Jugendstil
‘To show
modern man
his true face.’
Otto Wagner
Euro 2,- | June 2006
Fears Flooding
On the Danube
Record Water Levels in Eastern Europe Threatened
Thousands and Suggest Impacts of Global Warming
by Duska Gonja
Something is amiss in Europe.
Sickness-inducing algae in Genoa,
severe flooding in central Europe,
Portuguese wildfires, ticks carry-
ing Lyme disease northward into
Sweden – all are recent occurrenc-
es that scientists have attributed
to global warming. Countries and
politicians, faced with the severe
evidence of the trend, are starting
to consider the changes they will
have to make in order to adapt to
a warmer Europe.
Eastern and Central European
regions that had still not recovered
from the devastating floods of
2002 were once again were forced
to battle the rising waters. In
2002 economic losses amounted
to EUR 9.2 bn in Germany, EUR
2.9 bn in Austria and EUR 2.3
bn in the Czech Republic. Total
economic damage exceeded EUR
Wiener Börse Booming
After years of respectable growth, the Austrian Stock Index ATX has seen
a 285.71% rise since 2000, while other European and U.S. indexes have
hovered nearly unchanged for six years. As Western European markets bat-
tled for control, Vienna has quietly pursued collective interests to the East,
in a region whose growth shows no signs of waning. Story on page 23
Europe and the East:
‘Neighbors by Necessity’
Joschka Fischer Fears ‘We Are Forgetting the 90s’
by Dardis McNamee
The coincidence was un-
canny: March 28, an ordinary
Tuesday evening at the Wiener
Rathaus, and Joschka Fischer,
former German Foreign Minister
and pillar of the Green Party, had
come to Vienna to speak about
the importance of the Middle East
for European Security.
It was also Election Day in Is-
rael, and the revolutionary Hamas
regime had come to power with
a solid majority, leaving the West
shaken and uncertain.
The Rathaus Festsaal was
packed for the 2006 Jan Patocka
Memorial Lecture, of the Institute
for the Human Sciences. Fischer
smiled as he looked out at the
rows fading out past the lights.
Even out of office, he could still
Young Voices of the New Europe
The Newspaper of Webster University Vienna | Vol. 4 No. 2
,
In Iran: ‘No
Smoking Gun’
US Amb. Schulte
Speaks at WUV
by Mazin Elfehaid
In an Apr. 12 guest lecture at
Courtesy of the City of Vienna: Eine Stadt Ein Buch
Webster University Vienna, U.S.
15 bn. And history seems repeat Ambassador to the International
itself year after year in Central and Atomic Energy Agency Gregory
Eastern Europe. Schulte fielded tough questions
In April, a swollen tributary from students about his govern-
of the Danube river rose to a ment’s policy towards the per-
record level in Hungary and Ser- ceived threat of a nuclear Iran.
bia, threatening at least 160,000 While admitting that there
people and 50,000 homes as was no “smoking gun” that could
southeastern Europe battled mas- prove that Iran seeks nuclear weap-
sive floods. Emergency crews ons, Schulte maintained that “the
scrambled to bolster the banks of greatest security challenge facing
the Tisza River that flows into Ser- Europe and the world is [Iranian
bia from Hungary after it reached president Mahmood] Ahmedine-
Literary Encounter: Writer John Irving, author of best sellers, The World According to Garp and Cider House
its highest level in parts of the two jad and his nuclear ambitions,”
Rules, was in town for the annual celebration of literature, “Ein Buch – Eine Stadt” (One Book – One City). This
countries already hit by flooding while Iran’s actions threaten the
year, 350.000 special-edition copies of Irving’s Free the Bears, set in Vienna, were distributed free. Story on Page 19
of the Danube. Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
Further downstream in Ro- (NPT), of which it is a member.
mania, the rising Danube forced The lecture sponsored by
authorities to evacuate more than
4,700 people, mainly in the south-
ern towns of Calarasi and Fetesti.
In Austria, Crime Is Down WUV and the IAEA gave the
50 or so students gathered in the
Conference Center the opportu-
In neighbouring Bulgaria, With More Policemen on the Beat and Better Cross-Border Cooperation, nity to get a first hand glimpse of
thousands of volunteers joined More Crimes are Solved, and Vienna Remains One of Europe‘s Safest Cities international diplomacy in action.
Continued on Page 20 Schulte, who is charged with
by M.T.M. Childs been committed nationwide than ber countries.” Prokop stated in pushing US President George
Crime is down in Austria. for the same period the previous the ministry’s monthly report? Bush’s agenda in negotiations with
Although you would never know year, a decrease of 2.1%. And “The acceptance of these new EU the Iranian government, proved a
it, judging by the headlines in the the percentage of solved crimes countries has made cooperation skilled public speaker, unfazed by
Subway tabloid Heute. has actually risen from 0.2 % to Continued on Page 3 Continued on Page 6
“Kriminalität wächst: 16% 39.5%.
mehr Häftlinge!” (“Crime is Up: The decrease in crime rates
16% More Prisoners”) was the has to do, to a great extent, with
screaming front page headline in the organised, cross-border strat-
early April. The newspaper had egies to uncover the members of
made a deceptive leap from the Eastern European gangs, accord-
increase of prisoners to an increase ing to public statements by Interi-
of crime. or Minister Liese Prokop. This has
In fact, the reverse is true.
The actual monthly statistics
meant more thorough checks at
EU entry points, pin pointed ac-
of the Ministry of the Interior, tion in more populated areas and
published in February, show a many EU-instituted changes for the
nationwide decrease in reported divisions of Police and Justice.
crimes in Austria. “Our successes in crime fight-
In the first two months of ing are due in part to the close
2006, 2,026 fewer crimes had cooperation with new EU-mem-
Courtesy of Agence France Presse
What’s Inside
Land of Migrants? Paid Company
At a time when E.U. restric- For thousands of young
attract a crowd. tions are becoming tighter, Austria women from all over Eastern
But the former Foreign Min- continues taking in immigrants in Europe, poverty and dreams of
ister would be speaking “from a increasingly large numbers and a perfect life leads them into Iranian Pres. Mahmoud Ahmedinejad: “Wipe Israel Off the Map“
distance” tonight, he said, not folding them into economic and selling their bodies. Page 12
from any political position: Josch-
ka Fischer representing himself.
social life. Page 3
‘The Downfall’ Can the West Really Make
With his boyish face, even
now that his hair has turned sil-
‘Code‘ of Sacrilege
The Vatican is right to be scared
Whatever else it was, direc-
tor Oliver Hirschbiegel’s deci-
Peace With Nuclear Iran?
ver grey, Joschka Fischer looks of the Da Vinci Code. In an age sion to make The Downfall was In Spite of Reassurances, Much Remains Hidden
younger than his 57 years. Yet for when psychology has supplanted daring. Would anyone want to
40 years, he has been close to the philosophy as the defining language watch a film that humanized by Karla Bavoljak information on sources of pluto-
heart beat of change, and hearing of human experience, organized re- Adolf Hilter? Page 18 and Nika Bracun nium, another crucial element for
him speak of his experience is to ligion is in trouble. Page 3 Controversies over Iran’s nu- the development of the atomic
become, fleetingly, a witness to Quaint or Racist? clear program were sharpened bomb.
modern German history. Future Unknown Familiar things easily pass April 28 with the submission of “Gaps remain in the Agency’s
Today, Fischer is troubled by In spite of increasing pressures unnoticed. Originally designed a report to the United Nations knowledge with respect to the
the speed with which the lessons from an increasingly demanding in 1924, the Julius Meinl logo Security Council by Dr. Mo- scope and content of Iran’s centri-
of Europe’s past are being lost. job market, Webster Vienna stu- was once thought exotic, evoca- hammed ElBaradei, Director of fuge program, the Report said.
“With all these discussions of dents feel on the whole optimistic tive of Baroque Angels. Is it now the International Atomic Energy On their visit in 2003, the
who will be excluded or included, about their futures. Page 7 simply bad taste? Page 20 Agency (IAEA) in Vienna. IAEA inspectors found the cen-
we are forgetting the 90s,” Fischer The report, entitled Imple- trifuge facilities hidden behind
said. In a time of globalization, Chernobyl +20 Measuring Beauty mentations of the NPT Safeguards a wall, showing traces of highly
Europe cannot close off borders, Controversies over nuclear There is little more mysteri- agreement in the Islamic Republic enriched uranium. Officials were
or slow economic growth, popula- safety and a laundry list of trou- ous and unrevealed than the defi- of Iran, confirms information pre- able to trace the equipment back
tion growth or terrorist threats. bling health issues linger long nition of beauty. Is it possible to viously given to the IAEA by the to Pakistan; but not the highly
Europe and the Middle East are after polluted reactor sites have reduce attraction to a math formu- Iranian government on its nuclear enriched uranium, whose source
“neighbors by necessity.” been cleaned. What can happen la? For centuries philosophers have material and activities. However, remains unknown.
Continued on Page 4 if things went wrong. Page 11 sought answers. Page 25 the agency discovered conflicting Continued on Page 6
2 Special Reports
AUSTRIA’S CRIME RATE
Continued from page 1
“Our successes in crime
fighting are due in part to the
close cooperation with new
EU-member countries.” Prokop
stated in the ministry’s monthly
report.
“The acceptance of these
new EU countries has made co-
operation between the various
national police departments pos-
sible - making it clear that the
expanding of the EU has made
Austria a safer place.”
The picture in Vienna is a
little less rosy. As a crossroads for
migration from the East, there
is a continuing risk of the city
becoming an involuntary transit
hub for travelling criminals.
In Vienna itself, the crime
rate has risen by 1.3 percent,
although the quotient of solved
case of one 12-year-old boy liv-
ing in the 2nd District, a mug-
ging by a group of 14 year olds.
Benjamin was in the Prater
with three friends in mid April
when the group of older boys
threatened and then robbed him
and his friends, taking their cell
phones and about 40 Euros in
pocket money. The boys phoned
their parents and went to the
Prater police station, where the
officers took down the reports.
They did not immediately
go after the perpetrators.
“There’s no point, really,”
said Reiter. “By Austrian law,
a 14 year old cannot be fined
or punished in any way for his
crime,” Reiter said, “except for a
call to the parents, which might
result in a punishment and might
not.” He sighed. These types of
reported crimes also become part

