Students to hold peace camp

Students to hold peace camp

YOGYAKARTA: The University of Gadjah Mada's Peace and Security
Study Center and Quaker International are to organize a camping
trip for local and foreign students to promote intercultural
understanding.

The trip will last from April 27 until May 1, and be held at
the Wanagama forest in the regency of Gunungkidul, said the
organizing committee chairman, M. Sigit AR, on Saturday.

He said the trip was aimed at fostering the intercultural
understanding of participants and promoting the values of
pluralism, non-violence, solidarity and participation.

The event comes against the backdrop of the recent murder of a
Yogyakarta high school student, he said without elaborating.

"That is why we must rebuild the foundations that have been
lost, namely empathy, tolerance and non-violence in solving
problems," he said. -- Antara

Vice operation launched

BONDOWOSO, East Java: Public servants in the East Java town of
Bondowoso will have to think twice before indulging in hanky-
panky with prostitutes as the police have announced a morality
drive against would-be civil service Don Juans.

"This campaign is aimed at netting civil servants engaging in
immoral activities. We may also catch ordinary members of the
public doing the same thing," said Bondowoso Police chief Adj.
Sr. Comr. Sumarjiyo on Saturday.

The joint campaign by the police, the local administration,
and the local tourist board comes amid suspicions that a growing
number of civil servants are engaging in illicit sexual liaisons
in lodges or hotels during lunch time or during working hours.

Sumarijiyo called on the public to inform the authorities if
they suspected civil servants were engaging in immoral
activities. Indonesian civil servants are easily recognizible by
their uniforms.

"We'll conduct raids routinely until we rid the city of vice,"
said the police chief.

Bondowoso tourist board chief Warsito Rahardjo said he hoped
the operation would improve the image of the local hotel
industry. -- Antara

Female students protest Megawati

PEKANBARU, Riau: Around 200 female students on Saturday marked
Indonesia's upcoming women's day, known here as R.A. Kartini day,
with protests against the leadership of President Megawati
Soekarnoputri, and demanded that she step down.

"Megawati must immediately resign as she has failed to lead
this nation out of all its various crises," said the protest
coordinator, Evariati Rambe.

The female protesters marched to the state radio station, RRI,
to have their demands broadcast. But finding the RII offices
closed, they marched to the city's largest shopping center, the
Sukaramai market.

Megawati's leadership, they said, did not reflect the values
Indonesians had learned from Kartini.

Schools across Indonesia will celebrate the birthday of Raden
Ajeng Kartini on April 21. During her short life from 1879 until
1904, she fought for the right of women to be educated. She is
now a hero of Indonesia's women's emancipation struggle. --
Antara