: About 40 local businessmen

were told last week that the

Northwest will have to take a
‘fone focus” attitude if the com- |
munities along Highway 16 want
to give tourists a reason to stay
here rather, than using the road
as a way to get somewhere else.
‘Michael Kolesar is the ad-
ministrator for the North Pacific
Cannery Village . Fishing.
Museum in Port Edward and is
also on the executive of several
tourism-oriented organizations

. in the region, Addressing. @

luncheon meeting of the Terrace
and District Chamber of Com-

to

merce Thursday, «he. said - the
Port Edward attraction draws

‘between’ 15,000 and 25,000 out
‘of the 300,000 tourists who go

through Prince Rupert every
year, a ‘“market-penetration”
rate of about four to eight per-
cent. .

In reciting the ac-
complishments of the local
society. that: had decided to
preserve the old cannery,
Kolesar expressed a strong belief
that the combined drawing
power of tourist attractions and
tourism-oriented activities in the
Northwest can only be exploited

| Computalk.

set of tall tales that couldn’t have happened.

 {s there Ilfe after DOS? |
One of the most astounding phenomena of the computer world
is the continued survival of the MSDOS Operating system (often
called DOS for short) which, warts and all, has been with us |
since the beginning of the 80’s and may be around for quite a.

- while yet, Personally, | am both amazed at its longevity and at

the same time resigned to having to deal with its arcane vagaries
for at least a few years to come.

~ First a bit of description, MSDOS (which stands for Microsoft

Disk Operating System) is a set of programs developed to manage

- the workings of the IBM and IBM-compatible family of com-

"- puters. These are the programis which take care of the essential
- but-not-too-glamorous details such as transferring files ‘from disk”: “¥'

machines have survived is that they've bred like rabbits in the

Australian outback and have gotten so populous that they’ve

taken on a life of their own: That view may be exaggerated, but
MSDOS machines are so prevalent and since most have a
relatively low initial price, many MSDOS machine buyers are

prepared to ignore DOS’s shortcomings in exchange for access to

the wide range of business programs available for the MSDOS

machines.

~ So how does the newcomer, who seems to have little choice but
a DOS machine, survive? As strange as it may sound, the begin-
ner is often best off if he or she ignores DOS (ignorance is bliss.
and all that),.Just get your computer vendor to set up your
system with some sort of a menu or access program and start us-
ing your word processor, accounting program or other applica-
tion. Once you actually start getting some use out of the.com-
puter you can then start worrying about tidying up your files
through DOS. Even at this stage only learn the least you need to

get by. This usually means anywhere from six to no more 12

DOS commands, I've known of people who have used DOS
machines for years knowing very little if anything of DOS.

_ Many users manage to avoid having to deal with MSDOS en-
tirely by only communicating with their systems through a menu
utility, However, some limited DOS capability,is useful, especial-
ly for those occasions where the menu utility may not be able to —

- quite provide the options the user is looking for. Besides, who

knows, DOS may eventually fade into the sunset and the time
may come where we can tell stories to our grandchildren about -

the ‘good old days’ when the only way one could transfer files ~

from one disk to another was with the odd incantation: —

COPY *.* a:

_ And our grandchildren, after asking in a puzzled way ‘what's a

disk?‘, will just write off our computer horror stories as another

Tho Nan ee co os

area, ;

He called it a “shopping
center’ concept that would in-
volve a single promotional
strategy. Put together, the col-
lective magnet of Hazelton’s
K’san, the Port Ed cannery
musuem, the Mount Layton Hot
Springs and all the other isolated .
experiences that people can’t get
anywhere else could result in a
large-scale influx of destination
tourists for the region.

In cataloguing the feats of

determination required for the.

Solid

profits |

for Repap

in first

quarter

Despite:a production loss of
12,000 metric tonnes of pulp at
its Watson Island operation due
to severe ‘weather, Repap still
came out of the first quarter of
1989 with net income 36 percent

‘above the ‘same quarter last —

officer George Petty attributed
the performance to higher prices
for both pulp and paper.

The company racked up $24.7
million in profits on revenue of
$264.1 million for the quarter.
That translates into earnings of
47 cents per share, up from 35
cents in the first quarter of 1988.

In announcing the first quar-

" ter results, Petty also stated that
Repap’s pilot plant for the Al-

cell pulping process —- a method
that uses alcohol instead of
chlorine to treat the fiber — had
a successful start-up in- March.
It appears the Mirimachi, New
Brunswick plant will undergo
conversion from a 33-ton-a-
day demonstration facility to
full production projected at 250
tons per day when data are
sufficient to optimize the pro-
cess.

The Alcell process, on which

_ Repap holds a patent, produces

far fewer pollutants than the
standard chlorine process.

Petty also announced the ac- S

quisition of Manfor, a provin-
cially-owned company based in
La Pas, Manitoba. Repap_pur-

chased Manfor for $132 million .

— $42 million cash and the
balance in preferred shares.
Assets are a 400-ton-per-day
unbleached sack kraft pulp and
paper mill, a sawmill, and cut-
ting rights to what Petty terms
‘one of the largest economically
accessible stands of premium
northern softwood fibre avail-
able worldwide’. _
Repap plans to convert the
pulp and paper mill to 500-tons-
per-day within the next 18
months. The operation will be

_ integrated with Repap’s Midtech
_ eoated paper plant in Wisconsin.

crap pian seamen ta cearacuppamenre ssn plore sare Tw et rte ge TS

Chairman and chief executive —

get as far as it has in the cannery

7 jean esday, May 17,1989 17 os en

project, Kolesar said; “Tourism as

isn’t easy, it doesn’t just hap-
pen. Right now the Yellowhead
is not a destination, it’s a way to
get somewhere, yet it has more
attractions than any other part
of B.C. :

“Those people who think
fishing and forestry are going to
continue carrying the economy
of this region are in for a sur-
prise. Tourism is a renewable
resource, but, as in any other
business, you have to spend
money to make money.”

In order to make the region a
destination instead of a thor-
Oughfare, Kolesar said, ‘We
have to provide. tourists with a
package both to meet their needs
and cater to their curiosity.

‘We, as an area, have to work
together. There is something of
interest at each stop (on the
Yellowhead). We have to iden-
tify those, coordinate, develop a
Yellowhead plan, and take it to
the government.

‘*We can compete among each
other as individual communities

once we get people here, but to

Develop 4a
Yellowhead plan, take it. to
the government. .

KOLESAR:

get them here we have to

cooperate.”’

Speaking of his own project, |

Kolesar said the Port Edward
cannery and fishing museum has
‘one of the most significant Col-
lections of cannery equipment in

B.C... it could be the most am-:
‘ pitious heritage project ever in .

the.province.”’ -
There will be a commemora-

tive ceremony this Sunday at 2 -

p.m, in the courtyard of the can-

nery site marking the 100th. an- .

niversary of the cannery’s
construction. Further informa-
tion about the cannery and the
Northcoast Marine Museum
Society is available by calling
628-3538.

wee nate ere +

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North Coast Road Maintenance Ltd. has assumed
responsibility for road and bridge maintenance in the
Skeena District contract area for a three-year period.

For further information on the highway and bridge
maintenance operation, including sub-contract work,

North Coast Road Maintenance Ltd.

Phone: 638-8300

For information regarding property sub-divisions,
access approvals, other works within the highway right-
of-way, as well as general Ministry inquiries, contact:

DISTRICT HIGHWAYS OFFICE
300 - 4546 Park Avenue

Phone: 638-3360

FREEDOM ministry of transportation a
————4-7*) and! Hi :
Honourable Neil Vant, Minister
Giving You the Freedom to Move

ghways