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Carolina (English) No 161
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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 161, Friday, May 26, 1995.
EVENTS FOR THE WEEK MAY 17-24
Pope John Paul II Canonizes Two on Second Trip to Czech Republic
On Saturday the Pope was greeted at the Prague airport by President
Vaclav Havel and other Czech politicians. This visit to the Czech
Republic - for the purpose of canonizing family patron Zdislava of
Lemberk and priest Jan Sarkander - was John Paul II's second as Pope,
his first trip coming shortly after the 1989 fall of communism.
Saturday afternoon the president, Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus and
other Czech government officials took part in a mass celebrated by the
Pope at Strahov stadium in Prague. John Paul II spent his second day at
the seat of the Moravian bishopric in Olomouc, northern Moravia,
proclaiming both Zdislava and Sarkander saints in a ceremony at the
specially reconstructed airfield in Olomouc-Neredina.
According to the old Czech chronicles, Zdislava was renowned in the
13th century for her kindness, charity, and Christian acts of love,
providing shelter to the poor and the sick.
Jan Sarkander was born in 1576 in the Polish town of Skoczov, and
began to study God's word after the death of his wife. He then went on
to serve as the parish priest in Holesov, among other places, in what
was then a predominantly Protestant Moravia. After the Protestant
administrators charged Sarkander with treason and tortured him, he died.
Sarkander's canonization drew protests from non-Catholic church
officials in the Czech Republic, including the Evangelical Church of
Czech Brethren, the Unity of Brethren, and the Methodist Church. In
their eyes, Sarkander was a representative of the violent
re-Catholicization that took place in Moravia. The Brethren Church
maintains that he took part in the liquidation of Brethren congregations
in Moravia and that he was condemned as a traitor.
Pavel Smetana, chairman of the Ecumenical Church Council in the
Czech Republic, refused to meet with the Pope as well. In Olomouc, John
Paul II appealed for improved relations between churches and begged, in
the name of all Catholics, forgiveness for the wrongs committed against
non-Catholics.
Approximately 100,000 people turned out for the mass in Prague and
250,000 for the Olomouc service, according to reports in the Czech
press, a markedly lower turnout than the Pope attracted on his last
visit here five years ago.
Monday the Pope went on to Poland, and he returned to the Vatican
Monday evening from the Ostrava airport after a final goodbye with
Prime Minister Klaus. Martin Kupka/Andrea Snyder
Hussites in Prague
The restaging of Master Jan Hus' legendary pilgrimage to Konstanz,
Germany, where he was burned at the stake July 6, 1415, began last
Friday in Tabor, southern Bohemia, with the procession reaching Prague
the next day. The prolog to the event, which concludes June 2 in
Konstanz, drew the attention of both the media and the public, as
spectators on Prague's Old Town Square came to marvel at the horses,
period costumes, and mock Hussite carts.
In the course of the 15-day journey, the 70 procession participants
will stop in the same seven Czech towns and eight German towns where Hus
rested on his way, according to historians.
The main goals of the event are to express friendship between the
towns of Tabor and Konstanz - the two places that played the most
important roles in Hus' life - and to recall the importance of Hus in
the history of the Czech nation. Michal Vynohradnyk/Andrea Snyder
Zielenec in Germany for Mysterious Private Meeting
Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs Josef Zieleniec met with top
German politicians during a two-day visit to Bonn this week. All of the
minister's talks, including his meeting with German Foreign Minister
Klaus Kinkel, were referred to as "private."
Zieleniec admitted that his talks touched on Czech-German
relations, saying he felt from the Germans "the conviction and will to
do something quickly about the issue of Czech-German relations, and to
turn them in the direction of the future."
He said one of the discussion topics was the possibility of
creating a joint Czech-German foundation for compensating Czech victims
of Nazism during World War II. Mirek Langer/Andrea Snyder
Havel Balks at Signing Anti-smoking Legislation
President Havel returned to Parliament Tuesday a revision of the
controversial law on protection against alcoholism and other drug abuse
(see Carolina no. 157).
Ladislav Spacek, the president's spokesman, said the fact that
Havel is a smoker had nothing to do with his decision and that in fact
he was in full agreement with the main idea of the legislation, namely,
to protect the health of nonsmokers. Havel's main reservations concern
the inflexibility of the new law in the changes it requires of tobacco
producers, which he fears would lead to the law's being ignored. "This
approach is unthinkable in a rule of law," he said.
