Most Firms Ignore Waste Treatment

Only 26 percent of a total of 2,173 medium and large-scale enterprises in the city regularly submit samples of their liquid waste for assessment, the Jakarta Environmental Mana gement

Agency has said. The remaining 1,602 enterprises failed to deliver reports of the liquid waste they produced as set out in gubernatorial decree No. 299/1996. The decree requires all enterprises pro ducing liquid waste to treat the waste before disposing of it into rivers. It also requires fi rms to send samples of the treated waste to the agency every three months.

The companies on the list include hotels, apartments, office buildings, restaurants, hospitals, and industrial plants. The above fi gures do not include regis tered small-scale enterprises such as commu nity markets, small workshops and small offi ces which amount up to at least, 15,845 concerns.

Worse still, out of 571 companies which have sent their samples to us, only 35 percent, or 199 companies, comply with the decree and send us the samples every three months. The rest submit the samples every four months, six months, or even only once a year. No wonder the quality of our river water is getting worse.

High levels of pollution in the city's 13 rivers is suspected of being behind the red tide phenomenon, which killed thousands of fish in Jakarta Bay in May.

The real issue here is whether the agency has the political will because the adminis tration has ignored the existing Law No. 23/1997 on the environment.

The law authorises all environment mana gement agencies to control the liquid waste treatment of any enterprises.

The law gave the administration the power to censure transgressing companies and the city could close companies down if they conti nue to ignore existing regulations.

The law says companies found to be polluting the environment with liquid waste are given six months to improve their treatment facilities. If they fail to meet the deadline, the agency has the power to close the waste treatment facility, the area of production causing the waste, or the entire production process.

Source: Developing English Competencies for Grade XI of Language Programme

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English is considered Preparing the Children Today for Tomorrow

Parents strive to have their children academically competitive. Their goal is to send their children to good schools as well as to choose extracurricular activities that improve their children's skills and abilities.

 Children learn what is important through their school year. The question then becomes what should parents consider in choosing the best education for their children? When should the process begin?

 The answer is, from the time of birth, how ever, the schools become part of the process, when children begin preschools and kinder garten. This is when parents pick a school that parallel their educational beliefs. A joint effort between parents, students, and the schools is established. Success will be based on how well the "team" works. Parents need to look for a school that will be a "second home" for their children.

These are some important factors that should be considered. It is very important that students have good reading comprehension, writing and speaking skills. In today's world, students who develop skill in two or more languages will find further studies easier. English is considered the business language of today and is important for students who plan to attend university in English speaking countries. Mandarin is becoming more important as China begins to move into world economy. French and German are necessary for many students are now looking at oppor tunities in Europe. Students who develop more than one language have an advantage over competitors applying for college placement. However one cannot develop a second language unless one develops his or her first language. Studies show that children between the ages of two and six best acquire a second language parallel to their own. Therefore, starting students in school offering dual language instruction programmes have an advantage. If a dual language programmes isn't available, or is too expensive, parents may need to look at different ways to get the needed language instruction.

 Language acquisition needs to be active. A good school will begin with oral language at the earliest opportunity to develop speaking confidence and to set grammatical structures. When a child learn two languages in parallel, vocabulary and grammatical structures are easier to acquire. The earlier a second language is learned, the less problem a child will have with improper word use. The more active in each language students become the more proficient and confident they will be.

Taken from The Jakarta Post, 2007

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How to Produce Thread

Silkworms live for only two or three days after laying eggs. About 36,000 to 50,000 eggs are laid, and these are carefully stored at the silkworms farm until they are already to hatch. The eggs  hatch into catepillars, which feed on mulberry leaves. Soon, the catepillars are ready to spin their cocoons. Not all catepillars can spin sil cocoons. Only the catepillars of a liquid produced later hardens to form fine strands. The catepillar makes its coons using these strands. The threads on the outsideof cocoon are rough, while those inside are soft and smooth.

Some fully-spun cocoons are heated. This kill the pupa inside. The cocoons are then put into hot water to loosen the fine threads. Finally, these thread are reeled off the cocoons.

The length of unbroken thread produced by single cocoon measures about on-and-a-half kilometers. Being together of these threads make single woven materials.   

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How Planes Fly

         A plane needs air pressure under their wings to stay up in the air. As they move forward, the higher air pressure undernath their wings pushes them upward and gives them lift.

The smooth streamlined shape of the plane allows air to flow easily over its surface. This helps to reduce the drag caused by the air pushing the plane and allows it to move rapidly through the air.

Planes move forward using engines. This movement is called thrust. “Moving forward keeps a stream of moving air passing over the wings, which allows the plane to stay up in the air. If the engines fail, the plane will begin to descand very quickly.

The air above the wingmove faster so it is at a lower pressure than the air under the wing.

The air under the wing moves more slowly and is slightly squashed so it is at a higher pressure than the ir above the wing.

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