“The Kitimat-Stikine- ‘Regional:
Hospital District's Section 20(2) -

fund. has' been nearly depleted,
but .in' the words of director
Les Watmough, ‘‘We’ve done
well,”

~~ Section 20(2) funds. are used

equipment and minor capital
projects. in Terrace, Kitimat,

Hazelton and Stewart hospitals.
‘Of the $497,233 available for

1989, only a little over $20,000
remains. The four hospitals
have been advised that this mon-

the Ministry of Health, for

by.the regional hospital district,
in conjuction with funding from only.
In addition to the monies

Computalk

by Rainer Gianneila
" Certified Data Processor

‘The Great October 13th Computer Virus Scare

Thursday last week I received a number of calls from computer
users asking my opinion of the news stories concerning the

“‘Datacrime’’ computer virus. With some minor embarrassment I

had to confess to the first couple of callers that I hadn’t even
heard of this particular virus.

Eventually I found out that the alleged virus originated in
Europe and was supposedly designed to erase or otherwise cor-
rupt all hard disk files of IBM compatible personal computers.

_The virus was supposed to be triggered by the computer’s system

clock and scheduled to “‘attack”’ all “‘infected’? computers on Oc-
tober 13th. | was asked what users could do should there be some
substance to the virus scare,

- Although I felt as many in the industry, that computer viruses
get far more attention than they deserve, I advised people to en-
sure all important data be backed up just in case the unlikely
event actually occurred. I pointed out, as I have in a previous
column, that appropriate backups are necessary anyway, ‘mainly

as protection against: operator. error and secondly against , .
mechanical failure. Such backups also provide.a degree of ir in-
' surance against the, unlikely event of a “virus attack”.

Well, October 13th. has come and gone, haven't heard of —
anyone. yet whose computer was affected by the virus. One col-

‘league in town suggested printing T-shirts with the message “h..,
- survived the October 13th computer virus’’. Does this mean we

can get complacent again until the next ‘virus scare’? . .

' First one must look at what a computer virus is. A. computer ;
virus is a set of computer programming instructions which have
been embedded in some computer program where the instructions
lie ‘‘dormant”’ until someone uses that program. Typically, most
of these viruses include instructions that, once activated by the
execution of the ‘‘host’’ program, cause the “virus code” to be
copied into other key programs which operate the computer __
system. Nov, if that system is interconnected to other systems via

communications links, some virus can be transferred from one

system, to the next. So in a manner of speaking, they simulate the
spread of biological viruses.

Computer viruses or their equivalent, although a recent media
phenomenon, have been around in the computer world almost as
long as computers themselves. Back in the days of exclusively
large ‘‘mainframe’’ computers, the annals of computer crime _

_ always included stories of disgruntled programmers who left
“time bomb’? programs on a system which would either corrupt ©

important company data at some date long after the program-
mer’s departure, or in the case of a bank computer, electronically
transfer funds to an offshore bank account.

More frequently, the ‘predecessors of today’s computer viruses
were developed as pranks or practical jokes by university students
in the 60s and 70s before the improvement of security in large

‘university computer systems, These programs would ‘take over”

the campus computer system and cause silly or. annoying
messages to appear on all users’screens. 1;

Viruses of the 80s usually have their origin'in pirated copies of ;
commercial software or in programs of suspect background on

some computer bulletin boards. Although the overall number of
reported occurrences of viruses is low, some viruses have been _
known to cause inconvenience and damage to systems. Therefore.
most major software publishers and bulletin board operators put
a fair degree of effort into screening and testing for viruses.

Since most viruses spread through software whose origin is
dubious, many people in the industry say they have little sym-
pathy for ‘‘victims’’ of a computer virus. However, given both
the rapid growth in the variety of available software and the in-
crease in use of data communications, there is-a possibility that
legitimate users could unwittingly transfer a program that con-
tains a ‘‘virus”’. .

