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 113, Friday, April 8, 1994. EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (March 30 - April 6) Premier Vaclav Klaus Exacts Debts in Moscow By the end of May, the Czech Republic and Russia will sign a contract concerning Russian debt repayment, according to officials. Czech Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus and his Russian counterpart Viktor Cernomyrdin reached the decision during Klaus' visit to Moscow April 4-5. Russia owes the Czech state about three million dollars, and nearly 400 million dollars to businesses. The debts are to be paid not only with goods and money, but also through Czech firms taking part in Russian privatization. Klaus said he doesn't expect immediate payment, but appreciates Russia's official recognition of the debt. Both countries will also soon close an agreement on long-term supplies of Russian oil and earth gas to the Czech Republic. Pavel P./Andrea Chairman SPD Rudolf Scharping in Prague Rudolf Scharping, chairman of the German Social Democrats (SPD) and their candidate for the chancellor, flew to Prague April 5 for a two-day visit. In Prague's Rudolfinum, he spoke on the theme of European integration in the 1990's. Concerning relations with the Czechs, Scharping said Germany had been neither so closely, nor for such a long time, connected to any other nation. He said that the symbiosis of the two nations was destroyed in this century, and now it's time to resolve that, just as Germany resolved its relations with its western neighbors. At the same time, he also said he favored including the Sudeten Germans in the Czech-German dialogue, and using their economic strength to invest into the Czech Republic. According to Scharping, German Social Democrats are for a liberal gesture of compensation of Czech victims of Nazism. Czech Television covered the speech in its Wednesday evening news. Rudolf Scharping met with Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus on Tuesday, and with President Vaclav Havel, Foreign Minister Josef Zielienec, and the chairman of the Czech Social Democrats, Milos Zeman. Honza K./Andre Czech soldier in Croatia injured by landmine A Czech member of the UN forces in Croatia was injured when a landmine exploded near the UN base in Teslingrad on March 27. Platoon officer Milan Hrachovec was transported to a Zagreb hospital, where he underwent two operations. Doctors there later said that his leg should be saved. Hrachovec will be transported to the Central Army Hospital in Prague this week. Clara/Clara "Child in Distress" aims to aid Bosnian children "It's not enough to save the children's lives. The biggest problems come when the war in Bosnia is over. Children will have it worst." These words begin the spot on Czech television announcing a collection which began this week to help suffering Bosnian children. The project is similar to one launched in the Czech Republic last October. SOS Sarajevo, organized by journalists from the Czech daily Lidove Noviny, Czech Television and Czech Radio and the Center for Independent Journalism in Prague, was named by UN workers as one of the most successful, said Simon Panek of Lidove Noviny, a member of staff of the journalism team Epicentrum during a press conference last week. The aim of SOS Sarajevo was to help to the inhabitants of Sarajevo during the winter period. During several weeks more than 28 million crowns were donated to a bank account, with another three milLion donated by the Council of Prague. The money was used to buy 19,000 pieces of blankets, candles, shoes, warm clothing and basic foodstuffs. Everything was requested by the UN agencies. Supplies of medicine from the Czech Republic were among the first such donations at the beginning of the war. Bosnian doctors used the medicine as an example for similar supplies in the future. Most supplies were used in Sarajevo, with smaller portions going to eastern Bosnian enclaves and sections of Mostar. Blankets, warm clothing and food were divided between refugees by the UN High Committee. Some time later Slovak journalists joined the Czech journalists' initiative. According to one journalist the group gathered gathered 10 million crowns worth of donations in Slovakia. It was used to buy medicine, food, childrens shoes, candles and bandage material. Katerina/Clara Trade Union Chief Wins Over TV Audience In the 111th edition of CAROLINA we referred to the