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A.M. Costa Rica's Second news page |
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San
José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 29
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 Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
photo
One
of many species of orchid bees.
Bees confirm
theory linked to aging
By the Smithsonian Tropical Research
Institute news staff
To test a controversial theory about what sets the pace of life, scientists worked at the Smithsonian in Panamá to compare metabolism and membrane lipid composition of 22 species of orchid bees of different sizes Their findings support a theory that the cell membranes of animals in the fast lane — that have high metabolic rates — are different from the cell membranes of animals with a slower pace of life, at least in the proportion of the fatty acids they contain. Membranes define the borders of animal cells and anchor proteins that pump materials in and out and produce energy. The membrane pacemaker hypothesis holds that animals that have higher metabolic rates have a higher proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids in their membranes. In a Google search of membrane pacemaker hypothesis, one of the first hits is a page about fighting aging in humans. The hypothesis has far-reaching implications and metabolism may be an important clue when it comes to explaining how aging works in all animals, including humans. So far, the hypothesis has been tested in animals from albatrosses to oysters. But comparing the membranes of very different animals is like comparing proverbial apples and oranges. They are different in so many ways that it’s not surprising that their membranes are also different. Smithsonian staff scientist Dave Roubik is the world’s expert on orchid bees. “Because we know how to collect orchid bees and we already know how they are related, it was easy to test this hypothesis in 22 closely related species that varied 16 fold in body size and 2.5 fold in metabolic rate while hovering,” Roubik said. “This is also the first time that the hypothesis has been tested in insects.” Male bees spend most of their time gathering scents in pouches on their hind legs. Roubik baits the bees by placing pieces of blotter paper impregnated with natural essential oils. When males come to collect, it’s easy to capture and identify them. The team from the University of Ottawa in Canada, the University of California, Santa Barbara and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute discovered a direct association between fatty acid composition of the bees’ membranes and their hovering metabolic rate, supporting the hypothesis that membrane composition, along with other factors that include body size and phylogeny, conspire to “set the pace of life.” Their findings are published in the Feb. 4 edition of the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Overseas voter survey point up problems By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A survey of overseas U.S. voters found a 5.4 increase in the number of respondents reporting that they were unable to complete all the steps in the overseas voting process, and 25 percent of respondents reported they had not received their ballot or had received it too late to vote. That was the summary of the survey by the Overseas Vote Foundation. The survey took place after the November midterm elections. Participation in the survey, like actual voter turnout, was significantly down in comparison with the 2012 presidential election, the foundation said. Disturbing results include the fact that even today, 6.5 percent of respondents tried but could not use the Federal Post Card Application. Among the reasons given, 29.2 percent gave “I thought I was still registered.” This points up an unexpected problem stemming from the 2010 MOVE Act’s elimination of a clause that defined the validity of the official post card voter registration/ballot request form for overseas and military voters as two general election cycles, said the foundation. MOVE is the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act. The foundation also said: "Since MOVE, voters must register again every year for all elections to be held in that year and the validity of the FPCA varies significantly across election jurisdictions, meaning that some election officials interpret the ballot request as applying to even run-off and special elections in the calendar year, while others say voters should request ballots individually for each election. Voters do not know whether their form keeps them registered beyond one calendar year in their state or for one single election. And voters may move from the first kind of state to the second, and be caught unaware that they will not receive a ballot for a special election in the event of the death or resignation of a legislator." Further problems include the fact that 29.7 percent missed the voter registration deadline in their state and 24.8 percent had technical difficulties in completing their form (14.6 percent still, today, found the form confusing), said the foundation. In addition, 23.2 percent did not receive their official ballot and 45.5 percent were unaware of their ability to use the emergency Federal Write-In Ballot if their ballot did not arrive on time, the foundation added. More than anything else, said the foundation, what these results point to is a lack of education: education of the overseas voter (which should not be the sole responsibility of overseas advocacy and political organizations) and of election officials (who should uniformly apply the single election cycle requirement, if it is to be maintained, across the board) and government itself. Respondents to the survey were self-selected, so it is likely that more people who had problems completed a survey than those who did not have problems. Raids snag thousands of faked clothes By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Expats might find that the bargain-priced, brand-named clothing is not all that merchants claim. Judicial investigators confiscated more than 5,300 pieces of clothing Tuesday in a case of faked trademarks. The confiscations were at two stores in San José. The initial complaints came from the representatives of the manufacturers. The stores contained unopened boxes that made it clear producing this type of fake brand wear is big business.
