Scholarship Letter To Students Essay Example for Free

Scholarship Letter To Students Essay The Association of University of Puerto Rico Alumni and Friends Abroad (UPRAA) invites you to apply for the UPRAA Scholarship and congratulates you for your efforts in pursuing your studies. The UPRAA Scholarship Fund will award Hispanic students who have demonstrated academic merit, commitment to public service, and financia1 need up to a maximum of $1,000 per academic year to help cover tuition cost for graduate or undergraduate studies. Please visit our website at www. upraa. org to download the application form, eligibility  requirements and important dates related to our Scholarships program. See more: how to start a scholarship essay To ensure your application receives full consideration, read the information included in the scholarship package carefully, follow the application instructions and include ALL required documents including original signature for applicable documents by the due date on Wednesday, April 15,2015. UPRAA is an organization created to establish a network of University of Puerto Rico (UPR) Alumni in the Continental U. S. and abroad, develop and conduct programs and initiatives  for the benefit of the UPR alumni, and support the educational goals of the UPR system. The Association will serve as a link between UPR alumni abroad and the UPR system and work towards promoting opportunities and creating a support network for the alumni. Thank you for your interest and good luck!! Alida Rodriguez Chairperson, UPRAA Scholarship Committee 2015 UPRAA Association of the University of Puerto Rico Alumni and Friends Abroad P. O. Box 2600 Merrifield, VA 221 16-2600 Website: www. uDraa. org.