Courtesy of Cafe Sperl

crimes has remained the same. of the statistics, and in this in-

In 2002, 73.1% of all

The Viennese meet with clients, have private talks with lawyers, and rendezvous with lovers discretely in a coffee house: Here, the Cafe Sperl.
Everyday Gemütlichkeit
There is no Sense of Hurry in a Viennese Kaffeehaus; Even the Cell Phones Ring Quietly
by Meinrad Knapp
It is Monday afternoon, at
the Café Griensteidl in downtown
Vienna. This is an old, traditional
Viennese coffee house, which was
once the meeting point for the
so-called “Jung Wien,” the artists
and intellectuals of the Jugendstil
movement after which this news-
paper is named.
This meeting place of writers
Arthur Schnitzler and Peter Al-
tenberg was, I deemed, the perfect
spot to meet with a friend from
Philadelphia, a place where the
strong injections of caffeine set the
gears of the brain in motion and
the air is full of ideas.
So my friend Michael and
I drank our coffee and talked,
watching the waiters sidling
among the tables. Busy as they are,
there is no sense of hurry in a Vi-
ennese Kaffeehaus.
It seems as if a magic hand
touches the people on the shoul-
der; they move at their own speed,
selecting their newspapers and set-
tling in. Even the cell phones seem
to ring more quietly here.
“But don’t these people have
to work?” my friend asked me,
incredulous. Surely all of these
people sipping coffee, reading
their newspapers, involved in
conversations and talking on the
phone must do something for a
living! And indeed, they looked
far too young to be retired. “Are
the people in Vienna so wealthy
that they can sit for hours in coffee
houses on a Monday afternoon,”
he asked?
Sometimes you need some-
body from the outside to give you
another perspective. I was raised
here in Vienna, so I am used to the
picture of a busy Viennese Kaffee-
haus on a Monday afternoon.
But people doing nothing? If
you think that these people are
doing nothing, you do not un-
derstand Vienna. Just be patient,
I told my American friend. And
watch.
drug-related criminals
were Austrians and only
26.9% foreigners, a level
that has not increased
since the opening of the
A Viennese Kaffeehaus is a Ms. Human Resources Director was much older than “she” was.
veritable stew of activity and a in person at a coffee house: if they Were they meeting for the first E.U. borders.
sampling of life in the city. It is agree, your chances have improved time? Or was he married and they
the best place to get together in- immensely. were having an affair … And what
formally, to try out an idea, discuss Consider a coffee house as were those two men dressed in the So the city is on the alert. stance, the case was not solved.
a project, or develop a contact. It’s your resource center. The typical gray suits talking about? They have An internal police reform put Have the Vienna Police been
a private spot outside the office Viennese Kaffeehaus is equipped been sitting and whispering at the into action on July 1, 2005 cut given any special orders to shape
to do some reading or get some with an unwilling and remark- same table for hours. Are they dis- desk jobs to allow for more offic- up? Apparently not, because no
thoughts on paper. It is the place ably unfriendly waiter, who also cussing a major business deal, or a ers on the street, according to a one is surprised. “The weather
where first dates take place, has a remarkable memory. After secret political affair? And why is police spokesman. gets warmer, so crime goes up.”
where G’spusi (an your third visit, if you are a that young man sitting alone at a And first-hand observation Reiter assures us, “it’s not unu-
Austrian’s secret generous enough tipper, nearby table, reading newspapers, confirms that beat police are be- sual.”
love affairs) be- he will remember what taking notes and reading a book at coming more and more visible. The fear of crime increasing
gin and end. your usual order is and the same time? Is he a student? But “The types of crime are as a result of immigration is also
But per- provide you with a he looks too old to be a student. changing,” said Andreas Reiter, not substantiated.
haps I am ‘Surely all wide variety of local Maybe he is doing some research of the Vienna Police Depart- In 2002, for example, 73.1%
moving and international for his father’s company … ment. “We don’t have the mas- of all drug related criminals were
too fast. these people newspapers. And I left my American friend sive drug dealing gangs to piece Austrians and only 26.9% for-
Let me as a bonus, he will Michael in the Griensteidl, in together, but rather separate fel- eigners and although the current
explain. A chatting, sipping pass along a little his own world, thinking about ons and instead of serial burglars numbers of foreigners in jail has
Viennese gossip and you the stories behind the faces. He we have 20 different ones. That’s reached 46.3%, the level has not
coffee
their coffee and can eavesdrop on hadn’t realized it yet, but sitting what makes the crime rate rise.” increased since the opening of
house is
the city’s
reading the news- the other guests
to pick up the
in the coffeehouse, doing what-
ever you are doing while having
Small crimes may be small
crimes but the Viennese pride
EU borders.
In fact, 43.9% of foreign
neutral
ground, a
paper must do latest on current
issues, giving you
fun observing the other guests,
is a very integral part of Viennese
themselves on how safe Vienna
is, so it is exactly those types of
prisoners are doing time on ac-
count of their illegal residency,
low-inten-
sity meet-
something for a good feeling
of what Viennese
Gemütlichkeit.
But I will fill Michael in on
crimes that give the feeling of
insecurity.
not for criminal activity.
So, while it’s still a good idea
ing place, a living! people are really this fact the next time he visits A stolen wallet or handbag, to hold tight to your handbag,
for business, concerned with. Vienna. It is definitely easier to an offer of illegal drugs on the over all, Austria and Vienna can
professional or Finally, and very enjoy than to understand. way out of the subway, or in the still be seen as a safe place.
personal life. Ini- important, a Kaffeehaus
tial meetings with is the setting for romance:
clients, private talks If you meet with somebody,
with lawyers and consultants, even you are interested in, the first date
headhunters meet with their po- is usually at a coffeehouse. It is in-
tential clients for the first time in a formal. You do not have to spend
coffee house. the whole evening together. If it
The choice of such a setting is turns out to be boring, you can
clearer if you understand the hi- conveniently part ways. And if
erarchical world of Austrian busi- you enjoy each other’s company,
ness. When you make an appoint- you can move on to dinner.
ment with a Viennese business In the end, Michael was, to
person, the venue is chosen ac- say the least, impressed. And could
cording to who is the more influ- I perhaps leave him for a while, so
ential and powerful. If you want to that he could sit by himself in Cafe
show your client who is the Don- Griensteidl?
ald Trump of this deal, then he has I smiled. The magic hand had
to come to your office. But if you finally touched him. He had start-
want to meet on level ground, you ed to feel comfortable within the
meet in a coffee house. cover zone, and he spent his time
If you are applying for a job, by studying the people surround-
you have two choices: You can ing him: Like the young couple
send in your CV and wait. Or sitting next to him, laughing and
you can suggest meeting Mr. or talking and touching. But “he”
 Special Reports 3

top places went to the countries

Zeitgeist
with the strongest social welfare
programs: Austria placing 3rd
The Da Vinci Code after Sweden and Denmark, in
a European Commission study

Sacrilege!
conducted by the Center for Eu-
ropean Reform in London.
Immigrants represent a more
flexible labor reserve, often more
willing to take jobs that require
The Church Fathers Have Every Right to be more relocation and mobility
Afraid: Organized Religion is in Trouble than natives. It seems no coin-

Courtesy of the European Union

cidence that the European coun-
Speaking at a Rome conference on April 28 Archbishop Angelo Amato, tries with the most comprehensive
Vatican secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, urged his migration policies, Sweden and
audience to consider boycotting the film “The Da Vinci Code,” as one way Denmark, also have some of the
“to let the world know the story offends and defames the church.” strongest economies.
If the kind of “slander, offenses and errors” contained in Dan Brown’s In addition, while immigra-
best-selling novel and the film based on it had been written about “the Quran tion does influence government
or the Shoah (the Holocaust), they rightly would have provoked a worldwide budgets, and thus social spending,
uprising,” the archbishop told Catholic communications directors. the report concludes, “the effects
– Catholic OnLine, www.catholic.org/international
are complicated to calculate, while
by Dardis McNamee Or even ascribing sinister motives the net impact at the national level
Oh my! Poor Archbishop to the Order of Opus Dei that it is negligible.”
Amato! Poor Catholic Church! probably doesn’t deserve. The study points to two main
It’s hard not to smile. In an age But religion never had any- reasons why immigration can be
when psychology has supplanted thing to do with facts; actually, beneficial -- both of which apply
philosophy as the defining lan- religion is, by definition, based on in various ways to Austria. Firstly,
guage of human experience, and something called a “leap of faith,” Students at an EU forum: In the European context, immigration is not only helpful but also neccessary. most rich industrialized nations
morality is best understood in the by which you simply decide to be- have a shortage of skilled labor,

framework of law and society, or-
ganized religion is in trouble.
ESSAY
Austria - a (Reluctant)
lieve something for which there is, particularly in fields such as Infor-
and can be, no proof. mation Technology, or as in Aus-
And anyway, this is fiction, tria, in engineering and the highly
and these quibbles are beside the skilled building trades. The

Science, communication and

prosperity have all conspired to
make religion feel obsolete. Sci-
ence makes it look primitive;
communication makes it paro-
chial, and prosperity relieves the
feelings of helplessness on which
religious belief is often built. So
in most developed countries,
church attendance is dwindling
and candidates for the priest-
hood increasingly few. What
young man of talent will give up
a natural human life of sexual love
and family for a place in a power
structure that is collapsing before
his eyes?
Enter Dan and Blythe Brown
and the worldwide best seller, The
DaVinci Code. In the guise of a
high-energy intellectual thriller,
the Browns have pealed away the
mask that has protected the Cath-
olic Church from prying icono-
clasts for nearly two centuries.
Yes, we all know that they played
around with the “facts,” discover-
ing foundations under a cathedral
that aren’t there, inventing an aca-
demic discipline that doesn’t exist.
real point.
Because there is a real point.
And you can be sure that if these
quibbles were all that was at stake,
the Church would most probably
have left well enough alone. Even
they know that censorship is one
of the best ways to guarantee the
success of a film.
The real point is that
The DaVinci Code dramatizes
to a mass reading public that the
Catholic Church is the way it is by
chance – it is something invented
that can, therefore, be changed. It
could have easily been some other
way, if someone, or several some-
ones, had won a round or two
somewhere along the way.
The novel also brings out into
the open old church battles over
the position and role of women.
These, as much as the feminist
movement of the 1970s, threaten
the foundations of patriarchy in
societies the world over. The his-
tory on this point – that women
were definitively closed out of the
Church’s power structure by the
reign of Constantine in the 4th
Century – is not contested.
Land of Immigrants
While Ambivalent, Austria Continues to Absorb Thousands
by Mazin Elfehaid
Austrians worry a lot about
immigration. Of course they wor-
ry about pretty much everything.
But in this case, common wisdom
tells them that more immigrants
will mean higher unemployment,
lower wages, and increasing bur-
dens on the social welfare system.
And while immigration is a
contentious issue throughout the
European Union, it is especially
so in countries like Austria, where
a high quality of life, economic
stability and social benefits attract
more migrants than most other
parts of the continent.
Yet at a time when restrictions
throughout the E.U. are becom-
ing tighter, Austria continues tak-
ing in immigrants in increasingly
large numbers and folding them
into economic and social life.
In 2002, Austria natural-
ized 36,382 new citizens, double
the 18,321 in 1998, triple the
number in 1990, according to
Michael Jandl and Albert Kraler
of the International Center for
Migration Policy Development
(ICMPD). And while these new
citizens come from more than
100 different countries the world
over, a full half from the former
Habsburg lands.
Austria has a long history of
immigration, largely due to its
historical importance and geo-
graphic influence. Large parts of
what is now Central, and South
Central Europe was, at the height
of the Hapsburg Empire, part of
But for the public, it’s break-
ing news, the evidence many been
waiting for that there is nothing
spiritual about male supremacy.
It is now, and has only ever been,
about power.
Together, these radical no-
tions are like land mines in the
pastures of the Good Shepherd.
Think of it: The DaVinci Code
reveals the Church to be fallible,
a flawed, evolving human insti-
Austria – including parts of Po-
land, the Czech Republic, Slova-
kia, Hungary, Croatia, and Serbia.
Many contemporary Austrians
have roots in these countries,
and roughly 9.1% of its current
citizenry is foreign-born, signifi-
cantly higher than the EU average
of 5.3%. Its quota of foreign resi-
dents is 12.5%, even higher than
in the United States.
The controversy surrounding
immigration largely economically
motivated. Many worry that an
increase in immigration will bring
lower average wages, higher un-
employment and strains on social
supports like health care. It is for
this reason that Austria’s Freedom
Party (FPÖ) has called for zero
permanent immigration, stating
that “unrestricted immigration
lead to serious distortions of the
job market and to substantial
pressure on wages” in their party
program.
On the other hand, Europe
also faces an aging population,
whose pensions could depend on
the new energy and earning pow-
er immigrants could bring to the
workforce.
While it has been suggested
that migrants may help stem these
problems, “the EU… says that
the numbers of projected immi-
grants would not be enough to
overcome the lack of people of
working age,” Steve Schifferes
of BBC News reported. It has
instead proposed increasing par-
ticipation of women and older
tution, like any other. It shows
that Roman Catholicism as we
know it emerged out of a confu-
sion of sources and that for politi-
cal, rather than spiritual, reasons
developed a set of rules, called
doctrines, that, like civil law, were
arrived at through negotiation,
power struggles and wars of domi-
nation...
…whose winner got to write
the history.
OECD reports that unemploy-
ment rates in these fields are dra-
matically lower than elsewhere.
The second reason is that Eu-
rope has an aging population, with
the proportion of people of retire-
workers in the workforce. ment age increasing, and overall
These issues have polarized population of the continent fall-
Austrian politics, and public at- ing between 12 to 17 percent over
titudes towards immigration re- the next fifty years. In 2040, the
main ambivalent, as evidenced by percentage of the Austrian popu-
the curtailing of labor-migration lation over 60 will reach 35%, up
and family reunification programs from 20% in 1995. This means
following in the wake of the 2002 there will be significantly fewer
Aliens Act, which called for “in- people paying into pension sys-
tegration before immigration.” tems, as well as a drop in the over-
This policy, which slowly tries to all standard of living, at least as
incorporate long-term migrants measured in financial terms.
through required “integration Immigration can change these
courses,” and attempts to make age structures, says the OECD.
them part of the social network, “Increased immigration would
remains in force today. have an immediate impact on the
Despite this ambivalence, working-age population,” wrote
Austria continues to absorb grow- the authors. The report notes,
ing numbers of immigrants: Ac- however, that in many places the
cording to the web-based Migra- age-profile of immigrants is simi-
tion Information Source (http:// lar to that of the native popula-
www.migrationinformation.org/), tion, and for this reason immigra-
the number of naturalizations in tion alone cannot always be relied
Austria has continued to increase on to solve this problem.
from 17,785 in 1997 to about However, in the European
36,400 in 2002, with the total context, immigration in most
number of migrants reaching cases is not only helpful, but
74,786 in 2001. necessary, in order for countries
The evidence in favor of im- like Austria to continue grow-
migration is strong, and contrary ing. While not always openly
to popular wisdom, a well-planned immigrant friendly, Austria has
immigration policy can be benefi- generally been pragmatic, relying
cial to a country’s economy. on immigration fuel growth and
First of all, there seems to be supply missing skills.
“no obvious relationship between This style of accommoda-
immigration and unemploy- tion, too, is an old tradition of the
ment,” according to a study by Empire. And anecdotal evidence
the Organization for Economic suggests the trend is likely to con-
Cooperation and Development tinue: With the Austrian economy
(OECD), Trends in Immigration booming, Austrian consulates
and Economic Consequences. throughout Central, Eastern and
According to the OECD, South Central Europe swarm with
while immigrant populations ex- people hoping for a visa.
perience greater unemployment Applications are up, and while
and lower wages than native ones, there are no formal statistics of
immigration also “creates demand how many people are left waiting
for goods and services produced in line, officials in consulates in
by the host population,” which Budapest, Belgrade and elsewhere
means there is also a larger de- have been caught issuing hundreds
mand for both goods and labor. of unauthorized entry documents
In other words, immigrants can over several years in exchange for
fuel economic growth. cash, resulting in recalls and em-
Studies support this hypoth- barrassment at the Foreign Min-
esis. In recent EU competitive- istry. Sometimes the reality is best
ness rankings, for example, the revealed by what goes wrong.
4 Politics
NEIGHBORS BY NECCESITY But open societies are not au- and they will stay our neighbors.”
Continued from page 1

