceeds 70,000 members and covers five decades.

The fact that we have 1,560 graduates this year is a testament to the amazing job that our faculty and staff do with our students. A great deal of these students have come to Allen School because they see friends or family members who are working in the medical field because of the training that they received here, said Jason Teich, President of Allen School.

This years graduates, from the Queens and Brooklyn campuses, will be celebrating the completion of Allen Schools Medical Assistant and Nursing Assistant programs. Students from Allen Schools online Medical Insurance Billing and Coding program are expected to attend from all over the country, and are excited to visit New York City for the very first time with their family and friends.

About Allen School Allen School of Health Sciences has trained over 70,000 medical professional, including students from the medical billing coding training program, over its 50-plus year existence. Learn more about becoming a Medical Assistant or Nursing Assistant at Allen School of Health Sciences by visiting http://www.allenschool.edu or by calling 718-206-1300.

Original post:
Allen School of Health Sciences Celebrates 53rd Annual Graduation

Benny Joseph is testing one of those fresh out-of-the-box ideas that could cut his $70,000 in graduate school debt and also forge invaluable networking connections with alumni and venture capitalists to help build his own upstart business.

Joseph, 33, who grew up in Sterling Heights, Mich., and now lives in San Francisco, refinanced his student loans last October through a young California company called SoFi.

SoFi, short for Social Finance, offers a social platform that mixes online loans and also career mentoring. Graduates save while making career connections.

Well-off alumni have a way to give back to the school's students and also connect to bright talent.

The company, with its venture capital backing, books revenue by collecting money management fees and the loan payments plus interest.

Borrowers apply online mostly to refinance to a lower fixed rate, though some original loans are available. The student loan re-fi model won't work for everyone, though. SoFi notes that the loan rates offered would likely be an attractive alternative only to unsubsidized federal Direct and PLUS loans, as well as some private loans.

Once a borrower applies online to refinance, SoFi approaches the current holder of the loan, pays it off and issues a new SoFi loan. The money for the loans is raised from alumni who have at least $100,000 to invest; as well as from venture capital funds and institutional investors.

Joseph cut his interest rate by 1.51 percentage points -- to 5.99 percent from 7.5 percent. He kept his payment at $750 a month but will pay off his debt a year early.

Joseph said the connection to the alumni network has helped him with advice on how to work at building his company, GoodApril, which provides year-round tax guidance.

Most of SoFi's work has involved financing or refinancing MBA loan debt, but the borrower base has been gradually expanding to other degree-holders, such as those with medical school debt. So far, the company has mitigated financial risk by working with degree-holders in high-earning disciplines.

See the original post here:
Susan Tompor: New company refinancing student debt, helping grads find work

Benny Joseph is testing one of those fresh out-of-the-box ideas that could cut his $70,000 in graduate school debt and also forge invaluable networking connections with alumni and venture capitalists to help build his own upstart business.

Joseph, 33, who grew up in Sterling Heights, Mich., and now lives in San Francisco, refinanced his student loans last October through a young California company called SoFi.

SoFi, short for Social Finance, offers a social platform that mixes online loans and also career mentoring. Graduates save while making career connections. Well-off alumni have a way to give back to the school's students and also connect to bright talent. The company, with its venture capital backing, books revenue by collecting money management fees and the loan payments plus interest.

Borrowers apply online mostly to refinance to a lower fixed rate, though some original loans are available. The student loan refi model won't work for everyone, though. SoFi notes that the loan rates offered would likely be an attractive alternative only to unsubsidized federal Direct and PLUS loans, as well as some private loans.

Once a borrower applies online to refinance, SoFi approaches the current holder of the loan, pays it off and issues a new SoFi loan. The money for the loans is raised from alumni who have at least $100,000 to invest; as well as from venture capital funds and institutional investors.

Joseph cut his interest rate by 1.51 percentage points - to 5.99 percent from 7.5 percent. He kept his payment at $750 a month but will pay off his debt a year early.

Joseph said the connection to the alumni network has helped him with advice on how to work at building his company, GoodApril, which provides year-round tax guidance.

