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Carolina (English) No 202
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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 202, Friday, May 10, 1996.
FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (May 1-8)
Czech Hockey Players Are World Champions
The 60th anniversary of the World Hockey Championships, which took
place in Vienna April 21 through May 5, reached its peak in the Czech
Republic-Canada final. The Czech hockey squad won by a score of 4-2 and
thus became world champions for the first time since 1985. The Czechs
also received the Fair Play Cup for the most politely play of the
championship. More detailes about hockey follow in the sports section.
Jan Palicka/Jitka Motejzikova
Klaus and Havel Congratulate Hockey World Champions
Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus was the first Czech politician to
congratulate the Czech hockey squad on their victory in the World
Championships. The prime minister attended the final against Canada in
Vienna and awarded the players their gold medals. After the on-ice
formalities, Klaus welcomed the team into the locker-room, thanking them
for excellent performance in the championships. The players sang the
team's hymn for him (the locker-room rang with the roar adapted from the
Czech rock group Kabat's song "Vasek, you are a great guy," according to
the Czech daily Lidove noviny). The statesman did not avoid a champagne
shower, as well.
President Vaclav Havel sent a telegram to the team immediately
after the final had finished: "Dear friends, I congratulate you from my
heart on your excellent victory. Thanks to you we are world champions
again after 11 years. I thank you for a dignified representation of the
Czech Republic."
Jan Palicka/Jitka Motejzikova
PRE-ELECTION SERVICE
(Czech Parliamentary elections will take place May 31-June 1)
***
STEM: ODS Moves Farther Ahead of Social Democrats
One month before elections, 29.1 per cent of voters have decided to
vote for Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus's Civic Democratic Party (ODS).
Only 20.4 per cent say they wil vote for the Czech Social Democratic
Party (CSSD), according to a pre-election poll conducted May 4-5 by the
Center for Empirical Research. In Early April, a similar poll showed ODS
leading with a much smaller margin - 26.7 per cent as opposed to CSSD's
20.5 per cent.
Vice-Prime Minister Jan Kalvoda's Civic Democratic Alliance lost
voters, going from 8.5 per cent to 7 per cent during the last month.
However, the Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party,
lead by Josef Lux, has risen in favor from 8.2 per cent to 9 per cent.
Lux holds the positions of vice-prime minister and minister of
agriculture.
The other opposition parties have gained more popularity as well;
the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia is up from 7.8 per cent to
10.6 per cent, and the Association for the Republic-Czechoslovak
Republican Party has leaped from 6.6 per cent to 8.8 per cent support.
Thus, six political parties would meet the condition of gaining
more than 5 per cent of voter preference.
Petra Rubesova/Andrea Snyder
ODS Holds Last Pre-Election Conference
Civic Democratic Party (ODS) Chairman Vaclav Klaus accused Czech
Social Democratic Party (CSSD) Chairman Milos Zeman of attempting to
"return our country to the irresponsible world of state control, deficit
financing (and) industrial and agricultural regulation," at ODS' last
pre-election conference, in Ostrava May 4.
He called the Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's
Party's slogans about honorable pensions in return for honorable work
empty. In response to the Civic Democratic Alliance's accusation that
ODS is defending state centralization, Klaus said that no party wants to
liberalize, deregulate and privatize as much as ODS. Neither Klaus nor
Zeman named coalition partners in their speeches.
ODS Vice-Chairman and Foreign Minister Josef Zieleniec joined the
prime minister in criticizing CSSD. He is quoted by the Czech daily
Pravo as saying "Chaos and lack of order, in which everything would come
to a head, is then the ideal fertile soil for the seeds of the the most
varied political extreme."
ODS' Executive Board is displeased with the small impact that the
pre-election campaign has had so for. To amend the situation, the board
decided that former ODS Vice-Chairman Miroslav Macek and another member
of the council, Petr Hapala, will share responsibility for the campaign
with current Vice-Chairman Libor Novak.
Zeman reacted to Klaus's speech by saying that he views it as
"a mere expression of nervousness, due to the fact that government
confidence has, for the fist time, fallen below the 50 per cent line."
Petra Rubesova/Andrea Snyder
*****
Remembering the Prague Uprising
Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus, Prague Mayor Jan Koukal and Czech
Radio Director Vlastimil Jezek honored the anniversary of the 1945
Prague Uprising. They laid wreaths at the entrance of the Czech Radio
building, where the uprising began more than 50 years ago.
In a speech remembering the victims, the prime minister said "the
radio building is a monument to all Czech patriots, whose longing for
the freedom of man and country was stronger than fear of the terror of
the occupiers."
