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 127, Friday, July 29, 1994. EVENTS FROM THE LAST TWO WEEKS (FROM JULY 13 TO JULY 27) The Lowest Number of Children Since 1918 Were Born Last Year in the Czech Republic The Czech Statistical Office announced on Tuesday (July 26) that 121,470 children were both in the Czech republic in 1993 which is the lowest number least since 1918. Also the number of newly married couples fell 37.8% in comparison to 1990 and the number of marriages per thousand inhabitants (6.4) was the lowest since the end of the World War I. Even more the number of live births was the lowest since 1785 when the birth-rate in Bohemia and Moravia began to be watched. Lida/Zuzka Margaret Thatcher visited Prague The former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher came to Prague on Friday July 15. She took part in discussions at a round table on conservativism with a number of leading polititians, for example the Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus and the deputy Tomas Jezek. The discussion was held by Bohemia Fund. Thatcher also met the Foreign Affairs Minister Josef Zieleniec and the President Vaclav Havel took her for the private talk. After a meeting with the British community, and dinner with the leaders of the opposition, she left for London the same day. Zuzka/Zuzka Lidova Demokracie Ceases Publication Lidova Demokracie was published for the last time on Saturday July 23. The owner of the newspaper, Fidelis Schlee, decided to stop it. Although he refused to give any reason, the Czech press writes that LD was losing money. The newspaper had an approximate circulation of 80,000 copies, of which 50,000 were sold. According to the most recent survey, 2% of people used to read it. Schlee bought LD, which had botn the same name for 50 years, from the Christian and Democratical Union - Czechoslovak People's Party in 1992. Lida/Zuzka How Do Foreign Students Spend Their Holidays University students look forward to their holidays the same as little school-children do. Many foreign students from different continents came to Czechoslovakia or the present Czech Republic to study. They come from different cultures: that is why their leisure time during the holidays differs. Many of them like to learn Czech national customs, dances, music, Czech cuisine, films. Others admire a number of historical monuments, others like to leave busy Prague for the countryside, where many things can also be seen. The Czech countryside offers many possibilities how to spend one's free time. Some prefer mountain tourism, others like to walk along by the water or in the woods. Holidays mean not only rest and fun but also the possibility to earn some money. They look for a job in hospitals, sell at street stalls, translate or interpret. Foreign students must also study what they missed during the year because of the language barrier. A great number of them stay alone at dormitories while their Czech schoolmates leave to see their parents or friends. Fatema/Zuzka CULTURE Bob Dylan Performed in the Prague Sports Hall on Saturday July 16 The legendary figure of folk and rock music, fifty-three-year old Bob Dylan, according to members of his group was satisfied with his performance in front of 14 thousand people. The technicians who had worked with him during the whole tour said that they had not seen such a good concert before. Experts on Dylan's music were surprised that he encored three songs for the mostly young audience (because he usually does not do that) and moreover he bowed as Mlada Fronta Dnes wrote on Monday. The almost two-hour long concert began with the song Jokerman from 1983 and ended up with the famous Blowing in the Wind. Dylan Came to Prague on Saturday morning and he devoted the morning to sigtseeing. He met President Vaclav Havel in his cloak-room before the cocert and he gave him a guitar. Lida/Zuzka The Czech Press Writes About the Death of Rudolf Firkusny The pianist, composer, and conductor Rudolf Firkusny died at the age of 82 in Staatsbourg in New York on July 19. One of the last pupils of Leos Janacek, Firkusky was born in Napajedla in Moravia in 1912, and he moved to America in 1939. Towards the end of his life he finally gained respect also in Czechoslovakia. He got the award of Tomas Garrique Masaryk in 1991 and became the honored