Most of SoFi's work has involved financing or refinancing MBA loan debt, but the borrower base has been gradually expanding to other degree holders, such as those with medical school debt. So far, the company has mitigated financial risk by working with degree-holders in high-earning disciplines.

The idea is young. But with 1,500 student loan borrowers so far, it's catching on. About $100 million in student loans have been made via the program so far. About 85 percent have involved refinancing student debt.

Mike Cagney, SoFi's co-founder and chief executive officer, said the target for this year is $1 billion.

See the article here:
Refinance your college loan, get mentors

BOGOTA Seventeen years ago, Andrs Angulo, a recently graduated doctor, rented an apartment, bought a whiteboard, and began training nurses and medical technicians. His first class was anatomy and he had just two students.

Today, Campoalto, the educational institute he started with two colleagues, has eight campuses across Colombias capital, more than 8,000 active students and can boast more than 20,000 alumni. It has become the nations largest vocational health training school and has evolved beyond healthcare education to provide classes on auto mechanics, cooking and clothing manufacturing, among others. And soon, it will be operating in Miami.

Campoaltos rapid rise won it membership to an exclusive but growing club in Colombia: Endeavor. Endeavor is a global non-profit that selects, supports and mentors high-impact entrepreneurs. Launched in 1998, Endeavor now works in 15 countries across Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. And it, too, will soon begin operating in Miami its first incursion into the United States.

The fact that Campoalto and Endeavor are sweeping into Miami at the same time was coincidence, but it has been opening doors in the South Florida business community, Angulo said.

People [in Miami] are calling me because Im an Endeavor company, he said. Endeavor has become my calling card.

Endeavor Colombia was launched in 2006, after the organization got its start in Argentina and Chile in 1998, expanded to Brazil and Uruguay in 2000, and then pushed into Mexico in 2001. The first Colombian company to join the organization was Grupo Industrial Ideagro, a manufacturer of farm-machinery.

Now, 20 Colombian companies are Endeavor members, and they run the gamut of industries. Theres Bodytech, a gym thats as ubiquitous in Colombia and Peru as Golds Gym is in the United States; Mario Hernandez, a family-run leather-goods business, which is seeking to expand internationally; Refinancia, which helps low income families refinance their bad debt; and Ecoflora, the maker of bio-pesticides and eco-friendly house cleaning products.

Our focus is on scaling-up companies, said Adriana Surez, the executive director of Endeavor Colombia. We are looking for leaders who can become role models, are willing to give back to the organization and other entrepreneurs, and who have a sustainable business.

Endeavor companies also have to have a proven business model and sales of between $1 million and $25 million. The requirements make finding eligible companies hard to come by. Of every 100 businesses that Endeavor Colombia interviews, only four make the cut, Surez said.

Even so, Colombias Endeavor companies generate about $277 million a year, represent about 0.13 percent of national GDP, and employ 5,800 workers.

View post:
Colombian ‘Endeavor’ company breaking into Miami alongside the entrepreneurship foundation

A proposed eye exam for aspirants to the Government Higher Secondary School for the Blind in Poonamallee was abandoned on Friday after a group of visually challenged persons staged a protest there.

This is the first time that the government introduced such an eye test but it upset organisations representing visually challenged persons. The activists alleged that the government was trying to shut the school down. However, officials said that the test was to ensure that partially sighted students could go to mainstream schools.

The four persons who came to conduct the test left without performing the medical exam. Students with 40 per cent blindness are certified and provided identity cards, which can be used for school admission.

According to principal V. Gopal, in 2012, the school admitted 48 students in class XII. The school is 64 years old and it is for the first time in many years that so many students were admitted, he said. Staff members said that the decision to screen students was the fallout of an incident on World Disability Day in 2012. Students from the school were taken to the venue of celebration in new buses, which were provided by the transport department.

The next day, officials noticed that several seats had been damaged. The issue was reported to the transport commissioner, said a staff member at the school. Questions were raised on how blind students could damage the buses by slitting seats with blades. As officials believe that it could have been the work of sighted persons who pretended to be blind, they are encouraging students with low vision and partial blindness to consider integrated education.