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A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 29 | |
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| Finance ministry battling its own public image in new sales
tax campaign |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The finance ministry once again is seeking the help of citizens to turn in tax cheats. The problem is compounded because in many cases, the citizens themselves are tax cheats who are benefiting from a merchant's off-the-book transaction. This year the finance ministry has an even greater public relations problem. The news has been filed with reports of golden pensions for insiders as well as pork barrel budgets. It was the finance ministry after all that created a national budget 19 percent bigger than the last year, a shock to many citizens who have not seen their own income go up that much. And the finance minister and first vice president, Helio Fallas, is not exactly a matinee idol. He is expected to present bills for even more taxes to the legislature soon. A poster for the current campaign seems to carry a mixed message. At first, it is hearts and flowers celebrating the month of love and friendship. But then the tone changes dramatically as it tells shoppers to file complaints if they do not receive an official invoice, a factura. This has been a continual effort by the ministry, which said that 457 such complaints were received last year. The off-the-book deals can be found everywhere, from the smallest restaurant to the big furniture outlets. A clerk may simply ask if a shopper needs an invoice. If so, they will apply the 13 percent sales tax. There is a new wrinkle this year, The ministry is again urging shoppers to use credit cards so the sales can be tracked easily. But now the credit card processors are under orders to remit up to 2 percent of every deal to the ministry |
 Flyer for the current campaign.
as an advance payment of income tax. And some
merchants are tacking 2 percent on the final price of items to
compensate for this bite by the ministry.The mathematics suggests that many shoppers will pay in cash, accept an unofficial receipt and save the sales tax while the merchant saves 2 percent in retained earnings. |
| As winds slow down, the instability increases, and there are
storms |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The seasonal choice is wind or rain. Residents got a surprise Tuesday when afternoon thundershowers developed over the Central Valley. Expats are expecting at least six more weeks of the dry season, but the weather Tuesday was typical of later in the year. |
There was a
reduction of wind from the north that allowed moisture
to enter the air above much of the country and provide the instability
for thunderstorms. There even were brief power outages. The Instituto Meteorológico Nacional said that the winds will be picking up a bit today, but there still are chances for downpours. |
| You need to see Costa Rican tourism information HERE! |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's Fourth News page | |||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 29 | |||||
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| Discoverer says that Lucy still carries a powerful message
to humanity |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
It has been more than 40 years since the discovery in Ethiopia of the early human skeleton named Lucy. She is one of the most famous finds of the 20th century and helped researchers better understand the history of humans. What visitors find at a natural history museum may seem far removed from the present, but the man who discovered the famous Lucy skeleton, Don Johanson, said the knowledge found in old bones is still relevant today. “There is a single common origin for humanity. No matter the shape of our eyes, no matter the color of our skin, no matter the shape of our hair, no matter what kind of culture we live in, we all carry those same genes in our body. We are united by our past. We are united by this common beginning,” said Johanson. In 1974, Johanson discovered 40 percent of Lucy’s skeleton in Ethiopia. At 3.2 million years old, she was at the time the oldest human ancestor yet found. “And that was a defining moment for me and for paleoanthropology, because for Lucy while she was found so many years ago, still remains terribly important for understanding our earliest beginnings and occupies a very important place on the human family tree as a bridge between more ape-like and more human-like creatures,” he said. Johanson said Lucy was just over a meter tall, with an ape-like face and a small brain. She had long arms and short legs. She also possessed an important human feature: the ability to walk upright. Johanson said finding Lucy advanced the field of paleoanthropology. “Lucy’s discovery in 1974 in Ethiopia really sparked and ignited a whole series of expeditions in Ethiopia that helped us flesh out the human family tree and we find out there were many more species on that tree than we had ever known before,” said Johanson. |
 Voice of America photo
Lucy's fossils on display in Los
Angeles.Johanson said the idea that humans originated from Africa is a relatively recent one. “Through much of the 20th century, there was this very Eurocentric view that we all evolved in Europe, that that was the finishing school for humanity, but now there’s almost complete consensus among scholars who study human origins that Africa was the place, just as Darwin had predicted way back in the middle 1800s,” he said. Discoveries such as Lucy not only led scholars to understand the common origins of all humans; it also highlights the uniqueness of the modern man. Today’s human has a complex brain, language and culture. Johanson said these traits allow humans to adapt and overcome the environmental challenges that have occurred and will continue to occur over time. |
