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 CZECH REPUBLIC Faculty of Social Science of Charles University Smetanovo nabr. 6 110 01 Prague 1 Czech Republic e-mail: CAROLINA@cuni.cz tel: (+42 2) 24810804, ext. 252, fax: (+42 2) 24810987 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* C A R O L I N A No 160, Friday, May 19, 1995. EVENTS FOR THE WEEK MAY 10-16 Czechs to Toughen Fight Against Rasicm Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus called a special meeting of ministers and police officials May 16 at which they agreed on a concerted effort to combat racially motivated attacks by right-wing extremist organizations. The Chief State Attorney suggested that public prosecutors advocate the most severe penalties possible, file charges quickly, and especially that they advocate prison terms for the criminals. Also, starting in June, crimes will be examined to determine if race played a role. Jakub Knezu/Andrea Snyder World War II Celebrations Culminate in Grand Air Show President Vaclav Havel unveiled a monument to Czech pilots in Prague on May 12 and a monument to Romany victims of Nazism in Lety u Pisku on May 13. (During World War II, some 1,300 Romanies died in the Lety concentration camp.) The celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II culminated in Hradec Kralove, eastern Bohemia, where a crowd of 60,000 watched more than 100 flying machines go through their paces. Mirek Langer/Alex Zucker Swedish King Visits Prague for First Time Carl Gustav XVI, the king of Sweden, arrived in Prague with his wife for his first visit to the Czech capital on Tuesday. On their first day they toured Prague Castle, strolled the Charles Bridge, and listened with enchantment to the Singing Fountain at the Belvedere Summer Palace. On Wednesday they continued their stay with a visit to the Czech UNPROFOR units in the south Bohemian town of Cesky Krumlov, followed by a tour of the Budvar brewery in Ceske Budejovice. Their visit ends today. Mirek Langer/Alex Zucker Vranitzky in Prague Offers Schillings to Stop Temelin Austrian Chancellor Franz Vranitsky arrived in Prague May 11 for a three-day visit. His talks with Czech President Vaclav Havel focused on the Czech Republic's integration into the European Union. Vranitzky also discussed the Sudeten Germans and the Temelin nuclear power plant with Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus, who turned down the Austrian chancellor's offer of half a million Austrian schillings for the Czechs to put a halt to the construction of the plant, located just across the border from Austria. Klaus said that the completion of Temelin was a top-priority matter for the Czech Republic. The Austrians' offer of 500,000 schillings (approximately 1.3 billion crowns) amounts to just one thirty-fifth of what the construction of Temelin has cost so far. According to Miroslav Novak, spokesman for CEZ (Czech Energy Works), construction costs have already reached 45 billion crowns. Jakub Knezu/Andrea Snyder Havel Protests Russian Troops from Chechenia in WWII Parade Russian soldiers fighting in Chechenia took part in the military parade celebrating the end of World War II in Moscow, contrary to the promise Boris Yeltsin made to U.S. President Bill Clinton, British Prime Minister John Major and Czech President Vaclav Havel. Havel received this information from the Czech embassy in Moscow. In response to the news, Lubos Dobrovsky, director of the president's office, presented a protest from Havel to Russia's ambassador to Prague, Alexander Lebedyev. Havel also penned a personal letter to Boris Yeltsin. Jakub Knezu/Andrea Snyder Tollner Unwilling to Give Up Parliamentary Post The leadership of the Christian Democratic Party (KDS) called on KDS deputy Pavel Tollner to step down from his post as vice chairman of Czech Parliament after he founded an alternative parliamentary club to protest the party's plans for a merger with the Civic Democratic Party (ODS). If Tollner does not step down voluntarily, KDS will discuss his dismissal with the other members of the government coalition - besides ODS, the Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party (KDU-CSL) and the Civic Democratic Alliance (ODA). May 4 Tollner and four other KDS members who disagreed with the party's plans for alliance with ODS founded a new group of deputies in Parliament called "KDS I." Tollner has said he will not step down, and it is unlikely that Parliament would be able to agree on a successor if he did. Opposition parties have also expressed interest in the post, including the Social Democrats. Mirek Langer/Alex Zucker ODS Deputy Steps Down as Committee Chair After Traffic Accident Anna Roschova of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) resigned from her position as chair of Parliament's mandate and immunity committee, citing her behavior after a minor car accident earlier this month. Roschova would not take take the breathalyzer test and refused to sign the police protocol on the incident. Roschova is the first deputy to step down from a post as the result of a political blunder. Jakub