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 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 230, Friday, January 17, 1997. FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (January 8-15) Parliament Member Back with Social Democrats Roughly a month after the Czech Social Democrat Party's (CSSD) Central Executive Committee (UVV) expelled Josef Wagner and Tomas Teplik (see Carolina 228), Parliament deputy Wagner rejoined the party's northern Bohemian branch. In re-establishing his membership January 11, the Dubi (district Teplice) organization ignored a rule made earlier by the committee stating that if a local organization wants to accept a member of Parliament into their group, the move must first be approved by the Parliamentary Club. Wagner was also chosen to represent the association at the Bohumin party congress in March. Party Chairman Milos Zeman refused to comment on Wagner's return to the party, saying only that all party organizations should respect committee decisions. He also admitted shortcomings in the party charter, because there is no way to punish breaches of committee decisions. He did not deny that a proposal allowing only the committee to reinstate party membership it has revoked will appear at the Bohumin party congress. However, on a discussion panel on TV Nova, Deputy Chairwoman Petra Buzkova cited the northern Bohemian chapter's extension of membership to Wagner as proof of democracy. Although the Teplice organization is one of the largest in the country, its actions were not condoned by all. Before applying with the organization in northern Bohemia, Wagner's application was rejected in Vyskov, Plzen, Rokycany, and Kutna Hora. Third Parliamentary Deputy Resigns Due to Title Civic Democratic Party (ODS) Parliament deputy Ondrej Zemina announced his resignation January 14. He will return his parliamentary mandate because he was using the title Doctor of Law without proper authorization. He is the third member of Parliament to do so, following Pavla Jurkova of the Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party and Deputy Prime Minister Jan Kalvoda of the Civic Democratic Alliance (ODA). Czech daily MF DNES published an ODS pre-election questionaire January 7, which Zemina had signed using the title. He maintains that until then he had neither actively nor consciously used the title. The 30-year-old politician says he resigned in order to return to politics later. A special Parliament committee, headed by Karel Ledvinka (ODA), is to determine which other deputies are using an unauthorized academic title. All deputies are to submit their academic diplomas by January 28. Ledvinka says that the only punishment can be that names of those who refuse to submit their diploma or are found to be unrightfully using the title will be made public. Titlemania or JUDrgate, as the press calls the affair, started with Social Democrat Marie Noveska, who had not even graduated from law school (see Carolina 227 and 228). President Casts Doubt on Post-Surgical Procedure Professor Pavel Pafko, who operated on Czech President Vaclav Havel, asked Miroslav Cerbak, Deputy Minister of Health, to investigate post-surgical procedures. His request was in reaction to Havel's weekly radio program Talks from Lany, where the president said January 5 "it seems that my life was really only hanging by a thread. Whether it had to be that way or not is something the physicians should discuss among themselves." Following the operation, Havel was very ill with a lung infection. Secretary to the Minister of Health Miroslav Macek says the situation was "provoked by the new First Lady's characters and their activities," perhaps in referral to the faith healer she brought to see Havel. Macek says every patient always wonders, upon arrival home, what could have been different, and that the phenomenon could be included in medical study literature. The Ministry of Health sees no reason to establish a investigative committee. Health Minister Jan Strasky thanked Pafko and his team for a successful surgery. The press reported that Pafko accepted the thanks as satisfaction. International Committee to Decide Further Treatment The Czech Committee for the President's Post-surgical Treatment was dissolved January 10. A new, international oncological committee was formed to follow Havel's recovery. The team includes Professor Pavel Pafko, five other Czech doctors, and physicians from Great Britain, Austria and Belgium. They are to meet January 21 for the first time, and decide whether Havel needs further cancer treatment. Michal Serf, the President's personal