School alumni noted that several courses had been scrapped. The school used to offer subjects such as book binding, motor winding, and fitting. Now, only book binding is offered and even this might be discontinued on June 28 as the government printing press has expressed its inability to absorb the students. One agency has refused to absorb students but that does not mean that the course is useless, argued Mr. Saravanan, who works as a binder at the district central library in Dharmapuri. Libraries in every district need binders, he said.

D. Elumalai, who is completely blind, has four siblings, all of whom are also blind and studied in private blind schools. According to him, in the towns around Tirupattur where he lives, there are several adults with visual impairments who had not gone to school. Many are unemployable. Had the government created more awareness of such schools, they too would have benefitted, he rued.

The rest is here:
Activists allege move to close school for blind

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The UNCFMERCK Science Initiative (UMSI)a partnership of UNCF (the United Negro College Fund) and global health care industry leader Merck--today announced that it would award scholarships and fellowships to 37 of the countrys most accomplished and promising African-American undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral students of biological science and engineering.

The new Merck Fellows, the 18th class to be selected under the long-running program, have studied at elite private colleges, flagship state universities and historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). They all have stellar academic records and visionary aspirations. A University of Pennsylvania graduate student wants to trace the causes of neurological disorders. A graduate of UNCF member HBCU Tougaloo University is now pursuing M.D. and Ph.D. degrees to study the immune systems role in the creation of tumors. And a senior biology major at the University of Alabama-Birmingham wants to study neurology and conduct research into epilepsy and other neurodegenerative diseases.

By supporting the UNCFMERCK Science Initiative, Merck is investing in the next generation of biological science and technology researchers and scholars that we need to be competitive in the 21st century, said UNCF president and CEO Michael L. Lomax, PhD. The UNCFMERCK Fellows need to invest as well, by mentoring and preparing the generation that comes after them. They must also be passionate advocates for a strong pre-college STEM curriculum and strong science and math teachers to introduce young people to STEM.

Merck is proud of our long-standing partnership with UNCF, said Kenneth C. Frazier, Merck Chairman and CEO. As a leading healthcare company deeply committed to innovative R&D, we need to tap into the full range of talent and ideas available. This important initiative helps ensure that outstanding African-American students can play a key role in addressing the significant and growing medical need here in the U.S. and around the world.

Now in its eighteenth year, UMSI is a twenty-year partnership that has supported 663 scholarships and fellowships to 626 promising undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral science students pursuing careers in biomedical research. UMSI also leverages the UNCF-Merck partnership and the talent of UNCFMERCK Fellows to attract students to STEM subjects--Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematicsas early as elementary school to increase the pipeline of qualified African-American STEM students and cultivate minority leadership in the fields that will dominate job growth for the next generation. UNCF member institutions in particular have a strong commitment to this effort, awarding 16 percent of their degrees in STEM disciplines compared to 12 percent for all four- year institutions nationally.

With the U.S. on track to become a majority-minority society, UMSI aims to increase the number of African- American undergraduates studying in STEM disciplines to ensure the country has the leaders it needs in these fields to be competitive in the 21st century economy. American undergraduate students tend to select natural science and engineering (NS&E) disciplines as their primary field of study at considerably lower rates than their counterparts in other countries, according to the National Science Boards Science and Engineering Indicators 2012. Even though the numbers of African-Americans in the biological sciences is less than 5%, the UMSI attracts more than 90% of African Americans pursuing advanced degrees in biolife sciences.

Merck and UNCF began UMSI in 1995 with a ten-year, $20 million grant from the Merck Foundation and Merck Research Laboratories. The project was extended in 2006 with an additional $13 million grant and again in 2011 with an additional investment of $13.3 million over five years.

