Chrono

‘Virgin’ gorilla voted Czech zoos’ biggest star

Brian Kenety — Mon, 21 May 2012 13:49:41 +0000

Bikira, a 17-year-old female Western lowland gorilla whose name means “virgin” in Swahili, has been voted the biggest personality of all the creatures now roaming about in zoos across the Czech Republic.

The Prague Zoo resident — despite having rejected her newborn son, and only child, in November — bested the baby elephant girl Rashmi from Ostrava and the Kamchatkan brown bears Kamčatka and Jelizar from Brno (proud parents as of January) by a narrow margin in a nationwide contest.

Bikira may have gotten a leg up from the — pun intended —guerilla marketing campaign Prague Zoo launched in 2005 capitalizing on the popularity of reality shows, when it launched its own show called “Odhalení,” or the Unmasking, featuring the Western lowland gorillas.

Prague Zoo used profits from text messages sent by viewers asked to vote for their favorite primate for various projects to protect gorillas in the wild. Even so, Bikira was not a sure bet in the popularity contest — she was not even the only “gorilla in the mist,” so to speak (two others made round one of the contest.)

The first of two rounds of voting began two weeks ago. Of the 44 contestants, 12 made the final round. Despite Bikira’s lack of parenting skills, she took top honors with 36 percent of the vote.

The “potato,” as the Czechs call fourth prize, went to the elephant Delhi from Ústí nad Labem zoo and fifth place went to another gorilla, Tadao, of Dvůr Králové zoo.

Gorilla gorilla gorilla

Western lowland gorillas like Bikira — or Gorilla gorilla gorilla, by genus, species and subspecies — originate from the forests of Central Africa and are the most commonly found in zoos.

This type of gorilla usually only have one baby every five years or so. Prague Zoo had to transfer Bikira’s newborn baby male gorilla to a special center abroad in November 2011 after she twice rejected him.

Bikira was raised in captivity, having been born at Amsterdam zoo in 1995. After stays in Stuttgart and Belfast, she arrived in Prague in 2010.

Czech state organs may begin publishing contracts online this fall

Brian Kenety — Mon, 21 May 2012 12:27:15 +0000

A number of Czech ministries and state entities such as the scandal-ridden Roads and Motorways Directorate (ŘSD) may begin publishing all contracts with third parties on the internet as of September, public broadcaster ČT reported Monday.

The proposal is part of the draft law on the registration of public contracts, and comes in the wake of allegations against a high-profile opposition politician, former Social Democrat (SSD) regional governor David Rath, of contract-rigging and padding in central Bohemia.

“The financial volume of contracts covered will reach about Kč 180 billion, which we want to ensure is spent transparently,” MP Jan Farský (TOP 09) told a news conference. Neighboring Slovakia, which implemented such a system, has seen cost-savings of about 10 percent, he said, so the Czech state could save tens of billions of crowns.

Karolína Peake, the former Public Affairs (VV) deputy prime minister tasked with the government’s anti-corruption drive, now looking to form a new party, LIDEM (short for Liberal Democrats and meaning “with the people” in Czech), took a lead role in drafting the law.

Farský said he and others on lawmakers who had worked on it were now just waiting for the Ministry of Justice to comment on the bill before submitting it to the Civic Democrat (ODS)-led center-right government. He said the ODS and opposition had already commented on the bill; it is therefore expected to pass without any trouble.

Czech state organs may begin publishing contracts online this fall

Brian Kenety — Mon, 21 May 2012 12:27:15 +0000

Czech explosives collector dies in blast

Chris Johnstone — Mon, 21 May 2012 11:22:42 +0000

A collector of grenades, artillery shells and other munitions collectibles living on the outskirts of the West Bohemian city of Plzeň became a fatal victim of his bizarre passion.

Police were called Sunday to the home of the 33-year-old, described by public broadcaster Czech Television as a former soldier, following an explosion. They found the man dead after apparently trying to take to pieces a mortar from the collection he kept in his cellar.

People were evacuated from neighboring houses shaken by the blast, one of which is being investigated for structural damage.

‘If the first explosion had sparked others, the whole street would have gone up.’

Police said afterwards that they found dozens on explosive devices, ranging from artillery shells to grenades, mostly unexploded, in the house, which they described as a “arms warehouse.” “If the first explosion had sparked others, the whole street would have gone up,” the mayor of suburb of the city, Michal Chalupný, told media.

