CCCCC AA RRRRR OOOO LL II NN N AA CC AA A RR R OO O LL II NNN N AA A CC AA A RRRRR OO O LL II NN N N AA A CC AAAAAA RR R OO O LL II NN NN AAAAAA CCCCC AA A RR R OOOO LLLLLL II NN N AA A STUDENT'S E-MAIL NEWS FROM CZECHOSLOVAKIA School of Social Science of Charles University Smetanovo nabr. 6 110 01 Prague 1 C.S.F.R. e-mail address: CAROLINA@CSEARN.BITNET *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* C A R O L I N A No 20, Friday, March 27, 1992. THE EVENTS OF THE LAST WEEK {from March 18-25} First Run of the Voucher Privatization Started The first run of the voucher privatization will be started on May 18. It was decided at the meeting of the Czech, Slovak and federal governments in Bratislava on March 19. Vaclav Havel was also present at the meeting. Privatization projects must be approved before April 11. The list of projects will be published before April 21. There are 8,562,000 registered voucher books. 1.6 million people gave their voucher books to investment funds. The Ministry of National Property Management and Privatization expects the value of the privitized property to be 260 billion crowns. 170 billion crowns worth of the property is currently held by the Czech government, 65 billion is held by the Slovak government and the remainder is in the hands of the federal government. UN Peace Keepers in Yugoslavia 481 Czechoslovak soldiers and 6 army policemen will arrive in the Krajina region of Yugoslavia as part of a U.N. Peace Keeping force on April 12. The unit will travel by railroad through Hungary. The Federal Assembly agreed to the mission on March 11. The peace keepers will be equiped with sidearms and 94 army vehicles. International Honor to Komensky Czechoslovak President Vaclav Havel and Federic Mayor ,the General Director of UNESCO, lent their support to the international conference on Komensky which opened March 23 in Prague. The conference is called "The Heritage of J.A.Komensky and Education of the Human Being for the 21 st Century". The conference is held to commemorate the 400th anniversary of his birth. The event is organized by Charles University, the Komensky University in Bratislava, the Czechoslovak Institution of Science and other insitutions devoted to scientists and teachers. Twelve hundred Czechoslovak and foreign Komenius experts and pedagogical workers are taking part in the conference. The conference aims to present the important and versatile personality of the man called the teacher of nations. Pre-school education, didactic teaching aids, children's rights, new teachnologies in education, and teologistic activities of Komensky will be discussed. One section of scientists will deal with the work "The General Remedy of Human Matters" which was issued in Czech this year. Many other activities will also celebrate the anniversary. A statue of Jan Komensky was unveiled in Berlin in the presence of A. Dubcek, the chairman of the Parliament. A memorial house was reopened in Fulnek, the town in Norhern Moravia where Komensky worked as a teacher and priest. A Serious Accusation in the Slovak Parliament The Ex-Prime Minister of Slovakia, Vladimir Meciar, was reportedly a "candidate for cooperation" with the former secret police, according to a report from an army-security committee. Meciar, the most popular political leader in Slovakia, is the chairman of the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia which is slated to win Slovakia's June elections. Many Czechs regard the party as national-socialist. The report has been widely discussed in the Czech republic, but it doesn't seem that Meciar's popularity will decline. Havel to Visit Russia President Havel's spokesman has announced that the Treaty of Czech-Russian Friendship will be signed in Moscow on April 1st. The president is also expected to meet with Michail Gorbachev. The Principles of Liberal Society The club of liberal students REAL invited Jan Sokol, vice-chairman of the House of People and vice-chairman of Civil Movement, to its regular meeting on March 18. Jan Sokol spoke about liberalism, his basic principles and history. McDonald's Restaurant Opens in Prague The first McDonald's restaurant in Czechoslovakia was opened in Vodickova street in Prague on March, 20. An enthusiastic crowd greeted the opening and an opportunity to bite into Big Macs. The restaurant has enjoyed immediate success and three policemen could barely control the rush of people when the doors opened. Animal rights activists protested the store and distributed leaflets accusing McDonalds of deforesting the rainforest to provide pasturelands for cattle. The Privatization in Health Service The Czech National Council has adopted a law to allow private health services beginning April 15. The law is intended to foster small institutions which would provide outpatient services, small surgeries, lab work, and rehabilitation. According to M. Bojar, the Minister of Health Services, the law will motivate people working in health care. CULTURAL SERVICE Anniversary of Karel Polacek A symposium on the 100th anniversary of the well known writer and journalist Karel Polacek took place at a small town in the Orlicke mountains where he was born. The symposium was sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and attended by scholars from the Netherlands, U.K. and Israel, as well as the writer's daughter, Jarmila Jelinowiczova. Participants visited the site of his birth, a former Jewish ghetto and a Jewish cemetery. They also held round-table discussions on his life and work and viewed films of his work. A statue of the writer was also unveiled. WEATHER The weather was the same as in the last week- cloudy and rainy. There was snow in the mountains. The strong wind blown and the temperature was between 6-10 degrees of Celsius. Intermittent darkness separated general periods of sunlight through the week. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This news may be published only with "CAROLINA" designation. To subscribe Carolina please send the e-mail message with subject "Carolina/Eng: Subscription" for the english version (and "Carolina/Cs: Subscription" for the czech version) on our e-mail address above. To drop sending you replace the word Subscription" by "Unsubscription". The subscription is free. Comments and remarks are appreciated.