After several rounds of voting, Parliament did not adopt the law at
its session on Wednesday. Lukas Zentel/Andrea Snyder
Klaus: State Will Not Stop Flow of Money to Universities
An event planned as a discussion between Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus
and the students of Ostrava University Monday turned into a lecture by
the premier to the university professors, touched off by an introduction
from Rector Jiri Mockor, who said the government was working for
democracy and supporting a market economy, but ignoring education.
Addressing the audience, half composed of professors, Klaus said
there was no reason for the state to spend taxpayers' money on studies,
since whether or not to study is an individual choice. He said that
while students should pay from 5 to 20 percent of the universities'
expenses, apart from investments, that did not mean the state would stop
the flow of funds to college education.
The prime minister also said that the level of pay for professors
was not as far below the average Czech salary as they so often claimed.
Jana Maruskova/Eftychia Damianidou
Nearly 5,000 Apply to School of Agriculture
For the 1995-96 school year the Agricultural University in Prague
will accept about 1,200 students out of 4,560 applicants. Roughly 500
out of 3,000 applicants for the Faculty of Economic Administration will
be accepted, 300 out of 700 for the Faculty of Agronomics, and 350 of
1,100 for the Forestry School.
Karolina Polakova and Tereza Hadravova/Eftychia Damianidou
FROM SLOVAKIA
Tension Between Meciar and Kovac Comes to a Peak
Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar last week insisted that President
Michal Kovac's conflict was with Parliament rather than the government,
but said there was a possibility the government might yet intervene.
This was Meciar's response to a demonstration of some 20,000 people
in support of President Kovac (reported in last week's Carolina). Meciar
rejected the idea of early elections, saying the cleanest way to solve
the problem now would be for Kovac to resign.
He did not, however, rule out the possibility of a referendum on
the matter, saying, "The battle has begun, and it shows no signs of
waning - just the opposite, it will only get more intense."
Lukas Zentel/Katerina Rus
BUSINESS/ECONOMICS
Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank (May 26)
Checks Cash
country buy sell middle buy sell
Great Britain 1 GPB 41.675 42.093 41.884 40.46 43.30
France 1 FRF 5.186 5.238 5.212 5.01 5.41
Japan 100 JPY 30.585 30.893 30.739 29.44 32.04
Canada 1 CAD 19.316 19.510 19.413 18.52 20.30
Austria 1 ATS 2.618 2.644 2.631 2.57 2.69
Germany 1 DEM 18.426 18.612 18.519 18.06 18.98
Switzerland 1 CHF 22.177 22.399 22.288 21.79 22.79
USA 1 USD 26.367 26.633 26.500 25.80 27.20
Slovakia 1 XCU -- -- 34.154 -- --
CULTURE
Prefab Building in Shape of Dancing Couple
Shops, a restaurants with terrace, a snack bar with terrace, and six
floors of office space - these are to be the contents of the "Dancing
Building," the construction of which started one year ago on Prague's
Rasin Embankment (Rasinovo nabrezi). While the project, financed by
a Dutch banking consortium, is composed entirely of nontraditional
shapes and lines, it will be constructed from prefabricated panels.
"However, in the dancing building, each one of the 99 panels is an
original, produced from a special mold," Vlado Milunic, one of the
building's designers, told the Czech daily "Lidove noviny." Milunic
collaborated on the project with American architect Frank Gehry. The
"Fred and Ginger" building should be completed by the end of this year.
Jana Maruskova/Eftychia Damianidou
Carmina Burana
The Mechelens Theater Company appeared in Prague's Divadlo Minor
(Theater Minor) Tuesday evening with their interpretation of "Carmina
Burana," the Mechelens Staat Poppet Theater setting Orff's fascinating
music to a partial performance of his tryptych of cantatas.
In their performance the Belgian actors used a variety of forms,
from modern dance and multicolored fabrics for the depiction of fields
and meadows, to wood and iron sets for the portrayal of characters from
this world and beyond, and wooden puppet versions of Adam and Eve.
Working with the Belgians were Czech director Karel Brozek and
choreographer Jiri Ourada. Jakub Knezu/Katerina Rus
SPORTS
Soccer - Top Teams Win, Bottom Teams Lose
Sparta Praha held on to first place in the first soccer league last
week, defeating Hradec Kralove with the help of a controversial penalty
kick early on in the match. Slavia's job was more difficult, but they,
too, picked up a win, beating under the Zizkov TV tower, mainly thanks
to their goalkeeper Stejskal. Cellar-dwellers Benesov and Bohemians
Praha both lost.