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A.M. Costa Rica's Fifth
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| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 29 | |||||||
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| New federal agency told to coordinate cybersecurity By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The White House on Tuesday announced the creation of a federal agency to analyze threats to the nation's cybersecurity and coordinate strategy to combat them. The Obama administration is launching the Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center as a place to coordinate cyberthreat intelligence from the FBI, the National Security Agency, the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies. The center will operate under the guidance of the director of national intelligence. Currently, no single government agency is responsible for coordinating cyberthreat assessments, sharing information rapidly among existing agencies and providing timely intelligence to policymakers, said Lisa Monaco, assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism. The announcement came in the wake of high-profile hack attacks against Sony Pictures Entertainment, Anthem Insurance, Target, Home Depot, eBay and JPMorgan Chase. The federal government also has suffered cyberattacks, including the hacking of unclassified computers at the White House and State Department and the hacking of the Twitter and YouTube accounts of the U.S. central military command. Several of the attacks have been blamed on hackers in Russia, China and North Korea. NBC suspends Williams for his creative reporting By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
NBC television news anchor Brian Williams has been suspended for six months without pay for embellishing his role in an Iraq war story, the network said Tuesday. Williams, 55, who has issued a public apology for his actions, has been the subject of an internal NBC investigation. Late last week, he announced he would be removing himself from his top-rated evening national newscast for several days. In a written statement Tuesday, NBC Universal Chief Executive Steve Burke said, "By his actions, Brian has jeopardized the trust millions of Americans place in NBC News. His actions are inexcusable, and this suspension is severe and appropriate.'' The statement did not say whether Williams would return to his news anchor position after the suspension. During the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, Williams reported that a Chinook helicopter flying ahead of his was "almost blown out of the sky," but his story has gradually changed. The controversy erupted last month after he repeated a different version of the story on television, claiming that he was in a helicopter hit by a rocket-propelled grenade while in Iraq. Williams acknowledged last week that the story was inaccurate. But his apology, in which he said he misremembered the incident, provoked widespread derision. Military personnel who were present at the time and other journalists have called for his resignation. The network newsman also is facing scrutiny for his statements about covering Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Among his assertions, he said he saw a body float by the Ritz-Carlton hotel in the French Quarter, the historic district of New Orleans, where he stayed, and that he got dysentery from the floodwater. The U.S. Army commander of the joint task force during Hurricane Katrina later called Williams’ story suspect. Lt. Gen. Russel Honore told CNN that the flooding around Williams’ hotel would most likely not have been high enough to float a body because there was relatively little flooding in the French Quarter. In announcing his decision to take himself temporarily off the air, Williams said, "As managing editor of 'NBC Nightly News,' I have decided to take myself off of my daily broadcast for the next several days, and Lester Holt has kindly agreed to sit in for me to allow us to adequately deal with this issue." Williams said he planned eventually to return to the broadcast and "continue my career-long effort to be worthy of the trust of those who place their trust in us." Williams is a former chief White House correspondent. He has been the 'NBC Nightly News' anchor since 2004. Federal judge rejects suit over NSA spying By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A U.S. judge has dismissed a lawsuit against government surveillance of Internet communications, ruling that the plaintiffs did not meet requirements for challenging the National Security Agency practice of intercepting such data without a warrant. In dismissing the lawsuit brought by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White said its version of NSA operational details was inaccurate, court documents show. But he stopped short of detailing those inaccuracies, saying he could not do so without violating national security. The judge also said government lawyers defending the NSA's controversial Upstream program would have had to divulge classified information to mount an adequate defense. A plaintiffs statement late Tuesday said the activist group would keep fighting what it called the unlawful, unconstitutional surveillance of ordinary Americans by the U.S. government. A spokesman said the group had not yet decided on further legal action. Under the program, whose details were disclosed through leaks from privacy advocates, NSA taps into fiber cables to gather information about people's online and telephone communications. The agency is said to filter out communications from U.S. citizens, whose data is protected, to hunt for evidence of links between foreigners and terrorism-related activities. The Northern California U.S. District Court case is known as Jewel v. National Security Agency. U.S. hostage in Syria confirmed as casualty By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