Petra Rubesova/Andrea Snyder
Czechs' Trust in the Government Subsides
Only 48 per cent of the Czech population has confidence in the
government, according to an April poll taken by the Institute for the
Research of Public Opinion (IVVM). This rate, compared to 55 per cent in
March and 50 per cent in February, is the lowest since the government
was officially founded four years ago. The confidence loss infects
Parliament as well, with a decrease of 7 per cent, to 24 per cent of
those polled.
IVVM employee Jiri Cesala says the election campaign implemented by
opposition parties and the increase of discontent with government
policies may be the reason for both institutions' loss of favor.
Trust in the president is stable, however. During the course of the
year, it has stayed between 71 per cent and 80 per cent. The last public
opinion poll conducted shows 76 per cent believing in their president.
Jitka Hejtmanova/Andrea Snyder
Political Party Sponsors
Commerce Bank (Komercni banka) spokeswoman Irena Satavova announced
May 3 it is possible to determine the origins of the Civic Democratic
Party's (ODS) sponsor donations, the two largest of which came from
a dead man and a pauper (see Carolina 201). ODS Parliamentary Club Chair
Jiri Honajzer said that the party had not known of the possibility.
However, the Civic Democratic Alliance has obtained permission from
their sponsor, the Trade Management Company Ltd., to make the documents
recording the donation public. TMC, based on the British Easter Islands,
is, among other activities, a consulting company.
Petra Rubesova/Andrea Snyder
Tuition This Fall at Technical Colleges
An annual tuition of 2,500 crowns to 5,000 crowns will be paid from
September 1 by students at the public Technical Colleges (VOS). The move
was announced May 2 by Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus after the cabinet's
usual Wednesday meeting.
The highest tuition will be charged to students in applied arts
fields, while the lowest fees belong to students of library studies,
healthcare and social work. Those already studying at the schools will
also pay. The governement is planning on offering long-term student
loans, Klaus said.
Studies at the schools last two to three years, and build on
similar high school programs, but the college graduates do not recieve
a university diploma.
Michal Kubal/Petra Sevcikova
Stehlik Calls for Dismissal of Ministers
Poldi Kladno steelworks owner Vladimir Stehlik called an employees'
meeting for May 2, where participants (several thousand, according to
press reports - Poldi has more than 6,000 employees) supported
Stehlik's request for the dismissal of Privatization Minister Jiri
Skalicky, Trade and Industry Minister Vladimir Dlouhy and National
Property Fund Chairman Roman Ceska (all members of the Civic Democratic
Alliance). Spontaneusly, the recall of Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus was
also proposed. As the main guilty parties in the crisis at Poldi (see
Carolina 190-1, 199) Stehlik singled out the fund, Commerce Bank and the
aforementioned ministries.
Stehlik, who received a vote of confidence from the employees,
announced he will transform Poldi into a public corporation and offer
part of his 54.8-per-cent share to the management of certain Czech
firms.
Michal Kubal/Petra Sevcikova
Explosion Kills
A methane explosion in the area of the former OKD Salma mines in
Ostrava May 2 killed one person and injured nine. The cause of the
expolsion was a gas leak from the former Hugo mine. The corpse was found
under the debris three hours after the explosion. The injured were taken
to local hospitals, and three of them have been released.
Jitka Hejtmanova/Petra Sevcikova
Former Prime Minister Calfa Celebrates
The members of the first post-1989 federal government got together
May 4 in the Harmony Hotel in Spindler's Mill in the Giant Mountains
(Krkonose) for their traditional meeting. The program did not consist
only of memories of collective work at the fore of the former
Czechoslovakia but also celebration of former prime minister Marian
Calfa's 50th birthday.
President Vaclav Havel also stopped by and gave Calfa a vase from
the Prague castle's architect Borek Sipek and three rare Spanish wines.
His former collegues gave the Slovak Calfa a mountain bike, wishing him
"a lot of movement and sports, so he might at least become a real man
after 50."
Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus, who worked as finance minister in
Calfa's government, apologized for not coming to the party because of
the pre-election conference of Klaus' Civic Democratic Party.
Alice Ticha/Petra Sevcikova
FROM SLOVAKIA
First Political Murder in Slovakia?
Former Slovak policeman Robert Remias died in the explosion of his
automobile on the evening of April 29 in a Bratislava neighborhood.
Remias had been questioned concerning the kidnapping of Michal Kovac
Jr., and he had also remained in contact with former Slovak Information
Service (SIS) officer Oskar Fegyveres, who has testified the SIS
participated in the kidnapping. Remias died less than an hour after an
appointment with the editor of Slovak daily SME Peter Toth, who has
intensively investigated the Kovac Jr. case.
"All the indications are that it is a case of premeditated murder.
It is the first political murder in Slovakia since November 1989," said
opposition Christian Democratic Movement Vice-Chairman Frantisek
Miklosko.