Autocrat in Belarus
tomatic, and gains can be lost. On Iran, he urged great cau-
Fischer’s realism has helped In Central Europe, the idea of tion. “All I can say is, I have expe-
make him popular outside of Ger- freedom means a great deal. But rienced [things like this, and the
many, and particularly here in so- the chances are not good that all harm] is not only the suffering of
cialist Vienna. of their newly-built institutions the people, but the damage to the
Winning Soundly, Lukashenko Ended Hopes for Change “Fischer is certainly a per- will succeed without a single gov- spirit of the country”
sonality admired by Austrians,” ernment. “You cannot have a Eu- From a recent gathering of
agreed Karl A. Weilguny, a man- rope that is open and have these American, European and Middle
by Andrey Siletski to obtain 50% of Beltransgas. With Lukashenko ignoring agement consultant in Vienna countries closed off,” he said. “We Eastern leaders in Washington
As the smoke of public dis- However, uncomfortable with the warnings, the E.U. Council of who had come simply out of in- cannot live under two different D.C., Fischer had left convinced
sent and revolutionary temper the practical takeover of essential Foreign Ministers on Apr. 10 de- terest to hear this important, if principles.” that “we must combine moderni-
settled on October Square in the national economic resources, Lu- clared Lukashenko and 30 mem- often controversial leader. By extension, Fischer sees zation with an Islamic govern-
center of Minsk, ardent support- kashenko demanded harsh terms bers of his government persona Joschka Fischer was a “ ‘68er,” an open Europe dependent on ment” – an opinion he expected
ers of Alexander Lukashenko were that had left Russian authorities non grata, restricting their pres- part of the German student protest the success and stability of all of to be unpopular. Yet how quickly
celebrating the re-election of their resentful. ence in any of the 25 European movement against and a left-wing its neighboring countries. In the this could happen was very prob-
president for the third term. Win- Referring to international member states. labor organizer at the automobile East, he sees a “cultural decision” lematic. Even Turkey, far more
ning an overwhelming majority market prices, Lukashenko esti- The list of top officials, factory where he worked. How- to make, to bring the New Inde- modern than many of its neigh-
of votes, Lukashenko successfully mated the cost of Beltransgas to banned from traveling to Europe, ever left-wing terrorist attacks by pendent States under the Euro- bors, he expects, will be hard
dismantled Europe’s last hope for be at least $5bln, while Moscow included senior members of the the Red Army Faction pressed to meet EU stand-
change in Belarus, vainly strug- tagged its price at only $700 mil- presidential administration, top (RAF) during the 1977 ards within the 10-year goal
gling for democratic elections and lion.
freedom of speech. Nevertheless, since the early
officials of the KGB, or Commit-
tee of National Security, which still
Deutscher Herbst (Ger-
man Autumn) caused him
‘I have the set for membership.
However, he did not see
Scheduled for Mar. 31, the 1990’s, Russia has been enjoying bears its name from the Soviet Era, to abandon violence as a impression that how Turkey – the southern
presidential inauguration was privileged transit prices on gas election supervisors, judges, and a tool for change, and turn most member of NATO
postponed for twenty days, dur- and its export to Western Europe. prosecutor involved in processing to the new Green Party. the better things “ensuring our security
ing which Lukashenko unexpect- Currently, it pays $0.75/tcm per cases against opposition members, Today, Fischer de- against the USSR” – could
edly disappeared according to scribes himself as “the last get and the more be kept out.
from the nation- the Interna- of the live Rock-and-Roll- “If we close the door,
al media, raising tional Herald ers of German politics,”
we overcome the where will we be?” he
the speculation Tribune. in the era of “the Play- ghosts of the past, asked. “We will have a Tur-
of his dete- Praising back-Generation.” key full of disappointment,
riorating health Europe’s ac- He is puzzled by the the less popular with a Russia standing by.”
among opposi- tion, presiden- political mood he sees to- Whether modernization
tion activists. In tial candidate day, as seen in the French Europe is with will happen in these coun-
reality, however, Alexander “non” and the Dutch tries is, then, the decisive
L u k a s h e n k o’s Milinkevich, “nee” to the EU Consti-
the young’ question for Europe, with
orchestrated tri- also leader of tution. Although the Eu- decisions based on the con-
umph was over- the Belorus- ropean standard of living sequences.
shadowed by a sian United keeps rising, the idea of Europe pean umbrella. For while Russia “But decide we must,”
series of unfortu- Democratic appears to becoming less and less has European roots, it is “so huge Fischer said. “Because when Af-
nate events. Forces, called popular. it has its own character” that must rica begins to export its problems,
Courtesy of the Associated Press

Immediately the sanctions “I have the impression that not be allowed to influence East- the Mediterranean will not be
after his victory “one of the the better things get and the more ern Europe. wide enough, walls will not be
on Mar. 19, Lu- most effective we overcome the ghosts of the Bigger challenges await in the high enough, to protect us from
kashenko re- measures that past, the less popular it is with Middle East, also “our immediate all this.”
ceived an urgent the European the young,” Fischer said, “—how neighbor.” he said.
note from Mos- Pa r l i a m e n t much the EU Expansion means, “Globalization means that The Jan Patocka Memorial Lec-
cow, in which and the Eu- and yet how unpopular it is.” we have to care for our neighbors tures are in honor of the Czech phi-
Russian authori- ropean Com- This is the paradox of EU – not (just) militarily, but with losopher, who though banned from
ties declared a mission have,” ambivalence, that the success of chances for development. We have teaching and publishing under com-
sharp increase in according to transformation carries within it to invest not primarily financially munist Czechoslovakia, became an
Alexander Lukashenko won the presidency by a huge margin
gas prices to Eu- Belorussian the seeds of forgetfulness and the – although that when necessary intellectual and moral leader of the
ropean export rates. one hundred kilometers through news agency Belaplan on April dangers of complacency. In 1989 – but with opportunity.” Czech underground.With poet-presi-
Russian gas would be sup- Beltransgas pipelines, a ridiculous- 10. Berlin was still divided. “To overcome a moderniza- dent Vaclav Havel and others, Pa-
plied at prices “equivalent to Eu- ly low charge that Belarus grants Meanwhile, there is growing “We had the luck to break tion blockade – this is our special tocka was also a signer of the Charter
ropean levels,” announced Alexei its neighbor for both political and concern that Lukashenko’s gov- this control,” he remembered. “I challenge – without coming to 77 defense of human rights.
Miller, head of Russian gas giant economic support, according to ernment, labeled by the E.U. the thought so often during those ne- any military conflict.” The series has included finan-
Gazprom on Mar. 30, to $270 per Interfax on Mar. 7. “last remaining dictatorship” in gotiations, ‘You won’t be able to In relation to the US invasion cier and philanthropist George Soros,
thousand cubic meters (tcm) in Thus, Russian vindictive- the West, may be confronted with hold out, to find a solution to all of Iraq, he seemed to make a dis- distinguished Middle East scholar
2007, from the current $46.99/ ness is nothing less than a note of a new kind of resistance that no these different issues. tinction between US government Edward Said, former U.S. Na-
tcm, according to a report in the warning that may have irreversible security apparatus will be able to During the Cold War, Germa- policy and the American people. tional Security Advisor Zbigniew
Financial Times the next day. consequences for Lukashenko. contain. ny had the greatest U.S. military “Most Americans would not Brzezinski, Polish Nobel Prize win-
Energy Minister Alexander By accepting Russian terms A series of blasts that shook presence in Europe and a budget have done that,” he said. “But we ning novelist Czeslaw Milosz, and
Ageev was bewildered. Prospects of ownership, Beltransgas will the city of Vitebsk in the north- growing every year. In 1989 this all have to deal with the conse- Austrian writer and human rights
of skyrocketing gas prices were become a powerful political and east of Belarus last year suggest a disappeared overnight.” quences. These are our neighbors, activist Eli Wiesel.
causing panic in official Minsk. economic tool in hands of Krem- shocking pattern that could devel-
The Belorussian president’s un- lin authorities, while Lukashenko op if the current political scenario
disguised confidence quickly will most likely see the demise of persists.
changed to uncertainty and even his power and the gradual take Troubled by predictions of in-
despair. over of Belorussian sovereignty. creasing unrest, Lukashenko was a
He realized that his widely The twilight of Lukashenko’s changed man when he reappeared
heralded success in the elections presidency has been further accel- before the public after his twenty-
was largely due to perceived eco- erated by EU diplomatic sanctions day absence. He appeared pale
nomic stability and promises of protesting the allegedly fraudulent and sullen on television, stand-
increasing social welfare benefits. elections in Belarus, a true mile- ing most of the time with his fists
Aware of Russia’s vindictive re- stone for Europe. clenched.
sponse to complaints by Ukraine Speaking on behalf of the There were noticeable bags
and Moldova of soaring gas pric- European Union on March 24 in under his eyes, even at the eu-
es, which had led to a brief cut in Brussels, Austrian Foreign Minis- phoric announcement by the head
supply of natural gas in January, ter Ursula Plassnik announced the of the Central Election Commis-
Lukashenko realized that he is not decision to take restrictive meas- sion, Lydia Ermoshina that “people
in the position to bargain. ures, including a ban on travel made this decision in free, fair and
The surprise was Russia’s for Lukashenko and other top democratic elections,” according to
drastic policy reversal, which now Belarus officials, to “express our the Moscow-based Kommersant.
threatened to remove Lukashenko misgivings about the violations of Lukashenko seemed to sense
from power. Apparently, he was international electoral standards,” the growing resentment – of politi-
paying for the unsettled dispute according to a report in the Associ- cal isolation from Europe and eco-
over privatization of Belorussian ated Press on March 24. Plassnik nomic pressure from Russia, of his
state-owned Beltransgas, a gas dis- also called on Belorussian presi- political status as the dictator and
tributor that controls 6,742 km of dent to stop violent persecution oppressor of freedom and democ-
pipelines and transports devalued of protesters, after police forces racy. Finally, it was resentment of
Russian gas to Europe. stormed an opposition tent camp his unwelcome presidency that will
In May 2003, Gazprom held in the center of Minsk and arrested bring the last autocratic govern-
official negotiations with Minsk more than 200 demonstrators. ment in Europe to its end.