Art essay Essay Example for Free

Art essay Essay Does art imitate life – or is it the other way around? Traditionally, we have believed that art imitates life. The painter represents what he or she sees by producing a scene on a canvas. The sculptor does the same with bronze or stone. A photographer or film maker does it even more directly. A writer describes life in his or her books. This simple concept is known as mimesis. But some have questioned the one-way nature of mimesis by arguing that art also changes the way we view the world, and in fact, life sometimes imitates art rather than the other way around. The person who first articulated this belief effectively was Oscar Wilde. Speaking about the foggy conditions in London in the late 19th century, he wrote that the way we perceive them changed because of art. Referring to the wonderful brown fogs that come creeping down our streets, blurring the gas lamps and turning houses into shadows he argued that poets and painters have taught [people] the loveliness of such effects. According to Wilde, They did not exist till Art had invented them. [pic] And you don’t have to look too far to see anti-mimesis in our lives. To what extent is our outlook on life altered by ideas we read in books? The portrayal of people in films? The styles we see in fashion photography? One great example of this is the TV series The Sopranos, and how it affected both the Mafia in the USA and the FBI. Art’s influence on society: propaganda and censorship Throughout history, it has always been the case that art has the power to change society, especially when new media are used to express an idea. During the First World War, for example, movie cameras were used for the first time to record trench warfare – when the film was shown in cinemas in Britain, audiences ran out screaming. This led to the government censoring further such use of such a powerful medium. And in government censorship, and use of art as propaganda, we see how seriously governments take the effect of art. All of the major dictators of the C20th understood the power of art to influence the population. In Nazi Germany, Hitler set up the Ministry of Propaganda and National Enlightenment. It was headed by Goebbels, who made sure that nothing was published, performed, or exhibited without his approval. [pic]When this happens, you know there isn’t going to be a happy ending And what Goebbels approved, of course, only fit in with Nazi ideology and ideas. In terms of art, this meant no modern and abstract art, certainly nothing hostile to the regime, and nothing that featured images other than the stereotypical blonde-haired, blue eyed set in idyllic pastoral scenes of blissful happiness. [pic] [pic] In Stalinist Russia, there was also a keen understanding of the power of art. Art portrayed contented peasants, industrious workers, and Stalin himself. In fact, Stalin was shown god-like in many paintings, a phenomenon known as the Cult of Stalin. Just as in Germany, gigantic architectural projects expressed the power of the state. [pic] [pic] However, there is no doubt that in Russia there were greater artistic achievements than in Nazi Germany. Composers worked with fewer hindrances – as seen in the works by Prokoviev and Shostakovich, and film-makers such as Eisenstein emerged. Art’s influence on society: the trial of Lady Chatterley’s Lover But even under less oppressive governments, the artistic expression of certain ideas can be subject to control. One great example is the book ‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’ by DH Lawrence, which was deemed offensive on many levels. In this book, Constance Reid, a woman from a progressive liberal middle class family marries a minor member of the aristocracy, Lord Clifford Chatterley, and takes the title ‘Lady Chatterley’. But her husband is injured in the First World War, confined to a wheelchair, and left impotent. Despite this, he becomes a successful writer and businessman. It is more his obsession with financial success and fame rather than any physical difficulties which come between him and his wife, and she begins an affair with their gamekeeper, Oliver Mellors. The largely aristocratic ‘establishment’ of Britain at the time – the book was published in Italy in 1928 were shocked by many aspects of the book. First, there was the fact that the book was ‘obscene’, in the way it went into explicit detail the affair that took place (see below). Second, there was the fact that a women was breaking her marriage vows, something considered far worse than a man behaving in the same way. Finally, it represented an intimate relationship between a member of the ‘lower’ classes (although it emerges during the story that Mellors is actually well-educated, and became an officer in the army during the First World War) and the ‘upper’ classes, a concept that was totally taboo in Britain at that time. The book was duly banned. [pic] But the book was republished by Penguin books in 1960. The attorney general, Reginald Manningham-Buller (dubbed ‘Bullying-Manners’ by the journalist and author Bernard Levin) had to read only four chapters to decide to prosecute Penguin books for publishing it. What annoyed him was not just the content, but the fact that the price of the book meant it was affordable to women and members of the lower classes (remember that only few women worked at this time, and husbands were generally in charge of family finances). The trial was a disaster for Manningham-Buller and the prosecution. They had failed to find any experts to support their case, in stark contrast to Penguin’s defence team, which had brought in authors, journalists, academics, and even members of the clergy to defend the book. Manningham-Buller and his team had very little idea of what Lawrence had been trying to express in his book, regularly being caught out by the superior insight of the witnesses they were trying to catch out. And although they tried to shock the jury – in his opening speech, Manningham-Buller announced: The word fuck or fucking appears no less than 30 times . . . Cunt 14 times; balls 13 times; shit and arse six times apiece; cock four times; piss three times, and so on. they were unable to prove that the book would have a negative influence on the readers it was aimed at. According to the Guardian: No other jury verdict in British history has had such a deep social impact. Over the next three months Penguin sold 3m copies of the book – an example of what many years later was described as the Spycatcher effect, by which the attempt to suppress a book through unsuccessful litigation serves only to promote huge sales. The jury – that iconic representative of democratic society – had given its imprimatur to ending the taboo on sexual discussion in art and entertainment. Within a few years the stifling censorship of the theatre by the lord chamberlain had been abolished, and a gritty realism emerged in British cinema and drama. (Saturday Night and Sunday Morning came out at the same time as the unexpurgated Lady Chatterley, and very soon Peter Finch was commenting on Glenda Jacksons tired old tits in Sunday Bloody Sunday and Ken Tynan said the first fuck on the BBC. ) Homosexuality was decriminalised, abortions were available on reasonable demand, and in order to obtain a divorce it was unnecessary to prove that a spouse had committed the matrimonial crime of adultery. Judges no longer put on black caps to sentence prisoners to hang by the neck until dead. Can we say, though, that it was art in this case that changed society, or was it an interaction between human sciences (ie, the law) and the arts (the book) that led to change? This is from the same Guardian article: †¦the message of Lady Chatterleys Lover, half a century after the trial, is that literature in itself does no harm at all. The damage that gets attributed to books – and to plays and movies and cartoons – is caused by the actions of people who try to suppress them. See: The trial of Lady Chatterleys Lover The effect of art: presentation [pic] What other piece of art has profoundly changed the way we view the world? And was it the art that did it, or the way it was used that made the impact? Use the link below to help you introduce to us an influential piece of art. Think about the type of change it wrought, for example, ethical, social, metaphysical, etc.