The Slovak police responded with a statement saying the Ministry of
the Interior consideres Milosko's words as impertinent and shocking.
Ministry spokesman Ondera said "the true cause of the explosion was
a defect of the fuel system of the propane-butane engine of the BMW."
Experts almost entirely rule out such an explanation.
Alice Ticha/Alice Ticha
Meciar 10th Worst Enemy of the Press
Falling into company with the world's top dictators, Slovak Premier
Vladimir Meciar concludes the Top 10 of "the worst enemies of the
press." The Committee for the Protection of Journalists published the
list in New York May 2, and the Czech press picked up the story the next
day.
In first place is Islam Armed Group chief Jamal Zituni of Algeria,
known as abu Abdarrahman Amin, who is responsible for the deaths of 58
journalists killed in Algeria since 1993. In second place is Chinese
leader Deng Xiaoping.
The black list finishes with Meciar, "who, by his laws and wanton
firing of journalists represses the press and other mass media,"
according to Czech press quotes from the list. The daily Slovak Republic
labeled Meciar's placement among the the biggest enemies of press as an
"anti-Slovak campaign."
Alice Ticha/Jitka Hejtmanova
Attempt on Bela Bugar's Life?
A grenade attack on the car of Bela Bugar, National Assembly deputy
of the Hungarian Christian Democratic Movement, left no injury or
material damage. The assault ocurred on the night of May 4 near Bugar's
house in the village of Samorin.
Unknown culprits threw the grenade out of a running car. Bugar
expressed his conviction that the attack had been carried out on the
instructions of the "local mafia," which meant it as a clear warning.
Bugar, a former member of the Security Committee, often referred to the
increase of crime and organized crime in southern Slovakia.
Alice Ticha/Alice Ticha
ECONOMY
Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank
(valid from May 10)
country currency
------------------------------------------
Australia 1 AUD 22.017
Belgium 100 BEF 88.528
Great Britain 1 GBP 41.972
Denmark 1 DKK 4.714
Finland 1 FIM 5.822
France 1 FRF 5.376
Ireland 1 IEP 43.419
Italy 1000 ITL 17.683
Japan 100 JPY 26.334
Canada 1 CAD 20.205
Luxemburg 100 LUF 88.528
Netherlands 1 NLG 16.289
Norway 1 NOK 4.229
New Zealand 1 NZD 18.983
Portugal 100 PTE 17.683
Austria 1 ATS 2.588
Greece 100 GRD 11.416
Slovakia 100 SKK 89.729
Germany 1 DEM 18.204
Spain 100 ESP 21.775
Sweden 1 SEK 4.063
Switzerland 1 CHF 22.389
USA 1 USD 27.585
ECU 1 XEU 34.111
SDR 1 XDR 39.983
CULTURE
Film about Carolina Awarded
The undergraduate project Carolina, made by Pavel Benes of the
Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University, won the Josef, Marie
and Zdenka Hlavka Talent Prize at the 31st annual Olomouc Academia Film
Festival May 1. The prize was awarded by an international jury including
astronomer Jiri Grygar, a member of the Physics Institute of the Czech
Academy of Sciences and chairman of the Czech Television Council, and
film historian Pavel Taussig.
This international festival of scientific, popular-scientific and
didactic films, TV programs and videos accepted more than 180 films from
13 countries this year. Slightly less than one-third of them were chosen
for the competition. The prize is dedicated to promising and beginning
artists. Benes, who wrote and directed the award-wining 11-minute
documentary on preparation of electronic news service from the Czech
Republic, confessed to Carolina after his arrival from Olomouc: "I did
not consider it as just my award, but mainly as the award of the school.
I have the impression they were convinced not only by the work, but also
were awarding Carolina itself."
The succesful 22-year-old student will defend his bachelor's degree
project at the school in early June. We can also betray that as
a freshman he used to be on the Carolina staff, and you can find his bio
in Carolina 111.
Michal Kubal/Katerina Zachovalova
SPORT
World Champions after Eleven Years
The Czech Republic, as the official successor to the former
Czechoslovakia, was credited a 7th gold medal in the 1996 Hockey World
Championship. Czechoslovakia dominated in Prague in 1947 and two years
later in Stockholm. A 23-year-long fast followed and Czechoslovakia won
again in Prague in the year 1972. It took another title in Poland's
Katowice in 1976 and concluded the superb 70's a year later in Vienna.
Czechoslovakia gained its sixth title, in another championship in
Prague, in 1985.
