The Tico Times Online Daily Page

Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, March 12, 2004

ORCHIDS on display: The National Orchid Show runs through Sunday at the Old Aduana building in San José. See What's Doing for details.
Tico Times/Jeffrey Arguedas

President Declares National Mourning
Following Spanish Terror Bombings
President Abel Pacheco declared yesterday and today national days of mourning in Costa Rica in response to the deadly train bombings that rocked the Spanish capital of Madrid yesterday morning, leaving at least 192 people dead and more than 1,400 wounded.
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High-School Dropout Rate
Drops to 14-Year Low
Things are looking up, say education officials. Only about one in ten high school students who enrolled in 2003 dropped out before the end of the school year.
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Workshop Studies Problem-Solving
Through Family Constellations
Genetic traits can be passed on from generation to generation, so why can't subconscious problems? This question, or belief, is the basis of a workshop on family constellations being led by Harold Hohnen next week.
(Click for more)

March 12

National Orchid Show
Today until Sunday, 7:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. at the Antigua Aduana in San José. Info: 248-1623, 248-1041.

Sol y Arena Marathon
Long distance race on the beach in Puntarenas, Sat., March 13, at 2:30 p.m.

Caribbean Arts and Music Festival
Festival includes drum making, percussion, Afro-Caribbean dances, dance, theater, 7 p.m., concerts at 9 p.m., Caribbean food, social and artistic exchange with artists, 9 a.m.-noon, today and Sat. Match 13, Playa Chiquita, and Puerto Viejo, Limón. Info: 750-0062.

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President Declares National Mourning
Following Spanish Terror Bombings
By Fabián Borges
fborges@ticotimes.net

President Abel Pacheco declared yesterday and today national days of mourning in Costa Rica in response to the deadly train bombings that rocked the Spanish capital of Madrid yesterday morning, leaving at least 192 people dead and more than 1,400 wounded.

Pacheco publicly condemned the acts and pledged Costa Rica's solidarity towards the people of Spain.

"We are deeply worried," Pacheco said Thursday during his Cabinet meeting. "We are profoundly hurt by what took place."

Before beginning the meeting, the President requested a minute of silence to remember those who died during the bombings.

He then signed a presidential decree declaring Thursday and Friday national days of mourning. The decree ordered all public institutions to keep the Costa Rican flag at half-mast for the remainder of the workweek.

He also sent letters to Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar and the Spanish Royal Family expressing his "deepest condolences" and manifesting Costa Rica's solidarity toward the Kingdom of Spain.

"Life is and will always be more powerful than death," Pacheco wrote in his letter to Aznar. "Spain is life, ETA (the Basque separatist group Spanish officials claim is responsible for the bombings) is death. Spain, even in the midst of great suffering, is and will always be, infinite times more powerful than the band of murderers that today [Thursday] launched this terrible attack."

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High-School Dropout Rate
Drops to 14-Year Low
By Fabián Borges
fborges@ticotimes.net

Things are looking up, say education officials. Only about one in ten high school students who enrolled in 2003 dropped out before the end of the school year.

Last year's dropout rate was 10.4%, almost 2% lower than in 2002 and the lowest rate country has had in the past 14 years.

"For the first time, we have been able to reduce high-school dropout rates and repetition of grades in elementary schools - two of the biggest problems our education system faces," Education Minister Manuel Antonio Bolaños said yesterday.

The reported decrease was across the board, affecting all seven provinces and every type of high school. Even in the eastern province Limón, which traditionally has had the highest dropout rate, the situation improved significantly. The dropout rate there fell from 19.5% in 2002 to 15.5% last year, Bolaños said.

An important decline in the dropout rate also was reported at night high schools - special high schools for people who work. The dropout rate at those schools fell from 22.9% in 2002 to 15.5% last year.

Though proud of the results, Bolaños said it was no time for the Public Education Ministry to sit on its laurels. He announced the ministry would commit itself to further reducing the country's high-school dropout rate to 8% -the world average - by 2006.

He also announced his intention to reduce the dropout rate at night schools to 10% by that same year.

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Workshop Studies Problem-Solving
Through Family Constellations
By Maria Burns
intern@ticotimes.net

Genetic traits can be passed on from generation to generation, so why can't subconscious problems? This question, or belief, is the basis of a workshop on family constellations being led by Harold Hohnen next week.

Family constellations operate on the idea that past or present family problems can be directly related to the cause of current problems, ranging from drug abuse to depression to cancer. According to family constellation facilitators, by freeing oneself from these ill feelings, which one may not even be conscious that they possess, a person can live a happier and healthier life.

The International Workshop of Family Constellations will begin March 19 from 2-7 p.m. and continue March 20 from 9:30 a.m.-12:30p.m. and 2-5:30 p.m. at the Hotel Intercontinental Camino Real. Cost per person is $150. For more information, call 232-0521 or 290-4060 or e-mail mayacan5@racsa.co.cr.

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Cold Winds, Floods
Rattle the Country

Costa Ricans shook the moths out of their sweaters and the dust off their rain jackets last week and braced for strong winds, rain and unseasonably frigid temperatures.

Cold polar air fronts cooled the normally temperate Central Valley to a low of 17.2 degrees Centigrade and blew gusts up to 47 kilometers per hour. When those fronts bumped into the humid air masses in the Northern and Caribbean zones they unleashed torrents of rain. Officials put Upala and Guatuso on green alert over the weekend because of flooding in those areas, according to Al Día.

The Atlantic slope reported 140 mm of rainfall over the weekend, according to the National Meteorological Institute. The Caribbean city of Limón was doused with 86.3 mm in one day on March 6.

Martha Pereira, forecaster for the National Meteorological Institute, said the next week should be milder, with temperate days and moderate to strong winds and occasional rain. The Pacific slope, however, should remain warm and dry as always, she said.

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Wednesday October 26, 2005