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 STUDENTS' E-MAIL NEWS FROM CZECH REPUBLIC School of Social Sciences of Charles University Smetanovo nabr. 6 110 01 Prague 1 Czech Republic E-mail address: carolina@n.fsv.cuni.cs Fax: (+422) 24810987 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* C A R O L I N A No 94, Monday, November 15, 1993. EVENTS FROM THE WEEK OF NOVEMBER 4-11 The Prime Minister negotiated in Paris and Bucuresti "France sees as a state going toward a market economy from the platoon of post-communist countries," said Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus during a press conference after his return from Paris November 5. During his official one-day visit in the French capital, Klaus met with President Francois Mitterrand, Prime Minister Edouard Balladur and Foreign Minister Alain Juppe. The prime ministers agreed to establish a French-Czech working group engaged in Balladur's project of stability and safety in Europe. A two-day visit by Klaus to Romania end November 8, with the signing of an agreement to prevent double taxation and to support and bilaterally protect investment. Representatives also signed a memorandum on a planned free-trade zone. While in Bucharest, Klaus spoke on the importance of re-establishing normal relations between the previously communist countries. Weekend Negotiations of an Executive Council of ODS The division of the Czech Republic into administrative units, and a solution to the relationship between the state and churches were among the main themes of the weekend negotiations of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) meeting in Potstejn. According to ODS Executive Deputy Chairman Petr Cermak, his party cannot yield to political pressures and estabilish the higher administrative units by the time of local goverment elections in 1994. These units, Cermak said, should be established by the parliamentary elections in 1996. He also said reform shouldn't begin with creating higher administrative units but it should end with it. The executive council of ODS also discussed the question of restitution of church property. According to ODS, only property now owned by the state should be returned to former owners. Property now used for businesses should not, however, be returned, nor should compensation be paid for damaged or destroyed property. The property not mentioned in the law regulating these relationships can be privatized without further restrictions. Only ODS Opposes Estabilishing Territorialy-Administrative Units until Local Goverment Votes None of the parliamentary parties agrees with the ruling Civic Democratic Party (ODS) proposal to postpone reform of the administrative unit arrangement of the Czech Republic. The coalition partners Christian Democratic Union-Czech People's Party, Civic Democratic Alliance and Christian Democratic Party, as well as the opposition Left Bloc, insist that higher administrative units should be established by the time of local goverment elections in 1994. According to the opinion of the coalition parties and opposition, this dispute shouldn't lead to the destruction of the coalition. The same problem was also mentioned by parliamentarians for the Movement for the Autonomial Democracy of Moravia and Silesia during their meeting with Czech Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus. Klaus was delighted by the fact that that the Moravian MPs are against creating any new dualism, such as the Czech and Moravian Lands. However, he didn't agree with a suggestion to form three autonomial lands. Stock Market Begins Twice-a-Week Trading. The Prague Stock Exchange began trading twice a week for the first time November 4. The increased frequency of trading reflected, as expected, a fall in the single-day volume of business. Direct transaction raised mainly the shares of the Czech Insurance Company (98.5 million crowns), and the Czech Energy Company (19.3 million crowns). The volume of shares in an independent computerized trading system reached only 4.1 million crowns. The shares of Setuza Company, Aero and CKD were leading sellers. Supply outstripped demand in most cases, preventing heavier volume. Shares of Commercial Bank rose to 3,945 Kc, the Czech Savings Banks Insurance shares reached 4,160, the Trade Bank shares reached 4280 Kc, the Investment Bank shares rose to 5,800 Kc and the Czech Insurance Company hit 7,040 Kc. A Sixteen-Year Old Student Tried To Burn Himself To Death A secondary school student who said he was upset with the breakup of Czechoslovakia tried to burn himself to death in a Moravian village in the Novy Jicin region. Shortly after midnight November 3, Martin Swiech spilled a bottle of paint thinner over his clothes and struck a match. Although the neighbors noticed him quickly and called for help, Swiech had burns covering 70-80 percent of his body. According to the latest news, he is not longer critical but remains in