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POLITICAL

JPRS-EER-91-053 25 April 1991

are devoted to the education of students. Elitę institu-tions conducting basie research such as the Max Planck Society or the Centrc National de la Recherche Scienti-fique in France do not consider the grant system to be purposeful (their employees are paid—much the same as in our academy—to perform research activities).

The futurę of the academy is of interest to the public and to specialists. I bclieve that the academy can obviously not find its way out of its crisis without the incursion of organs of the Czech Republic; these incursions should put an accelerated end to the govemment of the “cham-ber” and should result in restructuring the presidium of the academy (or possibly another organ—the appellation is not important). This body should be madę up of several of the directors or chairmen of scientific councils of outstanding institutes and—as is the case in the management bodies of the above-mentioned German and French institutions—should also include represen-tatives of some central offices at the level of ministers or their deputies. The solution of even only the most important tasks will not be simplc; primarily, the selec-tion of quality institutes and determination of their personnel structure (the criterion of quality of its employees cannot be anything less than the world-class reputation of their work, their publications activities in renowned foreign publishing houses, invitations to ple-nary lectures at international congresses, etc.). Institutes at which teamwork is not necessary and which can immediately tie in to research would be transferred to advanccd schools. Technically oriented work sites (to the extent to which they are high-quality ones) would be transformed either into joint stock companies, possibly even with foreign participation, or would, together with some existing State research institutes, join institutions performing research for customers (like the German Fraunhofer Companies).

The embarrassment of the current academy leadership is attested to by a recent interview of the scientific secre-tary P. Vlasak by the same RUDE PRAVO editor who, 20 years ago, had interviewed Chairman Kozesnik. If our academy does indeed move along this path, it can find itself in a situation in which science will indeed cease to be cultivated by it.

Ousted Czech Minister To Chair Emironmentalists

AU1604105991 Prague CTK in English 1452 GMT 14 Apr 91

[Text] Prague 14 April (CTK)—Bedrich Moldan, former Czech minister of the environment, who was forced to resign after being accused of collaboration with the former secret police StB, was elected chairman of the Central Executive Council of the Czech Union of Envi-ronmentalists at a congress in Olomouc, north Moravia, last night.

The congress, which started yesterday, continues today.

Slovak Students See Power Returning to Communists

AU1504140091 Bratislam VEREJNOST in Slovak 9 Apr 91 p 2

[“Tcxt” of statement by the Union of University Students of Slovakia]

[Text] The Union of University Students of Slovakia is a spccial interest organization of students, whose program statement includes the defense of students’ rights. One of the inalienable rights of every Citizen and, hence, also students, is the right to a better futurę.

We therefore follow with great apprehensions the devel-opment of economic reform in Slovakia. We were par-ticularly taken aback by the results of the latest public opinion survey, conducted by the Center for the Research of Social Problems operating under the Come-nius University Faculty of Philosophy, in which 63 pcrcent of all respondents were in favor of slowing the reform.

As students, we initiated the November [1989] changes in the hope of building a better futurę for us. We participated with hope in the free elections, from which emerged a new parliament, which then appointed a new govcmment. This govcmment was to become the guar-antor of economic reform, in the rapid implcmentation of which we see our hope. The Slovak Republic Govcm-ment is cushioning the reform today, by which, in our opinion, it extends the latent period of depression. It does not do that for economic rcasons but out of political self-interest, reckoning that this policy will win votes in the upcoming elections.

We realize that university students—a large part of whom are unemployed already and, in view of the existing school system, are without any hope for a rapid improvement of their situation—wili be hit the hardest by radical economic reform. Cushioning the reform results, however, will extend this, for us, unpleasant period.

Unless the Government of the Slovak Republic embraces radical economic reform, we do not sec any prospects in life for young people in this republic. If even this argument will not suffice for the govemment to realize its responsibility before the nation, then we will really have to admit that Novcmber 1989 was an irrele-vant episode in our history and served the only purpose of returning to reform communists the power of which they were deprived in 1968.

Free-Lance Journalists Question Turnover Tax

LD1604224191 Bratislava Domestic Sernice in Slovak 1630 GMT 16 Apr 91

[Text] Representatives of Czech and Slovak frce-lance journalists and authors agreed on elose cooperation at a meeting in Bratislava to insure that readers of the Czech press are properly informed about life in Slovakia and