Knezu/Andrea Snyder Meningitis Kills in Bohemia So far this year Czech doctors have registered 89 cases of meningitis, which causes severe inflammation of the membranes enclosing the brain and spinal cord, often resulting in death. Shortly after the ninth soldier in the Prague barracks came down with the illness, the Army decided to inoculate all new recruits against the meningococcus bacteria. Jakub Knezu/Andrea Snyder Interest in Engineering Hasn't Grown The Czech Institute of Technology (CVUT) accepts nearly half of the applicants to its six schools. This fall the School of Civil Engineering will accept 1,300 students from the 1,940 applicants; the Electrical Engineering School 1,350 from 2,400; the School of Nuclear Engineering 250 from 356; and Transport Engineering 270 from 740. Applicants to the School of Machine Engineering will probably not have to take entrance exams, as there have been just 1,580 applicants for 1,600 spaces. The School of Architecture, on the other hand, has several times more applicants than it can accommodate. Karolina Polakova and Tereza Hadravova/Andrea Snyder NEWS IN BRIEF * TV Nova now has a 70 percent share of viewers in the Czech Republic. * By no later than September, the Investment and Postal Bank will sell its share in the television station Premiera, which will broadcast by satellite under a different name and with a different schedule. * The Czech Republic moved up to 32nd in "Institutional Investor" magazine's annual rankings, meaning the country is a safer place to invest than it was a year ago. Jakub Knezu/Andrea Snyder BUSINESS/ECONOMICS Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank (as of May 19) Checks Cash country buy sell middle buy sell Great Britain 1 GPB 41.645 42.063 41.854 40.43 43.27 France 1 FRF 5.178 5.230 5.204 5.00 5.40 Italy 1000 ITL 15.978 16.138 16.058 15.29 16.83 Japan 100 JPY 30.527 30.833 30.680 29.38 31.98 Canada 1 CAD 19.515 19.711 19.613 18.72 20.50 Austria 1 ATS 2.613 2.639 2.626 2.57 2.69 Germany 1 DEM 18.384 18.568 18.476 18.02 18.94 Switzerland 1 CHF 22.058 22.280 22.169 21.67 22.67 USA 1 USD 26.491 26.757 26.624 25.92 27.32 Slovakia 1 XCU -- -- 34.114 -- -- FROM SLOVAKIA Slovak Government Wants Kovac Out Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar's Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) and its coalition partner, the Slovak National Party (SNS), called for President Michal Kovac to resign this week. Kovac delivered a speech in Parliament in which he appealed to the absent HZDS and SNS deputies not to place party allegiance before truth, law and justice. Slovak religious officials have taken Kovac's side, refusing to recognize any attempts to undermine his authority. President Kovac is also favored by the opposition, who organized a huge demonstration in his support. Jakub Knezu/Andrea Snyder CULTURE International Music Festival - Prague Spring 1995 Last week saw the launch of the jubilee 50th annual Prague Spring international music festival in the Czech capital on May 11, with the premiere of a new version of the opera "Libuse" by Bedrich Smetana, one of the founders of Czech classical music. The next day was the ceremonial inauguration concert, Smetana's cycle of symphonic poems, "Ma Vlast" ("My Country"), performed traditionally on May 12, the day of Smetana's death, this year by the Czech Philharmonic under the renowned Czech conductor Libor Pesek, who currently works mainly in England. Each year the festival closes with Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, and this year is no exception, as the "Ode to Joy" will formally close Prague Spring 1995 on June 2 in the Rudolfinum. Leafing through the pages of the Prague Spring archive we find a host of famous names that have performed in the festival, among them Herbert von Karajan, Leonard Bernstein, Leopold Stokowski, Charles Munch, Rafael Kubelik, Jaroslav Krombholc, David Oistrach, Rudolf Firkusny, Sviatoslav Richter, Jarmila Novotna, and on and on. The 1995 festival will feature the Czech and Slovak Philharmonic orchestras, the Berlin Philharmonic (under the baton of Claudio Abbado), the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, the Prague Symphony Orchestra, and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, as well as the world-renowned Hilliard Ensemble and Les Arts Florissants. In addition to the nearly 80 top-rate musical performances to be heard here in the coming weeks, Prague plays host to the Zlata Praha (Golden Prague) international television festival May 18 to 23. Martin Kupka/Alex Zucker Prague Buried in Stacks of Books Bookworms, writers, illustrators, graphic artists, publishers, booksellers, and all others willing to confront the current onslaught of audiovisual media with a book in their hands, descended on Prague last week for not just one, but two book fairs. From May 10 to 13 the Palace of Industry at the Fairgrounds in Prague 7 hosted the debut of Svet knihy (World of Books), while just down the road, in the Trade Fair Palace, the Prague International Book Fair made its fifth annual appearance here, from May 9 to 12. The