U.S. officials and her family have confirmed an American woman held hostage in Syria is dead, four days after Islamic State militants said a coalition air raid killed the aid worker. White House Spokesman Josh Earnest said U.S. intelligence analysts have not determined when or how 26-year-old Kayla Mueller died after being kidnapped in August 2013. Claims surfaced online late last week that a Jordanian air strike hit a building where Mueller was believed to be held in the Syrian city of Raqqa. Jordanian, U.S. and other officials raised questions about the claim. Earnest said a Jordanian air strike Feb. 6 was conducted in coordination with the United States near Raqqa, but "there is no evidence of civilians in the target area.... That certainly would call into question the claims that are made by ISIL." "What is not possible to call into question is that ISIL, regardless of her cause of death, is responsible for it," he said. "This, after all, is the organization that was holding her against her will. That means they are responsible for her safety and for her well-being. And they are, therefore, responsible for her death." National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said Mueller's family received a private message from Islamic State captors over the weekend containing "additional information." “Once this information was authenticated by the intelligence community, they concluded that Kayla was deceased," Meehan said. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the Islamic State alone "is the reason Kayla is gone." "Like our friends in Jordan, our resolve is unshaken to defeat this vile and unspeakably ugly insult to the civilized world and to defeat terrorists whose actions – killing women, killing children, burning people alive – are an insult to the religion they falsely claim to represent," he said. In a written statement, President Barack Obama said, "She has been taken from us, but her legacy endures, inspiring all those who fight, each in their own way, for what is just and what is decent. No matter how long it takes, the United States will find and bring to justice the terrorists who are responsible for Kayla’s captivity and death." U.S. Sen. John McCain, who represents Ms. Mueller's home state of Arizona, said Tuesday that "Kayla’s remarkable legacy of service will never be forgotten, even by so many who never had the honor of meeting her." Ms. Mueller's parents were heartbroken over their daughter's death, they said in a statement. In a letter made public by the family, the aid worker wrote during her captivity that she was being treated with the utmost respect and kindness at a safe location, completely unharmed and healthy. Lawmakers expect to hear radical recruitment growing By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The number of foreign fighters traveling to Syria and Iraq to join the Islamic State or other extremist groups continues to rise despite months of bombardment by the U.S. and its allies. U.S. counterterrorism officials plan to tell the House Homeland Security Committee today that more than 20,000 foreign fighters from more than 90 countries have gone to the region. Nick Rasmussen, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, will tell the committee that at least 3,400 of the foreign fighters in Syria came from Western countries, and that they include over 150 U.S. citizens or residents. A copy of his testimony was made available to the media. He says the majority of those arriving in Syria now are joining Islamic State formations in Syria and Iraq. Western officials have long been worried that those fighters, especially the ones with U.S. and European passports, could return home radicalized and well-trained and commit terrorist attacks. Alabama chief judge holds line against gay marriage By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Alabama is the 37th U.S. state to recognize same-sex marriage, after the nation's Supreme Court denied a request that would have extended the state's ban. Some same-sex couples, however, have been turned away from getting marriage licenses. They've been handed copies of an order from Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, who says the federal judge's ruling declaring the same-sex-marriage ban to be unconstitutional isn't law. Moore argues that the federal ruling doesn’t apply to state judges and that only he has the authority over judges who issue marriage licenses. "Well, I think redefinition of the word 'marriage' is not found within the powers designated in the federal government," he said. Moore said lifting the ban could have further repercussions. "Do they stop with one man and one man, or one woman and one woman?" he asked. "Or do they go to multiple marriages, or do they go to marriages between men and their daughters, or women and their sons?" In 2002, Moore defied another federal ruling by installing a large monument engraved with the Bible's Ten Commandments in the building that houses the Alabama Supreme Court. A federal court ruled the monument had to be removed after there were complaints that the monument violated a clause in the U.S. Constitution forbidding the endorsement of religion. But Moore refused, and he was subsequently removed from his elected office in 2003. However, he was re-elected chief justice and took office in 2013. Moore’s action this week is being compared to action taken by former Alabama gov. George Wallace, who believed in racial segregation and also defied a federal law. After a federal law ordered the desegregation of Alabama’s schools, Wallace stood in front of a door at the University of Alabama in 1963 to try to stop the enrollment of two black students. Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court has said it will hear testimony this year on whether the U.S. Constitution guarantees all Americans the right to enter into same-sex marriages. Most U.S. troops ending engagement with ebola By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