trade union demonstration, which took place in Prague on March 22. About 40,000 people took part in the demonstration, the largest anti-government rally since the political changes of November, 1989. The demonstration was also a topic of the Arena debate program broadcast by Czech Television April 3. Richard Falbr, vice-chairman of the Czech-Moravian Chamber of Union Federations (CMKOS) said the demonstration was successful. He rejected suggestions that the demonstration was merely an attempt by union leaders to grab the spotlight, and said the unions won't avoid future demonstrations. Falbr emerged a winner in a live audience opinion research (conducted by telephone); he persuaded the viewers that this action was legitimate and not, as some politicians claimed, only a performance by a small group of extremists. Vladimir Petrus, chairman of CMKOS refused the invitation to Arena and on April 6 canceled his run for the chairman's seat. Instead, Falbr will appear on the candidate list during the weekend's trade union congress. Honza/Sofi Fascist Skinheads are More Active in the Czech Republic Czech skinheads plan to meet in Hradec Kralove April 23 to celebrate the 105th anniversary of Adolf Hitler's birth, and according to Social Democratic deputy Zdenek Trojan, meeting organizers spread leaflets telling skinheads to bring weapons in case of violent clashes. The Movement of Civic Solidarity and Tolerance (HOST), established in reaction to increasing brutality and organizing by racist groups, stated that a March concert of skinhead-oriented bands in Prague served as preparation for this coming event. A member of the National Fascist Community, Michal Prochazka, organized the March concert and a meeting of about 500 neo-Nazis and skinheads from the entire republic in the Karlin restaurant U Zabranskych. During the concert Nova TV reporters and Blesk photographers were assaulted. Skinheads saluted "Heil Hitler", and shouted "Sieg Heil!" and "Gypsies get out" both in the hall and later in streets and subways. Police did not take any action, and responded to later criticism saying that no disturbance of the public order occurred and the event was a private party for invited persons only. The same day as the concert, four skinheads attacked two Arab students in Prague 6 and a group of approximately 10 skinheads broke into the Ostrava apartments of two Gypsy families. In the Ostrava case, a 37-year-old man and his 17-year-old daughter were attacked. Six people were arrested in the incident. The tame police response drew heavy criticism. The Czech press gave significant coverage to the March events, and President Vaclav Havel, in his weekly radio commentary, called the lack of police intervention a failure. "Nobody is allowed to shout "Heil Hitler" in this country. There are several laws that make it a crime," Havel said. Interior Minister Jan Ruml called for strong police response to all signs of extremism, especially against those supporting racism and fascism. Police President Stanislav Novotny ordered his district police presidents to adopt measures to eliminate signs of extremism. On March 31, Prague Police arrested two skins on suspicion of violating the law against supporting movements leading to a restriction of people's rigths and freedoms. Police identified the two through videotape recorded at the Karlin restaurant by a TV Nova cameraman. The Movement of Civil Solidarity and Tolerance keeps records of nearly 200 bias-motivated attacks in the Czech Republic since 1990. Events of the kind like March 19 were often followed by violent acts, according to a HOST information bulletin, but ultra-right participants of the meetings were rarely exposed to criminal penalties in accordance with laws about supporting fascism or racial, national or religious defamation. Filip/Zbynek Forum of European Journalism Students On March 30, the meeting of journalism students in Prague finished. About 130 young people from 30 countries attended this meeting. The meeting was organized under the patronage of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Charles University (FSV UK), the Czech Republic's Journalism Syndicate and the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs. All participants had a chance to hear speeches on the theme "Media and Manipulation." Speakers included Vaclav Belohradsky, professor of the Trieste University, Denis McQuail, professor of the Amsterdam's University, David