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 THE CZECH REPUBLIC Charles University in Prague Faculty of Social Sciences Smetanovo nabr. 6 110 01 Prague 1 Czech Republic e-mail: CAROLINA@mbox.fsv.cuni.cz ISSN 121-5040 tel: (+4202) 22112252, fax: (+4202) 22112219 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* C A R O L I N A No 434, Friday, October 26, 2001. FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (October 17 - October 24) Farewell to Carolina in English The Carolina e-mail news service is commemorating its 10th birthday. Carolina was born in October 1991, after Charles University was linked to the European Academic network EARN, and before Czechoslovakia officially joined the Internet in 1992. The only connection to cyberspace in 1991 was then a 48kbit/s fixed telephone line between Prague and Linz (Austria), just for e-mail services. From the very beginning, Carolina offered an English version. Until 1995 Carolina was - besides the RFE/RL mail service - the only Internet source of information about the Czech Republic in English. One turning point came in 1995 when the foreign broadcasting service Radio Praha and the wire agency CTK put their headlines and news on the web. Since then, the amount of Internet sources in English has markedly increased. At the address http://www.radio.cz/english/ you can subscribe to a similar e-mail news service provided by Czech Radio. There are also other news sources available, e.g.: http://www.ctk.cz/english/index.html http://www.ce-review.org/links/news.html http://www.europeaninternet.com/czech/ http://www.pbj.cz http://www.praguepost.cz (If our subscribers want to enlarge this list we can complete it and distribute it to all members of the CAR-ENG mailing list.) The first English versions were organized by the founding father of Carolina, Vaclav Trojan, who sent the Czech stories to our compatriots abroad, who made English translations in 24 hours and sent them via e-mail back to Prague. Trojan did it free of charge in his extra hours, besides his job as the school's computer network administrator. When the number of Carolina's pages increased, the English version was translated and edited by Ross Daly, who was a staff member in the Center for Independent Journalism in Prague. After his departure to the U.S. Alex Zucker, a former editor of Prague's Prognosis and now a Czech literature translator in New York, took Ross' chair. However, Alex left the Czech Republic in 1995, when our graduate Michael Bluhm, a journalism lecturer here today, became editor of the English version of Carolina. Among translators who stayed with Carolina more than one school year, voluntarily and without any remuneration, were our foreign students Andrea Snyder and Sofia Karakeva, both now living abroad. Only Mirek Langer, who translated sports for the English Carolina, surpassed them in the number of translated items. Carolina is thankful for their years of cooperation. The Carolina archive is available at http://www.cuni.cz/Carolina. An anonymous Charles University FTP server ftp.ruk.cuni.cz offers the English issues of Carolina in zip form at the directory "pub/Carolina" The story of English Carolina has ended, Czech Carolina goes on and will soon have its own html version. Many thanks to our readers. Milan Smid Prime Minister Zeman Wants to Destroy Independent Weekly Respekt Prime Minister Milos Zeman said at a press conference after the October 22 Cabinet session that his government is going to sue Petr Holub, editor-in-chief of the independent weekly Respekt, who described the present government in an editorial as corrupt. According to Zeman, all 17 members of his Cabinet decided to file libel charges against the weekly with a demand for punitive damages of 170 million crowns, which would ruin the weekly. Holub said in the October 22 issue: "Three years ago the anti-corruption program of the Social Democrats promoted Zeman to the position of prime minister. His government lost the fight with corruption, the evidence of which is a report of Transparency International and the corrupt behavior of all Cabinet members, from the youngest one, Brezina, to the oldest one, Gregr." Holub did not specify the ministers' corrupt