citizen of several towns. Lida/Zuzka Frederick Tristan in Prague One of the most remarkable recent French writers, sixty-three-year old Frederick Tristan, visited Prague during the last days. His visit was connected with the publication of his book "Hadi pisen aneb Pribeh labyrintu" (The Snakes's Song, or the Story of a Maze) to the Czech bookfair. Although Tristan had already published more than 25 books (mainly novels and essays) "Hadi pisen" is the first one tranlated into Czech. The writer was satisfied with the layout and was pleased that his book had been published in Prague, a town which he admires. Jakub/Zuzka Problems of the Semafor Theatre One of the most famous Prague theatres, the Semafor Theatre, has got into trouble in the 35th year of its existence. The home base of Semafor was for many years the hall in Alfa Palace between the Wenceslas Square and the Garden of St. Francis and it should be recostructed now. However, the work has not started yet and a casino has been opened instead. The history ofthe Semafor Theatre is connected with Jiri Suchy and Jiri Slitr, who were extremely succesful with their performances as Jonas and Tingltangl, Clovek z pudy, Jonas and Doktor Matrace, and so on. The present-day roup of the Semafor Theatre has found a temporary space in the Komedie Theatre. That space is unfortunately inconvenient for club and intellectual evenings because of its architecture. According to the agreement between the director of Semafor, Jiri Suchy, and the owner of Alfa Palace (which which was returned to him during restitution), Semafor should come back to the former hall after reconstruction is complete. However, the current situation does not give much hope because the reconstruction has not started yet. Despite of the problem, Semafor has big and optimistic plans to the future. Jakub/Zuzka EXCHANGE RATES OF THE CZECH NATIONAL BANK (valid from July 27) CHECKS CASH country Buy Sell Middle Buy Sell Middle Australia 1 AUD 21.053 21.265 21.159 20.09 22.23 21.16 Belgium 100 BEF 86.297 87.165 86.731 84.03 89.43 86.73 Great Britain 1 GBP 43.127 43.561 43.344 41.92 44.76 43.34 Denmark 1 DKK 4.525 4.571 4.548 4.35 4.75 4.55 Finland 1 FIM 5.383 5.437 5.410 4.91 5.91 5.41 France 1 FRF 5.201 5.253 5.227 5.03 5.43 5.23 Ireland 1 IEP 42.705 43.135 42.920 40.92 44.92 42.92 Italy 1000 ITL 17.839 18.019 17.929 17.16 18.70 17.93 Japan 100 JPY 28.705 28.993 28.849 27.55 30.15 28.85 Canada 1 CAD 20.495 20.701 20.598 19.71 21.49 20.60 Luxembug 100 LUF 86.297 87.165 86.731 83.73 89.73 86.73 Netherlands 1 NLG 15.832 15.992 15.912 15.43 16.39 15.91 Norway 1 NOK 4.078 4.118 4.098 3.95 4.25 4.10 New Zealand 1 NZD 17.125 17.297 17.211 16.46 17.96 17.21 Portugal 100 PTE 17.366 17.540 17.453 16.27 18.63 17.45 Austria 1 ATS 2.525 2.551 2.538 2.48 2.60 2.54 Greece 100 GRD 11.761 11.879 11.820 11.11 12.53 11.82 Germany 1 DEM 17.769 17.947 17.858 17.40 18.32 17.86 Spain 100 ESP 21.591 21.807 21.699 20.70 22.70 21.70 Sweden 1 SEK 3.623 3.659 3.641 3.48 3.80 3.64 Switzerland 1 CHF 20.907 21.117 21.012 20.51 21.51 21.01 USA 1 USD 28.297 28.581 28.439 27.74 29.14 28.44 EC-ECU 1 XEU 33.990 34.332 34.161 -- -- -- IMF-SDR 1 XDR 41.045 41.457 41.251 -- -- -- Slovakia 1 XCU -- -- 34.161 -- -- -- SPORT Preparations for the Football League As the autumn league draws nearer, the teams as usual are trying to find new players and sometimes also new coaches. The most interesting change this year is the selling of Radim Necas from Prague Slavia to the Union Cheb team. Slavia got the player two years ago thanks to the financial help of the sponsor, Boris Korbel. He bought him from Ostrava Banik for the record sum of 24 million Czech crowns. The current amount which had to be stated by the foolball comittee after disagreements between Slavia and Cheb is almost negligible - it is 3.5 million. The Bohemians team is now without a coach because their last coach, Mario Buzek, refused to prolong the contract. FC Svit Zlin does not have similar problems. The famous Slovak former football player and coach (in recent years he led, for example, Bohemians Praha and Inter Bratislava), Jozef Adamec, became the coach of the team. Jakub/Zuzka WEATHER The tropical heats have lasted during both weeks. There are no clouds, no rain, only the sun is shinig and burning. 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