Individual and Environmental Impacts on Businesses

Individual and Environmental Impacts on Businesses The key for business achievement or success requires two elements the individual and the environment. Absence of either value makes the goal unachievable. All components of a business environment have a direct or indirect relation on business. The outside factors, forces that cannot be controlled by an individual business enterprise and their management and have the capability to influence the business enterprise is termed as Business Environment. It includes every exterior forces within which a business organizations functions. Working of the business process is influenced by these forces and factors. Thus these forces and factors which stay outside the business, that are uncontrollable by single business entity but have an effect on business is called Business Environment. These factors or forces are customer, competitors, government, creditors, socio-cultural organizations, national and international organizations, political parties etc. These factors affect the business directly and indirectly according to its nature The business environment classified into three: Remote or General environment Industry environment Competitive environment Fig: Environmental Analysis According to Henry (2008), an organization has only two main environments i.e general and competitive environment. The competitive environment consists of industry and markets in which the organization operates. General environment is also named as macro-environment. The name Macro-environment is because the fluctuations that occur in this environment, will have an effect that go beyond the limits of the firms and industries. The below figure shows the connection between competitive and general environment of a firm as per Henry (2008): REMOTE OR GENERAL ENVIRONMENT: Remote environment can be also called as General environment and macro environment. Macro factors are generally more uncontrollable whereas micro environment factors are controllable as compared to macro factors. When macro factors become unmanageable the success of the business relies on the flexibility of the business to the changing environment. According to Hill and Jones,(2009), Macro-environmental factors sometimes influence the nation as a whole . Explained below are some of the macro environment factors. Economic Environment: The sum total of the nature of economic system of the country, business cycles, the socio-economic infrastructure etc is referred as Economic environment. Success of a business man depends on visualizing the outside factors influencing business, foreseeing changes that may occur in market conditions and making maximum return on minimum investment considering these outside or external factors. Social Environment: The value system of the society, which has an influence on the running of the business, is determined by the social dimension or environment of that Nation. Sociological elements that have an extensive impact on the business are costs structure, customs and conventions, mobility of labour etc. Work culture and mobility of labour, work groups etc are determined by the above factors. Political Environment: Political organizations including philosophy of political parties, ideology of government or party in power, character and level of bureaucracy influence of primary groups etc are influenced by the political environment of a country. The business, to a great extent, is affected by the political environment of a Nation Legal Environment: Legal environment comprises flexibility and malleability of law and other legal rules governing the business. The exact rulings and decision of the courts might be included. These concern the business and its administrators to a great extent. Technical Environment: Development of technology in country has a great influence on the business. The variety and quality of goods and services to be produced and the nature, quality etc of plant and machinery to be used are determined by the technology opted by the industry. Following are also affected by technical environment, the business in terms of investment in technology, consistent application of technology and the effects of technology on markets. COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT This means an environment in which competitions between organizations are high. A minute change in customers and competitors affects competitive plan of organization. It includes inventions of new products by competitors, developing new channels of distribution and emergence of new customer value. So competitive environment is closely related to the firm than the general environment.(Dobson et.al. 2004). Problems or opportunities resulting from variation in the competitive environment and in customer necessities are recognized by competitive environment analysis. Based on sound analysis, this procedure should be seen as dynamic, resourceful, and opportunity-focused. Thus two main areas that needs to be focused in this: Customer analysis Customer analysis at the business entity level involves building a complete understanding of customers, their needs and wants, and how these changes within a given market (market segmentation). Moreover, importance must be given to these changing needs, how is it occurring and what an organization should do to bring in change to the marketplace. Growth comes not by duplicating the competitors but by introducing creative and innovative strategy with flexibility, keeping in mind the changes that may occur in future to market conditions. Like any analysis, it is also done to identify the innovative strategies or plans that will create value for the business. Competitor analysis This analysis is undertaken at the business-unit level. With specific competitors, we assume that the unit in question is engaged in oligopolistic competition in which the market is dominated by small number of sellers. In a perfect competition there is no purpose of this analysis .While conducting competitor analysis, we have to follow certain defined procedure. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GENERAL AND COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENTS Firms collect information to take decisions regarding current running of business and for future decision making through a combined calculation of internal and external Environments. Elements that compose general environment in a wider society influence the industry and the firms in that industry. These are classified into six environmental segments: demographic, economic, political/legal, socio-cultural, technological, and global. A firm does not have a direct control over the general environments segments and elements. For making appropriate decisions and plans, successful companies collects amounts of data and information so that they can identify or understand each segment and implications to be done. Competitor analysis refers to the way or method in which how companies collect and interpret information about their competitors. Understanding the firms competitor environment complements the insights provided by studying the general environment helps identifying in the firms competitor environment. Strategic intent, strategic mission, and strategic actions of a firm are developed as a result of the three analysis that are done to identify the outside environment. General environment analysis is focused on the future on the other hand analyses of competitors are focused on forecasting the dynamics of competitors actions, responses, and plans. Although we discuss each analysis separately, if we integrate the information gained from both the two analysis, performance of the firm is improved to a great extent.

