Indonesia's National Exam: How Much Pressure Can Students Take?
Anita Rachman | April 22, 2012

 A student takes the National Exam at High School 68, in Jakarta, on April 16, 2012. Some 2.5 million Indonesian students took the exam last week, but now some education officials are asking, how much pressure can Indonesia's high school students take? (JG Photo/ yudhi sukma wijaya)
If official expectations for this year’s national exam were high, so was the level of anxiety among students, a survey by the Education and Culture Ministry revealed on Friday.

As many as 78 percent of students told the ministry that they were anxious at the thought of taking the exam. Asked the same question using different wording,  74 percent of the students said they were worried they would not pass the exam.

The results of the survey would seem to confirm the criticism of educators and experts that the national exam puts too much stress on students.

While the ministry did not give an exact figure for the number of students it questioned for the survey, it said it spoke with 10 to 15 percent of the some 2.5 million high school and vocational school students who took the exam earlier this week.

Haris Supratno, an education expert and a former rector of the Surabaya State University, told the Jakarta Globe that students were worried because the national exam was not seen as a simple part of the learning process.

“The exam has become very political, with teachers, principals and local governments pushing students to get good scores for the reputation of the schools and the area,” Haris said. “National exams should be taken as part of the learning process, then students will feel at ease with it.”

With so much pressure on one test, cheating has become a major issue. Teachers have been part of the problem, with some encouraging students to cheat and distributing answers to help them get better results.

Critics have accused local governments of encouraging cheating because they want to brush up their image with a high pass rate.

The idea of stressed out students is not new, having been reported for years.  In 2008, a student in Kupang killed herself after failing the test.

“Local governments should stop politicizing the national exam. The test should be done like any other test,” Haris said.

But the education and culture minister, Mohammad Nuh, said that being anxious ahead of an exam was a normal part of life for students.

“Do not equate anxiousness with fear,” he said. “One is being anxious because there is a challenge, a pressure and a demand. Every student wants to pass the test. It is a challenge for them.”

He pointed out that the ministry’s study showed that 79 percent of the students  questioned said the national exam had made them study harder.

But for Deru Sutanto Hariadhy, a high school student at Jakarta’s SMAN 35, the anxiety is here to stay until the end of May, when the ministry announces the exam results.

“I am anxious, worried, before, during and after the test,” he said. “Well, not on all the subjects, just mathematics and economics. But yes, I am worried.”
COMMENT:   
In case, the national exam is good to know how far you know all about the subjects which they learn. But, the false if the national exam become a big worrier to many students because if they can’t pass the exam they can’t get their university. Not only that, if they are not get the high score in their national exam they are worried too, because their school push them to get the high score to up the reputation from that school. That is not fair, because of that the students do the exam under the presure. They can’t do the exam with enjoy. And because of that to, many case of cheating during the national exam. That is not a new issue again. I think that the national exam must be different for the next year. Tha national exam don’t be a key to graduate, because three days or four days for tha national exam can’t change three years process the student in their high school. Meaby many student not in good body condition when they do the exam so they can’t pass the exam well. Even the student is a great student in that high school. Or meaby, many student cheating during the national exam. So they are get the high score, but that score is not a pure score. They just be a lier, to other people and to themself. So meaby next time the national exam not like this time, meaby the student may choose the subjects which want to they do in their exam. If the national exam like that, I guess the students more enjoy to do that exam. 

Sumber : http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/04/20/stray-dogs-find-new-homes.html
Stray dogs find new homes
Novia D. Rulistia, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 04/20/2012 11:44 AM

 Dog-day afternoon: Shoppers admire the puppies up for adoption at the “Dog Does Disco” event at Central Park mall in West Jakarta recently. Stray dogs displayed at the event were recovered by the Pawrescuer community. JP/Wendra AjistyatamaHomeless, starving and even badly injured when found on the streets of Jakarta, these dogs are now in better shape and waiting for new owners to take care of them.

Luck is on their side, dozens of Jakarta’s dog lovers have been registering as adopters of stray dogs at recent dog adoption events.

“We’re so surprised at so many people coming here. We ran out of registration forms for adopters, and even had to close the registration earlier than planned,” said Erwin Simon of the Pawrescuer community, which organized dog adoptions at a recent event at Central Park shopping mall in West Jakarta.

Erwin said that of around 10 dogs, mostly mixed breeds, brought to the event to be adopted, each had 20 to 25 people who were interested in adopting. Before determining who gets to take which dog home, Pawrescuer members conduct a survey first.

“We don’t give the dogs right away to those who want to adopt them. We must make sure the dogs get the home they deserve,” he said.

The members will visit the houses of people who have registered to check if the environment is dog-friendly and interview the potential adopters.

“Through the interview, we find out which vet they will use if the dog gets sick, and whether other family members also support the idea of having a dog in the home,” Erwin said, adding that the adoption process was free. The future owners only needed to pay Rp 100,000 (US$11) for vaccine costs.

“They must also post the growth of the dog regularly at the Pawrescuer webpage so we can see that they are being treated well,” he said.

