I. Prologue

Dear Reader:

I’d like for you to know what is Wimbledon. Wimbledon isn’t just a movie, which many people answer me when I ask them, but also a major tennis tournament; in fact, the movie was named for the tournament. Every year the best 128 players in the world go to London, England, city in which Wimbledon is located, to compete for the title of this tournament. Being the oldest tournament there is in tennis, many people, including myself, consider it the most important tournament in the game. So many legends have won it that many players now days consider it a privilege to win it. Furthermore, being the oldest tournament in tennis, the game was literally invented there. The tennis roots come from Wimbledon. You can imagine how important of a tournament it is for tennis aficionados like myself.

Since tennis is not a popular sport, sponsors are rare. Important sponsors go with popular sports, which are televised and many people have the chance to see. Being a tennis fan, I care for the game and wish for it to become more popular than it is. In order for this to become true, I believe all tennis tournaments have to do as much as they can to attract sponsors and furthermore, if they are given offers, take as much as they can. With this, not only are they guaranteeing some income for tournament for the near years to come, but also, indirectly, they are contributing to the survival and popularization of the game.

Wimbledon has chosen to do the opposite of my idea of getting as much sponsors as they can. In the following pages I will take you through some of the consequences this has had on the tournament itself and the game. Also I will show you why Wimbledon has opted to not take as much sponsors as possible and stay with only a few; action I don’t agree with. A multi-genre is fitting for this subject because not only I can expose my opinion in different ways, but also, because I am creating different genres to expose practically the same thing over and over again, my opinion can be more compelling to any Wimbledon executive officer that reads this; if God works out a miracle for them to see this multi-genre research and take my advice.

Sincerely,

Oscar R. Vazquez Ortiz

II. Introduction

Wimbledon is one of the four grand slams of tennis. Grand slams are the biggest tournaments in tennis in terms of number of players who enter the draw, the prize money and the ranking points given to each player. A player who wins one of them means that he came out on top of the best 128 players in the world. Furthermore, he takes a large amount of money and 2000 ranking points, which in tennis is a lot of points. As many people know, tennis isn’t as popular as many other sports like soccer, baseball, basketball even football, which is one of the most popular in the U.S.A. For this reason, on average, tennis athletes don’t get paid as much as a basketball athlete or any other athlete of the sports mentioned; there are exceptions. Furthermore, tennis athletes don’t get salary contracts like basketball athletes; they have to win matches in order to get paid well. This is why endorsements contracts in tennis are necessary. These are the ones that will ensure at least some money if the player gets injured or have any other situation that doesn’t allow them to play. The same thing happens with the tennis tournaments, especially the grand slams. They supplement their income from sold out tickets with endorsements deals, which further benefit the tournament and any tennis association the tournament pertains to. However, even though sponsors are a mayor benefit for tournaments, Wimbledon has opted to maintain only a few of them. This puts Wimbledon and the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) behind, money wise, from other mayor tournaments like the U.S. Open and its tennis association, the United States Tennis Association (U.S.T.A.). Furthermore, it contributes to the lack of good British tennis players. For this reason, Wimbledon should consider changes. They should consider getting more sponsors in order to gain more money to promote the game and consequently develop better British players.

Wimbledon seems to be oblivious to the changes that are happening in the game. Back then three of the mayor four tournaments (grand slams) were played in grass. Two of them, The U.S. Open and the Australian Open have changed their surfaces to hard courts since. Wimbledon is the only one that has kept a grass surface. This shows how Wimbledon has opted to maintain its roots. Also, this gives a sense of uniqueness that Wimbledon wants to convey. Since grass is very uncommon, a player has to adjust its game when playing on it. This is due to the effect the surface has on the ball. Physicist describe this by stating that the change in a ball’s vertical velocity component during its bounce is measured by a property known as the coefficient of restitution (ey), and different tennis court surfaces have different values for (ey) and for the coefficient of sliding friction (Rodney 84-5). In other words, different surfaces means different ball bounces because of the friction the surface omits to the ball. Consequently, players have to employ different game strategies. This is why watching a tennis match at Wimbledon is totally different than watching one at a hard court tournament. Players have to use the same game tactics players used in matches 40 years ago. These same strategies still favor today’s players and contribute even more so to the fact that Wimbledon hasn’t changed a bit.

