As parents gear up for the start of the school year, the INS reminds them to protect their children with a student insurance policy.  Students must be enrolled in schools certified by MEP (schools and high schools) or CONESUP (universities).  They may also get the insurance if they go to private homes, day care centers or education centers with permits from the Ministry of Health.

There are 4 policies available that cover the entire school year in case of accidental death, permanent incapacity or medical expenses.:

For 1000 colones the insurance covers up to 300,000 colones 

For 2500 colones the coverage is 500,000 colones

For 4800 colones the coverage is 1 million colones

For 8000 colones the coverage is 2 million colones

While many Costa Ricans have apparently decided on Oscar Arias as president, the battle for seats in the Assembly is fierce.  Traditionally, Ticos voted straight ticket for PLN or PUSC.  The current assembly is the most fragmented in years.  Also the worst in many years!  So now the question is will Ticos vote in the legislators that Arias needs to push his programs through?  Or will he be faced with the same fragmented opposition that has dogged Pacheco. 

57 seats are up for grabs,  40 are more or less already assigned and 17 are still in play. Here are the main scenarios according to analysts.

PLN
The National Liberation Party has a virtual lock on 24 seats. They could take as many as 32 if the voters heed Arias and vote straight ticket, or support the PLN candidates in their town. The last time PLN had 29 legislators was 20 years ago, when Arias served as president the first time.

PAC
The Citizen’s Action Party can count on 11 seats, but could possibly tie down 8 more.  They started with 14 in this assembly, but break aways left them with 8 seats.

Libertarian Movement
The new force to be reckoned with has a lock on 4 seats, the same as in the current Assembly, but could have as many as 10.

PUSC
No matter what happens, the Social Christian Unity Party will set a record low for number of seats.  They only are certain of having 1 seat at this point.  If the recently released from prison Rafael Angel Calderon is successful in his efforts at revival of the nearly defunct party, then PUSC could steal as many as 7 more seats.

The Rest
Several other parties will jockey for at least 1 seat on election day.  None have a lock on a seat, but any could gain one or two seats according to statisticians.  Union For Change (UPC), National Union Party(PUN), Country First (PP), Costa Rican Renovation (PRC), Wide Front (FA) y Cartago Agricultural Union (UAC).

How are Representatives Chosen?
The process of choosing representatives is a bit complicated and the high degree of absenteeism throws the numbers further into doubt.  Each province has an alloted number of seats, San Jose has the most ( 20 ) and Guanacaste has the least ( 4 ).

The total number of votes cast in the province is divided by the number of seats available.  The result is a quotient. The number of votes each party receives is divided by the quotient to determine how many seats the party has one.  The seats left over are distributed according to the votes left over by party.  However, if a party did not receive at least half of the number of votes in the quotient, then they do not participate in this distribution.

The latest polls show Oscar Arias winning in the first round, but PAC candidate Otton Solís says that Costa Ricans are hiding their true intentions from pollsters. "Impossible!  The word on the street is different, there is a hidden vote that will say ‘no’ to the candidate who is hiding. "  (alluding to Arias who refused debate Solis)

"There are many people who don’t want to respond to the poll." Solis showed confidence that "in the intimacy of the voting booth, thousands and thousands of voters will vote for a change."

The latest poll by Unimer for La Nacion shows Arias with 49% of the vote, Solis with 25.4% and Otto Guevara with 11.8%.  The poll also predicted a 30% rate of absenteeism for Sunday.

While you will be more likely to buy "Patí" than a hot dog, every day you get one step closer to being able to enjoy the not-national pastime, baseball, in the venerable "Big Boy" stadium in Limon Province.   The 59 year old stadium is undergoing an 80 million colon makeover that should be completed by May.  The project includes new stands, new locker rooms, offices, improved drainage and a new field.

In association with the effort, JAPDEVA is sponsoring projects to involve today’s youth in this sport, including promoting the history and principles of the sport to kids in the area.

In a national broadcast, Otton Solís lamented that his fellow candidate Oscar Arias would not debate him in the final week of the campaign.  Solis accused " A group of people are trying to hold hostage democracy and they say that debating is fighting.  I proposed a debate to show that there is a group who has governed us during 20 years. During this time this group has favored certain sectors, handicapped farmers, and taken the middle class to the brink of collapse. " 

For Solís, the debate is vital for the Costa Rican voter, so that they may elect between 2 different paths that have been presented. " I proposed making a debate over ideas, proposals and trajectories, but this neoliberal group has said that they won’t debate, even if the Pope asked them. I want to debate because this group is promoting a trade agreement (CAFTA) that puts in danger our institutions, this group wants us to think that the CAFTA that was negotiated is the only way to development, but that is untrue.  Costa Rica’s social model has proven this."