Prime Minister-elect, Prodi: How could the predictions, pre-election and exit polls be so wrong?
In Italy, No Clear Winner
If You Look Inside the Political Scene, There is Chaos
by Endri Fuga
The Italian elections are over.
The outcome is a divided country
without a clear winner or a clear
loser.
Romano Prodi, after having
NEWS ANALYSIS
led the European Commission for
nearly five years, managed to be
back on top of Italian politics and
will be heading the government
for the second time in the last
10 years since 1996-1998. Silvio
Berlusconi, will have to step down
as Italian Prime Minister, but will
be remembered as the only head
of the Italian government able to
govern for a full four-year term.
But if you take a look inside
the Italian political scene, there is
chaos. The center left coalition led
by Prodi was able to win only by a
remarkably thin margin of 24,000
votes, meaning only 0.1 percent of
the overall vote. Although many
believe the center-left coalition the
Union (L’Unione) is strong and
united, there are already a couple
of small leftist parties that have
started asking for more represen-
tation in the new government that
is yet to be formed.
A new election law that came
into force only a couple of weeks
prior to the elections favors the
Union in the lower house, the
Chamber of Deputies, where
they hold a comfortable majority
of more than 60 votes. But when
it comes to the Senate, the lead
narrows down to only two votes.
Knowing that the Italian constitu-
tion allows perfect bicameralism,
Prodi will have a tough task get-
ting his program through the Sen-
ate. More to the point, the Italian
Senate has seven lifelong mem-
bers, who are all respected senior
politicians, but at the same time
unpredictable, when it comes to
casting their votes.
The situation isn’t much better
in the other camp. Berlusconi and
his House of Liberties Coalition
(Casa delle Liberta) are having a
difficult time accepting defeat. In-
deed, Berlusconi has made it clear
that he will ask for a recounting
of the votes because of the many
irregularities that, according to
his party, occurred. Although the
courts have given their final deci-
sion and have validated the results
of the election, Berlusconi will
try in the coming weeks to form
a parliamentary commission that,
according to him, “will investigate
the numerous irregularities.”
But the question most of
the Italians are asking themselves
these days is: “How could the
predictions, pre-election polls, as
well as exit polls, turn out to be
so wrong”?
Yes, in Italy everyone had pre-
dicted the victory of the left, but
not by this tiny margin. All polls
and surveys had shown Prodi at
least 5-8 points ahead of Berlus-
coni. The overall opinion was that
Berlusconi’s government had not
achieved much. The economy
was stuck and taxes had not been
lowered as promised. More to the
point, the leader of the right and
richest man of Italy had himself
been accused of tax evasion, of
controlling the media and accu-
mulating too much power into his
own hands. And according to the
polls, there was a clear majority of
Italians who were against Italy’s
involvement in the war in Iraq.
Most of the foreign newspa-
pers as well as almost all the Ital-
ian dailies not owned by Berlus-
coni had clearly positioned them-
selves in favor of Prodi and the
left. The Economist’s front page
headline on the election day was:
“Berlusconi, Basta! (Berlusconi,
Enough!)”
Nevertheless, the Union won
elections by only 0.1 percent of
the votes. Berlusconi’s party, Forza
Italia, ranked first among the po-
litical parties, leaving the biggest
leftist party, Democrats of the
Left, more than 8 points behind.
How can this all be explained?
As a start, Berlusconi had
more media support on his side
throughout the weeks of the elec-
toral campaign. One of the biggest
daily newspapers as well as three
national private TV channels, all
owned by Berlusconi, obviously
played his game. According to
a study published by the Italian
Institute of Media Monitoring,
investments in Berlusconi’s three
national private TV channels had
increased by 15% during the final
month of elections.
Recently released movies,
soap operas and serials were being
televised by Mediaset, Berlusconi’s
media group, in order to increase
Politics 5
Still in Hiding
Serbia’s Ties to the EU Hang on Delivering Karadzic and Mladic
by Duska Gonja their territory. But the truth was, Carla Del Ponte, remains com-
The April 30 deadline has that most of the time, they didn’t mitted to their capture and has
Courtesy of Romano Prodi’s Website
come and gone, and Serbia’s know whether he was or wasn’t. promised to expose those who
leading war criminals are still at Radovan Karadzic has been have been blocking the arrest of
large. Accused of genocide, the somewhat harder to track down, Karadzic and Mladic, as an es-
two former Bosnian-Serb leaders, as very little evidence of his move- sential step for establishing EU
Ratko Mladic and Radovan Kara- ments has emerged since he disap- standards for human rights.
dzic have been on the top of the peared from his former wartime The deadline expired on
Hague’s “most wanted” list since headquarters in the Bosnian-Serb April 30, and the European Un-
the capture of former president stronghold of Pale. ion has called off talks on closer
Slobodan Milosevic in 2001. For Most recent intelligence re- ties with Serbia because of its fail-
more than a decade, the two had ports suggest Karadzic has been ure to arrest war crimes suspect
managed to evade arrest. living in the remote mountains of Mladic. Olli Rehn said he was dis-
With failure of Serbia & Mon- North-western Montenegro, not appointed that Belgrade had not
tenegro’s Prime Minister Vojislav far from his hometown of Niksic. detained Mladic.
Kostunica to hand over either one International peacekeepers cannot Rehn said he had discussed
as agreed, the European Union act there, as the area is part of Ser- the situation with Carla del Ponte,
Commissioner for Enlargement bia and Montenegro. who said Serbia had let the tribu-
Olli Rehn has suspended talks on Unlike Mladic, Karadzic is nal down.
closer ties with Belgrade, prompt- not believed to be protected by “Her assessment is negative,”
ing the resignation of Serbian military structures, but rather by he said. “I must say that it is dis-
Deputy Prime Minister Miroljub devoted followers. Peacekeepers appointing that Belgrade has been
Labus, head of the county’s nego- have carried out a number of ar- unable to locate, arrest and transfer
the shares of the Italian audience tiating team. rest attempts that resulted in fail- Ratko Mladic to The Hague.
watching his channels. By doing Radovan Karadzic, the former ure. Some believe that much of “The Commission has there-
so, his political advertisements political leader and his military the information about Karadzic fore to call off the negotiations on
would influence more and more commander Ratko Mladic have is actually disinformation put out the stabilization and association
Italian voters. managed to exploit not only their by his followers. agreement.”
A.C. Milan, one of the top in- hero status among many Serbs Circumstances have been al- Del Ponte said: “The obvi-
ternational football clubs, owned but also the remote, inaccessible tered recently, however, in ways ous conclusion I can draw is that I
by Berlusconi as well, was part of mountains and valleys was misled when I was
the trick. As soon as the football where they are believed told at the end of
club made it to the semifinals of to have spent much of March that the ar-
the Champion’s League, Berlus- their time hiding. rest of Mladic was
coni was proclaimed by his media In 2004, docu- a matter of days or
as “a man who leads only to vic- ments prepared by weeks.”
tory.” Not a bad move consider- western diplomats sug- Ko s t u n i c a ,
ing the strong relation of Italians gested that Mladic was who had promised
to football. still enjoying the pro- that Mladic would
Furthermore, Berlusconi had tection of the Bosnian be located, arrested
studied the Italian electorate quite Serb military. The EU and transferred
well. He knew that the left coali- peacekeepers in Bos- to the Tribunal,
Courtesy of CNN
tion, successor of the Communist nia opened up a secret said everything
Party, had very strong roots with Bosnian-Serb under- had been done to
older people, the unions and the ground military com- try to bring in the
poor. Berlusconi understood that plex near the town of fugitive. He said
leftist voters were a very rigid Han Pijesak, where it Mladic was “alone”
Serbia’s Former General Ratko Mladic
group of people that had voted in was claimed that Mladic on the run since the gov-
every past election for the left and had been as recently as July 2004. that have made the arrest of either ernment had cracked down on his
would continue to do so. However, a NATO-led operation man more likely in Serbia. support network.
That is why he decided to ap- at the time failed to find him. One is that the Serbian gov- “His entire network has been
peal to the undecided voters. It It was also revealed that ernment has changed its attitude uncovered; Mladic is now hiding all
was in Bersluconi’s favor to have Mladic was still an official mem- and now is co-operating with The alone,” Kostunica said. Serbia was
as many people as possible partici- ber of the Bosnian-Serb military Hague Tribunal. hoping to reach a new deal with the
pate in elections. Only by having as recently as 2002 and was still A video showing killings of EU by July to take its first step on
a large number of those that were receiving a military pension. Srebrenica captives shocked many the road to eventual membership.
undecided or had not voted in the Although he is originally Serbs who, up until now, had All other countries in the Balkans,
past, could the right narrow the from Bosnia, however, there are simply not believed a massacre of except Bosnia, already have such
disadvantage and maybe win the strong rumors that his real sup- 8,000 Muslims had actually taken stabilization and association agree-
elections. port comes from Serbia. Leading place in Srebrenica in 1995. With ments, providing for closer political
Finally, one must never forget Serb politicians have admitted for less sentiment on Mladic’s side, and economic ties with the EU.
that in Italy anything can happen. some time that democratic con- Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav But Del Ponte has already
This is a very curious thing about trol over every aspect of and part Kostunica pledged to hand over called for the EU to take a tough
Italians; most of them do not be- of the Serbian security structures Mladic by the end of April. stance on Belgrade and Rehn said
lieve in the state, rather they tend has been little more than wish- And in the background, the that the next round of talks, set for
to believe in the person. And from ful thinking. Serbian politicians irrepressible figure of the UN’s 11 May, could be called off unless
this perspective, Berlusconi has have always denied Mladic was in Chief Prosecutor at The Hague, Mladic is arrested.
always appeared in their eyes as
a successful entrepreneur. More
than a vote between the Italian
right and the left, as in the last
elections in the United States,
Italians voted in favor or against
Berlusconi. And although most of
his critics accused him of not hav-
ing done enough for the Italian
economy, North Italy, the most
industrialized part of the country,
still voted for him.
Even after the elections it is
hard to tell who the real winner
in Italy is. It is hard to predict
what will happen in the coming
months. But one thing is for sure:
Prodi will form the new govern-
ment of the left, while Berlusconi
will not be Prime Minister any-
more – at least for the time being.
6 Politics
Privileged protesters forced the Prime Minister to back down
French Riots
A Sign of Failiure of the Economic Elites
by Endri Fuga
As Alexis de Tocqueville wrote
more than 200 years ago, “the
French constitute the most bril-
liant but also the most dangerous
nation in Europe. They are the
best qualified, to become in turn
an object of admiration, hatred,
pity or terror – but never indif-
ference.”
COMMENTARY
He was right then, and recent
events in France have proved him
right again, even now, in more
modern times. But today it is
sad to watch France pretend that
the world has not changed, that a
globalized economy is an illusion,
that the republic can still afford
the same generous level of job
security and social protection for
young workers as for past genera-
tions. It cannot, and by listening
to the young protesters, President
Jacques Chirac has only delayed
NUCLEAR IRAN
Continued from page 1
The uranium was traced in
an earlier investigation to Dr. Ab-
dul Qadeer Khan, the Pakistani
citizen who worked for years in
the Uranium enrichment facil-
ity at Almelo in the Netherlands,
returned to Pakistan to create the
bomb, becoming a national hero.
In 2004, Dr. Khan confessed to
operating an international black
market in nuclear weapons mate-
rial, according to IAEA Press and
Public Information Officers Peter
Rickwood and Ayhan Evrensel, in
March.
The investigation is still ex-
ploring whether Iran was one of
his customers. “When Pakistan
sold material to Libya, it was sold
to 30 countries, including Spain,
Lichtenstein, Turkey, Poland, US,
etc.,” Evrensel said. Tensions have
been growing since 2003, when
the IAEA Board of Governors
discovered Iran had long been
operating a secret nuclear devel-
opment program, and was thus in
violation of the Non Proliferation
Treaty Safeguards.
cent) unemployment rate among
young people. The need for more
flexibility in hiring seems obvi-
ous in the wake of last year’s riots
in poor, largely Arab suburbs of
Paris, where joblessness runs far
higher.
Many of the protesters did not
seem to have much to do with the
law proposed by the French gov-
ernment. Those affected were stu-
dents who had just finished Uni-
versity but who were without out
connections or recourses to enter
the job market. For instance, the
Courtesy of The Associated Press
marchers were not poor. Besides
union members, those leading
the protests were politically active
high school and university stu-
dents, often with clear objectives,
pre-set political goals.
One could argue, of course,
that solidarity was a value shared
by most of the revolutionaries,
thus anybody was justified in par-
ticipating in the protests. True,
but in this case those who had
little to do with the issue directly
outnumbered those affected by it.
Slogans against the prime minister
and the French government were
far more visible than those against
the proposed law.
Perhaps the British, Germans
and Americans have accepted too
what France will need to do soon- easily the job insecurities, falling
er or later. wages and vanishing pensions that
The first signs of the French globalization has brought. And
revolutionary spirit were visible perhaps Prime Minister Domin-
two years ago when France voted ique de Villepin did a poor job of
down the European Constitution, selling his package, causing politi-
and then, a year later, when the cal setbacks.
French government did not allow Deep inside, it’s hard to be-
the fusion of a private French gas lieve that a job with a two-year
company with an Italian energy trial, possibly leading to per-
concern. The second raised many
doubts as to whether the French
manent employment could be
worse than the short-term jobs
– both people and government
– were ready to accept the con-
available today.
International Herald Trib-
sequences of a unique economic
market within the European Un-
une columnist William Pfaff de-
scribed the situation in late April
ion, or in a broader concept, the
idea of globalization.
as “…a failure of the French
political and economic elites to
The recent proposal put for-
ward by the French Prime Min-
confront the demands of the glo-
balized economy.”
ister Dominique de Villepin, a French society, he argued,
proposal to encourage the hiring is hiding behind an unrealistic
of workers under 26 by allowing notion, a “French social model”
employers to dismiss them during that no longer has a place in the
their first two years on the job, modern world. And while the
was a minimal first step toward world changes, France cannot
attacking a troubling (23 per- stay the same.
As a member of the NPT, Iran Iran has never officially ad-
has an obligation to report on all mitted its desire to create a bomb,
of its nuclear activities, permitted however, Ahmedinejad’s sugges-
only for civilian purposes. There- tion of “wiping Israel off the map”
fore, by not reporting for since and resuming uranium enrich-
1987, Iran was in violation of the ment had induced further concern
treaty. within the International Com-
“The Iranians have simply munity. During the EU summit
gone by not telling the Agency for at Hampton Court, in October
18 years what they have done, or 2005, UK Prime Minister Tony
even what they have not done,” Blair asserted: “if they (Iran) con-
Evrensel said. “Therefore, last tinue down this path, then people
September the Board of Gov- are going to believe they are a real
ernors found that Iran stood in threat to our world security and
non-compliance with its NPT stability.”
obligations.” The Board of Gov- There is no real evidence that
ernors reported the Iranian case Iran is developing a nuclear bomb.
to the UN Security Council on However, suspicion is still strong
March 29. that Iran may be interested in the
This newest report has par- nuclear bomb for simple reasons
ticular significance in light of the of security among its neighbors,
May 5 Security Council meeting, as deployment of nuclear weapons
which will discuss possible puni- would mean a return to the threat
tive actions for Iranian refusal to of mutually assured destruction
fully cooperate with the IAEA. between US and Soviet Union
“The Iranian nation won’t during the Cold War.
give a damn about such useless “Countries enjoy security be-
resolutions,” stated the Iranian cause they have nuclear weapons,”
president Ahmedinejad, on the Rickwood explained, citing the
same day the report was sent to five official nuclear powers – per-
the Security Council. manent Security Council mem-
NO SMOKING GUN
Continued from page 1
controversy and capable of
smoothly incorporating pointed
challenges into his argument.
“I just want you to know that
in light of yesterday’s important
announcements [that Iran has en-
riched uranium for the first time],
I have asked my assistant to clear
my schedule except for Webster
University. In fact, I worked on
a schedule with President Ahmed-
inejad personally so that I could
come here,” Schulte said, speak-
ing in a clear, succinct and some-
what informal manner.
Iran has been developing a nu-
clear program since the 1950’s and
has been party to the NPT since
1970. Members of the NPT are
obliged to refrain from producing
nuclear weapons, though they may
develop nuclear technologies for
peaceful means such as energy pro-
duction.
Iran’s recent announcement
of a uranium enrichment program
has faced severe criticisms from the
international community. Because
its program was kept hidden for 18
years, the international community
continues to be mistrustful of its true
intentions.
There has, however, been no
conclusive evidence that Iran is striv-
ing to obtain nuclear weapons, and
in fact the Uranium it has enriched
is only 3.5% pure, not clean enough
to be used in weapons.
Despite heavy international
pressure, Iran’s government main-
tains that it has the right to en-
rich uranium for what it states
are peaceful purposes. As a
result, Iran was referred to
the United Nations Security
Council by the IAEA board
of governors last February,
by a vote of 27 to 3.
Schulte, who is in di-
rect contact with the Iranian
delegation and President Ah-
medinejad, says he is working
together with the IAEA board
of governors to “find a diplomat-
ic solution.”
“Iran’s reaction has been defiant
and in disregard of the people of the
Islamic Republic,” he said, making
his case that if the government of
Iran truly cared about its people,
it would pursue ways to deal with
problems such as unemployment
and energy distribution in a way
that does not ostracize it from the
international community. In ad-
dition, he stated that, due to its oil
and gas reserves, Iran does not need
nuclear power.
On April 11, the Iranian gov-
bers, and three unofficial ones –
“India, Pakistan and Israel.” Israel
has never officially commented on
its nuclear program, as it is not a
signatory of the NPT, and is not
usually included on lists of this
kind. North Korea, which has ac-
knowledged possession of nuclear
weapons, was not mentioned. In
the context of the Israeli-Iranian
diplomatic conflict a mention of
Israel as a nuclear power could ex-
plain Iran’s possible desire to pre-
serve its security.
Dr. Karin Kneissl, a Middle
East expert and Webster Vienna
professor of International Rela-
tions, draws a parallel to the case
of North Korea, a country that
has also acquired nuclear weapons
for purposes of security: “While
North Koreans were shouting
from the top of the roofs ‘Hello!
ernment announced that, along
with having enriched Uranium,
it was also building a complex of
3000 centrifuges to be operational
by March 2007. According to
Schulte, such a large number of
centrifuges of this kind can spin
enough uranium to make nuclear
weapons within a year.
Most experts disagree with this
number however. A report pub-
lished by the Institute for Strate-
gic Studies in London states that,
if Iran wanted to, it would take a
minimum of 3 and could take as
long as 15 years to produce nuclear
weapons.
It is with this in mind that
Schulte says that tough, multilat-
eral diplomatic aims are in order
to “reinforce IAEA authority and
demonstrate to Teheran that they
are isolating themselves.” The goal,
he maintains, is to convince the Ira-
nian leadership to “step off the path
of confrontation and choose coop-
eration.”
The questioning began with
WUV director Dr. Arthur.
“I know this may be a naïve
question,” Dr. Hirsch began, “but
why shouldn’t Iran have nuclear
weapons?” The disarming simplic-
ity brought smiles to spread on the
faces of several students. Sometimes
the obvious needs to be asked.
Schulte’s answer was simple:
“Nukes are something we want to
reduce and eliminate [around the
“Iran’s
reaction has
been defiant
and in disregard
of the people of
the Islamic
Republic”
world]. I r a n
presents a danger because its lead-
ership denies the holocaust and has
stated that it wants to wipe Israel off
the map. It is also the largest state
sponsor of terrorism, and is actively
trying to block middle east peace.”
Would conducting inspec-
tions on Israel’s weapons program
be a sound diplomatic approach,
asked Benjamin Fasching-Gray,
manager of the Webster University
We have the bomb,’ nobody did
anything against them.”
Following all these recent
developments, the International
Community appears increasingly
frustrated about the (un)diplomatic
paths Iran is pursuing. Opinions
remain open as to whether Interna-
tional Community will persist on
the diplomatic course, or whether it
will decide to apply hard power.
“The U.S. goal remains to be
diplomacy,” according to Perma-
nent Representative to the IAEA and
UN Vienna, Gregory L. Schulte,
who stressed that the United States
has “no incentive to go to Iran.”
Nevertheless, Pulitzer-prize win-
ning journalist Seymour M. Hersh,
writing in the April 8 edition of
The New Yorker magazine, claimed
to have found the evidence of how
“the Bush Administration, while
Bookstore. “This would have no
impact,” Schulte said, though shied
away from any further comment on
what appeared to be a diplomatic
taboo.
The US has joined with the
UN in calling for a Weapons of
Mass Destruction-free zone in the
Middle East “In order to achieve
this, countries need to feel free and
safe,” he said. “Israel and Palestine
need peace and Iran is the biggest
opponent to this.”
The Arab League, a council
consisting of political leaders in
the Middle East, has also recently
called for such a WMD-free zone,
the Gulf Daily News reported in
late April, and as reported by the
BBC, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali
Khamenei has issued a fatwa forbid-
ding the production, stockpiling, or
use of nuclear weapons.
When asked what evidence
there was for the possibility of Iran’s
nuclear ambitions being anything
other than peaceful, Schulte re-
ferred the audience to the IAEA’s
website (www.iaea.org). The nu-
clear program had proven links to
the Iranian military, he said, and to
the Shahab missile program.
Iran having a nuclear program
makes no economic sense, Schulte
continued. However Iranian lead-
ers maintain that in the face of
dwindling oil supplies, it requires
nuclear energy as a source of cheap-
er and cleaner energy.
Many students seemed dissatis-
fied with Schulte’s answers.
“He was a pure diplomat,” An-
drey Siletski said after Schulte left.
“He really didn’t say anything.”
Concluding, Schulte
said: “It is important that
dialogue continue. Ameri-
cans can be impatient;
they want things done
right away. Sometimes we
forget cultural barriers. It’s
important that all involved
discuss their concerns.” He
described two options that
he sees for Iran—either fol-
lowing the current course to
increasing isolation from the in-
ternational world, or to comply
with the EU’s demands to end its
uranium enrichment program.
Where non-diplomatic op-
tions to the solution of these
problems are concerned, the am-
bassador was quick to deny that
the US intended to make strategic
military strikes within Iran. “We
do not want to go to war over
this,” he stated, later adding, “We
are looking for a diplomatic solu-
tion. I don’t think I can be any
more clear than that.”
publicly advocating diplomacy in
order to stop Iran from pursuing a
nuclear weapon, … has intensified
planning for a possible major air at-
tack” within the Pentagon.
Dr. Kneissl doubts this will oc-
cur. “In our current context of the
very, very bad situation between the
Islamic world and the West,” she
insisted “we will not see the UN
Security Council resolution lead-
ing to some sort of sanction or even
Chapter VII operation, in terms of
a military strike against Iran.”
Such a resolution can only pass
if all of the five permanent members
to the Security Council agree not to
use the veto power, and Dr. Kneissl
does not see Russians or Chinese
agreeing to that.
Besides, she proceeded, “Who
has got the guts, who has got the
stamina to attack Iran?”

