these folks are friends of mine, and are stationed at mcmurdo station antarctica as support staff. no, they are not researchers, but you would be surprised how many young researchers come in from universities for the summer season. and i think the sign is spelled wrong and corrected for a reason - no one who ever asks us about antarctica can spell it right. they should have also somewhere had a polar bear on the sign. and they don't pay to get there, so they don't have the disposable income, they are most likely (as most of us are) in deep school debt and are working down there to pay the debts off while not having to pay for room and board.