Through the years, Wimbledon has wanted to maintain a certain image given the elite tournament that it is. This attitude is seen with the fact that they have kept the grass surface until today but also, it’s displayed with the fact that they want to stay only with the sponsors they already have. Hannah Karp states that Wimbledon has always fostered an old-fashioned, elite image, which extends to how the tournament treats sponsors and advertisers (Karp B1). Indeed, this shows that Wimbledon won’t surrender its elite image for any sponsor. They are willing to reject sponsors’ offers in order to only keep a few that they consider true to the game.

As stated in the article “Fault!” Wimbledon makes 42.4 million dollars each year compared to the 118 million the U.S. Open makes with similar audience figures. This shows the difference that having more sponsors make. The U.S. Open makes almost three times the money Wimbledon makes and both of them have similar audiences. Clearly, one can see the difference the sponsors make when it comes to money. Furthermore, more money means better tennis associations. The U.S.T.A, which the U.S. Open runs, raises more money than the L.T.A, which Wimbledon runs, because the U.S. Open has more sponsors. In return, American tennis, now a day is better than British tennis; there are far more Americans in the top 100 in the world than British players.

Even though Wimbledon has the potential of making the same amount of money from sponsors as the U.S. Open, aside from it not wanting to attract more sponsors, in order to maintain the ones it already has, Wimbledon will have to take several measures. Some experts in marketing suggest various keys to providing a high-quality service at Wimbledon. They include the planning and improvement of the facilities, readying employees and improve communication and information technology (Milliman, Olson and Slater 14). In order for Wimbledon to keep up with other tournaments like the U.S. Open, it will have to take those measures. The U.S. Open has an eight year 300 million dollar contract with CBS (Gold 3). In order to obtain media contracts like these, Wimbledon must improve their media facilities.

A Wimbledon spectator states, “The All-England may be the oldest and most prestigious tennis championships in the world, but the Politburo that runs the championships has been doing it in the same way for years” (Kerr 129). Wimbledon is all about tradition. Everything is managed in a different way from other tournaments in tennis. Even the players have a dress code, all white clothing, which no other tournament has. Things like this set the tournament aside in a good way but still, other codes, like the sponsor code talked about throughout this paper, have bad consequences. British tennis is in the verge of disappearing and it is attributed to Wimbledon’s poor sponsor contracts. It is time for Wimbledon officials to set aside the idea of maintaining a unique image and focus on a more important thing, the survival of the tournament but more importantly, its British tennis.

III. Genres

1.) Persuasive Essay

Wimbledon, Come Out to the New Era

Time passes by and things have to adapt to whatever changes have occurred. By doing this, they go along with the changes and consequently are giving themselves a chance to get ahead from others. Everything should function this way because it’s the only way for one to discover better ways than the ones being used in the present. Wimbledon, should consider changes, big changes. Not only keeping the codes and rules they have had for many years is an old fashioned thing, but also that mentality of wanting to maintain their old image by keeping the old codes and rules because is the best for the game is itself an old-fashioned way of thinking. Wimbledon officials should stop thinking that they are doing the right thing by staying with tradition because it doesn’t benefit anyone at all; not the game, not the tournament not even the players. The only thing that it does is affect them.

Wimbledon’s motto of keeping their old image affects the tournament and its Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) economically. Furthermore, it affects the game as a whole given the fact that less money is being raised to promote it, more specifically British tennis; thing that the LTA is in charge of. Even though Wimbledon officials are aware of this, they have chosen to ignore it and stay with their motto. One of the things they do in order to maintain the old image is to turn down sponsor offers. They believe that too many sponsors will affect the elite image they want to project. By doing this, I believe they are being selfish, selfish to the game, the players and the fans. Less sponsors means less money for the game, which turn out to be less media broadcast, less price money and less people wanting to play it. How can a game survive when one of its mayor tournaments isn’t trying its best to make the most money to promote it?