President Barack Obama is expected to announce plans Wednesday to withdraw most of the American troops assigned to battle the ebola outbreak in West Africa, and to declare that the U.S. military effort has been successful. The U.S. military is expected to pull out most of the 1,300 American forces currently working in Liberia and Senegal, where officials believe the crisis has largely been contained. Just 100 will remain in West Africa after April 30, working with Liberia's military, regional partners and U.S. civilians to continue fighting ebola. The worst ebola outbreak in world history has killed almost 9,000 people. The World Health Organization, the U.N. agency, warns that challenges remain in bringing cases down to zero. The outbreak is expected to cost the three most affected countries, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, at least $1.6 billion in lost economic growth this year. Both right and left shown to carry scientific biases By the Ohio State University news service
New research suggests that liberals, as well as conservatives, can be biased against science that doesn’t align with their political views. The study found that people from both the left and right expressed less trust in science when they were presented with facts that challenged specific politicized issues. For conservatives, climate change and evolution were the issues that led them to lose some trust in science. For liberals, it was hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and nuclear power. The results challenge recent books and articles that claim conservatives alone have difficulty dealing with scientific fact. “Liberals are also capable of processing scientific information in a biased manner,” said Erik Nisbet, co-author of the study and associate professor of communication and political science at The Ohio State University. “They aren’t inherently superior to conservatives.” The researchers caution that the results shouldn’t be interpreted to create a false balance in which each side could be seen as equally wrong on all issues. “Our point is there is evidence of bias on both sides, although the bias may appear on different issues,” said co-author R. Kelly Garrett, also an associate professor of communication at Ohio State. For example, “liberals may be biased about some issues, but that doesn’t mean they are wrong about humans causing climate change,” Nisbet said. “You can’t say our study supports the climate denialism movement.” The study appears in the March 2015 issue of The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. Participants in the study were 1,518 people from across the country who were told they were evaluating a new educational Web site about science. But the researchers were actually trying to see how people reacted to science that they knew from previous studies challenged the views of conservatives (climate change, evolution) as well as science that challenged liberals (fracking, nuclear power) along with science that no one seems to have a problem with (geology and astronomy). All participants were asked a variety of demographic questions, including questions about their political ideology and their knowledge about science. They were then randomly assigned one of the six science topics. They were asked four true or false questions assessing the accuracy of their beliefs about the topic they were assigned. These questions all concerned well-accepted scientific facts. For example, the nuclear power participants were asked whether people who live near nuclear power plants are typically exposed to 20 percent more radiation than are people who do not (That is false). Those who were assigned climate change were asked whether there was a great deal of disagreement among scientists about whether or not climate change is primarily caused by human activities (That is also false). Participants then viewed the educational Web site page about their science topic. The page provided information that would have allowed participants to correctly answer all of the previous knowledge questions. Participants were asked to rate how much they felt several emotions, including anger and annoyance, after viewing the Web site. The next questions aimed to find out how motivated the participants were to resist the facts presented on the Web site. For instance, they were asked whether they felt the Web site was objective and whether it “tried to pressure me to think a certain way.” Finally, the participants were asked to rate how much they agreed with five statements that measured their trust in the scientific community. For example, one statement was “I am suspicious of the scientific community.” The results showed evidence of bias by both conservatives and liberals, although there were differences in how the two sides reacted. Both liberals and conservatives felt more negative emotions when they read the scientific pages that challenged their views compared to those who read about the scientifically neutral topics (geology and astronomy). However, the negative reaction of conservatives when they read about climate change and evolution was four times greater than that of liberals who read about nuclear power and