Impact of Dean on Sals Identity in Jack Kerouac’s On The Road Essay

The Impact of Dean on Sal's Identity  in  On the Road On The Road begins with the protagonist, Sal, (representative of author Jack Kerouac), being overwhelmed by feelings of confusion and uncertainty regarding his personal identity. He then meets ‘Dean Moriarty’, an eccentric character who rejects societal values and ‘norms’. Sal is absorbed with and entranced by Dean, perceiving him as almost ‘superhuman’, and decides to follow him across the country. A passive character, Sal soon becomes dependent on Dean, mimicking his friend rather than discovering his personal identity. It is likely that such behaviour was greatly influenced by events that occurred in Jack Kerouac’s childhood . Eventually, Sal realises that if he is to be independent, he must no longer blindly follow others, but discover himself. Sal is presented at first as a passive character, someone who has shaped his identity by depending on others to influence him. His morals and val... ...n what he has discovered about himself. ‘Sal set out to experience the world. What he ended up finding, was himself’ (Honan 1987:ix). Bibliography Charters, Ann. 1973. Kerouac: A Biography, Warner Communications Company, New York. Honan, Simon, 1987. The Beat Generation,   Allen and Unwin Publishing, New York. Kerouac, Jack. 1976. On the Road. Penguin, New York. Tytell, John. 1976. Naked Angels: the Lives and Literature of the Beat Generation. McGraw-Hill, New York.

Ignorance in the Immigration Debate :: Illegal Immigration, Illegal Immigrants

Ignorance in the Immigration Debate One of the biggest, growing debates today is the issue of immigration into the U.S. I just don’t understand why there’s such a big debate. I compare this issue to the issue of racism in the way that, no matter what you do, "they" are always going to be here, and it is only ignorance that keeps the issue ablaze. The fact that migrants are not mostly white these days, also makes the issue one more of race. As Charles S. Clark puts it in The New Immigrants, "In the 1990’s, Americans who grew up in a historically white, Anglo-Saxon society are having to adjust to a Polish-born chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, John Shalikashvili; to Spanish-language editions of People magazine on Seven-11 shelves; and to Buddhist temples and Islamic mosques rising in their communities." In the case of immigration, though, the ignorance is apparent in both the immigrant and the non-immigrant. I would like to first address the ignorance and misinterpretations on the part of the non-migrants. First, and most important to me, is the idea that immigrants are all "tired and poor" (Clark). The truth is that, yes, some immigrants are tired and poor. But anyone would be tired and poor if they were subject to the conditions of these people. And many immigrants are not poor at all. Clark also points out, "witness the 12.000 Chinese technicians working in Silicon Valley computer firms or the well-heeled Iranian expatriots so visible in Beverly Hills." It’s also important to realize that many migrants were well off in their own countries, and had to start at the bottom of the ladder once here. Perhaps it is us that make them tired and poor. For example, In Cathy A. Small’s Voyages, the very first paragraph tells about a teacher in Tonga, who will go to the United States to only find work as a maid. Tired and poor is not the same thing as lazy and looking for a free ride . Then there is the language debate/barrier. I’ve heard many times, someone say "If you don’t want to learn the language, then go home" or "They just pretend like they don’t know English so that they can do whatever they want." I’ve even heard phrases like these coming out of the mouths of some of my own family members. Of course there are people who pretend not to understand, or who don’t really try to learn English.