Webster University President Richard Meyers at the podium, giving his best to new graduates
Future Uncertain
In Spite of Pressures, Most WUV Students Feel Confident
by Andrey Siletski
and Rita Pollozhani
In spite of increasing pressures
from an increasingly demanding
job market, Webster Vienna stu-
dents feel on the whole optimis-
tic about their futures hoping to
bring their plans to life, accord-
ing to a recent survey of student
opinion. And while three quarters
of seniors had no fixed job at the
time of graduation, the major-
ity had a clear direction and were
confident they would be able to
find an opportunity in their cho-
sen field.
“I’m planning to work in the
field of management after I com-
plete my studies at Webster,” said
Business Administration major
Irena Kraljevic with unconcealed
excitement. “I am waiting for a
positive response from a company
in New York, where I could finally
apply my skills in practice.”
The survey measured opinion
in four essential areas: confidence
in career choices, experiences in
the Austrian job market, ambi-
tions to continue with higher
graduate education, and finally,
recommendations on how Web-
ster could support them better.
The survey included forty stu-
dents from all majors, with six-
teen seniors, twenty juniors and
four freshmen.
Twenty five percent of seniors
reported finding a job related to
their major before graduation,
leaving three quarters as yet un-
committed. A comfortable ma-
jority of those still without a job
(65%), knew the kind of job or
career they wanted to pursue.
However, this left a third of the
interviewed uncertain o their fu-
ture prospects.
Yet overall, confidence was
high. Of those who did not have
a job already, a considerable ma-
jority felt that their Webster un-
dergraduate degree would be very
advantageous in they job search.
Only four students had had any
doubt that their time at Univer-
sity had been valuably spent.
“Webster helped shape my
understanding of the world,” said
Ruta Kurselyte, Computer Sci-
ence and Media Communications
major, as well as teaching her im-
portant skills that she can now ap-
ply in the rapidly changing world:
“During my studies, I was not
aware of how much I was learning,
but now, when I look back, I see
an enormous change in my ability
to write stories, to raise questions,
observe the environment and give
some critical thoughts about the
world that surrounds us.”
In specific situations, how-
ever, students were less clear.
Austrian companies do not give
hiring preferences to Webster
degree holders, reported 38% of
the students. And some suggested
Webster was not yet competitive
enough in the Austrian higher
education system.
Even though WUV is now
accredited in Austria, a Webster
Bachelors’ is sometimes chal-
lenged by the University of Vi-
enna as qualification for pursuing
the advanced degrees many stu-
dents find all important.
“I think that obtaining a
Masters degree is essential to con-
temporary highly competitive job
market,” said a Business major stu-
dent from Slovakia. “A Bachelors
degree is simply not enough.” He
was considering continuing his
studies at Webster, although.
Thus it was not clear why
these same individuals had shown
so much confidence in their Web-
ster undergraduate degree. Only
2% thought companies give pref-
erences to Webster degree holders,
although only a sixth had so far
applied for one or more jobs re-
lated to their major, and one had
been hired on the second try.
Perhaps surprisingly, a full
77.5% had never even applied for
a job related to their major in the
Austrian job market, and only five
for an internship, one of whom
was accepted on the first try. It
is possible that Webster students
rely on personal contacts and
other “special arrangements,” as
described earlier.
The question then was why
such a large proportion of stu-
dents feel so negatively about the
Austrian job market, when only a
small faction had any first-hand
experience with it. In follow-up
interviews, many assumed that if
they didn’t speak German profi-
ciently enough and did not have
Austrian citizenship, they would
have little chance.
“When I think of Austrian
job market, I feel a certain level of
restraint,” said Mladen Kovacevic,
an International Relations student
from Croatia. “I think that for-
eigners have a hard time finding a
job here, especially if they do not
speak the language.
“The only solution, I guess, is
to learn German as soon as pos-
sible and try to integrate,” he said.
“Now, as look I back, I realize
that it was my fault that I haven’t
learned it,” he noted with a deep
sense of resentment.
Clear plans for graduate
school were rare, reported by only
three students. The others were
willing, but had little to no idea of
where they wanted to go.
(In this group were also sen-
iors about to graduate in Spring,
Summer or Winter of 2006, and
most of the application deadlines
for Master Programs end before
the February or May 2006. These
students felt that some kind of
support from the Webster fac-
ulty and administration as to the
requirements and timing of these
applications in general would be
helpful.)
So how might Webster Univer-
sity be helpful to its graduating sen-
iors? First, students recommended
thematic workshops, such as those
organized by the Career Develop-
ment Center (CDC), as well as in-
formation sessions about Austrian
labor laws for non-Austrian citizens.
Second, information sessions
about alternative systems of higher
education, i.e. US vs. British vs.
French universities, so that stu-
dents would be able to make more
informed decisions about their op-
tions for graduate school. Finally,
help with graduate entrance exams
would be very helpful, with support
from language and math teachers or
advisors for GMAT, GREs or Law
Boards and university specific exams
such as those for Oxford or Cam-
bridge, or the Columbia Graduate
School of Journalism. Students also
suggested workshops where students
can take sample tests and exercises.
Overall students appear gener-
ally satisfied with their studies at
Webster. At the same time, they are
generally uninformed about their
possibilities and oddly unmotivated
to address the problem, either from
confusion or fear, or because of the
lack of support.
“Support from the faculty is
something that our university lacks”,
confessed Ivana Markovska, a senior
student from Macedonia. “I think
that if students were given a more
transparent picture of employment
opportunities, the result would have
been significantly different. Some-
times I feel that vital information
simply doesn’t get to students due to
organizational failures.”
Perhaps, there is a certain truth
in this statement. Another question
is how do we overcome it?
University News
Education Lost & Found
At the University of New Orleans, People Make Huge Sacrifices
by Günter Bischoff
The news about the future of
education in New Orleans contin-
ues to be mixed – despair is set-
ting in here too, but there are also
actions that give hope. Over 100
of badly performing New Orleans
public schools (now taken over
by the state of Louisiana) are all
shut; only one elementary school
is open in the city (= one percent
of public schools).
The flagship public high
school Ben Franklin will open
in January as a charter school
– turned into a charter school
like many other public schools
to restart while the dysfunctional
elected School Board continues to
be marred by their usual infight-
ing and backbiting, usually divid-
ed along racial lines.
Ben Franklin will open be-
cause the principal and teachers
and parents took matters into
their own hands (without asking
the School Board) and cleaned
up and rebuilt the first floor of
their badly flooded school. They
got enormous help from plenty of
volunteers and also UNO.
The quiet determination of
the University of New Orleans to
be up and running as quickly as
possible seems to be the best kept
secret in town and has not been
reported in the media here. UNO
reopened classes on Oct. 11 on its
satellite campus in Jefferson par-
ish (1,000 students enrolled in
regular classes and 7,000 in on-
line classes); meanwhile the main
Lakefront campus opened again
early in December and so did the
Library; intercession classes begin
Precious Words
GAO Study: Book Prices Up at Twice the Rate of Inflation
by Sean Delaney
Every semester book prices at
Webster rise another few euros. The
trend is not just at the European
campuses, but has been a trend at
campuses across the U.S..
So the Government Account-
ability Office (GAO) of the U.S.
Congress decided to look into the
matter and has generated a study on
textbook cost increases. What they
found was that the cost of textbooks
has increased at more than twice
the rate of inflation, an average of 6
percent per year instead of inflation’s
2.5% for 2004. Book price inflation
has kept pace with the rate of tuition
increases, which is about 7%.
The result is that from 2003
to 2004, students in four-year in-
stitutions paid an average of $898
a year each for textbooks and sup-
plies, 26% of their tuition and fees.
It was even worse for first-year stu-
dents in institutions attended by
many low-income students, whose
average cost 3/4 of their total costs
for tuition. In both cases, the study
said, textbooks alone represented
the overwhelming majority of these
non-tuition costs.
One way that students at most
universities keep prices down is by
buying used books and selling them
back to the book store at the end
of the year. This is not an option
this week and the regular spring
term on January 30, 2006. Apart
from the 6-week post-Katrina
hiatus, UNO was never closed!
No faculty or staff have been laid
off, if they registered and kept
checking with the university in
the course of this fall; if sufficient
students come back in the spring,
hopefully none won’t have to be
fired. UNO has 6,500 students
already enrolled for the spring se-
mester and needs 12,000 to even
the budget (pending 22 million in
federal relief money to come).
With 12,000 enrollments and
the federal aid, no faculty and
staff positions will have to be cut.
Two colleagues in the History De-
partment retired a semester earlier
than planned. But no stories of
colleagues “abandoning the ship”
and moving away have come to
my attention yet, even though
one would expect everyone pon-
dering his/her options. Former
Presidents Bush and Clinton were
on the UNO Lakefront campus
this week to announce the dis-
persals of some 90 million dollars
from their “Bush-Clinton Katrina
Fund” raised from private dona-
tions. 35 million will go to higher
education, 1,5 million to UNO
(most Gulf Coast area universities
will receive support). Here too, it
was individual initiative and pri-
vate generosity that brings hope
and relief to New Orleans.
Meanwhile, across town Tu-
lane University has announced
major retrenchments in academic
and athletic programs. Nine ath-
letic programs will be cut (pre-
dictably not football). 230 faculty
for Webster Vienna Student. For
Ben Fasching-Gray, manager of the
Webster Vienna Bookstore, it was a
management decision.
“If I buy back a book that goes
out of date, then I am stuck with
the cost,” he says. Many univer-
sity bookstores are owned by large
chains like Barnes & Noble, and
for them it is relatively cheap to buy
books back.
Perhaps Universities should
take a page from Viennese interna-
tional schools a start a loan system.
Mr. Fasching-Gray supports a sys-
tem that would have Universities
buy enough books for a few years
and would charge a small fee over
those years to loan out the books
each year. Many books change very
little from edition to edition, so
only subjects like computers would
need the latest update of a book.
The GAO study cites several rea-
sons for the consistent rise in textbook
prices: The availability of used books,
demand for textbooks, and rising pro-
duction costs all affect prices.
Quite a bit has been invested in
supplementary materials for adjunct
faculty, the study said. These supple-
ments are particularly important for
adjuncts whose earn-as-you-go sta-
tus does not allow them the time to
create their own supplemental ma-
terials. These materials can be the
7
members will be laid off (65 on
the uptown campus, the rest from
the downtown medical school).
President Cowan somewhat mis-
leadingly called it the biggest “rein-
vention” of an American university
in a century. Flooded Xavier Uni-
versity, so admirable led by Nor-
man Francis for the past 38 years,
is facing a repair bill of 35 million
and was forced to terminate 89 fac-
ulty members (=36 percent). 2,800
of its 4,000 students enrolled in
August have indicated they will
return in January when the cam-
pus opens again. Both UNO and
Xavier will set up trailer colonies
on their campuses in January to
house faculty and staff that lost
their houses in Katrina.
Many people are making
enormous personal sacrifices to
rebuild New Orleans, in higher
education and elsewhere. These
personal commitments will fuel
the come back, but we will con-
tinue to need the nation’s help as
well to achieve full recovery.
On Dec. 3 the D-Day Mu-
seum opened up again, after the
opening of the zoo and “Christ-
mas in the Oaks” in City Park
this past weekend, another ray of
hope of rebuilding/reconstituting
of key institutions defining public
and civic life in the city.
Günter Bischof has been “post-
Katrina” visiting professor of his-
tory at Louisiana State Univer-
sity in Baton Rouge during the
fall of 2005 and will return to
the University of New Orleans
in January to teach and chair the