very serious condition. According to Mlada Fronta Dnes daily, Swiech's mother confirmed that Martin left a farewell letter. In it, he said he was immolating himself because he disagrees with the division of Czechoslovakia, with the recent celebrations of October 28, and with the policy of a current Czech goverment. Swiech's classmates described him as inconspicous, decent, intelligent and a cautious recluse. They also said that Swiech mentioned his intent to commit suicide but that no one took it seriously. What do Czechs think of their countrymen Only 14 percent of Czechs would permit voting by their countrymen living abroad, according to a Public Opinion Institute survey. However, more than 70 per cent of the 777 respondents favor improving relations with ethnic associations abroad, the survey showed. The survey also showed a widespread belief that Czechs living abroad are wealthy and shouldn't be entitled to reclaim property. Seventy-two percent said they believe that Czechs living in Western Europe or North America are mostly wealthy people who should ask for nothing in the Czech Republic. Restitution of property for foreign living Czechs was opposed by 64 percent of respondents. The strongest opposition came from retirees. Forty-seven percent would allow countrymen who had paid social security for limited time in the social welfare system, to be included, while 37 percent would not. The survey was reported in the Czech dailies Mlada Fronta Dnes and Lidove Noviny. Smog Calamity in Northern Bohemia Monitoring stations recorded excessive levels of noxious particles in the air during the last ten days. On Thursday, November 4th, a monitoring station Medenec in the Chomutov region noted a concentration of 3438 mg of sulphur-oxid per cubic meter. A signal for regulating big sources of pollution (heating plants, power station) was announced by the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute after limits of 500 mg per cubic meter were exceeded. The conditions for dispersion were bad in Prague as well and after announcing the signal, the Institute started considering limiting traffic in the center. However, it didn't happen because conditions improved rapidly by the beginning of the week. In Northern Bohemia, where the smog calamities are usual in winter, a few demonstrations against the ecological policy of the Czech Goverment were organized. Experts expect a considerable improvement of the dispersing conditions and the end fo the first wave of the winter inversion by the end of this week. Greenpeace Demonstrating in Front of the Czech Goverment Office Activists of the international ecological organization Greenpeace blocked the main entrance to the building of the Czech Goverment with barrels filled with a half-ton of power station flue ash. Greenpeace members demanded the goverment accept stringent energy programs due to an expected inversion. Greenpeace blamed the goverment for squandering huge amounts of money allocated originally for desulphuring old power stations. Greenpece thinks that much more efficient are investments into energy savings and inventing new production technologies. According to this organization, it is possible to save as much as 52 percent of energy consumed nowadays. The Greenpeace members, wearing gas masks, further expressed their disagreement with continued building of the Temelin nuclear power station, which costs 4 million crowns a day. The goverment didn't discuss the originally scheduled theme -- marking the boundaries of the ecologically-afflicted areas. Cafe Slavia once again center of attention Cafe Slavia, the famous traditional meeting place of Prague intellectuals and students, sprung back to life this week after being closed for almost a year and a half. In March 1992, the Music Arts Academy (AMU), which owns the building where the cafe is located, rented the cafe to the American firm H.N. Gorin. The 50-year-lease included a clause that coffee remain affordable for students. The cafe closed, ostensibly for renovation, but no work was done. Czech President Vaclav Havel decried the continued closing of the Slavia as a criminal attack on the spiritual life of the city. On October 25, at a party for the publication of his first book of poems, "Antikody," Havel read an open letter to the American firm. "... We appeal to the firm H.N. Gorin, which rented the cafe, to open it promptly to the public. If not, it may seriously damage the relations of Prague's intellectuals towards capitalism and the U.S.A." A newly established "Society of Friends of Slavia Cafe" forced the reopening of the cafe. On November 8, its members cleaned and prepared the cafe for the opening, after getting the keys from Ladislav Provaan, a partner of the Prague branch of H.N. Gorin. Provaan said he did not know why the cafe had remained closed, and supported the demands of the Society of Friends of Slavia that Gorin withdraw from the rental contract and