The incident was at first announced as a gas explosion before its true nature became clear. Most of the munitions appear to date from WWII. Explosive devices from that period are occasionally unearthed in the Czech Republic, the scene of the last fighting of WWII in Europe as Soviet and US forces cornered some of the remnants of the Nazi regime’s still battle worthy formations following the fall of Berlin.

Suburbia in Central Europe

Guest Writer — Mon, 21 May 2012 11:17:47 +0000

Dead suburbia is alive and (barely) kicking in Central Europe. In localities outside of the region’s capital cities–where, in contrast, citizens are more actively engaged in the “fight” to improve their urban space–the communities are stagnant or sleeping.

In Psáry, located 7 km south of Prague, inhabitants who found themselves with fatter wallets in the 1990’s and flocked to their newly built homes on the outskirts of the city have found that their Czech version of the “American Dream” hasn’t lived up to their expectations. Working in Prague throughout the day they only return to their cookie-cutter homes at night where they peer out at a community their unfamiliar with, having no relationship with their neighbors since, along with rarely being there, the community is without shops, schools or other forms of infrastructure keeping them dependent on the city.

In Vienna’s Sandleiten, a public housing project built after the First World War between 1919-1934, barriers exist between the old inhabitants and the younger, immigrant newcomers. What upon first impression looks like an idyllic community–it’s clean, quiet, full of flowers and trees–is something of a dead zone.

In Rajka, located 20 km from Bratislava on the border between Austria, Hungary and Slovakia, people from Bratislava who followed the movement in the last ten years to settle down there–taking advantage of Rajka’s proximity to the city–are disconnected to their community as their commuter lifestyle leaves them little time to actually live there. As well, local industry has shrunk and the Hungarian population who are dissatisfied with poor transport links to their home country and wish to take advantage of high property market sales as a result of a land use change from agricultural to suburbia are moving out.

In an effort to bring the region’s issue of suburbanization and sprawl to light and help take some first steps toward positive change, Prague’s Center for Central European Architecture (CCEA) in collaboration with six like-minded organizations from Central Europe began a two-year project in the spring of 2011 called Culburb. Derived from “Cultural Acupuncture Treatments for the Suburbs,” Culburb’s manifesto, as stated on their website, is to “activate the public realm in the suburbs of regional capitals through acupuncture interventions.” In essence, through small actions they hope to contribute to bringing these suburban communities (back) to life.

“The ultimate goal of the project is to start at a local level, to start something new and to make some of the problems visible,” Klára Mergerová, a project coordinator for the project from CCEA, told Czech Position. “[Through the project we would like to help] make a new environment for the inhabitants, to attach them to their environment.”

The project’s main component began after Culburb’s first six months–a preparatory phase–during which the organizers held several workshops where they presented their ideas and discussed the topic of suburbia in Central Europe in general. Collectively they came to a decision to launch an open call in November of 2011 inviting architects, artists, urban researchers and activists as well as anyone interested in the topic, to submit proposals for interventions (with no limits on form, but only with the requirement that the interventions should “embrace the complex social and political situation, as well as the multi-layered character of the district’s problems”) in six specific localities. Four proposals for each location would be chosen and realized.

Along with Prague’s Psáry, Vienna’s Sandleiten and Bratislava’s Rajka, the chosen localities included Warsaw’s Ursus, Ljubljana’s Zalog, Budapest’s Delegyhaza and a second locality in Bratislava: Rosovce (the two Bratislava based localities are counted as one as they are in extremely close proximity to one another). Each, in their own unique way, “represent the typical suburban locality,” says Mergerová, for that particular country and capital city.

Receiving 220 proposals from candidates from around the world, each of the six organizers made their own pre-selection of approximately 15 proposals before gathering in Prague to choose the four winners for each locality. In total, thirty projects will be realized as the organizers from each location will realize their own proposals as well.

For Prague’s Psáry, the four chosen interventions include “Budget 50,000,” which comes from Czech graphic design studio Labortory. This intervention leaves it up to the inhabitants to decide what they will do with 50,000 crowns. Advertised in Psáry’s monthly community newsletter and at the community’s first farmer’s market where Culburb set up their own stall, inhabitants have the opportunity to propose their ideas about what to do with the money. The community will then vote on the best proposal and it will be realized.

