I've heard this drivel about Samoa "choosing" to be closed down before. For what reason did the operator "choose" to shut down?
Did Samoa shut down because the operator had achieved all his goals-- there just wasn't a market for teens needing help anymore? He had already made all the money in world and became arm-weary from carrying it to the bank everyday?
I suppose with your new PR firm, your next strategy will be to pass off the closure of Dundee as merely a voluntary "choice" also. After all, Narvin voluntarily "chose" to ignore Costa Rican immigration law, and brought in 100s of kids without legal visas. Narvin "chose" to operate in a fashion that he had to hire six different directors within an 18 months period. (Did he "choose" incompetent managers, or did the managers "choose" not to be accessories to his depredations?)
Narvin "chose" to induce hundreds of parents to send their kids thousands of miles away from home --- while overlooking the fact that as a matter of Costa Rican law, human beings over age 14 cannot be held against their will. Narvin "chose" to operate in Costa Rica because he thought he could avoid those nasty regulators (like the ones in the U.S. that shut down Provo Canyon Boys Ranch and Brightway) He just "chose" to forget that he might be subject to different local laws.
And then when the stuff hits the fan, its NOT the fault of the management who made these choices. Nooooo! BLAME THE PROSECUTOR FOR ENFORCING THE LAW! Did it occur to anyone that that Costa Rica (and most of the other nations of the world) might have a legitimate interest in protecting the rights of 14 year old humans from incarceration without a semblance of due process? And further, that that interest might conceivaby outweigh the interest of a for-profit operator of a private incarceration facility?
Pray tell, was the Dundee program an example of WILLFUL disregard of local law or just GROSS NEGLIGENCE in exposing the inmates to a situation that became inevitable as a direct result of management's voluntary choices?
As for the "temporary" nature of the shutdown, it seems both sides are distancing themselves from each other. Narvin was quoted a few weeks ago in the Costa Rican Tico Times as saying his new plan is to re-open as a more coventional boarding school (like his local Competitor, Coronado Academy) which probably won't be affiliated with WWASPs. Meanwhile, the boys at the home office in Utah are getting themselves a new PR firm and mumbling about how the unfortunate situation in Costa Rica was just so darn unfair, not representative of their swell program, yadda, yadda...
[ This Message was edited by: scottT on 2003-08-27 08:43 ]