department of history.
deciding factors in making a sale.
Tenured professors usually cre-
ate their materials, Fasching-Gray
said. However granting only part-
time status to faculty is an easy way
for institutions to save money. The
costs are simply passed on to book
companies, and ultimately on to
students.
With students spending over
five billion dollars a year on text-
books, the industry has become a
money making giant, and with fre-
quent revisions, it becomes harder
to buy used books that are current.
Publishers, however, must re-
lease lower-cost books in interna-
tional markets to meet standard pric-
es abroad. And for some students in
the U.S., these books have become
an option. But book companies have
limited the number of books that are
allowed to re-enter the U.S.
So maybe more teachers should
use handouts; or maybe we don’t
always need the latest edition. Or
maybe universities and govern-
ments should be required to take a
refresher course in Economics 101,
and remind themselves that educa-
tion is a Public Good, and that in
just a few years, the students of
today will be paying the pensions
of their parents’, their professors’,
and the politicians who ought to
know better.
8 Scenes of Vienna
They have a dance, the tourists and the Viennese, each aware of the other yet never holding on to tight.
The Tourist Ballet
On Stephansplatz: A Potpourri of Languages and Maps
By Paul Krauskopf
Walking my 20 minutes
home through the first district
last turned into a neck-tourning
tourist safari. I could not believe
the amount of tourists that were
paving the streets in and around
Stephansplatz. A potpourri of lan-
guages and city maps awaited my
still sleepy eyes.
While I walked the first ques-
tion arose: where in the world
have all these Italians been for the
last couple of weeks? What are the
odds of hundreds of Italians book-
ing Rome -Vienna all on the 25th
of March? Although the sky was
grey and clouds hung low around
Stephansdom, a warm breeze
eased its way through the Gassen
and swept over Stephansplatz.
I really couldn’t understand
how „Rotenturmstrasse“ had
turned into „ehro-ten-turm-es-
trasse“ within a day, the smell of
„due expressi“ or a slice of „quat-
tro formaggi“ oppressing even the
rustic stench of the Fiaker riding
by.
Without wanting to be mean
it was shocking as I’m sure you
would agree, had you been there
Germans Airborne
Miraculously, We all Managed to
Disembark Without the Aid of the Police
by Nena Goelz
Roughly one month ago, a
good friend of mine offered me
the chance to take a break from
the run-of-the-mill life at Uni-
versity. The opportunity to go on
holiday to La Palma in the Canary
Islands was one I simply could not
let pass.
So, after much effort finding
a suitable flight to this secluded
Island, it was finally arranged: A
bit of a round-about way to the
sun, via Frankfurt on a German
Charter flight, thus setting the
scene for what was to be a very
intriguing glimpse into national
contrasts.
Flying from Munich, I set off
with the usual excitement of go-
ing on holiday to the unknown.
So far so good – until I arrived in
Frankfurt. I was shocked to find
the usual efficiency one comes to
expect from the German people
with me. I escaped “ehrot-en-
turm-ehstrasse” unharmed just to
walk right into the next danger
zone: a bunch of drunk British
guys.
Please remember, this was a
Saturday afternoon, about 3 p.m.
I began to wonder; not so
much why they were already
drunk at 3 p.m., but much more,
where had they been able to raise
to get this smashed in the middle
of the day? As I walked passed
them I picked up a sentence; one
of the drunken young lads felt it
was time to board a fiaker in or-
der to make their way around
Vienna quicker. He thought he
could declare his destination and
the well-trained horses would take
him there.
Still grinning at the thought
of the four attempting to board
the fiaker, probably all at once, I
see a rather familiar assembly at
Stephansplatz. About 250 Japa-
nese tourists, each equipped with
about 4 kg of photo equipment.
The tour guides where easily iden-
tifiable by red and blue balloons
that dangled above their heads, at-
tached to them at such interesting
was sadly lacking in the design of
Frankfurt International Airport,
a veritable rabbit warren of small
corridors and passport controls.
I was lucky to have had a three
hours change over and eventually
managed to find my gate, where I
waited patiently for the flight to
board.
This is where we see the sec-
ond little nuance of occasional
Germanic behavior. Sitting qui-
etly until we were summoned to
board, I started noticing people
beginning to gather around the
desk. The tension mounted situ-
ation when a member of staff had
the audacity to even shuffle some
papers to rouse the awaiting mass-
es, but still the boarding call.
Eventually it dawned on me
that everyone was most likely just
excited about going on holiday,
and short on impulse control,
they couldn’t wait. Pleased with
marionette starring at him while
being held together only by a cou-
ple of strings. He didn’t look too
happy.
Mozart’s look-alike was giving
directions to a young Australian
couple when I left Stephansplatz
to proceed down Kärnternstrasse,
perplexed yet also amused at the
sum of nonsense and cultural
courtesy of wilkens.dynds.org
clashes one witnessed on a 20
minute walk.
I decided for myself that I
liked the variety of guests for
bringing color and diversity to the
picture; and lets not forget their
economic contributions to the
city whilst they are here.
It did however make me won-
der how Vienna, a city that so ve-
hemently denied foreigners could
stand a tourist invasion like the
one I witnessed.
I had to picture the grumpy
elderly of Vienna going up walls
and choking on their melange
while witnessing the lack of ap-
preciation that I find normal com-
places as their glasses, hair, wrist ing from tourism.
and even ears! Maybe we are in a time where
But this group stood out certain diffusion takes place; tour-
more than anything because they ists invade, Viennese make way
had all surrounded a single square and hide. They have a dance, the
meter on the “Stephansplatz” for tourists and the Viennese, each
no apparent reason; aware of the other yet never hold-
Only by blending in and ing on to tight.
progressing your way through While Europe is Vienna’s
the uniform crowd could you see guest in these beautiful months of
and hear a puppeteer dangling his summer, Viennese retire to hold
marionette. He had picked out a their summers rest until the tur-
little Japanese infant, had sat him moil is over.
in front of his little fake piano and Just wait until the snow
created an impromptu stage play comes, the icy wind returns that
in which the marionette together blows your hat off or sends you
with the Japanese baby where per- running after your umbrella.
forming a duet-cover version of That’s when you will see them
the “Eagles” classic “Hotel Cali- emerge, mummified by countless
fornia”, surrounded by cameras layers of clothing, the cane held
that rattled off their flashes as if it in firm grip by the leather glove,
was gunfire. mumbling and uttering how bad
The Eastern-European pup- they have it and how much they
peteer was having the time of his hate the snow.
life, the dollar signs revolving in And just sometimes, when
his eyes as the Japanese crowd they suspect no ones looking, they
laughed and moaned at the pecu-
liar situation.
let their old, icy blue eyes roam
over the harsh emptiness of the
I left hoping that one of Stephansplatz, the corners of their
them would soon be identified as mouths will shake and crack as if
the parent of the poor child and awoken after years of Stone Age,
take him far away from the brittle and they while actually, smile.
this explanation, I proceeded to ing, and sorting out belongings
queue up in a somewhat different, from the overhead rack, long be-
German style -- patient and order-
ly, focused on my newspaper.
fore we had even come to a stop.
They pushed and shoved their
Once on board, I was finally way into the aisle, climbing over
able to sit down – next to two of me and others, dragging down
the possibly glummest tourists their numerous pieces of hand
I’ve ever had the pleasure of meet- baggage, depositing them on the
ing. Faces set, expressions joyless. seat in front.
I prepared myself for an entertain- “Sure, why not. Go ahead
ing trip. and put your bags on my seat,”
And sure enough, within snapped the woman who had
moments, the complaints began: been sitting there just seconds
Their seats were too narrow, the before, sarcasm dripping from her
emergency exit was in the way; voice and barely escaped a painful
it was too cold, they couldn’t see encounter with a carry-on bag..
the television – nothing was right “Ok then,” was the reply, fol-
for these poor afflicted couple. lowed by a series of disgruntled
Thankfully with headphones on, huffs and puffs and a couple of
I was able to suffocate their whin- warning shots fired by stray el-
ing with the soothing melodies bows moving around the cramped
of Jack Johnson and Tracy Chap- aircraft.
man. Somehow we all managed to
The coup-de-grace came when disembark without the aid of the
it was time to exit the aircraft. police.
The pleasant voice of the On reflection, though, I have
flight attendant came wafting over to say that I would have been
the loud speaker: “Please remain curious to see them again (very
seated until the seatbelt lights briefly!) after their restful week of
have been switched off.” surf and sun, to see if the beauti-
No way my neighbors were ful volcanic landscape of La Palma
putting up with that! From their could have soothed the souls of
inside seats, they were instantly on these unfortunates as it did me.
their feet, shaking out their cloth- Somehow, I doubt it.
White Roses
On Every House, Victims Remembered
By Dardis McNamee
Friday May 5th. Walking
home along the Hollandstrasse in
Vienna’s 2nd District, I was puz-
zled to see in nearly every door-
way a handful of delicate white
roses. Sometimes they were at the
side of the stoop, sometimes along
the window ledge beside it.
They were young roses, only
partly open, in white somehow
more fragile. At first I thought…
But who would abandon such
lovely flow-
ers?
It was
a warm
day
cut flowers
and
wilt quickly
without wa-
ter, unpro-
tected.
T h e y
were tied
with stream-
ers, and I had
the fleeting
thought they
might be
left from a bridesmaid’s bouquet,
or someone’s table decorations,
tossed aside with festive abandon.
But no; they were single stems;
no arrangements, no settings. And
then I remembered.
It was a day of commemora-
tion for those who had died in the
Holocaust. On Stephansplatz, in
the company of Austrian survi-
vors, now aging and increasingly
frail, 80,000 white roses, tagged
with the names of the dead, were
brought in buckets and arranged
in a vast meadow at the feet of the
Saturday Morning
When Assaulted by Sound, Retreat!
by M.T.M. Childs
Many a sleep-in Saturday
morning, my deep slumber has
been hammered out of existence
by the electronic-music enthusiast
across the courtyard. Un-ts, Un-
ts, Un-ts. The never-ending bass
goes pounding on - with fleeting
pauses for so-called “melodic un-
dertones” - and
then right back
to the Un-ts
Un-ts Un-ts.
My head
(still throbbing
from the sins
of the night
before) was
thus relieved
two weeks ago,
when I glanced
over to his
window, one
floor below our
kitchen, and
saw the windows thrown wide
open and a caterpillar-like exten-
sion arm reaching to a dumpster
outside. Yes!
As I started to make coffee,
I sighed the sigh of a thousand
sleepless mornings, rejuvenated
by relief. He was gone, exiled for-
ever by the Hausverwaltung. No
more suffering through that mo-
cathedral, while thousands looked
on. Along the wall, a hand full
of enlarged portraits of a few of
the more famous bore witness yet
again to the depth of the loss.
The names on the tags had
been written out by hundreds,
maybe thousands, of middle
school children, a massive under-
taking of thought and coordina-
tion. That day the children were
let out of school, to walk through
the streets of their neighborhoods,
delivering
the tagged
flowers, to
the build-
ings that
had once
been other
p e o p l e ’s
homes.
I
picked
one up
and read
the tag:
On one
side, was
printed
the memorial:
“More that 80,000 Austrians
were murdered under the Na-
tional Socialist Regime,” it read.
“On the 5th of May, we are taking
80,000 white roses inscribed with
the names of the victims to the ad-
dresses in Austria where these peo-
ple lived – as our neighbors – be-
fore they were taken away. These
are the flowers of memory.”
On the other, in a round,
childish hand, the name Ernestine
Hilfreich – which means Little Se-
rious One; last name: Helpful.
notonous agony of his persistent
party techno.
It was then when it started.
Bzzzzz, kuthunk, Bzzzzzzz. Spring
cleaning…? Or was it a motorcy-
cle from the street…? Now loud-
er, the high nasal echo of a drill
twanging, cutting through the
calm of the cooing pigeons and
chirping spar-
rows.
I was back
in hell.
E v e r y
morning since,
I have been
awakened
promptly at
eight a.m. by
hammering,
drilling, a clat-
ter of break-
ing glass or the
shrill hum of an
electric saw.
In warm weather, I love Vi-
enna – so many parks to idle in,
so many Schanigärten in which
to enjoy countless hours of
reading, or time with friends.
Everyone hits the street when
summer comes to Vienna.
Why? Because the Vienna tra-
dition of fair-weather construction
makes being home intolerable.