In an effort to bridge an existing divide between Psáry’s old inhabitants and its newcomers, Slovak couple Martin Rusina and Anezka Tkacikova’s “Cross-Finding Game” will begin with collecting stories and oral history connected to the culture of Psáry from its older inhabitants. This information will then be organized into a game for the children of the newcomers. “Trail of Courage,” the work of three Czech art students, borrows from the tradition of educational paths with freestanding informational signs in Czech forests, but, instead of signs about flora and fauna, these paths will bear information about the history of the community and issues of sprawl in an effort to educate and create a dialogue.

From a German architect and artist team, “Urban Farming Objects” or UFO will see the landing of a UFO in Psáry. Emerging from the suburban spacecraft will be four blue-egg-laying hens (the hens actually lay blue eggs by nature). On site, the organizers will teach the children and other members of the community how to care for the hens and together they will build a hen house. Once the organizers leave, it will be up to Psáry’s inhabitants to care for the hens, creating the opportunity for an ongoing community project.

Along with descriptions of each of the six localities, Culburb’s comprehensive website includes descriptions of the interventions with videos of the authors behind them, which were recorded when they all met in Vienna in March to present their winning proposals.

As the interventions are just starting to be realized, with the majority scheduled to be implemented in the summer and the fall, the organizers have little information at this point to judge the response level of the inhabitants of the communities. [Speaking about Psáry] “People came to the market. They were surprised something was there. [In regard to their response to the presentation of the ‘Budget 50,000’ intervention] they were first a bit skeptical, but then they got involved,” says Mergerová. “I think in the end it will work.”

Another component of the project is scheduled to take place on May 22 and 23. Titled “Shaping Cities,” Culburb will host an international symposium and workshop (both are free and open to the public via registration) exploring the role of NGOs in shaping urban space. “The idea is to invite and meet different NGOs in Europe which operate in [the area of] urban space,” says Mergerová. “We’ll look at the role of NGOs in contemporary society, how they’re shaping or influencing politics and how they can shape and be active in urban space.” Around 15 organizations are set to participate. Including NGOs from across the continent, each of them–as with Culburb–implements small urban interventions in attempt to make an impact on city space.

The symposium, scheduled for the 22, is divided into several topics under which the various organizations will present their ideas. The workshop scheduled for the following day is divided into three workshops: Global Act, Local Act and Community Act. “[Collectively they address] being active on different levels,” says Mergerová. The event in its entirety is being held under the umbrella of the international ReSITE festival. “Both events are addressing similar issues and being held at the same time, so it was a logical step to connect the two,” Mergerová says. ‘In the beginning it started as a blind realization. Now it’s up to the people to make their life even better.’

As to whether the organizers foresee continuing with the project in its current form or some other after its scheduled end, Mergerová says that what will happen after the two years is an “open issue” at this point. In March of 2013 the organizers will meet for a final conference in Ljubijana to discuss how the project succeeded. Mergerová notes that they will likely publish a book about the interventions.

“Suburbanization is an important movement in Central Europe. In the beginning it started as a blind realization,” says Mergerová. “Now it’s up to the people to make their life even better.”

“[In an ideal situation of what suburbia in Central Europe would look like] people will start liking their communities. They’ll spend time there and open up to it,” says Mergerová. “They’ll send their children to local schools as opposed to schools in Prague [the capital cities]. They’ll open businesses in the area. They’ll get connected to what’s around them.”

Culburb
www.culburb.eu
Shaping Cities symposium and workshop
May 22 and 23

— Joann Plockova is a Prague-based freelance journalist

Czech scientists, get to know this American!

Martin Rychlík — Mon, 21 May 2012 09:58:11 +0000

Czech scientists are increasingly on the American radar: domestic research institutions now have a right to apply for grants awarded by US defense agencies, a Czech-American agreement on scientific cooperation has been signed, and an Office of Naval Research Global (ONRG) has been established at the US embassy here.

In March a conference was held in Prague that had a concrete impact. As well as the cooperation of physicists from the University of West Bohemia with the US Air Force Laboratory and speakers from the University of Technology in Brno, the conference brought representatives to the Czech Republic of the grant-giving National Science Foundation (NSF), which has an annual budget of $6.9 billion (Kč 134 billion).

Paul J. Bellaire is program director of the solar physics section of the NSF in Arlington, Virginia. Amongst other things he supervises the implementation and evaluation of projects seeking finance. “My task is first of all to help build bridges and boost links between Czech and American researchers so that cooperation is extended. Secondly, I have been requested to advise the Technology Agency of the CR (TAČR) as to how we evaluate projects submitted to the NSF,” Bellaire, who is on his third trip to the Czech Republic, told Czech Position.