Trying to maintain the same rules as they had back them is like having the same rules for lifeboats on a ship two hundred years ago to one now days, it won’t work. Look what happened to the Titanic. Since the laws for lifeboats onboard ships were old by the time the Titanic was made, it didn’t have enough lifeboats for everyone aboard. I believe that if Wimbledon continues following those same old rules it will sink; tennis may sink with it. In fact, some of this is seen now days because there are no good British tennis players. This is because the money raised at Wimbledon, most of it, goes to British tennis, more specifically to the LTA, which, as stated before, promotes the British tennis. The more money Wimbledon makes, the more money that will go to the LTA to promote British tennis. If there are no good British tennis players now days, it means that there are not making enough money to promote British tennis. Who is responsible? Wimbledon is responsible for it.

Tennis isn’t a game for only a minority like it was back then when Wimbledon was created. Now the game is for all the classes. Wimbledon officials have to open their eyes and see that we aren’t in the 30’s anymore. Also, that this isn’t a game for the rich amateur players like the ones that used to play it. It’s a game for everyone that can pick up a racket and hit a ball. The game has changed for the better and Wimbledon officials just have to keep up with it. They can’t pretend that it’s a game for the rich when it really isn’t anymore. Trying to stay with old things will keep the tournament behind and other tournaments will take over the tennis world; not that isn’t happening now days. Still if only someone could change the mentality of the members of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon would have more sponsors and consequently more money to promote the game. Maybe if things were like this, better players could be seen and the sport would be more popular.

2.) Photo Gallery

Center Court at Wimbledon. ©AELTC

Court number 2 at Wimbledon. ©AELTC

Center Court at Wimbledon with its new roof. ©AELTC

2009 Men’s singles champion, Roger Federer. ©AELTC

The Central Band playing at Wimbledon. ©AELTC

2009 Men’s singles Final between Andy Roddick and Roger Federer. ©AELTC

New translucent roof of Center Court, Wimbledon. ©AELTC

Some fans covering themselves from the sun. ©AELTC

Famous Wimbledon trophy carried by Roger Federer. ©AELTC

3.) Letter

Dear Wimbledon,

The purpose of this letter is to let you know how worried I am. Every year the U.S. Open makes more money than you make in three years. How can that be? Being the elite tournament that you are, you should consider using that gift that you so long have. Take advantage of it. Use your history, your wisdom in order to make more money for the game, more specifically, your tennis association, which is another thing that’s worrying me. Where are the British players? I can hardly find them in the top 100 players in the world. How is it possible for a country with so rich tennis tradition to have hardly any player in the top 100. You have to do something about it. Risk your image, I guarantee to you that it’s worth it. Besides no one really cares for the unique image you still project, people just care for the players; how they play. Focus on the most important things and leave aside those that don’t matter so much, the one I mentioned before being one of them. Your focus should be the game and the players, not yourself. Contribute to the game and to develop better players as you have done through out your existence. The British tennis needs you now more than ever given the fact that no British player has won your championship since the 1930’s. Think clearly my friend that tennis has come to last and you have to be part of its future.

Sincerely,

L.T. Wimble

4.) Quiz

1.)Wimbledon is…

a.)   a museum          b.)  a park          c.)   a grand slam

2.) Which tennis association Wimbledon belongs to?

a.) L.T.A.          b.) U.S.T.A.          c.) A.T.A.

3.) Why does Wimbledon should consider getting more sponsors?

a.) more money          b.) develop better players          c.) both choices are correct

4.) How many tennis grand slam tournaments are played on grass?

a.) one          b.) two          c.) three

5.) Wimbledon is considered…

a.) old-fashioned          b.) ultra modern          c.) none are correct

6.) Approximately how much money Wimbledon makes each year?

a.) 40 million dollars          b.) 80 million dollars          c.) 120 million dollars

7.) Which tournament grosses in more money each year?

a.) The U.S. Open          b.) Wimbledon

8.) How does Wimbledon treat sponsors?

a.) in an old-fashioned way          b.) they only pick the ones they consider true to the game

c.) both choices are correct

9.) In order to obtain better contracts, Wimbledon should…

a.) stay as it is          b.) improve their facilities          c.)change to hard courts

10.) In order to play at Wimbledon one has to…

a.) be a top player          b.) wear white clothing          c.) both choices are correct

Key: 1.) C; 2.) A; 3.) C; 4.) A; 5.) A; 6.) A; 7.) A; 8.) C; 9.) B; 10.) C

IV. Epilogue

The main reason for me wanting to write about Wimbledon was because it’s one of the most important tournaments in tennis, which I am a big fan of. Furthermore, since it’s such a nice event, talking about it to people could make them get interested in the topic, which consequently will get them to play tennis. This is a good thing because tennis isn’t as popular as many people like myself want it to be. Trying to talk about it to other people might change that.