The 2013 UNCFMERCK Fellows receive awards ranging from $25,000 for undergraduate scholarship recipients to $92,000 for recipients of postdoctoral fellowships. In addition, the programs alumni have organized the Association of Underrepresented Minority Fellows to facilitate continued professional growth. This network allows UNCFMERCK Fellows to collaborate in academia, government and the private sector to leverage their wealth of scientific, technical and biomedical knowledge and experience.

Support from the UNCFMERCK Science Initiative scholarships targets students entering their final undergraduate year, graduate students in their final two-to-three years of dissertation research, and postdoctoral Fellows continuing their research training. African-American students in the life, physical and engineering sciences at American four-year colleges and universities are eligible to apply for the scholarship. In addition to scholarships and fellowships, the UNCFMERCK awards may include funding for the science departments at the colleges and universities they attend. Undergraduate Fellows receive summer research internships at Merck Research Laboratories, where each Fellow is paired with a Merck mentor who provides valuable research assistance, guidance and support.

See the original post:
37 African-American Students Awarded Prestigious UNCF•Merck Science Initiative Scholarships and Fellowships in ...

SANTA MONICA, Calif. and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --Entravision Communications Corporation (EVC), a diversified Spanish-language media company, today announced that it is pleased to support this year's Latino Leadership Initiative (LLI) at the Center for Public Leadership (CPL) at Harvard Kennedy School. Launched in 2010 with the support of Entravision Chairman, Walter F. Ulloa, LLI is a week-long program that prepares rising college seniors for the opportunities and challenges they will face in the coming decades.

On Sunday, June 9th, Harvard welcomed 42 students to campus, who were chosen from a highly selective application process. They will participate in an LLI curriculum that includes classes on public narrative, community organizing, negotiation, moral leadership, emotional intelligence as well as critical thinking, networking, and public speaking. LLI participants will also have opportunities to build relationships with respected Latino mentors from the government, nonprofit, and business sectors. After their week in Cambridge, students will work in teams with faculty and administration from their home universities to design and implement community service projects.

"This initiative represents a compelling and highly effective avenue for supporting the next generation of Latino leaders," said Walter F. Ulloa, Entravision Chairman and LLI Advisory Board Member. "With the support of the Harvard Kennedy School and all of LLI's sponsors, we are providing these young students with a great opportunity to grow intellectually while making a difference in their communities."

"We are enormously proud of our students, and all that LLI has been able to accomplish in the four years since Walter Ulloa's commitment sparked this initiative," said Andy Zelleke, LLI faculty director and senior lecturer at Harvard Business School. "Including this year's cohort, there will be 150 talented LLI alumni having impact in their communities and, soon enough, in a range of professions. We are also thrilled that, this September, three of them will begin their graduate studies at Harvard."

This year's faculty includes Andy Zelleke of Harvard Business School; Marshall Ganz of Harvard Kennedy School; Harvard Divinity School professor Davd Carrasco; and Georgetown University professor Robert Bies. Among the guest speakers will be Dr. Robert Sackstein, a Harvard Medical School professor who specializes in bone marrow transplants and stem cell research; Dr. Efrain Garza Fuentes, director of multicultural programs at the Walt Disney Company; and Johnny Marines, manager of the Romeo Santos/Aventura music group. Award-winning journalist and NPR host Maria Hinojosa will be the mistress of ceremonies at the concluding dinner.

Coca-Cola will be the lead sponsor of this year's initiative. Other supporters include seed donor Entravision Communications; four-year sponsors Texas A&M International University, Univision, Southwest Airlines, the Walt Disney Company, Time Warner, Sundra Foundation, Cantu Construction and Development Company, and Doctors Hospital at Renaissance.

