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.cz Fax: (+422) 24810987 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* C A R O L I N A No 111, Friday, March 25, 1994. NEWS OF THE WEEK (March 16 - 23) Labor Unions Stage Mass Rally About 40,000 people took part in a mass meeting organized by the Czech-Moravian Chambers of Labor Unions March 22 in Prague's Old Town Square. The demonstrators were protesting government steps in social policy, focusing their anger on an increase in the age of retirement. The main speech of the meeting was given by Vladimir Petrus, chairman of the central labor unions headquarters. Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Jindrich Vodicka attended the meeting but wasn't allowed to speak by the organizers of the meeting. He left the square after becoming a target of the protestors' anger. Representatives of the labor unions appealed to the Czech government concerning the contemporary social policy. The rally was the largest labor demonstration since 1989. Many demonstrators traveled from industrial regions of the republic such as Ostrava to display their anti-government slogans. Premier Vaclav Klaus accused labor unions of creating a false pressure campaign. Other governing-coalition members were reserved about the meeting. New Slovak Premier Makes Brief Prague Visit New Slovak Prime Minister Jozef Moravcik and Minister of Finance Rudolf Filkus came to Prague Monday, March 21 to negotiate a one-month suspension of the unilateral control of food imports from the Czech Republic. They met with Czech Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus and Finance Minister Ivan Kocarnik. According to Filkus, the main goal of the new Slovak government is to stabilize the economy and continue the coupon privatization. Commenting on rumors of a devaluation of the Slovak crown, Filkus said the move is under control of the Slovak National Bank. Dutch Queen Strolls Charles Bridge Dutch Queen Beatrix and her husband, Prince Klaus, arrived for a three-day visit in Prague Tuesday, March 22. The first crowned head-of-state ever to visit the independent Czech Republic was invited by Czech President Vaclav Havel. The royal couple met the Dutch community living in Prague after an afternoon walk across the oldest and the most famous of Prague's bridges, the Charles. Queen Beatrix said she wanted to learn about different aspects of life in the Czech Republic, including the devastated area of the Northern Bohemia. Air France Quits Czech Airlines After Two Years' Collaboration The two-year involvement of Air France with CSA ended March 21 after an agreement in Prague between representatives of the two companies and the other shareholder, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The Czech Republic will buy the share of the French partner for 27 million U.S. dollars through the Czech Consolidation Bank. Czech Minister of Transport Jan Strasky initially refused to comment on this sum, but added that as a "private person", the amount seemed to him much too high. The agreement must be approved by the leadership of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development within five days, and a new partner for CSA is to be found by the ministries of finance, transport and privatization by the end of the year. Zhirinovsky Didn't Arrive to Prague Russian nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky failed to arrive for a planned visit to the Czech Republic. Zhirinovsky, leader of the Russian Liberal Democratic Party, was invited by Miroslav Sladek, leader of the right-wing Czech Republican Party. Zhirinovsky claimed at a press conference in Moscow that the journey would be too expensive, but at the same time he announced that the visit will happen later. Czech Television, however, reported that Zhirinovsky already had his plane ticket. Discussion About the New Orthographic Rules The new 1993 orthographic rules caused commotion among both experts and the general public. The main question -- obey them or not? A seminar held by the Institute for Czech Language March 17 and 18 was supposed to solve this problem. Over 40 leading Czech linguists and teachers discussed if the new rules should be approved or not. After many diverse and conflicting speeches, the rules were finally recommended for codification. However, linguists agreed that certain double forms, for example, filosofie and filozofie, should be added. The rules shouldn't become a matter of strict marking as in most cases before, the experts said. Orthography is just a part of the language, together with stylistics and syntax. Nearly Half Agree With Restitution of Jewish Property According to a March poll by the Institute for Public Opinion, 44 percent of Czechs support restitution of Jewish property, while 22 percent oppose it. Sixty-three percent of the respondents were against restitution of property to the former aristocracy. For the church, 42 percent support restitution while 8 percent are against. Popularity of the Czech Politicians Vladimir Dlouhy, Czech Minister of Trade and Industry, remains the most popular Czech politician, with 86 percent of the country's citizens trusting him. According to the Center for Empirical Research, Dlouhy is followed by Czech Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus, 73 percent, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Josef