Wanting to write about Wimbledon made me figure out things I didn’t know before. The idea of my thesis came by doing research about it. Since Wimbledon is so elegant and seems quite fancy, it seems as if it’s the most lucrative event there is in tennis but that’s a misconception. I discovered that it makes much less money each year than other tournaments of its kind make in two. It’s quite impressive given that it was the first tournament of tennis. After knowing this about Wimbledon, some things started to make sense. Things like why there are only a few British tennis players was one. I found the answer to them.

The multi-genres I chose seem to fit my idea of trying to persuade Wimbledon officials to get more sponsors and consequently more money to promote tennis. The persuasive essay and the letter did just that. I did the quiz in order for people to read carefully the introduction in order for them to answer it.  If not, most of the people would just read without paying any attention. The last genre that I chose was a photo album because people need to see things in order for them to like them or be interested in. Photos seem just right for the task of wanting people to be interested in Wimbledon and hopefully tennis.

Writing about Wimbledon has changed my perspective about it. Before I thought it was just perfect. However, now that I’ve seen the wrong choices that they have made and are still making shows me that they still see tennis as a gentlemen’s sport that only a minority should play. This mentality can’t hold up much longer because the game needs to expand and attract more people. This was my main purpose on doing this multi-genre research. Given the format of a multi-genre, contains both written and visual works, it seemed like the right form to expose Wimbledon in a way that people would want to know more about it and consequently tennis itself.

V. Annotated Bibliography

Fault!.” The Economist 360 (2001): 54-5. Social Sciences Full Text. Web. 30 Nov. 2009.

This article talks about how Wimbledon underperforms in sponsor contracts. This contributes to the lack of good British tennis players. The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), which Wimbledon is part of, is the one in charge of British tennis. This means that most of the money made at Wimbledon goes to the LTA to improve British tennis. If more money is made at Wimbledon, British tennis has a better chance to get better. However, officials seem to care more for the “unique character of the event” than making more money in order to develop better players. This is why they maintain only the few sponsors they have.

Gold, Jacqueline S.. “Taking center court.” Crain’s New York Business 19.32 (2003): 3, 29. Business Full Text. Web. 12 Dec. 2009.

This article talks about how the CEO of the United States Tennis Association (U.S.T.A.), Arlen Kantarian, wants to make tennis a more popular game, media wise. Arlen wants to give the game the corporate sponsorship power and the media ratings other sports like golf and pro football have. It all depends on the amount of viewers, tournament attendees and sponsors the U.S. Open may have in the next few years. The main focus Kantarin has is to renew the contract they have with CBS and for this station to broadcast the U.S. Open men’s final in prime time and also for them to broadcast the tennis tournaments celebrated during the weeks between Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. This will bring more focus to the game.

Karp, Hannah. “At Wimbledon, Even Official Sponsors Have to Whisper.” Wall Street Journal (Eastern Edition) 24 June 2004: B1, B4. Business Full Text. Web. 30 Nov. 2009.

This article talks about how the All England Lawn and Tennis Club limits its sponsors, even though it’s one of the most prestigious sporting events in the world and many companies want to sponsor it. Given that the tournament is the oldest in the game, it tends to maintain and old-fashioned image. This is why Wimbledon doesn’t plaster everywhere sponsor ads like other tournaments do. It tries to maintain an elite image, which has characterized them throughout the years. This demonstrates why the tournament treats sponsors and advertisers the way they do; only choosing a few that fit the game.

Kerr, Philip. “Left, right, game, set, march.” New Statesman (London, England: 1996) 129 (2000): 16. Social Sciences Full Text. Web. 30 Nov. 2009.

The author of this article, Philip Kerr, criticizes the way Wimbledon officials run the tournament. Kerr owns some debenture tickets for the number 1 court at Wimbledon. He feels sorry that he bought those debenture tickets, which are bought years ahead of a championship. The “totalitarian way”, how he describes it, Wimbledon officials run the tournament has made him not want to go to Wimbledon anymore. In fact the author states that he is giving away his debenture tickets. The reason for all of this is because the officials keep running the tournament as if it were the 50’s.