World of Books, sponsored by the Czech Publishers and Booksellers Association and the firm of Itea, featured 171 Czech exhibitors and 72 from other countries in a space measuring roughly 7,000 square meters. Additional support for the event came from the Czech Ministry of Culture, the Writers' Community, the Czech Library Association, the National Literature Monument, the Translators' Community, and most of all from members of the Czech Publishers and Booksellers Association. The event's first day was designated exclusively for contracts to be negotiated among publishers and booksellers. After that, the World of Books opened its doors to the general public, who, in addition to browsing among the stands, had the opportunity to listen to and get autographs from such popular Czech authors as Arnost Lustig, Jaroslav Foglar, Jiri Zacek, Miroslav Hornicek and Karel Hvizdala. One of the most interesting discussions was on the topic "Readers and Reading in the Czech Lands," based on research done by the Writers' Community and the editors of the publication "New Books." Meanwhile, the fifth Prague International Book Fair, organized by Avencourt Exhibitions of England and the Artforum Jazz Section of Prague, featured an electronic catalog of exhibitors that allowed visitors to quickly familiarize themselves with publishers' wares and obtain contact addresses. Most of the exhibitors in the Trade Fair Palace were from countries other than the Czech Republic, and by and large they offered specialty books. In conjunction with this book fair, the Viola theater played host to three nights of readings sponsored by the British daily "The Guardian International." The fourth annual Writers' Festival, from Thursday through Saturday, featured Czech authors Miroslav Holub, Ivan Klima, Ludvik Vaculik, Sylvie Richterova, Jachym Topol, Jiri Stransky and Bozena Spravcova, who read from their prose and poetry in Czech, alternating with the English-language translations. Among the non-Czech authors who appeared in the Viola (from Austria, Australia, South Africa, Poland, Portugal and Turkey), the best-known was Chinese dissident poet Bei Dao, who read from his new collection titled "Forms of Distance." Vera Vitkova/Alex Zucker Exclusive Interview on Czech Film and Television Academy In Carolina no. 152 we wrote about plans for a Czech Film and Television Academy (CFTA). In this issue we talk more about CFTA with Petr Vachler, owner of Vachler Art Company (VAC) and the brainchild of the project. C: How long has VAC been in existence and what is it involved in? PV: VAC is a creative production company that designs and produces its own projects. It came into being nearly three years ago. In the beginning, it only made advertisements. Now it produces the weekly television show "Kinobox," a monthly show on student and independent film called "Prology," and it is the main producer for the annual Czech Lion film awards. Now the company is preparing the Film and Television Academy. C: What will be the purpose of the Academy? PV: It will be involved with the Czech Lions, the Oscars, the Felixes and the Stars of Tomorrow. I believe that with time CFTA will win the prestige it deserves. At the same time, it can also serve as sort of a "film parliament" in disputes between film festivals, like the one between the Karlovy Vary festival and the Golden Golem in Prague about which event is justified in claiming international status. C: Will Academy officials be paid or will they work for free? PV: Both. The employees of the secretariat will be paid, while the others will work as volunteers. How many there will be I don't know. Every member of the Academy will be nominated, with automatic acceptance for anyone who has won an Oscar, Felix or Czech Lion. C: Who will belong to CFTA? PV: I would like it to include every important Czech filmmaker. Among the people who confirmed membership at the first meeting were Milos Forman, Miroslav Ondricek, Theodor Pistek, Jaromil Jires, Frantisek Vlacil and Zdenek Sverak. C: How will the Academy be managed and organized? PV: The board of directors will be elected. The organization of the Academy will be approved at the next meeting. C: Are you considering something similar to the Czech Lion for television shows? PV: Not for the time being. There are already the TyTy awards. The problem is that the jury barely has time to see all the films nominated for the Czech Lion and I can't imagine any objective way to present an entire year of television shows. C: What is your view of Czech film in general? PV: Very optimistic. The Czech film industry has made two important steps recently, one good and one bad. The good one is that ideas are starting to matter more than money; the bad one is that there are too many movies being made. A lot of movies have been made that don't appeal to the public. Today's Czech filmmakers go ahead and make a film no matter what, just because they have the money. But I have to admit that there have been many successful projects. Tomas Kopecny/T.K. SPORTS Olga Sipkova Crowned European Aerobics Champion On Sunday afternoon, the