A dog lover, Fransiskus Etsa Riski, said that this was his first time looking for a dog to adopt. “I don’t care about the breed, I just like dogs and hope I’m good enough to get the dog I want,” the owner of two Pomeranian dogs said.

Pawrescuer rescues stray dogs that are reported to them. They also rescue dogs they come across on the streets. “We sometimes find them abandoned in empty buildings, at dump sites or just limping along . We take them to the doctor, and once they’re fine, we post the news on our Facebook or BlackBerry Messenger to find new owners,” said Ywok Mie Fang, also from Pawrescuer.

Sari Alie, the founder of the Save Indonesian Dogs organization, said the abandoned dogs were not only mongrels, but also expensive, rare breeds. The owners threw the dogs out because they usually found it hard and expensive to maintain the dogs, she said. “For example, the cost of grooming and food for a Golden Retriever is around Rp 2 million a month. This leads the owners to abandon the dogs,” Sari, who has adopted four wild dogs, told The Jakarta Post at a recent dog adoption event in Ragunan, South Jakarta.

Such was the case with 16-year-old Kartika Silalahi. She found a Golden Retriever, which she named Bruno, on a street in West Jakarta, and decided to take it home.

“My family does think that taking care of Bruno is a waste of money, but I just could not stand seeing a dog neglected. Golden Retrievers are used to living indoors, so do not have the survival skills to live on streets,” she said, adding that she spent Rp 5 million a month to feed her four dogs

The dog adoption events were organized to commemorate World’s Stray Animal Day, which fell on April 4.
COMMENT:
When I’m in high school, I follow the rescue comunities too. I join with my friends in Pondok Pengayom Satwa Ragunan. In there I learn, how to take care to other animal. Especially dog and cat. I really enjoy that aktivity. I rescue the animal too, especially dog and cat. I ever seen the cat who has the broken leg, the dog who has broken feet, etc. Beside that I adoption a dog too and a view cat. Don’t know why, since I am a kid I do love animal, especially dog and cat. So that communities really help me to make me more care about animal. About this article, you must know that dog is like family. They are different with other animal. They are really know about people who loved them. They respect with the people who care with them. For example they respect when the people ask them to playing or ask them to eat something. They really know it. So from this situation, all of the rescue communities don’t want if the dog who want to adopted get the wrong adopter. Because having dog is not only about give them food or give them a cage, but having dog like having a new family. You must give them love and care, so they are can feel happy and don’t ever attack you. They can really know you and can give you more love and care as you give to them.

Iowa Paper Devotes Front Page to Fighting Bullying
April 23, 2012

 This image shows the front page of The Sioux City Journal's Sunday, April 22, 2012, edition, featuring a full-page piece to an anti-bullying editorial after a gay teen committed suicide. (AP Photo/The Sioux City Journal). In a rare and forceful act of advocacy, an Iowa newspaper devoted the entire front page of its Sunday edition to an anti-bullying editorial after a gay teen committed suicide.

Relatives have said 14-year-old Kenneth Weishuhn Jr. suffered intense harassment, including threatening cellphone calls and nasty comments posted online, after coming out to family and friends about a month ago. He died April 15 from what the local sheriff's office described only as a "self-inflicted injury."

The Sioux City Journal's front-page opinion piece calls on the community to be pro-active in stopping bullying and urges members to learn more about the problem by seeing the acclaimed new film, "Bully," which documents the harassment of a Sioux City middle school student. It notes that while many students are targeted for being gay, "we have learned a bully needs no reason to strike."

"In Kenneth's case, the warnings were everywhere," the editorial said. "We saw it happen in other communities, now it has hit home.

Undoubtedly, it wasn't the first life lost to bullying here, but we can strive to make it the last.

Editor Mitch Pugh said the newspaper has run front-page editorials before but has never devoted the entire page to one.

"A lot of newspapers shy away from putting editorials on the front page, but we feel we have to be a strong advocate for our community," he said. "And if we don't do that, we're not sure who else is."

Weishuhn's mother, Jeannie Chambers, told the Journal last week that she and the rest of the family knew he was being harassed but didn't realize the extent of the bullying. His sister told a local television station that Weishuhn, a freshman, had many friends and was popular at South O'Brien High School in Paullina until he came out. Then students turned on him.

Weishuhn's family couldn't immediately be reached Sunday by The Associated Press.

Pugh said the newspaper didn't consult the family before printing the editorial.

"This was a bigger issue than one person," he said.

Andy Marra, a spokesman for the national anti-bullying group GLSEN, said the Journal's decision makes "complete sense."

"Public education is absolutely vital to addressing bullying and harassment in schools," he said, adding that community pressure could push schools to do more.