behavior. Zeman's attack on Respekt shocked some freedom-of-expression defenders. "It is a scandalous act," said Chairwoman of the Czech Helsinki Committee Jana Chrzova in the daily MF DNES October 24. It is not sure if the government as a whole will file the libel suit according to the Penal Code, or if particular Ministers will start separate legal cases in civil proceedings. The daily Pravo quoted lawyer Josef Lzicar saying some ministers, but not all of them, might win their cases. Holub defends his editorial, in which he said not all the ministers were corrupt, but all of them enabled the existence of a corrupt environment. He says he plans to approach international institutions, as well as the Constitutional Court, in response to the Czech government's filing of charges. Milan Brunclik/Milan Smid NEWS IN BRIEF * Agriculture Minister Jan Fencl is being criticized heavily for having cooperated with the former communist secret police (StB), as reported in a Czech Television public-affairs program. Fencl admitted he knowingly gave information to members of the secret police, while opposition politicians have used the revelation to demand his resignation. Prime Minister Milos Zeman has stood behind Fencl, saying "I fear the campaign against Minister Fencl is led by journalistic prostitutes." Fencl, it was also recently revealed, was involved in a questionable land transaction involving state land in a lucrative locale. * Police have tracked down individuals suspected of sending letters threatening anthrax poisoning. One 11-year-old girl, who sent her classmates flour, had her case forgiven, while one Brno woman could face charges for spreading a false alarm. Authorities have been called more than 1,000 times to investigate suspicious packages and letters, but no anthrax has been found. * President Vaclav Havel has been in hospital since October 23 and is taking antibiotics for a fever and a worsening of his chronic sinus infection. Jakub Svestka, Milan Brunclik, Monika Millianova/Michael Bluhm FOREIGN AFFAIRS Verheugen for Closing Czech-Austrian Negotiations on Temelin EU Commissar Gunter Verheugen, in a letter sent October 15 to the prime ministers of Austria and the Czech Republic, called the Melk Process - bilateral negotiations on the Temelin nuclear power plant - complete and urged the conclusion of the process. Verheugen wrote that EU experts believe the Czech side has fulfilled all conditions and discussions on Temelin's safety can be concluded. Austria's Green Party is proposing a nationwide summit on Temelin, and say Austria should not allow the Czech Republic to close the chapter on energy in its membership talks with the EU. About 100 demonstrators protested against Temelin on the Czech-Austrian border crossing at Weigetschlag-Studanky October 21. Czech politicians and nuclear experts welcomed Verheugen's letter. Michaela Novakova/Michael Bluhm Brixen celebrates Havlicek The Italian town of Brixen (Bressanone) organized a number of ceremonies October 19-20 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the internment of Czech journalist and writer Karel Havlicek Borovsky. Poet and Czech ambassador to Austria Jiri Grusa spoke. Havlicek was not complimentary of Brixen (Brixen is "wretched, a nest ruined by the abuse of religion and full of idiots and hypocrites"), although he wrote some significant works there (Tyrolean Elegy, King Lavra, The Christening of St. Vladimir). Karla Stepankova/Michael Bluhm FROM SLOVAKIA Vladimir Zelezny and TV NOVA to Enter Slovak TV Market The private station TV Nova will enter the Slovak television market after the Slovak Broadcasting Council October 23 awarded the Slovak TV Global company frequencies in three Slovak areas, including the capital Bratislava. The main investor in TV Nova, Ceska produkcni 2000, recently bought a majority stake in the association of regional TV stations controlled by TV Global, which will cover up to 70 per cent of the Slovak population with the newly acquired licenses. The licensing procedure was preceded by a series of slanderous articles in Slovak newspapers on Vladimir Zelezny, the controversial CEO and founder of the Czech Republic's most popular television station, TV Nova. Pavol