Napoleon Bonaparte Essay -- European History Corsica Essays

Napoleone Buonaparte Napoleon was born on August 15, 1769 in Ajaccio, Corsica, and was given the name Napoleone Buonaparte. He was the second of eight children of Carlo and Letizia Buonaperte, both of the Corsican-Italian gentry. Before Napoleone, no Buonaparte had ever been a professional soldier. His father Carlo, was a lawyer who had fought for Corsican independence, but after the French occupied the island in 1768, he served as a prosecutor and a judge and entered the French aristocracy as a count. Through his father's influence, Napoleone was educated at the expense of King Louis XVI, at Brienne and the Ecole Militaire, in Paris. Napoleone graduated in 1785, at the age of 16, and joined the artillery as a second lieutenant. After the revolution began in France, he became a lieutenant colonel (1791) in the Corsican National Guard. However, when Corsica declared independence in 1793, Buonaperte, a Republican, and a French patriot, fled to France with his family. He was assigned, as captain, to an army besieging Toulon, a naval base that was aided by a British fleet, while in revolt against the republic. It was here that Napoleone Buonaperte officially changed his name to Napoleon Bonaparte, feeling that it looked "more French". It was here too that Napoleon replaced a wounded artillery general, and seized ground where his guns could drive the British fleet from the harbor, and Toulon fell. As a result of his accomplishments, Bonapatre was promoted to brigadier general at the age of 24. In 1795, he saved the revolutionary government by dispersing an insurgent mob in Paris. Then in 1796 he married Josephine de Beauharnais, the mother of two children and the widow of an aristocrat guillotined in the Revolution. Early in his life Napoleon was showing signs of militaristic geniuses and knowledge for formidable strategy. It was through the application of his skills, and a revolutionary style of spontaneous fighting styles than gave Napoleon the opportunities, which he jumped at, making his the great military leader he is known as today. Latter in1796, Napoleon became commander of the French army in Italy. He defeated four Austrian generals in succession, each at impossible odds, and forced Austria and it's allies to make peace. The Treaty of Campo Formio provided that France keep most of its conquests. In northern Italy he f... ...ropean countries. Napoleon was a driven man, never secure, never satisfied. "Power is my mistress" (VI pg. 176), he said. His life was work-centered; even his social activities had a purpose. He could bear amusements or vacations only briefly. His tastes were for coarse food, bad wine, and for cheap tobacco. He could be hypnotically charming for a needed purpose of course. He had intense loyalties to his family and old associates. Even so, nothing or nobody, were allowed to interfere with his work. Napoleon was sometimes a tyrant and always an authorian. But one who believed, however in ruling by mandate of the people, expressed on plebiscites. He was also a great enlightened monarch-a civil executive of enormous capacity who changed French institutions and tried to reform the intuitions of Europe and give the Continent a common law. Few historians deny that he was a military genius. At St. Helena, he said "Waterloo will erase the memory of all my victories." (VII pg.345) he was wrong; for better or worse, he is best remembered as a general, not for his enlightened government, but surely the latter must be counted if he is justly to be called "Napoleon the Great".