What does all this mean to the end user of micros, especially
the small business user? As long as one maintains proper and
regular backup procedures for important company data, one will
at least be able to recover from the effects of a “‘virus’’ in the
very unlikely event that one’s system is attacked by a virus. If
nothing else, this latest virus scare may have jolted a few more

users into taking better care of their data. 1 wouldn't be surprised:

if inthe next few-weeks somie users will survive the worst effects
of a disk “‘cfash’” thanks to their October 12th backup. —

ey will be used for emergencies~

spent ‘by ‘the Regional Hospital

District, however, the Ministry
of Health contributed $936,300,
bringing Section 20(2) health
care improvements in 1989 to
just over $1.4 million. Mills
Memorial Hospital in Terrace

received the lion’s share of the ©

total funding: over three-
quarters of a million. dollars.

-, Next came Kitimat General with
‘almost a half million dollars in

improvements, and then Wrinch
Memorial with $90,493, Stewart

General with $45,472 and the

Nass Valley Health Centre with

$10,685.

: For the local taxpayer, the
breakdown is different due to
the fact the provincial govern-
ment has a different funding

formula for different types of
-equipment and minor capital

projects.: In tax dollars, the
regional . hospital district
gave $535,544 to Mills
Memorial, $348,455 to Kitimat
General, $51,494 to Wrinch

_ Memorial, $38,581 to Stewart

General and $4,274 to the Nass

Valley Health Centre.

The primary reason for Ter-
race and Kitimat receiving al-
most three-quarters of the. Sec-
tion 20(2) allotment for 1989
was the purchase of a new

_- “$449,592 X-ray machine for
* each. This accounts for 60 per-

cen of their joint Section 20(2)
funding but replaces aging X-
Tay equipment purchased about

20: years ago: ‘This i is considered -

Terrace Review — - Wednestay, ¢ October 13 a )

Mills Memorial gets biggest chunk of regional funds

by both hospitals to be a major
improvement in technical ser-

‘vices. |
The balance of Mills Memori-.

al’s 1989 upgrade included over
$125,000 in new Intensive Care
Unit monitors, a $94,400 diag-
nostic mammography. unit,
$35,000 in mobile shelving for
the records department and
$16,700 in secondary equip-
ment. Secondary equipment in-

cludes items such as surgical.

tools, which are not covered
under the Ministry of Health
cost-sharing formula. Some of
the new services: available with

- this equipment, such as mam-

mography examination, are
used by the entire region and
considered regional health care

improvements.»

Major expenses - ‘other - than oss
X-ray equipment ‘at Kitimat wo

General were $23,200 in ‘secon-.

dary equipment and $15,192. for

the installation of a backup elec-

trical generating system. An -

ocular ultrasound device, anaes-
thetic machine, X-ray processor
and upgraded emergency en-
trance were the major improve-
ments at Wrinch Memorial. In

Stewart, $30,000 was spent on

secondary equipment and an-
other $6,500 for renovations.

The budgeting process for the .

distribution of 1990 Section
2((2) funds will begin soon and
all five centers have a long
priorized list of improvements
from which to choose.

Newhawk passes Stage | |

The provincial government
has given approval in principle
to the Stage I environmental and
socio-economic impact assess-
ment for the Newhawk-Granduc

joint venture Sulphurets gold -

mine north of Stewart.
‘In a. statement early this

‘month, Newhawk president Don

McLeod said the company im-
mediately started the process of
getting the necessary permits for
operating the mine.

Newhawk has just finished a
23,000-foot underground drill-
ing program on the property and

intends to begin another 13,000-

foot underground program. in .

Buy any ’89 or 90 TEMPO or TOPAZ
until OCTOBER 28, 1989 and receive

“0 DOWN PAYMENT — 0 MONTHLY PAYMENT
0 INTEREST CHARGE UNTIL FEBRUARY 1990"

November. Results from- the

summer program included an_

84.6-foot intersection in the re-
cently discovered R-8 zone that

ton.

Drilling results up to Sept. 4
are currently being analyzed to
determine preliminary reserve
calculations, with final reserve
calculations due after the Phase
HI exploration program is fin- -

ished, Those figures will be in- .

corporated into a feasibility
study for the mine, which.
McLeod expects before the end
of the year.

‘YOUR SAVINGS.

$500 CASH BACK

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25-36 mo — 7.9 %
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