Rusko, the owner of the Slovak Republic's most popular station, TV Markiza, called Zelezny a man without integrity and character who should first take care of his court cases and problems in the Czech Republic. Rusko founded the political party ANO this spring and could lose his dominant position on the Slovak television market. Linda Vavrikova/Milan Smid ECONOMY Parliament Rejects Budget in First Reading Parliament, as long expected, rejected the government's 2002 budget proposal in its first reading October 18. The proposal calls for expenses of 752 billion crowns and income of 700 billion crowns, the opposition Civic Democratic Party (ODS) and the Four-Party Coalition criticize the proposal for excessive spending and unrealistic estimates of income. Parliament's Budget Committee returned the budget with a series of recommendations: more realistic estimates of income, use privatization proceeds to reduce the state's debt and increase the money sent to regional governments. The Four-Party Coalition and ODS have said a 52-billion-crown deficit is unacceptable. Deputies obligated the government to present a revised version by November 9, as Parliament tries to avoid beginning next year under a provisional budget. Prime Minister Milos Zeman said the Cabinet will incorporate all the committee's proposed changes, while Finance Minister Jiri Rusnok announced losses for the Consolidation Bank will be 5 to 6 billion crowns lower than expected, which should reduce the planned deficit. Parliament and ODS Chairman Vaclav Klaus has hinted he might support a budget satisfying the committee's recommendations. Michal Eichler/Michael Bluhm ECONOMY IN BRIEF * The crown has continued to rise, setting a record with the October 17 exchange rate of 33.43 crowns to the euro. Experts say speculators are behind the rise, with a belief that the government will be needing crowns quickly to convert the currency received for the sale of state shares in the Commerce Bank (Komercni banka) and Czech Radiocommunications (Ceske radiokomunikace). The crown was also strengthened by the news October 23 that September's trade balance finished with a surplus of 1.8 billion crowns, the first monthly surplus in two years. Exporters, however, continue to voice complaints about the strong currency. * More than 120,000 people visited the exhibits of 842 organizations from October 15-19 at the 11th Invex Computer information technology fair. One of the biggest events of the fair was the announcement that the consortium of Autocont On Line-Czech Telecom won the tender to provide Internet to Czech schools. Ondrej Jurik/Michael Bluhm Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid October 26) -------------------------------------------------------------- 1 EUR = 33.345 country currency CZK ------------------------------------------ Australia 1 AUD 18.938 Great Britain 1 GBP 53.360 Denmark 1 DKK 4.485 Japan 100 JPY 30.355 Canada 1 CAD 23.778 IMF 1 XDR 47.500 Hungary 100 HUF 13.237 Norway 1 NOK 4.197 New Zealand 1 NZD 15.524 Poland 1 PLN 9.063 Slovakia 100 SKK 76.549 Slovenia 100 SIT 15.136 Sweden 1 SEK 3.529 Switzerland 1 CHF 22.536 USA 1 USD 37.439 Exchange Rates of countries participating in the euro (converted from the euro rate) country currency CZK ----------------------------------------- Germany 1 DEM 17.049 Belgium 100 BEF 82.660 Finland 1 FIM 5.608 France 1 FRF 5.083 Ireland 1 IEP 42.339 Italy 1000 ITL 17.221 Luxemburg 100 LUF 82.660 Netherlands 1 NLG 15.131 Portugal 100 PTE 16.632 Austria 1 ATS 2.423 Greece 100 GRD 9.786 Spain 100 ESP 20.041 CULTURE Singer Hana Hegerova Celebrates 70th Birthday Hana Hegerova celebrated her 70th birthday October 21 with a concert in the Vinohrady Theater. Her actual birthday was one day earlier. The first lady of the Czech chanson, as Hegerova is sometimes known, opened the concert with a recitation of the lyrics of the song I Like to Recall (Ja rada vzpominam) and then presented a number of her biggest hits. The highlight of the first half of the concert was the song Lavender, probably her most famous hit. She was also given 70 red roses by pop diva Lucie Bila just before the break. In the second half Hegerova performed with guests - blind singer Katerina