Milliman, John F., Eric M. Olson, and Stanley F. Slater. “Courting Excellence.” Marketing Management 16.2 (2007): 14-17. Business Full Text. Web. 12 Dec. 2009.

The authors of this article talk about how Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships is a good choice for marketers looking for high-quality events. However, in order to keep up with today’s demands, and given the fact that it’s one of the largest sporting events in the world, the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, which host the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships each year, must improve many of its facilities. The authors give some recommendations, which include improving its media facility, restaurants and retail facilities.

Works Cited

Cross, Rodney. “Tennis physics, anyone?.” Physics Today 61.9 (2008): 84-5. General Science Full Text. Web. 12 Dec. 2009.

Fault!.” The Economist 360 (2001): 54-5. Social Sciences Full Text. Web. 30 Nov. 2009.

Gold, Jacqueline S.. “Taking center court.” Crain’s New York Business 19.32 (2003): 3, 29. Business Full Text. Web. 12 Dec. 2009.

Karp, Hannah. “At Wimbledon, Even Official Sponsors Have to Whisper.” Wall Web. 30 Nov. 2009.

Kerr, Philip. “Left, right, game, set, march.” New Statesman (London, England: 1996) 129 (2000): 16. Social Sciences Full Text. Web. 30 Nov. 2009.

Lovecock. “Wimbledon.” Photos. Wimbledon.org 10 Dec. 2009.          http://2009.wimbledon.org/en_GB/news/photos/index.html

Milliman, John F., Eric M. Olson, and Stanley F. Slater. “Courting Excellence.” Marketing Management 16.2 (2007): 14-17. Business Full Text. Web. 12 Dec. 2009.

During this year, given all the protests, the last day for taking a final exam is on December 21st, which is a Monday. Being in my 4th year of college, I have never taken a final test on the last day of finals and this year, guess what, I have a test that day. Other years, which have been regular years with no protest interruptions, I have never had a final exam that late but this year, besides finishing late because of the protests, I am finishing the last day of final exams. It’s just incredible. I don’t know if it’s me but the final exams schedule this year hasn’t favored me at all. Even more so, I had the most difficult exam of all the first day of exams and to prove my point furthermore, I am having the easiest the last day of exams.

I don’t know if it’s possible but the people that do the exam schedules have to do something to get better at them. Another method should be employed in order to favor the students. The final exams are hard and aside from that, they are making students take the hardest the same days and the easiest on different days and during the final days; come on! They better change that system because it gives reason for another protest and we don’t want that; Don’t we?

While reading the book I always kept thinking, why wasn’t I aware of this famous pianist. I wanted to keep reading in order to know more about Narciso Figueroa since he was a famous pianist which happened to be also Puerto Rican. In a matter of three hours I finished reading the book. This just shows how easy going the book is and how interesting it is that one wants and can read it in a single session. Furthermore, knowing about a Puerto Rican great is an important thing because we barely think of ourselves as the best and consequently pay little to no attention to our talents, more specifically, music talent. Having the opportunity to know that one of the best pianists of its time was Puerto Rican is something amazing and furthermore if one is given a book which is basically the famous person talking is also amazing. One gets to know Narciso in a certain way and further appreciate his talent and what he has brought and given to us Puerto Ricans.

The book Vana Ilusion is a type of instructive book which through the memories of Narciso Figueroa teaches us how was Puerto Rico back then, its music and its famous musicians. Beside Narciso, which the author pretend to be writing the book, talking about his own experiences, he also talks about the world at that time, given the fact that he travelled to Europe in order to study in the best music academies. This also teaches us about the condition the world was in when he traveled throughout it. This further makes the book interesting because we, in a certain way, can see how living during that time was like; with wars and stuff going on. Also, it shows how difficult it was for Narciso to take advantage of his talent given the fact the his family was poor. All in all, the book was a fantastic experience which showed the type of music talent Puerto Rico had during the beginning of the last century.

Dr. Jose Antonio Lopez not only shows us music but given his ideals, he always tends to give his students advice on what should and should not be done. I must say, some of his ideals are very extreme, but in some point they make us reflect and think about what are the best things for us; how would we be if things weren’t as they are right now. Furthermore, he mocks everything he seems is not correct, which even though someone may not agree with, it’s still quite funny; one laughs a lot. This makes the 75 minutes, the duration of the class, pass by quite fast, even though the class is at 7:30 in the morning.