Krajicek from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Michal Cernousek from the FSV UK, and Jeremy Tunstall, professor from the London's City University. Along with the speeches attendants had the opportunity to visit press agencies, television and radio stations, and foreign and Czech newspapers and magazines. Martin/Sofi New Monthly Supplement Of Lidove Noviny Appears On March 29, after an agreement between Czech daily Lidove Noviny, the Polish Gazeta Wyborcza, Hungarian Magyar Hirlap and Slovak Sme, the first edition of a supplement to the newspapers was published. The supplement will cover the four Visegrad countries and carry opinions on the theme of Central Europe. Clara/Clara Millions for Nature More than 60 million Czech crowns will be spent in the Czech Republic for the next three years to maintain and develop of the variety of its environment, said Ales Sulc, deputy minister of environmental affairs, at a press conference March 30. The money comes from International Bank for Renovation and Development (BERD), which will provide the Czech Republic a grant of 1.5 million U.S. dollars. According to Sulc, the funds will be used for the protection of virgin forests in the Sumava's National Park, alpine meadows in the Krkonose National Park and wetlands and waterworks near Palava - a region around the rivers Dyje and Morava. Advisory and information centers will be established in the affected areas. A part of the amount - about 100,000 dollars - will be spent for non-governmental environmental organizations, which will be able to compete for smaller grants. August Schumacher, representative of the bank, said similar programs will be organized in four other European countries. For example, the Krkonose project will be done in co-operation with Poland, and the Palava project with Slovakia. The five countries will have until the end of 1996 to spend a total of 7 million dollars. "In Geneva, it was decided last week that another 2 million dollars will be provided for similar programs," Schumacher said. Zita/Sofi Democratic Union - A New Party - Forms in Czech Republic Over the last few weeks the Czech press (and especially Cesky denik) has devoted a large amount of space to covering a new political party - the Democratic Union (DEU). The party was founded by Josef Kudlacek, editor of Cesky denik and the advertising magazine Annonce, who said he was reacting to an appeal by Antonin Belohloubek. Belohloubek, a member of KAN, warned against a possible victory of left-wing parties in the Czech Republic in upcoming elections, as happened in Poland in 1993. Kudlacek's Cesky denik has long criticized the Civic Democratic Party for allegedly breaking campaign promises, diverging from rightist position and being inconsistent in dealing with former top communists. In October 1993, Kudlacek announced his intention to set-up a new, clearly conservative, right-wing party. This February 1 was a first meeting of the Initiative for Unifying Rightist Powers in the Czech Republic. The main coordinators of establishing the new party were Alena Hromadkova and Milan Hulik. They, acting as the DEU preparation commitee, now organize meetings of representatives of the group with members of the public in the largest Czech cities. But transformating the initiative into a registered political party has not come off without a hitch. In March, the Interior Ministry rejected DEU's registration attempt because of inaccuracies and incomplete applications. The new party, which organizers say will stand to the right of the Civic Democratic Party of Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus, will not accept former communists as members. Filip/Zbynek ECONOMY EXCHAGE RATES OF THE CZECH NATIONAL BANK (valid from April 7) CHECKS CASH country Buy Sell Middle Buy Sell ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Australia 1 AUD 20.915 21.125 21.020 19.95 22.09 Belgium 100 BEF 84.040 84.884 84.462 81.76 87.16 Great Britain 1 GBP 43.548 43.986 43.767 42.35 45.19 Denmark 1 DKK 4.421 4.465 4.443 4.24 4.64 Finland 1 FIM 5.349 5.403 5.376 4.88 5.88 France 1 FRF 5.067 5.117 5.092 4.89 5.29 Ireland 1 IEP 41.897 42.319 42.108 40.11 44.11 Italy 1000 ITL 17.871 18.051 17.961 17.19 18.73 Japan 100 JPY 28.332 28.616 28.474 27.17 29.77 Canada 1 CAD 21.446 21.662 21.554 20.66 22.44 Luxemburg 100 LUF 84.040 84.884 84.462 81.46 87.46 Netherlands 1 NLG 15.419 15.573 15.496 15.02 15.98 Norway 1 NOK 3.994 4.034 