Zeleniec and President Vaclav Havel, both at 69 percent. From last month, the popularity of Czech Defense Minister Antonin Baudys fell from 52 to 32 percent, most likely as a consequence of his private proposal to find a solution to the crisis in the former Yugoslavia. the popularity of Josef Lux, Minister of Agriculture, fell from 41 to 33 percent. European Journalism Students Forum Next Week in Prague As mentioned in previous editions of Carolina, the Ninth Congress of European Students of Journalism will take place in Prague March 28-30. The main topic is "Media and Manipulation". The congress, organized by the Journalism Students Association of the Faculty of Social Science, Charles University, is held under sponsorship of the university, the Czech Syndicate of Journalists and the Czech Foreign Ministry. The program for the 140 members of the congress will include lectures, discussions and seminars. Lectures will be held by such well-known names in the field of mass communication as Vaclav Belohradsky, Profesor of Terst University and a specialist in political sociology, who also lectures at Charles, Denis McQuail, professor of Amsterdam University, a specialist in sociology of communication, Michal Cernousek from FSV UK, a psychologist interested in communication (including non-verbal), Jeremy Tunstall, London University, a specialist in media monopolies. An informal presence is also promised by Czech Foreign Minister Josef Zeleniec. The participants will also visit various offices of the Czech media, Lidove Noviny, Blesk, CTK, Arteria among them. The greatest problem for organizers was finding sponsors, but students lined up support from IBM, AT&T and others. Some sponsors provided lodging, board and transport. Important organizational help came from the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Syndicate of Journalists. Czech Women More Faithful Then Men Research into sexual life by the firm DEMA and the Sexual Institute of the First Medical Faculty of Charles University has found that 44 percent of men and 26 percent of women view extra-marriage sexual intercourse as normal. The survey of 1,719 Czechs found that fewer than half of married women and almost two-thirds of married men said they had had extra-marital sex. The risk of AIDS influenced the sexual behavior of 22 percent of men and 14 percent of women, mainly by lowering of the number of partners. The average number of sexual partners is 12 for men and five for women. The results of the study were recently reported in the press. FROM SLOVAKIA New Slovak Government Forms Slovak President Michal Kovac named a new government March 16. The Democratic Union of Slovakia is represented by Prime Minister Josef Moravcik, Deputy Chairman Roman Kovac and Health Care Minister Tibor Sagat. The Democratic Left Party has in the government Deputy Chairman Brigita Schmognerova, Economy Minister Peter Magvasi, Agriculture Minister Pavel Koncos, Defence Minister Pavol Kanis, Justice Minister Milan Hanzel, Education Minister Lubomir Harach and Environment Minister Juraj Hrasko. From the Christian Democratical Movement: Deputy Chairman Ivan Simko, Transport and Communication Minister Mikulas Dzurinda, Minister of Internal Affairs Ladislav Pittner, Culture Minister Lubo Roman and Labour, Social Matters and Family Minister Julius Brocka. Finance Minister Rudolf Filkus and Foreign Minister Eduard Kukan are members of Democrats Alliance SR. Milan Janicina from National Democratic Party is the Minister of Privatization of National Property. Elections Set For September 30 and October 1 The National Assembly of Slovakia voted unanimously March 17 to set the date for early elections September 30 and October 1. Deputies of the Democratic Movement for Slovakia had earlier proposed June elections. Slovak Locks Fail Shipping on the Danube was interrupted March 20 when the left locks of the Slovak Gabcikovo Dam failed. Because it was not the first breakdown and because the 500-ton gates failed in the least expected spot, sabotage has not been ruled out. The difference in height of the water when the failure occurred was five meters. The stream was so violent that it dragged and severely damaged ships in the canal. Julius Binder, a designer of Gabcikovo, said the accident is difficult to understand and can hardly be explained by a staff failure. "It is puzzling that the left chamber and the whole Gabcikovo project has been connected with so many accidents straight from the beginning," he said. But Gyorgy Droppa, a spokesman for opponents of the dam, The Danube Circle Organization, said, "It is not the first case when Slovak scientific planning was bankrupt." ECONOMY Drop at the Exchange Stock During all three of the last sessions at the Prague Stock Exchange (March 18, 21, and 22) shares prices have continued to slide, and on Tuesday the unquoted share market also dropped. On March 18, Power Station Opatovice traded the most shares at a value of 46 million Czech crowns. These shares dropped for the second time consecutively 10 percent, after long periods of growth. Besides the Power Station Opatovice loss, Sklarny Kavalier and Fatra also dropped by nearly 10 percent. Nevertheless, the amount of increasing shares is twice the decreasing shares. Investment fund shares gradually are becoming the most frequently traded