About the Center for Public Leadership Established through a generous gift from the Wexner Foundation, the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School seeks to advance the frontiers of knowledge about leadership through research and teaching. It is equally committed to broadening and deepening the pool of leaders for the common good through cocurricular activities that include skill-building workshops, public service fellowships, and programming in leadership for social change. For more information, go to: http://www.hks.harvard.edu/leadership

About Entravision Communications Corporation: Entravision Communications Corporation is a diversified Spanish-language media company utilizing a combination of television, radio and digital operations to reach Latino consumers acrossthe United States, as well as the border markets ofMexico. Entravision is the largest affiliate group of both the top-ranked Univision television network and Univision's UniMas network, with television stations in 19 of the nation's top 50 Latino markets. The company also operates one of the nation's largest groups of primarily Spanish-language radio stations, consisting of 49 owned and operated radio stations. Additionally, Entravision has a variety of cross-platform digital content and sales offerings designed to capitalize on the company's leadership position within the Latino broadcasting community. Entravision shares of Class A Common Stock are traded on The New York Stock Exchange under the symbol: EVC.

Excerpt from:
Entravision Communications Corporation Marks Fourth Year Of Supporting The Latino Leadership Initiative At The Center ...

Published: Sunday, June 9, 2013, 10:35 p.m.

There was a little bit of all three Sunday at Monroe High School. Nearly 50 former Bearcats girls basketball players showed up at the gym for a 2 p.m. alumni game. But this wasn't just any old game, it was a game to help raise money for -- and honor -- former Monroe girls basketball coach Alan Dickson.

The 69-year-old Dickson coached at Monroe from 1994-2007, retiring because of his ongoing battle with prostate cancer. He has spent the better part of the past decade fighting the illness and recently was informed the cancer has reached stage-four hormone resistant levels.

As if his own battle wasn't enough to deal with, two of his grandchildren are battling health problems: A 10-year-old granddaughter recently was diagnosed with leukemia and he has a grandson with a brain tumor.

With the Dickson family facing tough times, some of his former players decided to take action.

Kaylee Hansen, a 2002 graduate of Monroe, came up with the idea of an alumni basketball game as a fund-raiser and posted an event notice on Facebook. Hansen quickly got responses from Ashley Robertson as well as Dani Drivstuen, Brandy Dunsing and Joni Edelbrock. Seems some of them had had the same idea.

"It was kind of funny because Dani and Brandi and Joni had already been planning on doing this," Hansen said. "So without us even talking, we were all kind of thinking about doing the same thing."

Together the group planned Sunday's event, which featured a team of graduates from 1996-2002 going against a group from 2003 and up. Admission was free, but donations were encouraged. The event also included raffles and a chance to win a $1,200 gift card to Grocery Outlet of Monroe by sinking a halfcourt shot.

The girls took the floor for warmups about a half hour before the game's scheduled start time, but took a break around 1:50 p.m. when the man of the hour made his entrance. The players and fans in attendance stopped and gave Dickson a standing ovation as he walked into the gym, some with tears in their eyes.

Dickson appeared honored and humbled. It was just the reaction Drivstuen expected.

Continued here:
This one is for you, coach

Miami Dade College inducted 19 of its alumni into the schools Alumni Hall of Fame in a ceremony at the JW Marriot Marquis in downtown Miami Thursday night.

The 2013 inductees are:

Agustn Barrera, vice president of AECOM; Jorge Gonzlez, president and CEO of City National Bank, Jos Dotres, assistant superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools; Pedro Moda, director of transmission services and planning at Florida Power & Light; Christopher Korge, chairman of NewsLink Group; Albert Maury, president and CEO of Leon Medical Centers; Jos Toms, president of Latin America and the Caribbean, Burger King Corp.; Sandra Peebles, news anchor, Univision 23; Jay Ducassi, Miami Herald metro editor; Richard Patio, CEO of Patio Law Firm; Lourdes Cuzn, managing director at Fowler Rodriguez; Isaac Bassan, gastroenterologist, hepatologist and weight loss specialist at Bassan & Bloom; Marisel Losa, president and CEO at Health Council of South Florida; Linda Timmons, nurse manager of Surgery at Baptist Hospital of Miami; Manuel Orosa, Miami police chief; Hiram Ruiz, statewide director of refugee services at the Florida Department of Children and Families; former Major League baseball star Mike Piazza; Guillermo Fernndez, president and co-owner of Link Construction Group Inc.; and artist Csar Santos.

FERNANDO PEINADO

View post:
19 inducted into Miami Dade College Hall of Fame