  We give an overview of the phenomenology of strangeness enhancement in heavy
ion collisions, within the paradigm of the statistical model of particle
production. We argue that, while strangeness enhancement data is suggestive of
a phase transition, the mechanism triggering enhancement is still elusive. We
study the feasibility to constrain this mechanism by determining the scaling
variable of strangeness enhancement. We further argue that to test the
applicability of the statistical model generally, and to confirm our
interpretation of the statistical physics responsible for strangeness
enhancement, the scaling of strange particle fluctuations ($K/\pi$ and other
particles) w.r.t. yields has to be explored.