return the cafe to Czech management. The next day, Jaroslav Ostry, dean of the music academy, withdrew from the contract. He said his main reasons were Gorin not obeying the agreement to keep the cafe in its original state, and Gorin's failure to pay rent for the previous month. Moreover, the firm rented the adjoining restaurant Parnas, which it controlled under the same contract, to another investor without permission of AMU. A court will likely rule if the contract cancellation was proper. If the contract is ruled still in force, the cafe could remain closed for the full 50 years of the contract. The contract is silent on the questions of opening the cafe, or conditions of cancelling the contract. High-School Fights Against AIDS "Thinking that our children younger than 18 are not having sex is not fit with reality. To me, this is the greatest idiocy." With these words, the headmaster of the high school in Prostejov defended installation of two condom dispensing machines in the school's lavatories, Mlada Fronta Dnes reports. School officials say the decision should help fight AIDS, other sexually-transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies. According to the headmaster, information in the form of pamphlets and posters or meetings with specialists will not be of any help; far more necessary is to take concrete measures. No negative reactions have been received by the school. Heroin, Marihuana, LSD, Crack And Pervitin In Czech Republic Heroin is easily available in Prague bars, and addicts are starting to appear, according to experts. Some have even developed a 100,000 crown a month habit. Dr. Jiri Presl, of the Drug Prevention Center Drop-In, told Mlada Fronta Dnes November 11 that he hasn't heard anything about heroin and cocain gangs dealing with marijuana and that his center doesn't deal with marihuana. LSD, at 250 crowns a dose, is the so-called drug of young people. Known since the '60s, wn since the sixties. The drug was brought to the Czech Republic from England and it's fostered in house parties. Crack, which first appeared some years ago in America, is not sniffed but is smoked using special pipes. "Crack is flammably cocaine mixed with soda. Crack cocaine is baked, so it can't be sniffed," Ivan Douda told Mlada Fronta Dnes November 5. Although police specialists don't see crack on the Czech Republic's street market, some Prague junkies say it's only a matter of time. They say Czechs have experimented with producing crack from cocaine paste imported to the Czech Republic. Specialists think that crack is one of the most dangerous drugs. "Crack is being used by addicts who don't care for anything. These people come especialy from socialy weak groups" said Jiri Vacek, who until recently was helping police against drugs. Cheap, widely available and chic in many circles, pervitin, an amphetamin, has become the drug of choice in the Czech Republic, as well as the country's biggest drug export. Made from the ephedrine, commonly found in cold syrup, it has spread from the clubs of Prague to the discos of Amsterdam and across the sea to North America. Because it is relatively easy to manufacture and difficult to control, Czech police worry that pervitin's popularity at home and abroad will climb despite their best efforts to fight it. "The Czech Republic is the number one producer of pervitin in Europe" said Miroslav Bornik, commander of the Narcotics Division of the Czech Criminal Police, in the November 3 Prague Post. "Our cookers are so good that they have been brought to Germany to show people how to make the drug." Pervitin has long roots in the Czech Republic. The German Army produced a nearly identical stimulant in north Bohemia during World War II and sold it to the Japanese, who gave it to kamikaze pilots. Today, German police are working closely with their Czech counterparts in the fight against pervitin. The drug affects the nervous system and, according to those who use it, works like cocaine. One gram costs 1000-1500 Czech crowns and provides 10 hits. Most people agree pervitin is exremely dangerous. Sir Edmund Hillary in Palace of Culture Sir Edmund Hillary gave the final lecture of his visit to Prague at the Palace of Culture November 5. Aided by two transalators, Hillary talked to an audience of 2,500. Bright slides accompanied the script as the guest of honor described his days as a mountain climber and fundraiser. Hillary, who reached the top of Mt. Everest in 1953 with fellow climber the Sherpa Tenzing Norkay, was approached in 1961 by the Sherper head lama. "Our children have eyes, but they can not see," the lama said. "They must have an education." Since then, Hillary has been helping the Himalayan Sherpers build schools and hospitals, both laying stones and raising money. In a question-answer session following the lecture, Hillary said that although he doesn't personally care for the commercialization of climbing, mountaineers