His first trip was as a tourist in 1990 immediately after the revolution, when he was impressed by the monuments and delicious beer. “In 2002 I returned to Prague for a science workshop related to my sphere, atmospheric physics, and took a trip to the observatory in Ondřejov, which had been recommended to me by many of my colleagues in the US,” says Bellaire. This is his longest trip, lasting from April 27 to June 14, and he will visit many research institutes in Prague and the regions. He will have his own office in Dejvice, Prague, at the headquarters of TAČR, whose opening hours will be published on the agency’s website.

“I will be keeping regular working hours, so if a professor comes to me and says, “I work in the sphere of biophotonics. Could you help me find suitable partners in America?” I’ll advise him. I don’t think that Czechs are in any great need of assistance. They already have cooperation up and running. But sometimes it is useful to point to specific individuals and build bridges,” says the man who received an award from NASA, as well as the Air Force Meritorious Service Medal.

Professor Mařík: Path to centers of excellence

Bellaire was invited to the Czech Republic by the American embassy, but undoubtedly was already aware of the demand from Czech institutions. According to the cyberneticist Vladimír Mařík, a member of the government’s Council for Research, Development and Innovation (RVVI) and chairman of the research council of TAČR, Bellaire is an experienced director of a large program of the National Science Foundation and will play two roles in the Czech Republic: he will pass on to agency managers American experience with the preparation, implementation and evaluation of the effectiveness of research projects, and extend scientific links.

“He will help create contacts, especially in light of the possibility of linking top Czech teams with NSF centers of excellence. Mr Bellaire is basically here upon the invitation of the American embassy as an American government visiting researcher. When choosing their researcher the embassy took full account of the most pressing needs of the Czech research community and coordinated its approach with the Technology Centre of the CR,” Professor Mařík told Czech Position.

“With the support of the government Council TAČR is creating a system for the more objective evaluation of the effectiveness of applied research. The evaluation system should relate both to programs and individual projects, and individual institutions. It should complement the methodology for evaluating institutional financing developed by the Ministry of Education,” added program Mařík, who expects significant assistance from Bellaire in this respect.

TheNational Science Foundation was founded 1950. Its aim was “to support advances in science; to the benefit of national health, prosperity and welfare; and to protect national security. In 2010 it had a budget of $6.9 billion, which among other things finances around a fifth of pure research being conducted in American. In many spheres, such as mathematics, informatics and social science, the NSF is the main source of money for scientists.

“Although the NSF is mainly oriented on pure research, in recent years greater emphasis has been laid on support for centers of excellence of an applied and engineering character. Our colleague Mr Bellaire will be available in the Czech Republic to all researchers, both in universities and the Academy of Science of the CR, and in industry. He will travel to Brno, Ostrava, Olomouc, Pilsen and Liberec. He has travelled here in order to instruct all of us and has a wealth of information and experience,” says Mařík, who heads the department of cybernetics at the Czech Technical University (ČVUT) in Prague.

The American organization has two programs, the first entitled Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) and the second Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR), which assist in the development of start-up projects and corporate spin-offs. “It is about getting good ideas from market research. When a small firm gets larger, everyone is a winner, the government, the population at large, and the employees,” says Bellaire regarding the programs, which stimulate cooperation between universities and business and protect intellectual copyright.

On the road to the ELI super laser

Bellaire is also planning to visit large projects paid from EU funds, for instance the Brno-based CEITEC and the preparatory team of the Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI) super laser, one part of which is to be created in Dolní Břežany. “I will also travel to Romania where there is another part of the ELI,” says the American, who taught physics at the US Air Force Academy. ‘When I was young, I used to look through a telescope at a small comet discovered by Luboš Kohoutek.’

Does he believe Czech scientists have something offer? “No scientist can work on their own. Science is international at its core. It doesn’t recognize borders. Many of the best astrophysicists in the US studied in other countries,” Bellaire said. “It is clear to me that the Czech Republic has an especially strong tradition and a great reputation in biology and medicine. There is a long history here: Gregor Mendel, Jan Janský... There is memory here, as well as talent in engineering and industry. When I was young, I used to look through a telescope at a small comet discovered by Luboš Kohoutek,” he said.