Feminism

â€Å"Feminism isn't about making women strong. Women are already strong. It's about changing the way the world perceives that strength† ( G.D. Anderson).Challenges that women face like domestic violence, gender equality in the business world, unfair maternity and reproductive issues, women require that both government and corporate America take notice and provide equality. There are 86,400 seconds in a day, and every nine seconds a woman gets sexually assaulted or beaten. Domestic violence is an utmost issue in the world and affects around 9 million couples. Domestic violence can be characterized as any type of abuse or harm inflicted on a person by their spouse or partner. Anyone can be a victim. Victims can be of different cultures, sex, race, and religion. The abuse can range from intimidation and name-calling to threats and physical/ sexual harm. It is not a new epidemic, it has been ongoing in history throughout all cultures. The Common Law of England permitted a man to beat his wife, provided the diameter of the stick so used was not wider than the diameter of his thumb, hence, the term â€Å"Rule of Thumb† ( Burnett). In the 15th century, the Catholic Church ruled the husband was the judge of his wife, and had all power over her. After centuries of domestic violence, in today's society there are athletes beating their wives in elevators, in homes, and publicly abusing woman on social media. What part of famous athletes beating their wives in elevators is okay? The number of American troops killed in Afghanistan and Iraq between 2001 and 2012 was 6,488, the number of American women who were murdered by their current or ex male partners during that time was 11,766 (Vagianos). The number of women killed is almost double of the amount of casualties lost at war. The world has been inundated with millions of stories, but the stories don't go away and the problem will not stop quietly. The numbers involving domestic violence continue to rise every day. As stated previously, in every nine seconds a woman is getting beaten or sexually assaulted. On an average that is roughly twenty people per minute which also means 28,800, people a day are getting abused or sexually assaulted. The list could go on with continuously high numbers. Around 70% of these cases go unreported and of the ones that are reported, the victim has been assaulted or beaten by their intimate partner around 35 times before contacting the police. The main reason is because victims are terrified of coming forward. Women should not have to be so afraid to confide in authorities, but they hide it away because they believe it is a personal matter. While it might be true that women experience domestic violence more than men, still all in all, men can be victims of domestic violence as well. About one in seven men have been subject to sexual/ physical abuse by their intimate partners, and two in five gay/ bisexual men are subject to it (Vagianos). Society only hears what's on the news, about 85% of women being victimized, but nothing regarding the 15% of men being victimized. The only talk concerning men being assaulted are ones coming from the comedians about prison rape jokes. Society strongly stereotypes it as men as the abusers, and women as the victims which sometimes isn't always necessarily the case. In fact 46%, of male victims have a female perpetrator (Rosin). According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, maternity leave is time off from a job given a mother to take care of a newborn child. The first couple months of a newborn's life can be very crucial for both mother and baby as both of them need this time for bonding and adapting. The average maternity leave is around six weeks if a mother has a normal birth, or eight weeks if the mother has a c-section. With some companies offering a paid maternity leave, but most offering an unpaid maternity leave. Some companies offer a longer twelve week period, but the catch, it is unpaid. For a new mother, a twelve week maternity leave is sort of arbitrary because companies don't understand the difficulties of having a newborn. The major problem is that it is unpaid. Workplaces look at motherhood as a choice, meaning they refuse a paid maternity leave. This makes it harder for the families with low incomes who want to procreate, because this puts mothers in the spot of either working full time or staying home and having more children resulting in a financial strain for the family. The infant mortality rate can be impacted by paid maternity leave. Most countries have a lower rate, however, the United States has a rate of 6.1. A baby born in the U.S. is nearly three times as likely to die during her first year of life as one born in Finland or Japan. That same American baby is about twice as likely to die in her first year as a Spanish or Korean one (Ingraham).For each additional month of paid maternity leave offered in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), infant mortality is reduced by 13%, according to a new study by researchers from McGill University and UCLA Fielding School of Public Health (Science Daily McGill University). That means for every 1,000 births, eight of them die. That seems like a little amount, but in the United States babies arrive every eight seconds, but worldwide there are at least 251 babies born per minute. Over the years women have overcome numerous obstacles in the workplace, but a never ending obstacle is gender inequality. At every corporate level women are continuing to still be unrepresented and make up a little less than half the workforce. That means four out of ten families have a female as the â€Å"breadwinner† compared to their male counterparts. Given in today's society there is a strong emphasis on women being the stay at home moms/caregivers while the men are earning the family income. If women are in the workforce they are less likely to have any type of â€Å"S.T.E.M.† occupations and more likely to have a job pertaining to caregiving like a nurse. According to the report, only 4.6% of women work in STEM occupations, compared to 10.3% of men (Van Kampen Law, PC). On average, women working full-time earn just seventy nine cents for every dollar men earn (Van Kampen Law, PC). This is because of the gender wage gap, the ratio of a male to females earnings. It can affect all types of women in different ways. For example, a black women would have to work for eighteen months to make the earnings of a white male in one year. They are paid sixty seven cents for every dollar that a man would earn. A hispanic woman would earn fifty nine cents. Colored women are being targeted with gender and discrimination in the workplace.