Tlusta, folk singer Karel Plihal, Vaclav Koubek, Yvonne Sanchez with Dan Barta and Hegerova's singing manager Nora Harazimova. Hana Hegerova recieved standing ovations and the audience called her back for several encores. The concert's promoters, Febio and Jakubisko Film, decided to organize another concert on October 28. Katerina Krenova/Veronika Hankusova CULTURE IN BRIEF * Members of the Czech Film and Television Academy decided that Jan Sverak's film Wild Blue Yonder (Tmavomodry svet) will be the Czech Republic's candidate for the Oscar for best foreign-language film. The nomination was Sverak's third; his first was for the film Elementary School (Obecna skola) in 1992, while his 1997 film Kolya won the Oscar for the director, the son of screenwriter, actor and the star of Kolya Zdenek Sverak. * Mezzosoprano Magdalena Kozena won a British Gramophone Award for her vocal performance of works by Janacek, Martinu and Dvorak, which she recorded with pianist Graham Johnson. The awards are known as the Oscars of classical music and her victory is the greatest success of her career so far. * Artist Jiri Kolar, 87, was present for the October 19 opening of an exhibit of his private collection in Prague's Expo Palace (Veletrzni palac). The first part of the exhibit concentrates on artists from Group 42, while the second part includes 88 works by Vladimir Boudnik, as well as works by Milan Kniza, Kamil Lhotak, Josef Capek and Kolar's correspondence. Zdenek Mihalco, Monika Millianova/Michael Bluhm SPORTS Sparta Stays Undefeated in Champions League The tough game in freezing weather against Spartak in Moscow October 23 was the fifth stop on the schedule of Sparta Praha's Champions League campaign. The home team played great, but did not manage to defeat Sparta. It led after five minutes of play as Brazil's Robson beat goalkeeper Peter Cech, breaking his more than 20-hour long shutout streak. After Radim Holub tied the game, Vladimir Beschastnykh put Spartak in the lead again. The Czechs took the initiative after the break, having chances they failed to convert. In injury time Sparta's goalkeeper moved into the opposition's penalty box to strengthen Sparta's offense - and after his header and a deflection Peter Babnic scored the final, tying goal. Spartak Moscow - Sparta Praha 2-2 (2-1). Goals: 5 Robson, 34 Beschastnykh - 29 Holub, 90 Babnic. Standings: 1. Bayern Munich 11, 2. Sparta Praha 11, 3. Spartak Moscow 2, 4. Feyenoord 2 Ondrej Hodalik/Mirek Langer Poor Performances by Czech Teams in UEFA Cup Two Czech teams advanced to the UEFA Cup second round, but after the first games October 18, their chances to go on seem to have disappeared. Slovan Liberec visited the second-place team of the Spanish first league. Celta Vigo's coach let seven players rest, but it did not affect Celta's offensive power. Home star Alexander Mostovoy decided the game with a hat trick, Slovan Liberec was helped by McCarthy's own goal to complete the scoring at 3-1. The home team was full of activity and was better in all aspects of play than Pribram, which helped it with many mistakes on defense. Results: Celta Vigo - Slovan Liberec 3-1 (1-0) Goals: 35, 76 and 90 Mostovoy - 66 own goal McCarthy. PAOK Thessaloniki - Marila Pribram 6-1 (3-0) Goals: 23, 28 Yasemakis, 38, 88 Okkas, 51 Konstantinidis, 75 Luciano - 57 Siegl. Ondrej Hodalik/Mirek Langer Sparta Confirms Its Top Form in Soccer League The 11th round of the soccer league confirmed Sparta Praha's excellent form October 19. Sparta defeated Banik Ostrava, one of the big surprises of the league, 4-0. The runner-up of the last league season, Slavia Praha, on the contrary prolonged its recent poor play with a loss in Liberec. However, Opava's first win of the season (under new coach Mentel) was the biggest upset of the round. Results of the 11th round: Bohemians Praha - Hradec Kralove 2-2, Stare Mesto - Brno 1-2, Blsany - Teplice 1-3, Sparta Praha - Ostrava 4-0, Liberec - Slavia Praha 2-0, Opava - Jablonec 1-0, Pribram -Drnovice 1-0, Olomouc -Zizkov 0-2. Standings: 1. Sparta Praha 27 points., 2. Zizkov 25, 3. Bohemians Praha 24, 4. Ostrava 20, 5. Liberec 19, 6. Slavia Praha 16, 7. Brno 16, 8. Drnovice 14, 9. Stare Mesto 13, 10. Hradec Kralove 13, 