commodities. Three investment funds were among the ten most traded companies: Savings Bank Investment Fund (volume of 5 million Czech crowns, price per share 890 Czech crowns), Creditanstalt Investment Fund (volume of 4.9 million Czech crowns, price per share 1,420 Czech crowns), and Commercial Bank Investment Fund (volume of 4.9 million Czech crowns, price per share 981 Czech crowns). On Tuesday, the quoted share trend was without change. The majority of quoted shares has dropped 10 percent. The central market followed the trend later. The ratio of decreasing and increasing shares changed 211:175. According to information of Petr Svoboda, head of the trade department of the stock exchange, the drop is only temporary. EXCHANGE RATES will be published every other issue CULTURE Most-Liked People And Programs On TV Announced Results of "Ty Ty" public inquiry, organized by the Czech magazin "Tydenik Televize a Teletip" were announced in Prague's Music Theatre in Karlin March 19. The inquiry evaluates the most popular people and programs on Czech Television. Awards were given in ten categories. The most popular moderator of evening news broadcast was Mirka Vseteckova. The most successful program of 1993 was the gameshow Kufr, which requires of its contestants perception, knowledge and quick reactions. Awards were also given to winners in other categories -- best program announcer, publisher and documentarist, sports commentator, singer, singer, entertainer, actor and actress. Jitka Molavcova, an actress and singer, was the moderator of the event. What AIDS Looks Like? Prague's Old Town Hall was the site of a photography exhibition by Peter Bialobrzesky called "What AIDS Looks Like." The photographer is publicly presenting two rounds of his shots. The first is called Willi and was produced in Dusseldorf. The second was photographed in London's facility for people with AIDS -- House of Light. The photographs were a simple record of the lives of people who have AIDS, many in the advanced stages. One of the exhibition organizers was the National Center of Health Support. In the Czech Republic there are fewer people with AIDS than in other industrial countries. Through November 1993, 166 cases of HIV-positive were recorded, with 45 people with advanced stages of AIDS. By the same time, 33 people had died from AIDS. SPORTS Sakala World's Champion of Ski Jumping Czech ski jumper Jaroslav Sakala won the world championship March 20 in Slovakia's Planice. Sakala jumped 189 and 185 meters to gain 351.3 points, enough for victory over Norwegian Bredessen with 329.8 points and the Italian Cecone with 324.7 points. Another Czech ski jumpers taking part in the competition was Goder, who came in twentieth with 177.4 points. Sakala's victory made him the second Czech ski jumper to win the giant skijump competition. Karel Kodejska won in 1975. 18th Round of 1st Football League Continues Only seven matches were played out in the first football league's 18th round. The greatest smash of the round was the game of fifth place Liberec against formerly second place Ceske Budejovice. Other results of the 18th round: Dukla Praha - Banik Ostrava 0:3, FC Boby Brno - Union Cheb 0:0, FC Vitkovice - Bohemians Praha 0:1, Spartak Hradec Kralove - Petra Drnovice 3:1, Slavia Praha - Svit Zlin 5:0, Victoria Zizkov - Victoria Plzen 1:1, Sigma Olomouc - Sparta Praha 1:0. In the incomplete league board, Sparta Praha still leads with 26 points, in second place is Slavia Praha with 23 points, followed by Dynamo Ceske Budejovice, also with 23 points, but with fewer games. The hopeless last is Dukla Praha at 3 points. Hockey Extra-League Steps Into Semi-Final Playoffs The first semi-final extra-league hockey competitors are Olomouc and Kladno. Olomouc placed in the semi-finals after a win over Ceske Budejovice in a suprisingly easy 3 out of 0. Kladno won in the fourth encounter (3:1) over Litvinov at a score of 7:2. Sparta Praha will play in the in the second semi-final, after a win of 10:0 over Zlin in the third encounter (3:0). They will compete with Pardubice, who defeated Vitkovice in the fifth deciding game at 1:3. The season has ended for Jihlava and Plzen, who were both, coincidentally, defeated in the fourth round (3:1). Jindrichuv Hradec beat Plzen, and Hradec Kralove, Jihlava. Both Jindrichuv Hradec and Hradec Kralove together with the two best teams in the first national hockey league - Slavia Praha and Vsetin - will begin a bloody battle, which will determine two participants for next year's extra-league. WEATHER The most emphatic characteristic of the past week was April-like (frequently changing) weather. It cooled down, and, once again, morning temperatures were slightly above 0. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUPPLEMENT - WHO'S WHO ON CAROLINA'S EDITING STAFF (1st part, ending later) PAVEL BENES: Born 22.5.1974 in Prague, where I lives with my parents. I have one younger brother. I graduated from an industrial high school in electro-technology. I wanted to study artistic photography at the Film and Television Faculty at the Academy of Musical Art in Prague. I was not accepted, however. Afterwards, I tried my luck at Charles University's Faculty of Social Sciences (FSV UK), but I wasn't successful here, either. I worked a year in the sound department at the Editing Office of the Czechoslovak (later Czech) Television. Now, I study journalism at FSV-UK. I mainly live with film, which unfortunately manifests itself even in the contents of Carolina. VICTOR Z. BLANAR: I arrived in the world 21 years ago. At the time I began to perceive and think, a little, I already knew that I wanted to be a cosmonaut. Later, it was a doctor, policeman, teacher, brontosaurus, writer, president, or other animal... In the end, I was allowed to study electro-technology, and to continue at the Mathematical-Physical Faculty at Charles University, which mellowed in my head, and a semester later, I left for journalism. What else? I don't like the government, racists, and the new Rules of Czech Orthography. My dream is to travel to Pakistan, and enter NATO. I love frogs, and I don't eat meat. CLARA CASTRONOVO: I'm in my first year at FSV, even though I'm already over 22 years old. After graduation from high school, I worked as a stewardess. But because the work of journalists always interested me, the desire to study triumphed over "eternal" traveling. I haven't completely lost all my love of flying, however, and I like to return to it, at least through my contributions. It wasn't by chance that the bad economic situation of the Czech airlines is the target of my "interests". In closing, I'll explain my slightly un-Czech name: my father is Italian, my mother Czech. FILIP CERNY: Condemned to the role of the youngest and smallest with my birth in April 1975, crunched into the world with my sister, as a twin, I found myself in Prague, already convinced that I would be a journalist. After successfully graduating from high school, I was accepted to journalism school, so I could learn the craft that has the power to change the world. I don't like big talkers, popularity-seekers, and the irresponsibility of the responsible. I like nature and ecological life. TOMAS CHALUPA: Age: roughly like the rest Sex: suitable Height: answers standing Width: huggable Siblings: two older - in passing Memory: occasional functional Standing: -at work: brief -in society: doesn't let anyone else say a word Studies: FSV UK - journalism, write economics in Carolina Philosophical Faculty UK - politics and history Employment: economics department of an ad agency Best Time of the Year: vacation or holiday Karekeva, Sofi: I was born in Brno, Czech Republic in 1973. In 1980, my family and I moved to Greece, our mother-land. Although I was accepted to the university in Greece, I successfully completed the entrance exams for journalism at Charles University. Not only do I like journalism, I also love Prague. I work on the English version of Carolina every week. Honza Krecek: I saw the light of the world for the first time at night. On the night of the 7th to the 8th of November 1974, 54 years after the Great November Socialist Revolution. I attended a language elementary school, then high school, where the gentle, velvet, merry, big, November revolution reached me in my freshman year. Otherwise without changes, I finished studying, and right after graduation, began at the FSV. Currently, I study hard, I take joy in the strong, fragile, democracy, I feel good in Europe, to which we have returned, according to a general trend, I am learning to behave predatorily and recklessly, I think about money, I looking forward to taking part in the EC, G7, and NATO. Perhaps in your country, Dear Far Away Readers in Greece or Turkey, I'll serve, after finishing school. Dusan Mendal: I'm 20 years old, and besides journalism at FSV, I also study Czech language and literature at the Pedagogical faculty UK. I am from Tabor in Southern Bohemia, a town with a rich Hussite tradition, where I graduated from high school. I am actively interested in everything that goes on around me. I seriously enjoy playing the guitar, eating, and sleeping. Natalie Najdencovska: I was born the January 27, 1974 in Bulgaria. I have a 16-year old brother. I am interested in art. I like nature. I like animals. In my spare time, I do astrology. I know several languages: I speak and write French, Russian, Bulgarian, and English, I'm learning Czech . Zita Nidlova: From the date of my birth 21 years ago, I have been looking forward to retirement. Because psychologists recommend picking up some sort of interests and hobbies in preparation, I am currently trying to understand the journalistic craft at the FSV UK. My greatest hobby is traveling, but thanks to my modest financial situation, I currently realize it only through books. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This news may be published only with "CAROLINA" designation. The subscription is free. Comments and remarks are appreciated. Send them please to the address: carolina@n.fsv.cuni.cz To subscribe to CAROLINA you send an e-mail message to the address LISTSERV@CSEARN.BITNET or to the address: LISTSERV@EARN.CVUT.CZ The text of the message is: SUBSCRIBE CAR-ENG First name Last name for the English version or SUBSCRIBE CAR-CS First name Last name for the Czech version. To delete your subscription from the list you send the following message to LISTSERV@EARN.CVUT.CZ: SIGNOFF CAR-ENG or SIGNOFF CAR-CS Please, don't send automatic replies to our list. You can temporalily stop receiving of Carolna by sending the command: SET CAR-ENG NOMAIL The command should be sent to the address LISTSERV@EARN.CVUT.CZ