will have to raise more sponsorship, in order to meet the $10,000 Everest peak fee. University Collaboration Will Aid Biotechnological Developement in Science and Business In collaboration with New York University (NYU), Charles University arranged an international science conference on "Biotechnology and Enterprise" in Prague. The goal of the November 7-9 conference was to negotiate meetings between scientists from the field of biotechnological research, and representatives or managers from industrial businesses and stores. Universities and their scientific workplaces had the chance to contact enterprises concerning manufacture of relevant products or institutions, which could finance this enterprise. About 200 participants from 17 countries attended, with more than 100 coming from the Czech Republic. Fifty American scientists and entrepreneurs took part, and Hungary, Romania, Russia, Croatia, Canada, Germany, and other countries were represented. Charles Vice Dean Zdenek Lojda and NYU Dean Gerald Heeger opened the conference in the historic Karolinum Great Hall. David Baltimore, Nobel Prize winner for biotechnology, and professor of biology at Massachusettes Institute of Technology, introduced the thematical block of lectures Monday in the Hotel Atrium. Conference organizers professors Sanford Rosenburg of NYU and Jaroslav Drobnik of Charles said they were pleased with the conference. Charles University representatives were especially pleased with an American proposal to test Czech patent projects without charge. Other attendees promised to contribute to the effort. FROM SLOVAKIA Collalition Government Is Formed Slovak President Michal Kovac named six ministers of the coalition government November 10. The new vice-chairmen are Jozef Prokes, 43, from the Slovak National Party (SNS), Marian Andel, 43, from SNS, Julius Toth, 58, from the Movement For A Democratic Slovakia (HZDS), Sergej Kozlik, 43, from HZDS. Jan Ducky, a 49-year-old independent, will become minister of economics, and Jaroslav Paska, 49, HZDS, will be minister of education. Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar will handle the unfilled post of minister of privatazation. Meciar gave the proposed government list to Kovac November 5 with the demand that it be accepted in whole or not at all. Nonetheless, Kovac declined to appoint Ivan Lexa to the government, citing a lack of public trust. The opposition also criticized the selection of Ducky as economics minister, a post he held under the communist government before the 1989 revolution. CULTURE Czech Movies Most Attended In The Czech Republic In the third quarter of this year, movies made in the Czech Republic were the three most popular, even though they represent only a minority share of the market, trailing foreign, especially American, movies. Most movie fans were drawn by Dusan Klein's "The end of Poets in the Czech Republic," the fourth in a series. The second most visited movie was Vit Olmer's "Nudity For Sale." The Czech-American Kaja Triskova, daughter of the actor Jan Triska, played the role of an American journalist getting familiar with criminality in the Czech Republic. Third place was taken by the "Inheritance or Kurvahosigutntag" The producer of the movie, Vera Chytilova, was one of the most recognized personalities in the sexties by the movie New waves. All three movies show the writers' efforts of reflecting the new circumstances that appeared after the 1989 revolution. Olmer uses the action movie form while Klein and Chytilova are taking advantage of comedy in order to describe today's life. Exchange Rates of Czech National Bank (valid from November 11) buy sell Britain GBP 42,08 44,92 France FRF 4,81 5,21 Canada CAD 21,73 23,51 Austria ATS 2,43 2,55 Germany DEM 17,02 17,94 USA USD 28,85 30,25 SPORT Lendl Plays Bratislava, Missed In Prague Czech-born American tennis player Ivan Lendl played November 7 in Bratislava against ninth-ranked Austrian Tomas Muster. Lendl, 33, who once ruled the tennis world and now finishes in the top twenties, returned to Bratislava after 14 years. On the same courts in 1979, he won the title of Czechoslovak Champion. At a press conference, he said he hasn't given up thoughts of becoming world champion once again. Lendl also said he wouldn't appear at the Czech Tennis Centennial December 3 in Prague. Although Czech trainer Pavel Slozil contacted him in the spring, no one has made a concrete offer, Lendl said. Another tennis great of Czech origin, Martina Navratilova, will play at the Prague exhibition. FORECAST All week, the Czech Republic has been cloudy and grey, occasionally with light rain or fog. Temperatures have been moving between 2 and 10 degrees Celsius. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This news may be published only with "CAROLINA" designation. The subscription is free. Comments and remarks are appreciated. 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