Jan Palicka/Klara Schirova
The Road to the Gold
The wards of Coach Ludek Bukac graduated at the top of a strong
group B (in front of the last year's finalists - Sweden and Finland),
losing only one point (to Norway). Therefore, the team from Germany
became their oponent in the quarterfinal duel. The Czechs won 6-1,
thanks especially to the work of first line of center Jiri Dopita. After
the match, Dopita's appendix had to be removed, so he spent the rest of
the championships in the Army Hospital in Brno.
The Czechs then encountered the US team in the semifinal and once
more showed some excellent hockey, winning 5-0. The match began with
a heretofore unseen entrance by the Czech hockey players, who scored
twice in the third minute with their own man in the penalty box. Goalie
Roman Turek presented as usual fantastic performance and did not give up
a goal for the first time in the championship.
The final oponent, Canada, which passed by Russia only after
a sudden-death shootout in the semifinal, began in better form and
forged ahead in the sixth minute. Their goal was equaled in less than
two minutes by Lang. The same player brought the Czech team a one-goal
lead in the second period, but the players from overseas tied it again.
The end was approaching in the third period when Patera found Prochazka
in the last minute and Prochazka beat the Canadian goalie 19 seconds
before the end, to go up 3-2. Play continued without the Canadian
goalie, and Kucera concluded the beautiful work of the Czech
representation.
Jan Palicka/Klara Schirova
World Champions:
Goalies: Roman Turek, Roman Cechmanek, Petr Franek
Defensemen: Antonin Stavjana, Jiri Veber, Michal Sykora, Stanislav
Neckar, Drahomir Kadlec, Frantisek Kaberle, Jiri Vykoukal
Forwards: Radek Bonk, Radek Belohlav, David Vyborny, Robert Kysela,
Robert Reichel, Robert Lang, Otakar Vejvoda, Pavel Patera, Martin
Prochazka, Viktor Ujcik, Jiri Kucera, Roman Meluzin, Jiri Dopita
Coaches: Ludek Bukac, Slavomir Lener, Zdenek Lener
Statistics from the 60th Ice Hockey World Championships
Final standings: 1. Czech Republic 2. Canada, 3. USA, 4. Russia,
5. Finland, 6. Sweden, 7. Italy, 8. Germany, 9. Norway, 10. Slovakia,
11. France, 12. Austria.
Top Scorers: 1. Perreault (Canada) 6 goals, 2. Green (Canada),
Selanne (Finland), Dube (France), Tancill (USA), Kucera a Lang (CR) 5
goals, 8. Kariya (Canada), Zarillo (Italy), Stevens (USA), Nurminen,
Nieminen (both Finland), Bergvist (Sweden), Pouget, Bozon, Rozenthal
(all France), Berezin, Jasin, Kvartalnov (all Russia), Vejvoda a Reichel
(both Czech Republic).
Best players: goalie - Roman Turek (CR), defender - Alexej Zitnik
(Russia), forward - Paul Kariya (Canada).
All stars, 1st team: Roman Turek (CR) - Michal Sykora (CR), Alexej
Zitnik (Russia) - Otakar Vejvoda (CR), Robert Reichel (CR), Paul Kariya
(Canada).
Slavia Confirms Championship by Defeating Hradec
After the 1996 soccer league championship was assured in the 27th
round when Olomouc lost its race with Slavia, new champion Slavia
celebrated the title fully on its home field in Prague with a victorious
match against Hradec Kralove May 5. The results of the remaining three
rounds will decide who will participate in the European Cups and who
will lose their membership in the top soccer league (in the May 8
quarterfinal of the Czech-Moravian Football Union Cup Sparta defeated
Slavia 2-0).
Results of the 28th round: Slavia - Hradec 2-1, Brno - Sparta 1-0,
Liberec - Drnovice 4-0, Cheb - Jablonec 2-0, Zlin - Hradiste 2-0, Opava
- Budejovice 2-1, Olomouc - Ostrava 1-0, Zizkov - Plzen 2-0.
Make-up from 23rd round: Ostrava - Brno 0-2.
Make-up from 24th round: Liberec - Plzen 1-0.
Standings after 28 rounds: 1. Slavia 64; 2. Olomouc 55; 3. Jablonec
50; 4. Drnovice 48; 5. Sparta 46; 6. Liberec 43; 7. Opava 40; 8. Brno
40; 9. Plzen 36; 10. Zizkov 35; 11. Ceske Budejovice 35; 12. Ostrava
32; 13. Cheb 32; 14. Hradec Kralove 28; 15. Zlin 24; 16. Uherske
Hradiste 16.
David Sprincl/Milan Smid
WEATHER
The huge chestnut tree in front of our windows is in bloom and
grass in the park is poison green. Jitka Hejtmanova
It is nice and now it will stay that way. Petra Rubesova
It rains sometimes and mornings are cold. Alice Ticha
Translated by Jituse Hejtmanova
English version edited by Michael Bluhm
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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