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The University of Kansas pulled the plug Monday on its Golfito undergraduate study program because of what it said were heightened tension and a changing emotional climate in the southern Pacific port town. The community is where assailants murdered University of Kansas senior Shannon Martin May 13, 2001. Diana Carlin, dean of the Graduate School and International Programs, said the decision was unfortunate but a necessary precautionary step. "We have tried very hard to maintain this program because of its high academic value," said Carlin. "But we are concerned about sending students there in the fall." University of Kansas students have been going there for 10 years, said the university. Some 318 students participated in the program, according to a total provided by the university. The university’s decision is an economic blow to the port town, better known in Costa Rica as the place to purchase untaxed household appliances. Three persons are in custody as suspects in the death of Miss Martin. Two are men. The young woman died during a brutal attack when assailants grabbed her as she walked a short distance from the local Jurassic Bar to the home of her host family. Strictly speaking, she was not a study-abroad student, the university noted, but had returned on her own to Costa Rica to finish up a senior biological research project. Host families and some retail outlets will bear the direct economic brunt of the university decision. Some 12 students were supposed to study there starting in August. Dean Carlin said via e-mail Tuesday that the university would be keeping its program at the University of Costa Rica in San Pedro. Carlin said in an earlier university release that the year of constant examination has strained staff in Golfito and university’s resources here. The Institute of Tropical Studies where the program was located lacks the support systems of other study abroad sites that are typically located on college campuses, she said. "During the past year, we have subjected the program to scrutiny regarding
the safety of students and personnel, the orientation of
The dean said that monitoring and review of the university program persuaded university officials that the climate in Golfito is changing: "Heightened tension from the murder of Shannon Martin, the long investigation and now the pending trial have had a cumulative effect. The demands are more than our limited staff there can properly handle." The Study Abroad budget does not allow for further personnel or the resources to continue the high level of monitoring the situation requires, Carlin said. In addition, the program has attracted a high percentage of students from other schools, and it is difficult to provide the necessary pre-departure orientation program without additional expense for the students and the university, she said. Fees charged these students do not cover present expenses and fall far short of the |
additional costs necessary to continue
the program, said the university release.
No University of Kansas students are currently in Golfito. Summer students have just gone home, and the fall program would normally begin in early August, the university said. The break in the semester cycle offers the best time to end the program, said Carlin. The dean said that the university would not abandon Golfito as a research site and "will pursue other options for taking advantage of this unique site in the future," she said. In her Tuesday e-mail the dean wanted to praise the Golfito program: "I cannot emphasize enough how much our students have learned from their experiences in Golfito. They have high praise for the host families and for the quality of instruction and the uniqueness of the setting." Investigators detained a female suspect last Nov. 21, and identified her by the last name of Cruz. She was 27 when arrested. She had been held and questioned repeatedly since. They arrested the two men Monday afternoon in the center of town. Investigators are working on the assumption that the killers had plans
to rob Miss Martin as she walked back alone from the popular nightspot.
Instead, the robbery turned to murder. She was stabbed up to 15 times.
Mom wants program
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff Jeanette Stauffer of Topeka, Kan., the mother of the slain university student, told reporters there that the University of Kansas study abroad program should continue. But she wanted increased safety precautions and a new director. The current director failed to learn enough about his community and to share that information with students, Stauffer claimed. She spoke to the Lawrence, Kans., Journal-World newspaper and said that the atmosphere in Golfito changed not recently as the university said but right after her daughter left in Spring 2000. She said drug use soared. She has visited the area twice and has been in close touch with residents. The three people in custody as suspects in the murder of her daughter Shannon Martin are believed to be linked to drugs. Investigators have said informally that the robbery was drug-motivated. However, not everyone agrees that drug use has increased. One resident who lives near Golfito said cocaine and marijuana have always been, and are still, readily available to anyone with the desire to use them. As a port, the community always had its rough element. The town may receive a much more serious economic blow than the end of the university program. President Abel Pacheco and his economic advisers are considering eliminating the tax exemption that causes thousands of Costa Rican shoppers to travel to the town and stay the obligatory overnight. Pacheco wants to revoke this special concession that was created to encourage economic activity in the community. Golfito is no stranger to economic problems. The once-thriving banana exporting business is gone and a spectacular fire leveled a number of tax-free stores in the city center last year. The murder of the university coed brought and maintained an unwelcome spotlight on the town. |
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