fracking. Both liberals and conservatives showed evidence of motivated resistance against the facts related to the science topics that challenged their political beliefs. But again, conservatives reacted more strongly than liberals. The researchers can’t say for sure why conservatives reacted more strongly than liberals when they disagreed with the science, but it may go beyond ideology. “Climate change and evolution are much bigger issues in the media and political discourse than are fracking and nuclear power,” Nisbet said. “The fact that the issues that challenge conservatives are currently more polarizing in society today may intensify feelings.” One of the more distressing findings of the study was that these polarizing issues made both sides lose some trust in science, Garrett said. “Even liberals showed lower trust in science when they read about climate change and evolution, issues about which they generally agree with the scientific community,” he said. “Just reading about these polarizing topics is having a negative effect on how people feel about science.” |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's sixth news page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 29 | |||||||||
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By the University of Warwick news
staff
Researchers from the University of Warwick have found evidence to suggest a significant relationship between cannabis use and the onset and exacerbation of mania symptoms. In a paper published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, mental health researchers from Warwick Medical School carried out a review of scientific literature examining the effect of cannabis use. The literature sampled 2,391 individuals who had experienced mania symptoms. Mania symptoms are part of bipolar disorder and can include feelings of persistent elation, heightened energy and hyperactivity and a reduced need for sleep. Mania can also make people feel angry and aggressive with extreme symptoms including becoming delusional or hearing voices. Lead author Steven Marwaha said: “Previously it has been unclear whether cannabis use predates manic episodes. We wanted to answer two questions, does cannabis use lead to increased occurrence of mania symptoms or manic episodes in individuals with pre-existing bipolar disorder? But also, does cannabis use increase the risk of onset of mania symptoms in those without pre-existing bipolar disorder?” The researchers looked at a number of previous studies and concluded that cannabis use preceded the onset of mania symptoms. Marwaha said: “The observed tendency for cannabis use to precede or coincide with rather than follow mania symptoms, and the more specific association between cannabis use and new onset manic symptoms, suggests potential causal influences from cannabis use to the development of mania. It is a significant link.” Marwaha also said the review suggested that cannabis use significantly worsened mania symptoms in people who had previously been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He added: “There are limited studies addressing the association of cannabis use and manic symptoms, which suggests this is a relatively neglected clinical issue. However, our review suggests that cannabis use is a major clinical problem occurring early in the evolving course of bipolar disorder. More research is needed to consider specific pathways from cannabis use to mania and how these may be effected by genetic vulnerability and environmental risk factors. “Cannabis is the most prevalent drug used by the under-18s and during this critical period of development services should be especially aware of and responsive to the problems that cannabis use can cause for adolescent populations." |
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| From Page 7: Major real estate firm expands to Costa Rica Special to A.M. Costa Rica
Keller Williams, the world’s largest real estate franchise by agent count, announced that it has awarded its first region in Central America to a group of business leaders led by Allen Lungo. “Over the past six years, I’ve talked with hundreds of Keller Williams agents and all of them have said it is the best company with which they have ever worked and they could never imagine leaving it,” Lungo said. “I am convinced it is the right choice for me, our real estate company and Costa Rica.” Trained as an architect, Lungo holds an MBA from the University of California at Los Angeles and has compiled an impressive track record of business success in management, design, construction and finance in cities including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, an announcement said. In 2004, he founded the Summerland Group and serves as broker for Costa Rica Real Estate Store. Lungo has helped grow Summerland into the largest, fully integrated investor consulting and vacation support business on Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast, the announcement added. The company operations involve more than 350 residential and commercial properties including nine resort locations and offers services including real estate sales, property management and insurance and mortgage consulting. Lungo is president of the Costa Rica Global Association of Realtors and a frequent presenter at international real estate conferences and has chaired an initiative to introduce a national multiple listing service in Costa Rica. “Costa Rica has an unlicensed professional environment where voluntary associations provide the only training available,” Lungo said. “We want to apply the models, training, and market momentum of Keller Williams to set a new professional standard for Costa Rica. The launch of KW Costa Rica will help agents, investors and consumers.” |
