From: jensen@unlinfo.unl.edu (michael jensen)
Subject: Carolina/English 42
Reply-To: "CAROLINA - E-mail news weekly" <CAR-ENG%CSEARN.bitnet@KSUVM.KSU.EDU>
Organization: University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Date: Sun, 27 Sep 1992 20:52:36 GMT

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         STUDENT'S E-MAIL NEWS FROM CZECHOSLOVAKIA

         School of Social Science of Charles University
         Smetanovo nabr. 6
  110 01 Prague 1
         C.S.F.R.
 e-mail address: CAROLINA@CSEARN.BITNET

            *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

       C A R O L I N A  No 42,  Friday, September 25, 1992.


------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Your editors.

------------------------------------------------------------------------



NEWS FROM THE LAST WEEK (September 16th - September 23rd)

Skoda Plzen will restrict the production

        The largest Czech engineering company Skoda Plzen will be forced
to restrict the production since October  1st. This is the result of the
Wednesday meeting of the directors' board of the company which has now
28,000 employees.
        Even if it  was known that the Skoda company  is in trouble, the
public proclamation  of the selective restriction  of production in this
time  was  a  surprise.  When  the  first  information  was  released by
directors  of the  company, the   interpretation in  the media  was very
dramatic.
        "Most of  Skoda factories will  stop production on  October 1st,
because the order from Czechoslovak  state railways for the total amount
of 1.4  billion crowns cannot  be fulfilled, as  well as becuse  of high
unpaid  credit debt  in the  total amount  of 4.3  billion crowns."  the
chairman of  the board of directors  of Skoda company said  on Thursday,
September 17th.
        The Czech minister of industry  and commerce Vladimir Dlouhy who
visited the Skoda factories right after  he has returned from the United
States and Ireland met with the  chairman in a private dicussion "behind
the closed  door" and later he  also met with the  board of directors of
the  company to  get as  much  information  as possible  for his  Monday
meeting with the leaders of the company.  He said that Skoda has to stop
production in  some factories, that  there will be  firing of employees,
but the production will not be restricted completely.
       There have been  speculations in the media if  the bankruptcy was
not  forced  artificially  to  decrease  the  value  of the company. The
chairman  of the  board of  directors L.  Novotny said  that due  to the
current decrease in the value of the  company, the share of Skoda in the
prepared joint venture decreased from 49 to 33 percent.


The rector of the University in Trnava repealed

        The repeal of dr. Anton Hejduk,  the rector of the University in
Trnava has  attracted a lot  of attention not  only in Slovakia  and not
only in academic circles. Here are the facts:
        Anton Hejduk was nominated as a  rector of the new University in
Trnava by the president of the CSFR Vaclav Havel on May 15th, 1992.
        On May  20th, the preparing committee  of the Tranava University
led by dr.  Hajduk started to work. This committee  was nominated by the
Slovak Parliament.
        Independently, another preparing committee  (led by Prof. Kovac)
has been created  and submitted a complaint to the  bureau of control of
the  Slovak republic  for breaking  the  law:  A. Hajduk  is not  a full
professor nor an associate professor and therefore he is not eligible to
be a rector of the University.
        The minister  of culture of the  Slovak republic Dusan Slobodnik
who was  in that period also  in the head of  the ministry of education,
asked  dr. Hejduk  to withdraw.  He proposed  to the  prime minister Jan
Strasky, who after abdication of Vaclav Havel also administrates some of
the duties of  the president, to nominate to  this function Prof. Kovac.
Since  according to  the law  about Universities,  the proposal  for the
rector  can  be  submitted  only  by  the  academic  senate  composed of
professors and student representatives,  the prime minister rejected the
proposal. According to  the prime minister Strasky, it  is not necessary
to repeal dr. Hejduk, because his  nomination was not in accordance with
the law.
        On  August  25th,  minister  Slobodnik  proclaims the nomination
certificate of dr. Hejduk invalid and  the decision of V. Havel unlawful
and asks dr. Hajduk to hand over his function to Prof. Kovac.
        On August  26th, minister Slobodnik  asks the Tranava  rector to
hand over  his function to the  person he will nominate  and asks him to
restrain from all the activities resulting from the function.
        On August 31st minister Slobodnik  nominates doc. L. Harach, the
official  of the  ministry of  education  as  a temporary  chair of  the
University in Trnava.
        On  September 2nd  minister  Slobodnik  asks the  prime minister
Strasky  for the  decision that  the  nomination  of dr.  Hejduk by  the
president is an invalid act.
        On September 7th, the prime  minister Strasky confirms that this
is an invalid act. Minister Slobodnik  announces this fact to dr. Hejduk
and repeatedly  asks him to  hand over all  his agenda to  Mr. Harach on
September 9th until 2 pm. The  leaders of the Universtity have different
opinion,  they want  to present  the case  to the  Supreme Court for the
final decision.
        When dr. Hejduk  gave his agenda to one  of the vice-chairmen of
the University, minister  Slobodnik came in person to  the University in
Trnava and changed the door locks so that dr. Hejduk could not come.
        The fact that another five rectors of Slovak Universities do not
fulfill  the  qualification  requirements  and  only  one  is  asked  to
withdraw, shows  that the whole  case is politically  motivated. Some of
the lecturers at the University in Trnava are the representatives of the
former leading  parties : Miroslav  Kusy, Zuzana Bartosova,  wife of the
former minister of culture L.  Snopko, Sona Somolanyiova and others. The
press  points  out  that  this  action  of  the  Movement for Democratic
Slovakia is  unfair but it  has a tacit  approval from Civic  Democratic
Party (the prime minister Jan Strasky is a member of this party).
        The  newspaper  of  the  Christian  Democrats,  the Slovak Daily
concludes  a big  article about  repeal of  the Trnava  rector published
under the title  "Octopus" with the undertitle "Shall  the University in
Trnava be  a precedent ?"  with these  words  : "We see  how the leading
party takes the power and shows it in practice. This concerns us all. We
are the  witnesses of the advance  according to the party  line with the
authoritative elements."
        Milos Zeman  from the Czechoslovak  Social Democratic Party  has
the same opinion. He said with irony in the TV series The Weekly Review:
"I am very glad that we have progress towards democracy, because instead
of one ruling  party (i.e. the former Communist  Party of Czechoslovakia
- editorial  remark)  we  now  have   two  ruling  parties  (i.e.  Civic
Democratic  Party  and  Movement  for  Democratic  Slovakia  - editorial
remark). This  is really a  significant progress. But  I think that  the
democracy is in something else than the fact that the ruling parties put
its members  into high offices. (We  wrote about the replacement  of the
director of Czechoslovak Press Agency with  the member of the ODS in two
preceeding  issues -  editorial remark).  Because then  their membership
card becomes a tool for getting a job and this reminds of something that
has been here before. Democracy is a dialogue with the opposition, which
contols  the   government.  And  the  wise   government  should  support
opposition  at the  Universities, which  are the  centers for  different
opinions."