Round 26 results: Sparta Praha - Hradec Kralove 3:0, Viktoria
Zizkov - Slavia Praha 0:1, Sigma Olomouc - Slovan Liberec 1:1, Petra
Drnovice - Boby Brno 3:3, Ceske Budejovice - Bohemians Praha 2:0, FK
Jablonec - Svit Zlin 0:0, Svarc Benesov - Viktoria Plzen 0:3.
Round 27 results (Wednesday, May 25): Slavia Praha - Union Cheb
1:0, Bohemians Praha - Sparta Praha 1:2, Boby Brno - Svarc Benesov 4:0,
Viktoria Plzen - Sigma Olomouc 2:0, Slovan Liberec - Viktoria Zizkov
2:1, Ceske Budejovice - Banik Ostrava 0:0, Hradec Kralove - FK Jablonec
1:1, Svit Zlin - Petra Drnovice 0:1. Mirek Langer/M.L.
Handball Players Fail to Advance to Olympics From Iceland
Despite a good opening, the world championships in Iceland did not
bring success for the Czech national team handball side. After their win
against Korea, one more would have been enough to qualify the Czechs for
the Olympics. In the quarterfinals, the Czech Republic humbled Sweden
21-17, but, worn out from that match, the Czechs were lacking strength
against Egypt, falling 25-21. Their final match, against Switzerland,
did not pan out well either, as the Czechs could manage only to keep the
score close (23-21).
After a hopeful beginning, then, the eighth-place finish was
a disappointment. Assuming they manage to qualify, now the Czechs will
have to fight at the European championships for an Olympic bid.
Mirek Langer/M.L.
Problems With Transfer of Roman Turek
Roman Turek, the Czech national hockey team's no. 1 goalkeeper, is
at the center of the biggest stir these days in Czech hockey. After
Turek's contract with Ceske Budejovice expired, he signed on with Slavia
Praha. Budejovice still has option rights on Turek through the end of
the season, but since management's agreement with him was made orally,
now Slavia is claiming it's invalid.
Budejovice's management also prepared a contract for Turek with
German EHC Nurnberg, which he signed too. Slavia is now calling for an
arbitration commission and is even considering taking the case to court.
Mirek Langer/M.L.
SPORTS IN BRIEF
* Daniela Bartova, the former Czech gymnast, set a new women's world
record in the pole vault in Lubljana, Slovenia, clearing the bar at
4.10 meters.
* Last weekend's congress of the Czech Sokol Community elected Jiri
Janos their new "mayor," saddling him, among other things, with the
responsibility of finding a way for the Sokols to repay debts of 81
million crowns.
* Ludmila Richterova, the 18-year-old tennis player, won her first WTA
Tour title in Bournemouth.
* Three crews driving Skoda 1100 MBs won their class and finished in the
first half of the field in a veteran rally from London to Mexico.
Mirek Langer/M.L.
Carolina Takes the Playing Field on Rector's Day
The rector of Charles University Karel Maly announced this year's
Rector's Day on Wednesday, May 17, as a day off for all Charles
University students. As per tradition, the Faculty of Physical Education
and Sports organized for the occasion sporting events ranging from
a track and field meet to a basketball tournament.
Some of Carolina's editors (Mirek Langer, Ruda Cernik, Petr Hosek
and this reporter) decided to give it a go in the soccer competition.
Soccer, of course, is the most popular sport in the Czech Republic,
which makes it one of the most prestigious and competitive events of
Rector's Day.
The Carolina squad, featuring a goalkeeper from the U.S., entered
the first match with enthusiasm. The law students, however, showed why
they were the favorites of the tournament, with a 5-0 win over Carolina.
Facing the theologians in the second round, the journalists did not fare
much better, despite an improved performance, falling 6-1, with the lone
goal scored by Hosek.
This brought the double-elimination tournament to an end for them.
And as the defeated team burrowed into a local buffet to take cover from
the rain (and the embarrassment), they came to the conclusion that their
name - the No-Hopers - had been chosen rightfully.
Michal Vynohradnyk/Eftychia Damianidou
WEATHER
Short sleeves are out and about, a sure sign that summer will not
wait for the calendar this year. Eftychia Damianidou
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