11. Teplice 12, 12. Jablonec 12, 13. Pribram 11, 14. Blsany 10, 15. Olomouc 10, 16. Opava 4 Ondrej Hodalik/Mirek Langer Patera Returns to Kladno after Five Years Olympic gold medal winner and world champion Pavel Patera's return to Kladno was the main event of the hockey extraleague's 15th round. Patera played three games for his old team before departing to his new engagement in the Russian team Omsk. Patera recorded only one assist and Kladno won only one of those three games. Ceske Budejovice surprisingly defeated the leader of the standings Pardubice in the 16th round, while Zlin hammered Havirov in a game. Trinec won in Plzen thanks to a stunning turnaround in the last five minutes. Results of the 15th round: Sparta Praha - Znojmo 2-3 OT, Litvinov - Slavia Praha 2-5, Vsetin - Vitkovice 1-4, Kladno - Ceske Budejovice 2-4, Havirov - Zlin 4-9, Pardubice - Trinec 2-3 OT, Plzen - Karlovy Vary 1-0. Results of the 16th round: Havirov - Sparta Praha 2-2, Plzen - Trinec 4-5, Znojmo - Vsetin 1-1, Karlovy Vary - Kladno 6-0, Ceske Budejovice - Pardubice 4-1, Zlin - Litvinov 5-2, Slavia Praha - Vitkovice 6-4. Results of the 17th round: Plzen - Sparta Praha 0-2, Pardubice - Vitkovice 3-1, Litvinov - Ceske Budejovice 4-2, Kladno - Trinec 3-2 OT, Slavia Praha - Karlovy Vary 1-2, Havirov - Znojmo 2-4. Standings: 1. Pardubice 37 points, 2. Zlin 34, 3. Sparta Praha 34, 4. Trinec 32, 5. Slavia Praha 29, 6.Vitkovice 24, 7. Litvinov 22, 8. Vsetin 21, 9. Ceske Budejovice 20, 10. Znojmo 19, 11. Plzen 17, 12. Karlovy Vary 16, 13. Havirov 14, 14. Kladno 14. Tomas Fliegl/Mirek Langer Jagr Signs New Contract in NHL The top scoring NHL player of the last four years, Czech-born right wing Jaromir Jagr, signed a new contract with the Washington Capitals October 18. The seven-year contract with a one-year option ensures Jagr an average yearly salary of 11 million USD, which makes Jagr the best- paid hockey player in history. Jagr came to Washington after 11 years with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Last season he asked Penguins management to let him go to another team. Although the New York Rangers were the hottest candidate, the Czech star wound up in Washington. Tomas Fliegl/Mirek Langer SPORTS IN BRIEF * Jaroslav Hules finished 16th in the penultimate race of the motorcycle road racing world championships in Malaysia, Jakub Smrz did not complete the race. * Russian chess player and former world champion Garry Kasparov defeated the team of the Czech Republic 5 1/2 - 2 1/2 in Prague. In two day of simultaneous matches Kasparov met four top Czech grandmasters: Sergei Movsesian, Zbynek Hracek, Vlastimil Babula and Tomas Oral. Oral on the fourth board was the surprising winner of the first game, the only Czech win in the tie. Kasparov then won all 25 games of a charity simultaneous match in Brno October 21. Jirka Sochor/Mirek Langer WEATHER Indian summer has left for good. It's cold (daytime highs of 10-15 degrees Celsius/50-59 degrees Fahrenheit) and foggy and might get worse. It's better to be someplace warm, like the offices of Carolina, and watch the world from the window. Prague's typically gray and less-than-tropical weather is settling in, and it will be some time before we have anything better to report. English verison of Carolina edited by Michael Bluhm. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This news may be published only with attribution to CAROLINA. Subscription is free. Comments and remarks are appreciated. Please send them to the address: CAROLINA@mbox.fsv.cuni.cz To subscribe to CAROLINA news, send an e-mail message to the address LISTSERV@cesnet.cz The text of the message for subscription to 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, send the following message to the address LISTSERV@cesnet.cz: SIGNOFF CAR-ENG or SIGNOFF CAR-CS We ask you not to send automatic replies to our list. You can temporarily stop receiving Carolina by sending the command: SET CAR-ENG NOMAIL All Listserv commands should be sent to the address: LISTSERV@cesnet.cz Please, don't send the commands SUB, SIGNOFF, NOMAIL etc to the address CAR-CS@listserv.cesnet.cz or CAR-ENG@cesnet.cz! Past issues of Carolina are available at the address www.cuni.cz/carolina.