Associated Press

COMMENT:
Before I read this article, even I saw the title I really sure that the article is interesting theme to discuss. Why? Because many casus in Indonesia include in theme bullying. Bullying in Indonesia is not the new issues again, not the new news again. Bullying was submit in any group or communities in Indonesia. Especially in educational world. Even, bullying change become a new trend in Indonesia especially in educational world, many case bullying in educational from junior high school until college. Don’t know why that bullying become famous in educational world, even in view school bullying case is more often doing by student in that school. They are said that bullying was become a culture in their school. They do that because bullying was doing a long time ago in that school. How can you feel and think? That bullying beome a culture? Whereas bullying is really not appropiate with Indonesia culture and motto. The case about bullying in Indonesia really not match with argument Indonesia about anti-bullying. Many case about bullying in Indonesia respon by many people in Indonesia and the case was taken care of the law in Indonesia. But many case of the bullying still hidden from the law. Many people who in bullying fear if they tell what happend with them to the police. So, what do you think? Do you want that bullying really become a new culture in Indonesia? I guess not.

noun clause

TUGAS SOFT SKILL BAHASA INGGRIS
NOUN CLAUSE
Oleh : Hedwig Ajeng Grahani / 18211164 / 1EA13

PENGERTIAN NOUN CLAUSE
A noun is used as a sucject or an object.
A noun clause is used as a subject. In other words, a noun clause is used in the same ways as a noun.
A noun clause is a clause functioning as a noun. It has its own subject and verb.
(sumber : buku cetak)
Noun clause adalah klausa yang berfungsi sebagai nomina. Karena fungsinya sebagai nomina, maka noun clause dapat menduduki posisi-posisi berikut:
1.    Subjek kalimat (subject of a sentence)
2.    Objek verba transitif (object of a transitive verb)
3.    Objek preposisi (object of a preposition)
4.    Pelengkap (complement)
5.    Pemberi keterangan tambahan (noun in apposition)
(sumber : http://citrasat.wordpress.com/2010/03/14/pengertian-noun-clause/)

CONTOH KALIMAT
NAOUN CLAUSE SEBAGAI SUBJECT KALIMAT  ( S + V )
1.    What he said was interesting.
2.    What she said surprise me.
3.    What the teacher said was true.
4.    That the world is round is a fact.

NOUN CLAUSE SEBAGAI OBJEK VERBA TRANSITIF (S + V + O verba)
1.    I don’t know what you said.
2.    I understand what she is talking about.
3.    He said that he would study in japan.
Verba yang diikuti noun clause antara lain :
admit : mengakui
realize : menyadari
announce : mengumumkan
recommend : menganjurkan
believe : percaya
remember : ingat
deny : menyangkal
reveal : menyatakan, mengungkapkan
expect : mengharapkan
say : mengatakan
find : menemukan
see : melihat
forget : lupa
stipulate : menetapkan
hear : mendengar
suggest : menganjurkan
inform : memberitahukan
suppose : mengira
know : tahu, mengetahui
think : pikir, berpendapat
promise : berjanji
understand : mengerti
propose : mengusulkan
wish : ingin, berharap

NOUN CLAUSE SEBAGAI PREPOSISI  (V + O)
1.    Please listen to what your teacher is saying.
2.    Be carefull of what you doing.
NOUN CLAUSE SEBAGAI PELENGKAP (S + V + O/ket.pelengkap)
1.    This is what I want.
2.    That is what you need.
3.    This is what the teacher want.
NOUN CLAUSE SEBAGAI APPOSITION (S + V + O)
1.    The idea that people can live without oxygen is unreasonable.
2.    The fact that the color of sun is yellow is doesn’t surprise me.

NOUN CLAUSE DIAWALI DENGAN THAT
1.    I think that she is a good singer.
2.    We know that the world is round.

NOUN CLAUSE DENGAN WHETHER ATAU IF
1.    I don’t know whether Sally will come.
2.    I don’t know if she will come.
3.    I wonder if she will come or not.

COMMAND AND REQUEST

Tugas Soft Skill Bahasa Inggris 2

Command and Request

Oleh : Hedwig Ajeng Grahani / 18211164 1EA13

PENGERTIAN COMMAND AND REQUEST

· Command : is a sentence that orders someone to do something. It ends with a period(.) or an exclamation mark(!)

· Request : is a sentence that asks someone to do something. It ends with a period (.) or a question mark(?).

PERBEDAAN COMMAND AND REQUEST

Command : -menggunakan kata kerja untuk pengganti “lah” dalam Bahasa Indonesia

-diakhiri dengan tanda titik (.) atau tanda seru (!)

-digunakan untuk kalimat perintah

-bisa juga menggunakan be sebagai kata kerjanya

-tidak boleh dipendekan menjadi don’t atau sejenisnya

Request : -menggunakan tanda titik (.) atau tanda tanya (?) untuk mengakhiri kalimat

-digunakan untuk bertanya atau meminta seseorang untuk melakukan sesuatu

-sering menggunakan kata-kata seperti could, would, dll

CONTOH KALIMAT DALAM COMMAND

1. Come here!

2. Open page 21.

3. Write your name on the paper.

4. Do not go there.

5. Go to bed room now.

6. Close the window.

7. Open the door.

8. Be diligent.

9. Do your homework.

10. Sit down!

CONTOH KALIMAT REQUEST

1. Could you help me please?

2. Would you answer the phone?

3. Open the window please

4. Please buy some egg at the market

5. Would you come to my party?

6. Could you write the latter for me?

7. Bring me the glasess please

8. Could you turn on the light?

9. Would you like to join the group?

10. Could you bring my umberella please?