An interesting article about the state of astronomy in Chile appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education for 23 July 1999, authored by Kim McDonald. It discusses the world-class facilities available now or under development, the virtues of Chile's climate for astronomy, and the challenges faced by Chilean universities in accommodating the tremendous research opportunities opened to them by this development.
McDonald accompanied Charlie Telesco and the University of Florida team on a 4-m observing run with OSCIR, and interviewed a number of Chilean and foreign astronomers connected with collaborative programs for graduate training. He was assisted in this by René Méndez at CTIO. The resulting article, written for the larger academic community, is well-informed and well-balanced.
Ron Probst (rprobst@noao.edu )