physician, will resign by the end of January. Although Serf has been the president's doctor for seven years, his position weakened during Havel's surgery. Serf refused to comment. The press reminds us that Serf publicly supported Pafko and his team. NEWS IN BRIEF * The 20th anniversary celebration of Charter 77 (see Carolina 229) was held in the Spanish Hall of Prague Castle. Although President Havel's health kept him from attending, he had taped a recording to be played. Human rights violation in the Czech Republic "is luckily no longer through the will of the state, but that does not increase the seriousness of such violation, whether the subtext be racist or anything else," the president said. * Jiri Padour and Vaclav Maly were installed bishops January 11 at Prague's Saint Vitus Cathedral. Maly was a dissident during the Communist regime and was an active figure in the 1989 Velvet Revolution. * Milos Zeman gave President Vaclav Havel a 50-page document January 14, which according to Zeman proves that a group of people from the Interior Ministry and the secret service have been following politicians, adding to the affair which started in October. FROM SLOVAKIA Opposition Collects Votes For Direct Presidential Election Petition A opposition campaign supporting the petition for direct presidential election started in larger Slovak cities January 9. According to the Blue Alliance (Jan Carnogursky's Christian Democratic Movement, the Democratic Party led by Langos, and Jozef Moravcik's Democratic Union), a constitutional crisis is possible in spring 1998 when Parliamentary elections take place. A head of state would definitely not be elected in today's situation, where a three-fifths majority in Parliament is necessary for electing the president. The government coalition (Movement for a Democratic Slovakia, Slovak National Party, Slovak Workers' Association) does not have the necessary number of votes. In such a stalemate, the old government, with its mandate at an end at the time of Parliament elections, would not be able to resign. President Kovac's term of office will end three months before these elections. About 2,000 people assembled on Slovak National Uprising Square in Bratislava to express their support of the petition January 9. President Kovac also signed the petition; however, he has not decided whether he will run for re-election. From SME, MF Dnes and VTV reports Controversial Language Law Comes into Effect Sanctions in the state language law approved in November 1995 came into effect January 1. In accordance with the law's provisions on sanctions, offenses against the controversial law can be penalized by sums of 50,000 crowns to 500,000 crowns. However, it is not completely clear yet who can be penalized. Daily MF DNES published a report (from the CTK news agency) that the sanctions also apply to private citizens; Slovak pro-Meciar commercial television station VTV, however, claims the sanctions can apply only to corporations, politicians, public servants and social life representatives. In addition, all films dubbed in Czech (which are more or less ubiquitous in Slovakia) must be labeled with a warning that they are not proper for children under 12. At the same time, VTV itself has the majority of its foreign productions dubbed in Czech. Offenses against the language law will be handled by language commissars, who, for the time being, are only giving warnings. Whether a movie is proper for children under 12 will be decided by a special commission of the Culture Ministry. IN BRIEF * The rate of inflation in Slovakia reached 5.8 per cent in 1996, the lowest rate in post-communist Europe. * The state budget of Slovakia ended up with a preliminary 27 billion crowns deficit, which corresponds to original projections. * Anna Nagyova left her post as personal secretary to Premier Vladimir Meciar (her resignation was rumored from December). * EuroTel Bratislava is going to bring the GSM digital telephone network into trial service January 20 (commercial service is to be started February 20). * Slovak Railroads is preparing to start modernization this year of the two most important lines in Slovakia, which connect the cities Kuty, Bratislava and Sturovo (the international Berlin - Prague - Budapest line, which connects to the first corridor built in the Czech Republic), and Bratislava with Zilina. * At the end of October, according to the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic, 5,377,600 people lived in Slovakia, of which 51.3 per cent were women (46,100 children were born and 38,000 people died during the first three quarters of 1996). ECONOMY 1996 Czech Inflation Rate - 8.8 Per Cent According to the daily Pravo, last year's inflation rate of 8.8 per cent can be considered a success when taking into account the dramatic development in inflation during the year, "because it means continuation of the trend of gradual decrease in consumer price growth, which began in 1994". Pravo, however, reminds readers that the government's 8.1 inflation rate prognosis was not as correct. The Czech Statistical Office predicts 1997's inflation rate will oscillate between 7.5 per cent and 8 per cent, while the consumer prices, e.g. living costs, rents and energy, will be deregulated gradually in the same period. Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid from January 16) country currency ------------------------------------------ Great Britain 1 GBP 46.106 France 1 FRF 5.105 Japan 100 JPY 23.456 Canada 1 CAD 20.460 Austria 1 ATS 2.451 Slovakia 100 SKK 85.328 Germany 1 DEM 17.241 Switzerland 1 CHF 19.974 USA 1 USD 27.528 ECU 1 XEU 33.512 SDR 1 XDR 39.202 CULTURE New Ballet Theater Brings World Stars to Prague From January 14 the capital city has two ballet troupes. In addition to the National Theater there is now the Prague Ballet Theater, which presents its performances on the State Opera's stage. Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker was the first premiere, and an evening of romantic ballets will follow. Through artistic director Jana Kurova, the Prague Ballet Theater is connected to the Czech Ballet Theater Foundation, which has presented the World Stars Gala since 1995, where renowned dancers and ballerinas perform. According to Kurova, ballet fans have missed the experience of regular performances from these masters. So in the Nutcracker, Susan Jaffe and the Metropolitan Opera Ballet soloist Jose Manuel Carreno were featured. Prague Ballet Theater tickets cost between 20 crowns and 530 crowns, with the lowest-priced seats at 150 crowns. International Dance Week Jubilee Anniversary The Prague Laterna Magica theater hosted the 10th annual International Dance Week festival January 6-11. The festival, organized by the Dance Center of Prague, not only presented dance groups' performances, but also served as a meeting place for young artists in the field. The festival thus consisted of two parts: the second, educational part was dedicated in particular to dancers, students and teachers of dance schools, and consisted of workshops, videoscreenings, seminars and panel discussions led by renowned domestic and world experts. Evening performances were dedicated to the general public. This year's festival program presented new choreography from the Prague Chamber Ballet and the Ostrava Theater ballet group. The opportunity to show their skill was given also to the students of ballet conservatories and to young choreographers from the Academy of Music Arts. One evening was devoted to the activities of ballet departments at elementary art schools. The organizers would like to invite some famous foreign groups next year as well, however budget possibilites will not allow it. Theater News Survey The staging of Thomas Bernhard's drama Ritter, Dene, Voss at Prague's Na zabradli Theater, directed by Antonin Pitinsky, was voted the best theater performance of year in a survey organized by the monthly Theater News. The same director won last year's survey with the staging of Sister Anxiety (Sestra Uzkost), performed in Dejvice Theater. Pitinsky also finished second in the 1996 survey with his direction of the drama Jeji pastorkyna in the Zlin City Theater. Theater News organized the fourth-annual survey by asking 71 theater experts, translators and theater professionals. Its results serve as an indicator for the Alfred Radok Prizes, awarded by the theater critics for the best staging of the year. Smoke Kicks Off Redistribution Six years after its premiere, Tomas Vorel's film Smoke (Kour) is returning to theaters. The film, which had its second premiere January 10 in Prague's Illusion Theater, somewhat fell by the wayside in its first run. Immediately after 1989 theater and film were in crisis, on the silver screen foreign films, by and large Hollywood grist, began to squeeze out Czech production. The showing in Illusion, the only cinema where the film is being presented, was rather successful. The filmmakers then decided to make new copies and return the title into distribution. The quasi-musical, which faithfully and yet exaggeratedly pictures the days of totalitarianism, is now getting its second wind. SPORT Hockey Extraleague Plays 33rd and 34th Rounds Plzen, getting better and better, lost