4.014 3.86 4.16 New Zealand 1 NZD 16.782 16.950 16.866 16.12 17.62 Portugal 100 PTE 17.074 17.246 17.160 15.98 18.34 Austria 1 ATS 2.461 2.485 2.473 2.41 2.53 Greece 100 GRD 11.792 11.910 11.851 11.14 12.56 Germany 1 DEM 17.308 17.482 17.395 16.94 17.86 Spain 100 ESP 21.405 21.621 21.513 20.51 22.51 Sweden 1 SEK 3.726 3.764 3.745 3.59 3.91 Switzerland 1 CHF 20.520 20.726 20.623 20.12 21.12 USA 1 USD 29.649 29.947 29.798 29.10 30.50 EC-ECU 1 XEU 33.370 33.706 33.538 -- -- IMF-SDR 1 XDR 41.674 42.092 41.883 -- -- Slovakia 1 XCU -- -- 33.538 -- -- CULTURE Bohumil Hrabal turns 80 Bohumil Hrabal, an important Czech novelist, poet, and screen-play writer celebrated his eightieth birthday last week. The writer was born March 28, 1914 in Brno but spent his youth in Nymburk. After high school he traveled to Prague to study law, but never worked as a lawyer. After the universities were closed in 1939, he tried a variety of jobs: he worked in a brewery, as an officer, a railway worker, a train dispatcher, a salesman, an insurance agent, a waiter, and a theater scene-shifter. Most of those jobs are reflected in his writing, which has been his sole occupation since 1963. His work includes almost thirty titles, some of which have been translated into English. Several of the novels were made into successful films. One, Closely Watched Trains, won the American film award Oscar for best foreign picture. Other of his novels have been made into plays. Bohumil Hrabal created a special style of his own - he puts sentences one after the other, divided only by commas, to create unusually long compound sentences. The novel "I Served To the King of England" is written as one long sentence. Hrabal's writings have recently been published in the Collected Works. Readers will soon have the possibility to read even those books previously unpublished. Zuzana/Zuzana Movie Akumulator 1 A long-awaited movie by the director Jan Sverak, Akumulator 1, saw its gala premiere last week in Prague. Czech President Vaclav Havel took part in the opening. The name of the film -- Akumulator 1 -- refers ironically to successful American movies such as Terminator or Predator. If the hero of American movies is a muscled wrestler, it is just opposite in Akumulator 1. The main hero - Olda (played by Petr Forman, son of Czech-American filmmaker Milos Forman) is a weak young man lacking energy. He is deprived of it by the TV screen and Olda has to fight with it. Akumulator 1 is a film full of energy that people gain and lose. Director Jan Sverak (who directed the nostalgic look at the post-war era, Obecna skola, an Oscar nominee) shot the movie with the perfection of an American action filmmaker, but his sources were the traditions of Czech comedy. His film signals a new direction in Czech cinematography. Pavel B./Zbynek SPORT Pardubice and Oloumoc in the Final Hockey Extraleague The fifth and final meeting in Pardubice between the home team and Sparta Prague finished 2:1, with Pardubice winning the Czech Hockey Extraleague after overtime shots. Olomouc, which lost the first two play-off matches, saved its hopes to be a finalist with two victories at home over Kladno. On April 5, the finalists met on Pardubice's ice for the first game of the three round series. As has become traditional with the play-off, the three round free penalty shots were needed to bring Pardubice to victory. In the second meeting in Pardubice Oloumoc won with a 2:1 score after the three round free penalty shots. In the competition to join the Hockey's Extraligue Vsetin leads with 6 points, Hradec Kralove trails with 4, and Slavie Praha and Jindrichuv Hradec have 3. Martin/Sofi WEATHER If in our previous weather broadcasts we referred to the prognosis "March- under the stove we hide", but the folk wisdom appears to apply as well for the first week of April. The weather is cold again, with morning temperatures near freezing. SUPPLEMENT - WHO'S WHO ON CAROLINA'S EDITING STAFF /THIRD PART/ Fatema Nazari: I was born in 1970 in Takhar, Afghanistan. My family -- my father, four brothers, and two sisters -- live in Afghanistan. My mother died while I was in high school. I came to Czechoslovakia in 1988 to study economics, a subject chosen not by me, but by my country. During the past few years, I've had health problems (I had a kidney transplant). I began my journalism studies at FSV UK at age 24. I like to read, hand work interests me - I embroider traditional Afghan