The joint meeting of the Parliament

        On Tuesday September 22nd, the  3rd interrupted joint meeting of
the  both Houses  of the   Federal Assembly  continued. The  meeting was
called on request of the  parliament members from the opposition parties
to discuss the future of the Czechoslovak state. Parliament accepted the
report of the  government of CSFR about the  current situation and asked
the federal  government to submit  until October 15  the programme which
would  be  against  elemental  and  unconstitutional  disassembly of the
federation and which would prevent conflicts among citizens arising with
the  questions about  the future  of the  republic. The  cabinet of  Jan
Strasky  should  submit  until  November  15th  a  conception  of future
cooperation of Czech and Slovak  republic for the case of constitutional
splitting of the  CSFR - concentrating on the  issues of foreign policy,
defense, currency  , budget and  finances as well  as on common  customs
policy , economical policy , transport and telecommunications.


The condition of Alexander Dubcek is still serious.

        According to the doctors of  the Prague hospital Na Homolce, the
condition of Alexander Dubcek is still serious. He has been hospitalized
since September 1st when he was  seriously injured after a car accident.
A.  Dubcek  fell  into  unconsciousness  again  on  Friday.  The doctors
succeeded  in  fixing  the  blood  ciculation  in  the  brain  veins and
stabilized his  condition using the external  lung ventilation. The lung
infection still lasts.


The prize increase for the postal services

        The postal  fees in Czechoslovakia  will increase in  average in
180  percent.  For  example,  the  2  crowns  stamp  is required now for
postcards (the  former price was 50  halers), the letter costs  3 crowns
instead of  one. The fee for  a registered letter increases  from 3 to 5
Kcs and for an express mail from 3 to 8 Kcs.


The politics in soccer

        The  bus tour  to Budapest  for the  Eurpean Masters soccer game
between  Ferencavaros  Budapest  and  the  Czechoslovak  champion Slovan
Bratislava has been cancelled by the fan club of Slovan Bratislava.
        "When the  fans want to go  to Budapest on individual  basis, we
cannot  prevent it",  said the  secretary of  the Slovan  soccer team A.
Urban.
        "The Slovak parliament  and I myself suggest to  the fans not to
go. The Hungarian police cannot prevent the physical contact between the
fans and the  subsequent riots." , said to  the journalists the chairman
of the parliamentary committee for security Ladislav Polka.
        The  fear  from  disturbances  did  arise  after the reaction of
Hungarian officials  to the severe  police action in  Bratislava against
Hungarian fans during the first  game on Wednesday, September 16th. Even
if the Hungarian  police said after the return  from Bratislava that the
fault for  riots is on the  side of fans of  FTC Budapest, the Hungarian
minister for inner affairs Peter Boros  said in the parliament on Monday
that the action of the Slovak police was against the law and without any
reason.


Weather

Even  if the  fall started   on Wednesday,  September 23rd,  the weather
during the  day still reminds  of sunny summer.  We already got  used to
cool temperatures in the morning.
Next  weekend ,at  night from  Saturday to  Sunday, we  shall leave  the
daylight saving time and return to the central European time.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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