Indocement and
\npollution<\/p>\n
From Jayakarta<\/p>\n
For years, production waste from cement factory PT Indocement
\nhas polluted its surrounding areas.<\/p>\n
The ashes from the cement factory have spread out and engulfed
\nthe roofs of villagers' houses in Gunung Putri, Cagak, Wanaherang
\nand Citereup.<\/p>\n
Although the villagers there have repeatedly complained to the
\ngovernment, they have yet to be appeased, despite the fact that
\nthe villagers clearly suffer from the polluted air generated by
\nPT Indocement's factory.<\/p>\n
I hope that the government surveys the case and that the
\npowers that be of PT Indocement recognize the people's suffering.<\/p>\n
TEGUH SUYONO<\/p>\n
Bogor, West Java<\/p>\n
Get tough on
\ndrug dealers<\/p>\n
From Tempo<\/p>\n
A recent report about drug abuse in Tempo weekly newsmagazine
\nsaid that Indonesia has become a fertile ground for the business.<\/p>\n
One of the reasons why drug dealers like to operate in the
\ncountry is the light punishment handed out to smugglers. In
\nMalaysia, someone found guilty of importing more than 15
\nmilligrams gets the death sentence. But here, someone convicted
\nof smuggling over 20 kilograms gets a 20-year jail term.<\/p>\n
In view of the big money involved in drug smuggling, 20 years
\nis nothing.<\/p>\n
Therefore, Indonesia should follow the step taken by the other
\nGolden Triangle countries (except Myanmar) as soon as possible,
\nsince the conditions which encourage the filthy business will
\nonly worsen.<\/p>\n
Myanmar and Colombia serve as examples of how not to go about
\nit. Those two countries are known as havens for drug lords. It
\nseems that the governments of those countries have been late in
\naddressing the issue and hence the situation has become
\ncomplicated.<\/p>\n
I think it is high time the Indonesian government increase the
\nseverity of punishments handed out to drug smugglers.<\/p>\n
Moreover, it is disgusting to see the Indonesian jet-setters
\nwho wallow in the bulk of the profits of development out there
\ngetting drunk.<\/p>\n
ALAMSYAH M. JUWONO<\/p>\n
Hobart, Australia<\/p>\n
Computer Discussion<\/p>\n
Most of us enjoy the Monday edition of The Jakarta Post
\nwherein the Science\/Technology articles appear, specifically the
\ncomputer articles by Mr. Zatni Arbi and Mr. James O. Scharf.<\/p>\n
Mr. Arbi usually gives us useful information regarding new
\nreleases of software and other nice to know information. He
\nobviously uses and likes Microsoft Windows. I would like to see
\nthe names and addresses of the local representatives of
\nMicrosoft, Borland, Lotus, etc. at some stage, but Mr. Arbi is
\ndoing a great job. I wonder that he thinks about the recent
\nNovell purchases of Wordperfect Corp. and Borland Quattro Pro?
\nI'd also like to see his comments about the new Novell DOC 7,
\nwhich has many new features, including built-in networking, that
\nMS DOS does not have.<\/p>\n
Mr. Scharf, on the other hand, entertains us with his more
\nscholarly approach and occasional puzzles to solve as well as his
\nstories of (among others) hard-of-hearing frogs with their limbs
\nbeing chopped off. These items make us appreciate Mr. Scharf's
\nobvious intelligence and sense of humor. Therefore, it is
\ndifficult to understand his reference to MS-Windows in the March
\n28, issue of the Post. He says "Look for Windows to go out the
\nwindow (where it belongs) and OS\/2 to take over as the dominant
\nOperating System". We thought Mr. Scharf was a rational man; next
\nhe will be telling us that DOS is dead and that UNIX was
\ndelivered straight from the Heavens! Or does he work for IBM?<\/p>\n
I don't consider myself a Microsoft supporter; I don't like
\nMicrosoft. I don't like their international representatives I
\nhave met and I don't like their marketing strategies. I don't
\nlike MS DOS, MS Word, MS Excel, MS Access or MS Powerpoint; I do
\nlike MS Publisher and I like MS FoxPro, but it wasn't developed
\nby Microsoft.<\/p>\n
Do I think OS\/2, which is IBM's answer to Windows, is a better
\nOperating System than the Operating environment provided by
\nWindows? You bet I do. Do I think OS\/2 has a chance of ousting
\nWindows as the dominant Operating System? It will snow on Jl.
\nThamrin before that happens. If we have learned one thing over
\nthe past few decades it is this: technical elegance will not be
\nthe deciding factor. Ask yourselves this: how many copies of
\nWindows are in use in the U.S. and how many copies of OS\/2? The
\nanswer is about 50 million copies of Windows and less than 1\/10
\nof that for OS\/2.<\/p>\n
We have to remember here that there is a major difference
\nbetween OS\/2 and Windows at this point in time and it is that
\nOS\/2 is a true Operating System (like DOS) and runs on its own.