He doesn’t know of any plans to establish a permanent branch of the NSF in the Czech Republic. This is outside of his competence. However, he says that meetings between the Czech side and the NSF will certainly continue. One thing he certainly believes is that investing money in science pays off. “If we don’t invest in science and research, our society will not maintain its current tempo of development and we won’t improve technology or indeed our own lives,” Bellaire said.

Czech scientists, get to know this American!

Martin Rychlík — Mon, 21 May 2012 09:58:11 +0000

Professor Mařík: Path to centers of excellence

On the road to the ELI super laser

Czech scientists, get to know this American!

Martin Rychlík — Mon, 21 May 2012 09:58:11 +0000

Professor Mařík: Path to centers of excellence

On the road to the ELI super laser

EU-Canada trade deal in jeopardy if visa problem not solved, Czech PM says

Chris Johnstone — Mon, 21 May 2012 09:25:24 +0000

Czech Prime Minister Petr Nečas (Civic Democrat, ODS) has warned his Canadian counterpart that the Czech Republic could create problems with a trade and economic agreement between the European Union and Canada unless Ottawa backs down over its visa requirement for Czechs visiting the country.

Nečas’ warning was delivered in a meeting with Stephen Harper on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Chicago, US. The imposition of visa requirements on Czechs in July 2009 in an apparent move to head off a wave of asylum applications from Czech Roma visiting the country has long grated on Prague, with the country trying to use its diplomatic muscle in the EU to get Canada to back down. US diplomatic cables leaked on WikiLeaks showed how the Canadians imposed the visa requirement on Mexico and Canada at the same time to deflect criticism they might be picking on one country.

“I once again expressed to premier Harper our disagreement with the introduction of the visa requirement and asked for a solution to the problem,” Nečas said on the Czech government’s website.

‘I once again expressed to premier Harper our disagreement with the introduction of the visa requirement and asked for a solution to the problem.’

He said that Harper promised reforms to his country’s asylum system by the middle of the year setting out countries, presumably including the Czech Republic, where political asylum applications would not be accepted. This would remove the threat of further applications from the Czech Roma minority while paving the way for the overall visa requirement to be dropped.

Nečas warned that Prague was ready to create problems for a pending economic and free trade area between the EU and Canada if a solution to the long-running visa problem was not found.

“I regarded it as my duty to correctly inform the Canadian premier that if the situation of the visa regime is not changed this agreement from the Czech side could meet with a whole series of problems including difficulties with ratification in parliament, which for political reasons are wholly understandable,” the Czech prime minister said.

Nečas said that the promised changes to the Canadian asylum rules would probably take time to navigate the country’s legislative procedures.

Drugs test robbed Petr Čech of some of Chelsea's Champions League joy

Chris Johnstone — Mon, 21 May 2012 09:03:50 +0000

Chelsea goalman Petr Čech has his double celebrations from his team’s victory in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich and his thirtieth birthday spoiled by a post-match drugs test.

Čech, one of the heroes of the encounter after saving one penalty in extra time when the sides were level 1:1 and then going on to save two more in the deciding penalty shoot-out, missed out on the changing room celebrations with teammates as he tried in vain to provide the sample for the drug test.

“I don’t know what happened [in the changing rooms]. They called me for a drugs test, and it took a really long time before I was able to provide the required urine sample. I had been through two hours of stress and it didn’t come. I drank everything possible; Fernando Torres then brought me a beer, and we sat together for a bit,” the Czech national ‘keeper who celebrated his birthday on Sunday recounted on his personal website.

Čech later rejoined teammates back at their hotel to celebrate through the night with champagne, a champion’s cigar and cognac. He described the win against Bayern in their home Munich stadium as the “greatest moment of my career.”

Media reports recounted how the Czech ‘keeper studied all the penalties taken by the Bayern players over the past five years to give himself a better chance of guessing where they would shoot. With the extra-time penalty against his former Chelsea friend, Dutchman Arjen Robben, however, the homework was little help. “I didn’t know what to do with Robben. Half the time he shoots to the right, half to the left, making no pattern whatsoever,” he told the British daily The Guardian. Robben seemed in two minds himself with his penalty lacking force and direction.

In the final penalty shoot out, while guessing the right way each time, Čech and Chelsea were facing a 1:3 deficit in the early stages. Two saves while the Chelsea players hit the target meant that a trophy that on the balance of play should have gone to Bayern was heading for the first time to Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge.

Čech becomes the fourth Czech player to win a Champions League medal. He is expected to join the national squad on Wednesday at its prepared for the finals of the 2012 European Championships that begin next month.