sixth annual European aerobic championships climaxed with the long-awaited finale: a title for Olga Sipkova. Before the eyes of a thunderous 3,000 fans at Prague's Palace of Culture, she triumphed over her top competitor, Carmen Valderas of Spain, and three other finalists. Sipkova went into the final round in second place behind Valderas. Last year Sipkova took the silver at the European championships and 10th place at the world championships in San Diego. She hopes to move up to fifth in this year's world competition. "Last year I was 25 short (of the title), and I'm hoping that I've made up about 15 by now," she said. Besides her dream of a world championship one day, Sipkova is also after the title in recreational aerobics, which she teaches. Sipkova said she planned to celebrate her European title with her husband, who also serves as her coach, and and her son, whom she hasn't seen for 10 days because of training. Another standout in the Prague event was Alexandro Viligiardi of Italy, the former Olympic gymnast who came to Prague a year ago for an exhibition. He returned this year to take titles in both singles and trios. The tandem title went to Canada and de las Heras of Spain. The Czechs placed fifth in the team competition, plus a sixth-place finish for Hanakova-Huf in the tandem event, and a seventh-place finish for David Huf in the singles. Mirek Langer/Andrea Snyder Sparta Moves Ahead of Slavia in Soccer League After the 25th round of the first soccer league, Sparta Praha has taken first place after a 1-0 win over Zlin at its home field on a penalty kick. Slavia lost its top ranking after it failed to score against Sigma Olomouc, playing to a scoreless tie on its home pitch. With just five rounds left in this year's season, Sparta's position is looking strong, as its remaining matches are against weaker opponents. Results of 25th round: Hradec Kralove - Ceske Budejovice 1:3, Slovan Liberec - Svarc Benesov 4:1, Bohemians Praha - Banik Ostrava 0:3, Boby Brno - FK Jablonec 2:0, Union Cheb - Viktoria Zizkov 1:2, Svit Zlin - Sparta Praha 0:1, Viktoria Plzen - Petra Drnovice 0:1, Slavia Praha - Sigma Olomouc 0:0. Rudolf Cernik/Mirek Langer Czech Wins Peace Race Yet Again Pavel Padrnos rode to victory in this year's Joko 95 Race for Peace, taking over the yellow jersey after Wednesday's leg to the Krkonose Mountains, then hanging on to it through the demanding climb up Lysa Mountain and the time trial that followed. First-place finishes by Nazon of France in the last two legs were not enough to block Padrnos from winning, though the Frenchman did foil the Czech team's hopes for a second-place finish for Trkal. Following Padrnos in the overall standings were Baranowski and Brozyna of Poland, then Gottschling of Germany, and Trkal in fifth. The German rider Lehmann, leader for the first two legs, was left with a 14th-place finish in the end. Mirek Langer/M.L. Julie Halard Takes Prague Tennis Tourney Julie Halard of France stroked her way to victory in this year's Prague Open after starting the tournament as the no. 1 seed, defeating the talented Czech Ludmila Richterova 6:4, 6:4 in the final. This year's tournament was plagued by bad weather and poor attendance - just six spectators turned out for the first-round match between the Bulgarian Maleeva and the German Martinek. Mirek Langer/Tomas Kopecny SPORTS IN BRIEF * The Czech team handball side defeated Korea 26-25 in a dramatic match at the World Championships in Iceland, but fell to Sweden 21-17 in the quarterfinals. * Martin Novak was the winner of the two-hour decathlon, defeating Olympic champion Robert Zmelik, who had returned to the sport after a break due to injury. * Ludek Bukac announced that he would stay on as coach of the Czech national hockey team. * Czech tennis players returned from the world championships in China in the same state as the judoists from the European championships in Birmingham. Empty-handed. * Finalists in the Czech soccer cup: Viktoria Zizkov (with a 3-0 win over second-league Pribram) and Hradec Kralove (beating Drnovice 1-1, 4-3 on penalty kicks). Mirek Langer/Andrea Snyder SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT The spring semester is over and vacation awaits (some of) us. But don't despair. Carolina never goes on vacation. It will continue to appear weekly until the end of June, though with a reduced staff. After that, it will be biweekly for the rest of the summer. Yours truly, The Carolina staff ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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@cuni.cz To subscribe to CAROLINA news you send an e-mail message to the address LISTSERV@earn.cvut.cz The text of message for subscription of the English version must be: SUBSCRIBE CAR-ENG First name Last name or for the Czech version SUBSCRIBE CAR-CS First name Last name To delete your subscription from the list of subscribers you send the following message to the address LISTSERV@earn.cvut.cz: SIGNOFF CAR-ENG or SIGNOFF CAR-CS We ask you not to send automatic replies to our list. 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