In the course Musi3135 one learns a lot from a music master. This professor is one of the greatest guitarist of our times, literally. Aside from being a great master, his ideals and personality make taking this class really enjoyable. Furthermore, since one is having fun, learning the material is easy; one learns all the material, in this case music, with quite ease. This course has been one of the ones that has influenced me the most because it shows us history from a different perspective and if one doesn’t know history, one is lost because it’s what has brought us to where we are. So, if anyone has the chance, they should take this course because one will learn from it a lot.

The committee chose five Puerto Rican athletes. These were Aury Cruz (volleyball player), Luis “tingui” Vargas (gymnast), Asunción Ocasio (taekwondo player), José Arizmendi and José Juan Barea (basketball player). All the players made propaganda. They appeared in commercials asking for the people’s vote. The player that had the most votes would carry the flag. This player elected was José Juan Barea. It comes to no surprise since the games will be celebrated in his hometown, Mayaguez.

Jose Juan Barea has been an outstanding Puerto Rican athlete. Born and raised in Mayaguez, since a young age, he showed great talent for basketball. This helped him enter the Puerto Rican National League in which he played for the Tainos of Mayaguez. Furthermore, his talent made him rise even more. Right now he is part of the NBA, in which he plays for the Dallas Mavericks. Being one of the few Puerto Ricans that has made it to the NBA, Jose Juan Barea represents the talent that Puerto Rico is able to produce.This is why he deserves to carry the Puerto Rican flag and who I believe was the best choice.

If he weren’t a superstar, this wouldn’t have been more but a constant thing that’s seen everyday. Many men, are disloyal to women, which many consider to be natural. In fact, the Coolidge’s effect, named after a past U.S.A. president, states that every male has a desire to be with as many females as possible. In humans, this effect exists in men even if a relationship is in good shape. It has been said that president Coolidge and his wife visited a barn. In that barn, a farmer was telling the president’s wife how chickens mate. He told her that one roosters mates more than once a day. After he told her that, she told the farmer that when he saw the president, that he tell that to the president. The farmer did just that but the president asked him another question. He asked the farmer if the rooster mated more than once a day with the same hen. The farmer said that he mated more than once a day but with different hens; the president said to him, “tell that to my wife.” This just shows how in nature only one male copulates with more than one female. Many evolutionists believe in this idea of why men are disloyal to women.

Even though from an evolutionist perspective, men by nature are to be with many women, we can’t compare ourselves with another species. Given that we are capable of reasoning, Tiger Woods, even though he had the temptation, had the chance to reason in order for him to not have committed those actions. He should have thought all the consequences that those actions would bring him in a near future. Furthermore, he must have known that if it’s difficult for a normal men to keep those relationships a secret, keeping his would be almost impossible. Sooner or later it would have been known. Now he has to attend the consequences and hope for the best.

Political figures always offer things beyond their reach in order to attract voters. This isn’t something new. It has been seen throughout the years. It shouldn’t be a surprise when one of these political figures doesn’t accomplish what it has promised. However, now days political figures are doing it too much. Back then, political figures were more trustworthy even though they didn’t do everything they promised. Since they were more trustworthy, people respected them more. The governor of Puerto Rico is doing exactly the opposite of what he has promised and this is why he is facing many protests. Furthermore, if one wants to let know to others that they are not in favor of the decisions the governor is making, this is the way to do it because no one is being disrespectful.

Not being in favor of a political figure is something normal. Everyone has a right, in a democracy, to not be in favor and protest. However protests should be held in a respectful and peaceful way. If one is peaceful, things could come or agreements could be made without recurring to violence. Getting to an agreement without anybody hurt or dead is far better than getting to the same agreement with people hurt and dead. Furthermore, since the governor deserves some respect, even though someone doesn’t sympathize with him, one should protest in an orderly manner following the laws that let you have such important right.

For those of you who don’t know what the Marseillaise is, it is France’s national anthem and one of the most famous anthems, if not the most famous anthem in the world. The Borinqueña is Puerto Rico’s national anthem and it has two versions. The version that can be seen in the video above is the original version written by Lolita Rodriguez de Tio; the other version, which is the most famous one, was a transcription done when Carlos Romero Barcelo was governor of Puerto Rico and it was done in order to Americanize, meaning turn it into a march, the anthem and take away its sense of patriotism.