"We are going to put the country in orbit, and we will start with the province of Guanacaste", were the words that Franklin Chang chose to announce his new scientific laboratory in Liberia. The first step of the project is to build 3 vacuum chambers. 2 will be exported to a company in the US to be used in plasma experiments related with the Chang plasma motor.

The research center will have an initial budget of $1 million and is located on the Daniel Oduber – La Flor university campus, which is a part of EARTH University.

Construction will begin February 15th and the center will open by July 1st.  "I have always believed that this is like sowing the seeds of the future and we want to help our youth".

Survivors and family members of victims in the Banco Nacional of Monteverde assault have filed claims for 1,700,000,000 colones ($3.4 million) against the assailant Erly Hurtado, Banco Nacional, the State and the security company Delta S.A.

The highest amount claimed is by the family of Mario Lopez, a bus ticket vendor who died in the assault. They claim 800 million colones in damages.  His parents, Emilce Miranda and Jorge López, ask ¢100 million for suffering damages and another ¢100 million because their son helped maintain them. Each sibling, Maritza, Marta y José Luis López is asking  ¢100 millones for pain and suffering too. Among the proof offered is the testimony of  Steven Villegas, a survivor who saw Mario López in pain.

Lawyers Andrés Pérez and William Guido, gave to the Attorney General’s office a request for indemnization of  25 million colones plus 30 million for pain and suffering on behalf of Alexánder Arguedas, Gerardo Suárez, Ingrid Ulate, Eduardo Rodríguez, Francisco Figuerola, Bertha Weckshell (foreigner), and Carelia Medina.

Ricaurte Jiménez, and his client Gerardo Céspedes, have claimed ¢435 millones. " We think that the bank’s clients entered the branch to make normal transactions, not to be killed, mutilated or held hostage." 

Young Steven Villegas, who was shot and escaped on one foot from the massacre, asked for ¢80 millones: ¢30 million for material damages and the rest for pain and suffering.

Cashier Nancy Ramírez, the last hostage released, confirmed that she did not submit any claim.  "What I had to ask for, I asked for from God and the Virgin of the Angels inside the bank.  He gave it to me, he let me get out alive and gave me a healthy daughter.  What I want is to be at peace, no money will give me back my friend (Rosa) nor my co-worker (Juan Pablo), nor will it erase all the memories of that day.  God will know what to do with this person  (Hurtado)", said Ramírez.

The Tico Times Online
Among the issues that will sway Costa Rican voters in the upcoming presidential election, environmental concerns appear to have a stronger pull than candidates have taken into consideration in their campaigns.

Though a recent survey conducted for The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in Costa Rica revealed 73% of eligible voters in the country agree a candidate’s position on environmental issues could determine their vote, the topic has been abandoned during this campaign period, according to analysts.

Instead of focusing on the environment, presidential candidates have chosen to target other topics that weigh on the average Tico, such as the high cost of living and security issues, said Sergio Araya, president of the Political Science and International Relations Professional Association.

Although candidates have laid out environmental plans – some more detailed than others – in their platforms, famed political analyst Rodolfo Cerdas told The Tico Times these are not reliable indicators of how their parties would operate in an eventual administration.

“Platforms have become a mere conventionality, they are drafted and then tossed aside,” he told The Tico Times, pointing out that during his campaign in 2002, President Abel Pacheco promised to promote the amendment of a set of “environmental guarantees” to the Constitution (TT, Sept. 20, 2002).

However, the guarantees are collecting dust in the Legislative Assembly.

According to the recent survey, carried out by the U.S.-based firm Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin & Associates for the Nature Conservancy, an international non-governmental conservationist group, Nov. 20-29, 2005, the environmental concerns of Costa Rican voters are such that a majority would support the government if it dedicated more funds to protect it.

A total of 90% of 993 adults interviewed said they would support the use of funds to improve water and air quality, and half of these voters would take on the responsibility through the payment of fees or increased taxes.

In a statement from the Nature Conservancy, Costa Rica director Zdenka Piskulich, said judging by the concern voters have expressed about environmental topics, a large chance exists that the next administration could promote an environmental agenda with the support of the public.

“Environmental groups can also assist with specific initiatives with some certainty that their points of view will not be regarded as an expression of isolated interests,” she said.

With the exception of the United Left Coalition, which associates the exploitation of natural resources with the capitalist model from which it seeks to distance itself, most presidential candidates’ platforms coincide in highlighting the most crucial threats to the environment, analyst Araya said.

He listed water pollution, deforestation and waste management as top priorities.