First Day of Spring
When the City Warm Up and Wakes Up,
The Viennese are Caught Off Guard
By Sean Delany
I walked outside into the
first truly warm day in Vienna.
It was spring.
The wind that had been
sending shivers up my spine,
only pulsed in soft waves
through my hair. It was in fact
the first day of Spring, and I
was on my way out of town to
hang out with my favorite ex-
tended family.
I boarded the S7 to Schwe-
chat, heading toward the only
friend that lives more “am Ar-
sch der Welt” than I do.
It was a lazy afternoon; the
sun was shinning and the tem-
perature mild.
Nearly every person that
boarded the train had a heavy
coat in hand and a slight
smile on a winter-weary face
-- though some simply looked
confused.
Clearly the Viennese had
been caught off guard.
Spring is the best time of
the year in Vienna. It is when
the city comes back to life.
This lumbering giant of
culture and history slowly
peels away the layers as the
grey haze melts under the
warmth of the sun.
Along the sidewalk in front
of nearly every café, the gravel
and salt have been replaced
with bright tables and people
sipping coffee and nibbling
on Buttersemel. Stephansplatz
is again filled with tourists,
annoying possibly, but an es-
sential part of the reawakening
of the city.
I was greeted by my friend
James. It was a bit of a walk,
but I didn’t mind; I could have
walked miles in this weather.
We were to dine on home
made tacos. As we came around
the last corner, I picked up the
smell of the tacos wafting down
the street.
We would be inside, but
with all the windows in the
house opened. That was enough
for me. Back in the city, chil-
dren had taken over the parks
and people were riding bikes in
all directions.
I went back to James’ place
to escape all that commotion, to
have a beer and relax as the sun
set. I sat on the window ledge lo
king out over the square below.
Children were playing tag
and parents were sitting on
benches, catching up on the
gossip they may have missed
during the winter.
But it was still March; I
knew it wouldn’t last. Winter
clawed back a few days later.
Children were forced back
inside, tables and tourists would
have to wait weeks for the nice
weather to return.
Scenes of Vienna
Bedside Manners
Here has Been “here” Five Times This Month
By Kelsey Baird of air. A mystery to me, because
There is a draft. I wrap the there are no windows in the en-
dead women’s scarf tighter around tire hallway of the AKH Accident
me. I inherited it. It’s plaid and Ward. It “must” be the generally
it’s ugly, something that you cold nature of the place. I don’t
would throw around your neck in like it here very much.
a hurry on laundry day because it Where I am sitting, have
was the last clean, warm thing in been sitting, waiting, since last
your closet. night, feels absurd, devoid of any
I ponder briefly if one can go remnants of joy.
to hell for criticizing the fashion Which is down right demor-
sense of the deceased. There are alizing, considering that this is a
other things to be considered, I place sick people frequent. As if
convince myself, like if one volun- the sick need to be protected from
teers or recycles. I promise myself color. Purple might send them into
to do both next week. a raging cough, pink, a case of the
I move one seat over to the bird flu. I envision the tall over-
left, a solo game of musical chairs, muscled, reception nurse with the
to escape the invisible current uni-brow violently scouring the
corridor with a vacuum, suck-
ing clean any charm the build-
ing might, by default, have had.
(A blue stripe there, an ironically
pleasant shaped crack in the wall
here.) If I was engaged in word as-
sociation, blankness would be the
first thing to pop into my head-
Psychiatrist: “AKH?”
Me: “Blankness.”
But beyond the aesthetic
shortfalls, the smell is getting to
me more than anything. Or more
accurately, the utter absence of
smell. Cleanliness is one thing,
but this is something else entirely.
A freakish phenomenon, only de-
9
etc…. Smoke a cigar (outside).
Spontaneously yell out to anyone
within ear shot that your wife/
friend/significant other is hav-
ing a baby, boob job etc… And
when all other means have been
exhausted, enthusiastically pace
the hallway.
Category II: This is for tragic
Courtesy of Medizinische Universitaat Wien
occasions, such as accidents, ill-
ness, etc.. Keep quiet, sit still,
avoid eye contact with all other
tragic-occasion visitors. Focus
on surrounding diversions such
as joyous occasion visitors. Smile
politely (however nothing overtly
toothy, remember the occasion).
Smoke a cigarette (anywhere - this
is Austria).
And when in need of a fall
back, think of all of the bad things
you’ve ever done in your life to de-
serve this.
But to be honest, I really don’t
know anything about Category
I activities. I have never been to
AKH for a birth or an aesthetic
procedure.
scribable as an anti-smell: an ob- I automatically fall into
ject or place unable to be sensed Category II. And by now, pas-
by the receptive nerves in the nose sive existence is my thing! I can,
due to it lacking any distinguish- through a concentrated act of
able odors. I wish fondly for the will, inertly whittle away days at
oily pong of day old Chinese take- a time in this place. My inactivity
out: just to introduce a little rec- is an anomaly really, because the
ognizable humanity to the place. AKH has all of the ingredients of
To erase this anti smell in this anti a kid-in-a-candy-store situation.
room. I sincerely dislike it here. Sure it’s devoid of warmth,
Here, has been “here” five but what other place in the heart
times this month. Five times and of Vienna so expertly consoli-
three different reasons (one of dates a supermarket, a hair salon,
which resulted in my acquisition a café, a bank and a church, with-
of the scarf.) in 50 meters? Just the thought
I am always the visitor, the of it, the sheer Americanism of it
comforter, the powerless. “Nur – everything one could ever need
zum Besuch,” (“Just visiting”) I placed at your finger tips – is dis-
say, whenever the nurse inquires arming.
as to the nature of my presence. I am sitting in a café in a city
I am an expert visitor. If there was within a city, an entity, entirely
a handbook on the role of social independent of Vienna.
conduct in odd life situations the But my enthusiasm to shop or
section on hospital visiting would style is continually road blocked
read like this: by a single thought: I am sitting
Category I: This is for joyous in a world built for beginnings
occasions, such as births, plastic and endings, the cycle of life ka-
surgery, etc.: Jump about so as to leidoscoped over and over, with
demonstrate enthusiasm, not so the intensity and tasteless routine
much however that you disturb of a soap opera, and at best it re-
the stitches, the room mates or sembles a Wal-Mart.
the other visitors. It could not, if it tried, be any
Smile widely, vigorously ques- less momentous, less personal or
tion any passing nurse/doctor/ less warm. I lean back, defeated,
hospital employee, to see if there in my chair. I make a pact with
is any news on baby, boob job, myself to die at home.
10 Modern Times
In its day, Tesla‘s Wireless Telegraphy Machine was a revolution in technology.
Harnessing Lightning
Inventor Nikola Tesla is Celebrated in Croatia
By Nika Bracun
Strikes of lightning have al-
ways been an amazing untamed
natural phenomenon. Numerous
pictures evidence this second of
color grandeur, this second when
earth becomes fully enlightened,
this second when breath stops to
admire the light and wait for the
trembling of thunder.
And when lightning struck
on July 10, 1856, at midnight,
according to Croatian legend, the
day dawned when this electrical
force itself would be tamed.
2006 marks the 150th an-
niversary of the birth of Nikola
Tesla, the electrical and mechani-
cal engineer best known as the
father of the alternating current,
and less well as the true inventor
of the radio, for which Guglielmo
Marconi is usually given credit.
Long unrecognized outside
the former Yugoslavia, Croatians
and Serbians – and scientists in
the know -- see him as a man
who changed the course of his-
tory, harnessing lightning for the
good of the mankind. Now, with
2006 proclaimed The Year of
Nikola Tesla by UNESCO, and
the Croatian and Serbian Govern-
ments, his name may begin to be
better known.
“We are really proud of
Nikola Tesla as he was one of
Croatia’s, and the world’s, greatest
scientists,” said Ivo Sanader, the
Croatian Prime Minister, com-
menting that this year, “together
with Mozart,” Tesla will be a name
on everybody’s lips.
The year of Nikola Tesla will
be marked by many events, such
as lectures on Tesla’s life and work
in Croatian primary and second-
ary schools, round-table discus-
sions and conferences of scien-
tists. Croatian government is also
reconstructing the house in which
he was born in the village of Smil-
jan near the town of Gospic.
Tesla, the owner of over 700
patents, began inventing as a
child, when at age five, he made
a bug-propelled engine. His first
patented invention was a tele-
phone repeater or amplifier, which
was followed by many others that
have contributed to the basic
electro-mechanics of the world in
which we live.
Scientists have trouble rank-
ing his many inventions. “It de-
pends on the
point of
view,” stated Dr. Kurt R. Richter,
Professor Emeritus from Tech-
nical University of Graz, Tesla’s
alma mater. “There is more than
just one: The induction motor,
the 2-phase and 3-phase alternat-
ing current, the radio and wireless
transmission….”
ny. In fear of losing profit, Edison
Film Review
and his sponsors started promot-
ing Tesla’s electricity as more le-
thal than his and sought to con-
vince the public to connect it with
risks of injury and even death. By
tricking Westinghouse into selling
‘Sex Traffic’
them equipment from Tesla’s sys- David Yates’ 2004 Docudrama
tem, they installed the first elec- Portrays an All-too-Common Story
tric chair at Sing Sing prison and
promoted a term “Westinghousa- By Sandya Gain tent of power that forces women
tion,” for electrocution. The film Sex Traffic opens into such terrible situations and
Tesla’s response was dramatic. with a young girl, Vara, sitting in make them so vulnerable.”
Choosing the setting of the Chi- a dark room at a small table with The movie is particularly
cago World Columbian Exposi- two men speaking in a language timely because of the dramatic
tion 1883, he wired him self up she doesn’t understand. Her increase in trafficking of women
to an electric dynamo and allowed sister Elena is standing to one since the fall of the Soviet Union
the electricity to go through his side, staring at the scene, shiver- in 1991. On the website of Am-
body without harm, proving the ing with fear. Suddenly the men nesty International, it is assumed
Courtesy of nuenergy.org
safety of his current and earning force Vara to take off her clothes, by the EU, that about 140.000
him the epithet of ‘a wizard of she starts screaming and immedi- women and girls from Eastern
electricity’. The Chicago Expo- ately gets slapped. Europe are secretly brought to
sition was the first large public The 2004 docudrama by Western Europe annually.
event to be lightened by electric-
ity fully operated by Tesla’s alter-
Courtesy of Mental Health Abuse Organization
nating current system.
The event that finally ended
the War of Currents in Tesla’s fa-
vor was the construction of the
power plant at Niagara Falls in
1895, again fully operating on the
principles of alternating current.
For the first time in history, elec-
tricity could be transmitted to the
distance of forty kilometers, from
Niagara Falls to the city of Buf-
falo. Soon after, Tesla’s alternating
power plants were built through-
out the United States. By bringing
light into people’s homes, Tesla
had achieved his own oft-stated “The dramatic power that forces women into such terrible situations”
goal of ‘liberating the world’,
He also ignited the Second award-winning British director The movie also takes into
Industrial Revolution, Dr. Richter David Yates tells the story of two account a political aspect; shows
added, “in particular with respect Moldavian girls, aged 17 and 18, several individual fates that are
to power distribution and ma-
chines using alternating current.”
Tesla’s electricity brought
who are kidnapped by a slave
trade ring and forced into pros-
titution. Without embellishing
connected with each other at the
end. Abrupt cuts and extracts of
amateur videotapes give the film
about changes in people’s private this story the movie shows the an edgy quality. Yates System-
and professional lives. Difficult desperate situation and the brutal atically uses dark and filthy loca-
and time-consuming household reality many women from East- tions to show the circumstances
chores were lightened by Tesla’s ern Europe are trapped in. of the prostitutes in the brothels
Throughout his career, Tesla alternating current motor, whose Capturing this terror was a sharply contrasted with light,
had many rivals, most notably small size and light weight were top priority for British screen warm scenes for the rich and
Guglielmo Marconi and Thomas suitable to power various electri- writer Abi Morgan, named the wealthy. The movie doesn’t sug-
Alva Edison. Although Marconi cal machines, enabling the com- 2001 Lawrence Olivier “prom- gest a solution but aims to call on
is widely believed to be the fa- mercialization of household ap- ising playwright of the year.” people’s awareness.
ther of radio, it was Tesla who pliances. A ventilator, produced Her intention in the four - hour One early scene of the three
invented it. by Westinghouse Company, was documentary broadcast on ARTE girls seems harmless at first, but
“In 1915 Marconi was named the first electric appliance that and Channel 4 was to portray, she changes abruptly. Vara, Elena
as inventor of the radio. However, hit the market. Development told the Guardian newspaper in and a third girl are sitting in their
on June 21, 1943 the Supreme of other appliances quickly fol- an interview, “the dramatic ex- Continued on page 11
Court of the United States re- lowed - in 1889 a hair dryer,
vised [this claim] and declared 1901 an electric vacuum cleaner, COMPANY FOR CASH stand to see the happy family pic-
Tesla as the inventor,” Dr. Richter 1904 an electric mixer, 1913 an Continued from page 12 tures in those men’s wallets. The
explained. The Justices of the Su- electric refrigerator. than one could imagine, man, who was smiling from the
preme Court of the United States “Tesla’s inventions greatly im- often with a constant cycle of photo, hugging his children, now
overturned Marconi’s patent be- proved the average standard of liv- violence and abuse: no life, lit- was snoring on the bed in another
cause they found it had been pre- ing,” Dr. Richter said. “Nowadays tle money and no future. Over girl’s (no, not woman’s!) arms:
ceded by Tesla’s practical achieve- most of the equipment in the a hundred thousand girls, from “I began to hate those men
ments in radio transmission. household is powered by electric Eastern Europe only, are being for what they were doing to their
Tesla’s rivalry with Edison was energy and the majority compris- trafficked annually. The scope families,” she said. Gradually,
termed as The War of Currents es AC motors, e.g. dishwashers, of this worldwide problem is things calmed down, and Jane
at the time, a fans in electric stoves, vacuum unimaginable. And money is found a boyfriend from her uni-
race to cleaners etc. etc.” what it’s all about. versity world. “A normal one,” as
Today, Tesla is called a ‘hu- From her “job”, Jane got re- she calls him.
manitarian’ and a ‘unifier’ as much spect and attention; she was taken Only sometimes, when the
as the ‘wizard of electricity’. on business trips, and she stayed in bank account was low, she would
“I would call him something five-star hotels. still go to meet her “clients.” Soon,
of all,” Dr. Richter said. “He loved She went shopping and en- she broke up with her boyfriend,
to show off his most spectacular joyed the most exclusive pleasures as he was simply too boring for
experiments to the public. On of the city they stayed in: expen- someone who had experienced so
the other hand, he was more in- sive designer stores, beauty salons, much of life already.
terested in making his inventions and luxury dinners in premium For the last two years, Jane has
available to people than in making restaurants – things she could been working a regular job and liv-
money from them.” have only dreamed about just a ing in a big city, where, with luck,
Thus Tesla died on January 7, few years ago. her past ghosts will not follow her
electrify the world. It started 1943, poor as a ‘church mouse.’ She was using the money she – although she still gets birthday
with Tesla’s invention of the in- “Let the future tell the truth, earned only for herself. She could and Christmas cards, and doesn’t
dustrial arc lamp, and sale of his and evaluate each one accord- not reveal her income to her fam- know from whom.
patents to George Westinghouse, ing to his work and accomplish- ily, who believed she was just a “Are you sure, you’ve quit all
whose company, Westinghouse ments,” he is reported to have said poor student. that,” I asked, because her salary
Electric, remained the only com- on his death bed. “The present is What else could she want, af- looks just too big for her position.
petitor to Edison’s giant empire theirs. The future, for which I re- ter all that? “The boss likes me,” she
Edison General Electric Compa- ally worked, is mine.” With time, Jane could not smiled…
 Modern Times 11