a televised match with Litvinov 3-4. The next day, Vsetin proved its leadership with a 6-2 win over Kladno. Nor did Vitkovice hesitate, defeating Jihlava 4-0. The excellent play of Opava could not save its lead, ending in a tie with Pardubice 2-2. Other results: Olomouc - Zlin 3-3, Trinec - Slavia Praha 2-0, Sparta Praha - Budejovice 7-4. The bombardment in Litvinov ended up with a 5-8 Sparta Praha loss. Slavia Praha destroyed Opava 7-2 and the Zlin Roosters got a valuable scalp of Trinec, 4-3. Other results: Budejovice - Vsetin 1-4, Vitkovice - Olomouc 2-1, Pardubice - Plzen 3-2, Jihlava - Kladno 1-2. Vsetin leads the standings after 34 rounds, Vitkovice and Pardubice have six points less. Opava is still last. Sparta Praha Will Start in European League Finals Sparta Praha hockey players repeated their January 10 Extraleague win in a European League match and defeated Budejovice 9-3. Their opponent's poor play helped Sparta to get to the final four - with Frolunda (Sweden), Dynamo Moscow (Russia) and TPS Turku (Finland). TPS Turku advanced to the finals over another Czech team, Litvinov. The Czech players started the match well, but the final win 4-2 belonged to Finns. Radomir Simunek Gets Sixth Czech Cyclocross Title Radomir Simunek, 34-year-old cyclocrosser, got his sixth Czech championship title January 11 in Kolin. He broke his uncle Milos Fisera's record of five titles. Simunek is the most successful Czech cyclocrosser ever, and the first from any nation to become world champion in all three categories - juniors, amateurs and professionals. Jiri Pospisil finished second nine seconds behind him and Zdenek Mlynar was third, who thus won the under-23 category. Skiing: Katerina Neumannova Twice Second in Japan Czech representative Katerina Neumannova got two excellent second places in the cross-country World Cup in Hakuba, Japan. She finished twice behind Belmondo (Italy), in the 5 km classic race and in the 5 km classic and 10 km freestyle combination. Juniors Star in Gold Ski Race Juniors Martin Koukal and Katerina Hanusova's wins over Czech national team members surprised all in the 59th year of the Golden Ski (Zlata lyze) cross-country races in Nove Mesto na Morave. Slovakia's Bukvajova won the January 11 10 km classic race, seven seconds before the next Czech junior, Rajdlova. In the January 12 5 km freestyle, only Hanusova finished the race under 15 minutes. The best Czech national team member, Zelingerova, finished sixth the first day and fifth the second day. The men's 15 km classic event brought a nice battle, won by Sweden's Majback only 10 seconds before five-time Olympic medalist Kirvesniemi (Finland). Koukal finished third. And because Majback did not start the January 12 10 km freestyle (he was sick), Kirvesniemi got the final first place. The top Czech team member, Korunka, finished sixth. WEATHER The persevering winter is causing complications. There seems to be more snow in town than in the mountains. After New Year's unsatisfactory snow clean-up, the director of technical management of co-ordination in Prague was fired, and in the mountains icy ski runs are causing injuries. Frozen surfaces and fog were the cause of a number of chain-reaction accidents on the highways. CREDITS Carolina has been published since October 1991. Carolina is prepared by freshmen students attending a workshop of journalistic creative writing led by PhDr. Lida Truneckova. Today's issue was co-authored by David Simonik (domestic political news), Jan Potucek (news from Slovakia), Ondrej Slavik (culture news), Vit Bartek (hockey), Simona Malkovska (other sports news) and near-graduate Mirek Langer (ballet). Translation by Andrea Snyder, Denisa Vitkova, Mirek Langer and Milan Smid. English version co-translated and edited by Michael Bluhm. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ANNOUNCING: The International Study Program of the Faculty of Social Sciences. Beginning in February 1997, a one-semester English-language program will be offered twice a year in Central and Eastern European Studies, with a selection of courses in modern history and recent political and economic developments in the region. Some courses are also available in German. For further information contact Cyril Simsa at: E-mail-- svoz@mbox.fsv.cuni.cz Phone-- 42/2/2481 0804 Fax-- 42/2/2481 0987 When e-mailing, please include a regular mailing address so an information packet can be sent without delay. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This news may be published only with "CAROLINA" designation. The subscription is free. 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