patterns in the old ways on tableclothes and pillows. One day, I would like to be an established person. Andrea Snyder: Born in Tecumseh, Michigan, USA in 1974, I listened enraptured as my mother read me Czech fairy tales, and father Laura Ingalls Wilder stories, until I learned to read on my own. Originally, I wanted to be a librarian, writer, do international relations, and finally journalism. Having always wanted to be an exchange student, I had a chance to study at a language preparation school in what was then Czechoslovakia. After passing my entrance exams last June, I decided to continue my studies in the Czech Republic. Before returning home, I would like to get a Bachelors. The problem is, that because Charles University is not registered with the US Department of Education, I am not eligible for a student loan, and I won't ask my parents for the tuition. If you know of any grants or scholarships, I would be highly appreciative if you could contact me. Besides school, I translate and interpret - mainly for journalists, write for the Prague Post. I also help translate Carolina. Aram Sahinjan: I'm not sure if you'd like me, if I told you about myself. So, I'll only tell you this: I'm Armenian, I was born in 1976 in Jervan, I completed my first year of journalism studies at home. From last year, I live with my older sister and parents in Prague. I'm a freshman journalism student here at FSV UK, and I like the profession. I like classical music and film-making. Ross Daly: I'm the editor of the English version of Carolina, I'm 31 years old. I coordinate a journalism project between Charles University and Columbia University, and work as a free-lance reporter, including for Newsday in New York. This year, I'm teaching a course focusing on international news reporting. I'm interested in Central European history, and like reading history. I enjoy theater and music, and introducing Czech friends to strange and exotic spices brought from home. Mexican cuisine, I can report, is a bit hit with the Czechs. Milan Smid, Assistant Professor, 50 years old: 1965 - starts his study at the Faculty of Adult Education and Journalism, Charles University 1970 - M.A. degree at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Journalism, Charles University 1985 - external lecturer at the Faculty of Journalism, Charles University 1990 - member of staff at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University. Please do not miss the point - there were not four, but only one school, just the name has changed from time to time together with the politics and the regimes. 1970-1990 - 20 years in the Czechoslovak TV, most of the time the buyer and dramaturgist of foreign programmes. At Carolina responsible for the "computer affairs", together with Vaclav Trojan (founding father of Carolina). Ludmila Truneckova, editor of the Czech edition, expert assistant: I am married, I have three sons (Jiri 21, Michal 17, Ondrej 11). I specialize in agency journalism. I was born in sign Leo but I am an owl really. I love sleeping and I hate waking up. It is worth sleeping five more minutes in the morning. The nearly three-year-old Carolina has already become a part of my family. I have given her the name and I am the witness in the editing office. I addressed the students in October 91 and about 10 freshmen were meeting througout the year at one computer, apart from all their studying duties. The idea of Vaclav Trojan was accepted. This year we have a Carolina-seminar, which I lead, of the team introduced to you (Who is who). Today we have better conditions - the editing room is supplied with six computers and on the timetable blocks out six hours for us, which is never quite enough. On Wednesday we prepare the Czech version of Carolina in two groups, on Thursday we edit and transmit and on Friday we prepare and transmit the English version. The students will get credit as a reward and, I hope, the feeling that our work has some sense (as we can see from your reactions, for which we thank you). ad Who is who in last Carolina edition: Thank you to all who have written me back. The E- mail was damaged due to faults in faculty network and some of the messages were erased. I will write you back with pleasure if the second connection is succesful. Few accidents in network I hoping, Radim PROCHAZK@N.FSV.CUNI.CZ. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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