I want to compare the original version of the Borinqueña to the Marseillaise because these two are very patriotic but one was written as a march, the Marseillaise, and the other one, the Borinqueña, its original version was written with a dance form, representation of the “Danza Puertorriqueña”, the music movement of the time when it was written. As mentioned before, one of the reasons they changed the Borinqueña was to make it a march.The Marseillaise, which is characterized for being very revolutionary, in fact Napoleon once said that using that anthem would save France soldiers, was once used throughout Europe as a model to write other anthems. Furthermore, since it was written close to the French Revolution, it was written in the form of a march, given that they were fighting for democracy. On the other, Puerto Rico’s anthem was written in sort of a mellow way, even though it has the exact same spirit as the Marseillaise. It calls for revolution but still maintains a sense of calmness and peacefulness, which has characterized Puerto Ricans throughout history; we are a docile country.

National anthems, almost everyone in the world, represent a moment of victory for the country. The Marseillaise and the Star Spangled Banner, national anthem of the U.S.A., represent just that. However the Borinqueña wasn’t written in that way. The people who wrote it wanted for Puerto Ricans to come to their senses; it was some sort of a calling for revolution but not as intense as the Marseillaise. It also used the “Danza Puertorriqueña” as a basis, which if this would be the one used now a days would characterize Puerto Ricans of having a national anthem not written in form of a march. However, it seems that its just not write to have a national anthem different from the rest.

It’s incredible to say the least how people are being killed. A paramedic walking by a street at night was killed by someone driving a car, in which the person passed right through him and didn’t stop the car; this person kept driving to his house. Because he didn’t stop the car, few body parts were found under the car after. Another vicious crime was the killing of a homosexual boy. This boy prostituted himself and a guy came looking for someone to do him sexual favors and found this boy. I don’t know how everything has turned out but I do know that the guy dismantled the homosexual boy, burned him, and a few other things I can’t remember. Another crime was when a guy with a pistol, playing, shot at a lady in the head and killed her. This just shows in the state of mind few people in this country are. These types of crimes are becoming more and more frequent and more and more violent everyday.

I believe, as stated before, that all these crimes indirectly have to do with the economic state Puerto Rico is in. They don’t have to do a lot with money, but when a country is bad economically, it’s law enforcing branch, a long with every branch, start to lose respect and credibility. Far more, if they don’t have respect to the head of the executive branch, which enforces the law, the governor, what respect will the people have to the law. Things like the throwing of the egg to the governor can work in a very negative way in people’s mind. This indirectly can make people think that they can do whatever they want and with people with really sick minds, it opens a door for them to manifest themselves doing things like the ones mentioned.

With 225,000 gross tons, the Oasis of the seas is 5 times bigger than the titanic. The ship cost approximately 1.4 billion dollars to build. It’s a surprise that Royal Caribbean spent all this money in a cruise ship. I believe is a risky move because even though the cruise industry has gotten more popular through the years, I don’t think is popular enough to fill not only the Oasis, but it’s sister ship, the Allure of the seas, which will be inaugurated a year from now, with 5400 passengers week after week. It has a capacity of 5400 passengers, which is an astounding numbers; it’s virtually a small city. Imagine having to fill the boats with all those passengers.

It’s obvious that cruise lines know what they are doing. They aren’t going to spend billions of dollars on cruise ships if they are not going to make any profit from them. It just seems that a lot of passengers will have to travel in order to fill those cruise ships. However, as I stated before the cruise ship industry has become very popular and filling those boats week after week isn’t impossible but rather quite doable; it just depends on the price.

The Oasis of the seas is really an oasis. The name fits the ship. As I mentioned before, it is a small city able to fully function by itself. Aside from this, it has everything people need to have in order to have a fun and relaxing vacation. Rock climbing walls, ice skating rinks, a spa, bars, restaurants, shops, even a mini golf course. It’s no wonder why people are choosing to go on a cruise ship. Not only do you have everything in one place but food is included and prices are quite affordable. So, next time you are searching to go on a vacation, don’t forget to check for cruise vacations, they are affordable and consists of ships that really make you go in aw when you see them.