However, the platforms lack clarity in explaining what exactly will be done to resolve these problems, Araya said.

Arias Prioritizes Water Issues

To avoid this problem, the National Liberation Party (PLN) candidate, Oscar Arias, ranked first among the country’s three leading candidates, worked backwards on his platform, according to René Castro, the party’s environmental coordinator.

Instead of developing plans to resolve environmental problems listed in the platform if elected, the party decided to make a detailed cost analysis before elaborating the platform, said Castro, who was Environment Minister during Arias’ presidency (1994-98).

Castro said the party decided to prioritize the topic of water conservation and pollution, and dedicated a significant portion of the platform to discussion of this issue.

National Liberation seeks to create a sewage system and water treatment plants for the metropolitan area as a first step, he said.

However, the party might not preserve the moratorium on open-pit mining signed by President Pacheco at the beginning of his administration (TT, June 7, 2002).

According to Castro, although Arias would not promote open-pit mining in the country, this is not a priority for the party, which would rather uphold a policy of sustainable development.

As for the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA), National Liberation “is very clear that it must go forth,” but it will improve everything it can about the treaty, Castro said in response to whether the party would attempt to renegotiate the much-criticized environmental portion of the treaty.

Solís Focus on Education

Second runner up in the polls is candidate Ottón Solís’ Citizen Action Party (PAC), which is committed to fulfilling the environmental mission laid out in its platform, according to Carlos Quesada, coordinator of PAC’s environmental commission.

Quesada, a specialist in hydraulic resources, said the party will target waste management and pollution problems and focus on sustainable development and environmental education.

“Financial resources are required (to carry out the plan); much of it depends on how the economy will work,” Quesada said.

He said to curb the country’s waste-management issues, the party would try integrated politics, from new legislation to educational campaigns to improve the way Costa Ricans manage their waste.

As a solution to air-pollution problems, the party proposes “establishing a more efficient public transportation” system, which might include long-term studies and possibly electric trolleys in San José, Quesada said.

The party also proposes to renegotiate the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA) to protect Costa Rican resources, especially water, from privatization, he said.

He explained that because PAC considers open-pit mining a great risk to the environment that brings few benefits to the country, the party aims to maintain President Pacheco’s moratorium.

Solís also supports passing of the environmental guarantees bill Pacheco submitted to the Assembly, but would like to review its contents, Quesada explained.

Guevara Would Eliminate SETENA

In his platform, third runner-up Libertarian Movement Party candidate Otto Guevara does not address the issue of environmental threats, and dedicates a mere four paragraphs of his 41-page document to the environment.

According to Franz Tattenbach, president of the Foundation for the Development of the Central Mountainous System (FUNDECOR) and environmental coordinator for the Libertarian Movement, their proposal is short because of its conciseness and simplicity.

In the platform, Guevara pledges to modernize national parks and promote the creation of private protected areas.

He also proposes to eliminate the “obstacle-generating functions” of the Technical Secretariat of the Environment Ministry (SETENA), an institution whose functions include the approval of developers’ environmental impact studies.

Instead of SETENA, known for its lengthy paperwork and the large amounts of time it spends in evaluating these studies (TT, July 2, 2004), Guevara’s platform suggests establishing clear parameters for developers and applying firm sanctions against those who transgress the law.

Guevara vows to ensure “environmental sustainability be present in different public policies.”

“We will give adequate treatment to waste water, solid waste and the conservation of our flora and fauna on land as well as in the ocean,” his platform says.

The party fully supports CAFTA and considers renegotiation of any of the treaty’s points, including the environment, unnecessary, Tattenbach explained.

From Friday to Sunday the First National Orchid Expo will take place in Coronado on the east side of San Jose.  Over 500 varieties will be on display. Orchids are the most numerous family of plants in the world, in Costa Rica over 1400 species are documented. The exposition is in the Amadita Malavassi School, behind the Más x Menos supermarket.

Costa Rica’s pure, clean rivers have presented a fatal attraction during the first days of 2006.  This fact points out that if you aren’t very familiar with the river or swimming hole you would like to take a dip in, it would be better not to enter.

Jorge Rovira, subdirector of assistance of the Red Cross, said that is not possible to identify the most dangerous places, they are all vulnerable.   "All the rivers, lagoons, swimming holes, and beaches are a risk if we don’t take basic precautions."

Advice for safe  swimming:
- If you can’t swim, don’t enter.  Not even wading.
- Ask locals if it is safe to swim in a particular spot before going in.
- Don’t leave children alone near the water.
- If you do go in, make sure it is a place people commonly bathe in.
- Pay attention to instructions given by lifeguards