People, Places and Frogs

     WAISer Bob Drewes is a Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences who spends several months a year in Sub-Saharan Africa. His special interest is frogs, and his main worry is their decline. It would be an international tragedy if the one named after him became extinct. He reports on his recent trip:
     I attending professional meetings at Stellenbosch University-- a group of biologists who specialize on African amphibians and meet every 3 to 5 years. I can note that the institution with which I am affiliated, the University of the Western Cape, (a traditionally "black university") appears to have quite adequate funding at both the faculty and student levels, and there is a high level of graduate student activity in the Department of Zoology. Good projects, fairly well-trained kids of all shades, etc. I had a discussion with a former UWC grad student who now works for FRD (their equivalent of our NSF), and she actively solicited my advice on funding methods, levels etc... I gather they are revamping their operations and are quite open to suggestions.(I have frequently served as a reviewer on funding proposals).
     I have several colleagues who work for Cape Nature Conservation ( the equiv of our Wildlife Dept, but on the provincial level) who have been conducting major surveys of natural resources in the province.. Their presentation suggested they have the best of technology at their disposal and are dealing with various conservation problems in as professional a manner as I could hope for.
     I can reiterate that I remain sanguine about South Africa's future. As you know I have spent 30 years in and out of Back Africa, and it is still my impression that the average South African citizen, regardless of his or her background, "owns" a bigger piece of South Africa than any citizen of any country to the north owns of his (with the exception of Botswana), and I think enough are aware of this to forstall any real Armaggedon. The question remains as to whether the infrastructure, built to serve the few, can expand quickly enough to respond to the needs of the many. I confess that I am still somewhat shaken when driving on the N2 between Stellenbosch and Cape Town.. 15 years ago, the road passed through Cape flats... now there is a nearly continuous squatters camp that goes on for miles.. On the other hand, I have seen the advent of electricity in several "townships" I know, and the one ouside Stellenbosch seems to have been nearly rebuilt.
     My comment: Bob's report ends with a report on the political situation, which jibes with what the press has reported. I would like to know more about the universities. When I was there some years ago, Stellenbosch was a charming place; the university was less rigid than the other Afrikaans universities, which were running well in comparison with the English universities such as Witwatersrand, which were in turmoil. I assume all that has changed.

Ronald Hilton - 06/26/99