The Tico Times Online Daily Page

Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, March 13, 2003

WHO WILL FILL CHOPE'S GOLDEN CLEATS?: With Wanchope out for Gold Cup, Ticos will have to look for new goal scorers.
AFP/TT

Ticos Will Have to Look to
New Guns in Gold Cup
The Costa Rican National Soccer Team (Sele) will have to head to next July's regional Gold Cup Tournament without its star net-minded goal scorers Paulo César Wanchope and Ronald 'La Bala' Gómez, the Soccer Federation reported yesterday.
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C.R. Puts New Spin on 'New Math'
In an effort to revolutionize the way mathematics is taught in Costa Rica's public schools, Education Minister Astrid Fischel and renowned mathematician Seymour Papert of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are teaming up in Washington, D.C. today to promote a new model of teaching and seek funding to support the initiative.
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March 13

Epic Movie at Museum
Rafael Angel Calderón Guardia Museum invites everyone to watch the movie "Napoleon" by Abel Gance, at 6 p.m. The museum is on Av. 11/13, Ca. 25, Barrio Escalante. Info: 222-6392, 255-1218.

Women’s Club March Luncheon
Features a fashion show with guest speaker Miss Costa Rica. contact Sally Sederspiel at 11:30 a.m., San José Palacio. Info: 440-4223.

America Tropical Food Fair
Students of Earth University invite the public to enjoy delicious dishes from different countries of the continent. The fair also features craft exhibits, dances, and concerts. Don’t miss it! Sat.,-Sun., March 15-16, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Info: 713-0000.

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Ticos Will Have to Look to
New Guns in Gold Cup
By Tim Rogers
trogers@ticotimes.net

Playmaker López will be back in uniform for Gold Cup

The Costa Rican National Soccer Team (Sele) will have to head to next July's regional Gold Cup Tournament without its star net-minded goal scorers Paulo César Wanchope and Ronald 'La Bala' Gómez, the Soccer Federation reported yesterday.

Coach Steve Sampson had originally hoped that Wanchope, who plays club soccer for the English club Manchester City and underwent surgery on his rotator cuff at the end of last month, could make it back for the Gold Cup.

Gómez, who plays club soccer in Greece and was penciled in as another of Sampson's starters, will also have to sit the tournament out with an injured knee.

The U.S.-born coach could look to a three-or four-man attack, featuring Winston Parks, Erick Scott, Rolando Fonseca and Steven Bryce.

"At this point, I don't really see one dominant individual goal scorer; I see a combination of players, which, quite frankly, is preferable," Sampson told The Tico Times. "It is a lot easier to mark one player that it is to mark three or four players."

On a positive note, the Ticos' midfield playmaker Wilmer López has said that he wants to rejoin the team in the Gold Cup after announcing last month that he no longer wants to play with the Sele.

"Wilmer has said that he wants to come back and the door is open to him," Sampson said.

The biannual Gold Cup Tournament played between qualifying teams from Central America, the Caribbean, North America and other teams that are special invites, will be played between July 12 and 27 in Mexico and the United States.

In the 2001 Gold Cup, Costa Rica lost in the finals to the U.S.

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C.R., Nicaragua Launch Border Development Initiative

The Foreign Ministers of Costa Rica and Nicaragua yesterday signed an accord in Managua aimed at developing the two countries' shared border, while at the same time seeking alternative ways for Nicaragua to repay its $600 million debt to Costa Rica.

During a press conference held yesterday in the Nicaraguan capital, Costa Rican Foreign Minister Roberto Tovar and Nicaraguan counterpart Norman Caldera signed an accord to create a Special Border-Development trust fund at the Central American Development Bank to raise funds for joint projects effecting the impoverished border area, according to a Ministry release.

Money that Nicaragua contributes or raises for the fund will count toward the country's repayment on its debt to Costa Rica.

Tovar and Caldera announced they will also work on a common strategy to lobby wealthier nations to contribute to the border fund. Spain and other members of the European Union reportedly have shown interest in the initiative.

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C.R. Puts New Spin on 'New Math'
By Fabián Borges
Tico Times Staff

In an effort to revolutionize the way mathematics is taught in Costa Rica's public schools, Education Minister Astrid Fischel and renowned mathematician Seymour Papert of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are teaming up in Washington, D.C. today to promote a new model of teaching and seek funding to support the initiative.

The proposed new hands-on approach to learning math is an attempt to rekindle dwindling student interest in the subject matter, and reduce the number of failing grades.

Fischel explained that the traditional way of learning math has become almost meaningless in the past years.

"What was originally a method of interpreting and understanding nature has become a repetitive method based on abstract concepts, equations and formulas," she noted. "Dr. Papert is proposing a return to the original goal of mathematics through a teaching method that takes into account the world in which students live," she added.

The new math method (not to be confused with the disastrous "new math" experiment attempted in the U.S. in the early '80s, which produced a cohort of people who still need two hands to count over five) would require teachers to work closely with computers and specialized software.

Dr. Papert already has been instrumental in bringing computer technology to Costa Rican schools.

New textbooks and teaching materials would be needed to replace the current texts.

However, Fischel explained, none of this will be possible unless the institutions she and Papert are visiting today --Partners of the Americas, the Inter-American Foundation, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and others--provide the necessary funding.

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