\nWindows on the other hand is an operating environment and needs
\nDOS (or OS\/2) to run. IBM has even released something called
\n"OS\/2 for Windows" which is outselling the regular OS\/2. We don't
\nsee Microsoft selling something called "Windows for OS\/2", nor
\nwill we. The next release of Windows (code name Chicago) will not
\nrequire DOS to run and perhaps that is the version of Windows
\nthat Mr. Scharf should compare to OS\/2.<\/p>\n
It is like the battle between Apple hardware and IBM hardware;
\nthe die-hard Macintosh fans (my own brother is one) insist the
\nApple is much better. And you know what? They are right. Now ask
\nthem about market share and they mumble something about 10-15
\npercent and dropping. Apple is even going to start selling
\nWindows software and will soon make their new machines capable of
\nrunning Windows.<\/p>\n
I note that Mr. Scharf has threatened to feature the
\ncapabilities of OS\/2 in a future article. I would like him to
\naddress some of these points. Even better why doesn't The Jakarta
\nPost arrange a "point, counter-point" discussion, through their
\narticles, between Mr. Scharf as the champion of OS\/2 and Mr. Arbi
\nas the Windows advocate. That would make for interesting reading.<\/p>\n
JOHN R. FENTON<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>\n
A matter of money<\/p>\n
From Prospek<\/p>\n
Public minibus accidents which have killed and maimed the
\npassengers have occurred many times, but it has not made the
\nminibus drivers stop driving carelessly in the streets.<\/p>\n
To discipline the careless drivers, the Land and
\nTransportation Control Agency (DLLAJR) has taken a strict measure
\nby revoking the business license of any minibus' owner whose
\ndrivers have been shown to be driving irresponsibly. I hope that
\nthe measure is not simply a smokescreen.<\/p>\n
I think there are some factors which are responsible for their
\ncareless driving.<\/p>\n
First, there are inexperienced drivers who have no
\nqualifications to operate a bus. These drivers get their jobs by
\nmaking payoffs to authorized drivers in order to get a spot on a
\ndriving schedule. Because there is a definite time schedule for
\neach company, it is possible that four inexperienced drivers will
\ndrive the same route in one day.<\/p>\n
Also, because of the time limitations, there is ruthless
\ncompetition between the unauthorized drivers to collect money so
\nthey can make their payments to authorized drivers.<\/p>\n
According to a reliable source, anyone who drives a minibus
\nmust also pay a fixed sum of money (Rp 400,000,-) to the minibus
\nowner every day!<\/p>\n
SOEDI BARKAH<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>\n
HIV virus
\nunknown?<\/p>\n
The article entitled AIDS is behavioral, multifactorial
\ndisease (The Jakarta Post, March 28, 1994) caught my attention
\nright away. It was very interesting to read another point of view
\nregarding how this disease kills its hosts. It was stated that to
\nsome researchers, the exact cause of AIDS is still unknown. HIV
\nmay be one of them, but since HIV itself actually kills 'only'
\nsome 10,000 cells, whereas the human body replenishes much more
\ncells than this, it is yet unclear how HIV could do all the
\ndamage found in terminal AIDS patients.<\/p>\n
Some investigators have argued that a co-factor might be
\ninvolved, while others speculate that the AIDS virus may become
\nmore pathogenic as it replicates inside the infected hosts.
\nHowever, I should point out that some investigators came up with
\na hypothesis that since HIV is a retrovirus, it lacks the
\nmechanisms to correct errors that occur when its genetic material
\nis being duplicated (Science, vol. 254 p.963-969).<\/p>\n
This means that every time the virus makes a copy of itself
\nthere will be, on average, at least one genetic "mistake"
\nincorporated in the new virus. Therefore, in a person who
\nrecently has been infected with the virus, his\/her body will
\nharbor a large population of closely related, but not identical,
\nviruses. At first, the body's immune system will recognize most
\nmembers of this population of viruses, which makes them under the
\ncontrol of the immune system, but pretty soon some mutants will
\nevade the immune response. As these mutants grow, the body has to
\nrespond to these new forms. Ultimately, the sheer number of
\ndifferent viruses to which the immune system must respond becomes
\noverwhelming and the immune system collapses.<\/p>\n
I should point out that this hypothesis has only been tested
\non two patients who have tested positively for HIV. A larger
\nsample is therefore needed to test the accuracy of this
\nhypothesis.<\/p>\n
DAMI BUCHORI<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indocement-and-1447899208", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }