View from Golfito / LJWorld.com

Archive for Friday, May 18, 2001

May 18, 2001

To the editor:

I was appalled to read Brian Harris' opinion about Golfito safety for several reasons. His short visit to Golfito does not appear to make him an expert to make such categoric remarks. Golfito was never a plantation town as it is surrounded by steep, forested hills. Also, his logic of relating the equipment that we have at the station with the academic standards, and thus relating it with the safety of a community, is simply unacceptable.

I have lived more than 20 years in Golfito or vicinity and the record indicates that this has been a safe town to live and visit. Machista attitude against women is very common in Latin America, including Golfito, but so far this had never gone beyond the common cat-calls and whistling. Contrary to his opinion, female students have clearly indicated (even this week) that they have always felt safe here.

In addition, it is not true that KU neglects the Golfito program. As a matter of fact, the academic standards are closely scrutinized by every concerned KU department. Courses and faculty have to be approved by those departments. Safety precautions are always in place and exercised for every field trip. And enough money is budgeted for field trips, equipment purchases, etc.

It never occurred to Mr. Harris that for certain type of research you do not need much equipment, such as the case of anthropology, oral history, or even biology classes like ornithology, or mammals. Using 3-year-old computers and printers does not make an academic experience less valuable than that with brand new ones. It would be nice to have more funding for Golfito, but in academia, funding is always harder to come by.

This week we certainly feel vulnerable, and as a Golfiteno just said to us, Golfito lost its magic, its well known status as a safe place to live in. We cannot assure that this situation will not happen again. We feel that this horrible incident is an isolated one, and Golfito, as well as any other place in the world, is not crime free.

Oscar E. Quiros, director,

Programa de Estudios Tropicales

Kansas University

Golfito, Costa Rica