Chernobyl: 20 Years After

Observer

Theft of the Holocaust

Controversies Over the Nuclear Safety and a Long List of Troubling
Health Issues Linger Long After Polluted Reactor Sites Have Been Cleaned These Days, Moral Outrage Seems to
Serve Nearly Everybody’s Political Ends
By Duska Gonja plant. It was only then that the chological scars – extreme anxi- the site are now relatively low.
Today, 60 years after Hiroshi- Soviets, under extreme interna- ety, stress, apathy, despair and However, the emphasis at the time By Gregory Weekes nological advances for genocide.
ma, nuclear energy continues to be tional pressure, owned up. The withdrawal, as a result of reset- was on rapid containment, and it If you think that the Holo- No one wanted to believe that an
controversial and stirs great depth cloud was tracked thereafter and tlement, social degradation, was never meant to be a perma- caust is no longer an issue in in- advanced Western nation could
of feeling. While it is beneficial, passed over Scandinavia, Holland, poor economic conditions and nent solution. The operation itself ternational relations today, over commit crimes of this magni-
offering huge amounts of power, Belgium and the UK, carried by the inevitable fear of continuing created a large amount of waste, sixty years after it happened, think tude. When reports of atrocities
a fuel source that would last for the north-westerly wind. It then health risks. currently stored in various sites again. Hundreds of references are and mass murder leaked out,
thousands of years, it also has the went south, covering much of The number of people who within the 30km exclusion zone, made on television, in newspa- they were dismissed simply as
potential to be environmentally the rest of Europe after the wind could eventually die as a result of and facilities are under construc- pers, and on the radio every day “war propaganda.”
devastating, producing dangerous changed. Contamination was de- Chernobyl is highly controver- tion for the processing and long in every possible language to this, The Holocaust is ever-present
wastes and manufactures raw ma- tected in nearly every country in sial. An extra 9,000 cancer deaths term storage of fuel, liquid and the most horrific genocide of the and used to justify all sorts of
terials for nuclear weapons. the northern hemisphere, as far are expected by the UN-led Cher- solid waste. twentieth century. The contexts modern political decisions. On
The accident that occurred as North America and Japan, al- nobyl Forum. But most people’s A lot has changed since for these references vary, but the one hand, headlines such
at the Soviet Chernobyl plant on 1986 and certainly a lesson has all of them have one as “Our generation’s
26 April 1986, slanted the world’s been learned. Leaving aside the thing in common: responsibility to the
view on nuclear energy. It was one verdict of history on its role in They are an attempt survivors” or “Why
of the worst nuclear accidents in melting the Soviet iron curtain, to gain possession of the ghettos of Poland
history, and left the world aware some very practical benefits have the Holocaust for are still important”
of what could happen if things resulted from the Chernobyl ac- political ends. testify to the signif-
went wrong. cident, especially concerning re- Just listen to icance that Holo-
Despite worries over shrink- actor safety, notably in Eastern the leaders of Hamas, caust memory has in
ing fossil fuel reserves and global Europe. Certainly the safety of all Iranian President Mahmoud Israel and the United States.
warming, nuclear power’s contri- Soviet-designed reactors has im- Amadinejad, U.S. President On the other hand, complete
bution to the global network is proved vastly. This is due largely George W. Bush, Israeli Prime denial, like that of Iran’s President
declining. There are about 440 to the development of a culture Minister Ehud Olmert, think Amadinejad, former Austrian par-
operational reactors in 32 coun- of safety encouraged by increased tank analysts, nuclear strategists liamentarian John Gudenus or
tries, generating 16 percent of the collaboration between East and or even animal rights activists. British pseudo-historian David
Courtesy of UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism

world’s electricity, according to West, and substantial investment The Holocaust, to listen to their Irving, are also an attempt to gain
the World Health Organization. in improving the reactors. statements, belongs to each and possession of this morbid event by
Only 27 new reactors are under In the early 1990s, some every one of them. The memory removing it from historical mem-
construction, and not one out of US$400 million was spent on of the Holocaust is misappropriat- ory entirely.
the remaining 22 countries with improvements to the remaining ed on a regular basis for a myriad What better way to possess an
nuclear power is currently build- reactors at Chernobyl, while in of purposes: “Palestinian Holo- event than by completely denying
ing any new reactors, including March 2001, a US$36 million caust” [sic], “Nuclear Holocaust,” that it ever occurred?
the U.S., Canada and the West- contract was signed for construc- and “Animal Holocaust,” to name But what is the motivation?
ern Europe. tion of a radioactive waste man- just a few. Why misappropriate the Holo-
The western world has put agement facility to treat spent Comparisons of Saddam Hus- caust? Everyone recognizes this
its nuclear power program on fuel and other operational wastes, sein, Osama bin Laden, Kim Jong event as significant and powerful
hold – in part, at least, because of as well as material from decom- Il and most recently Mahmoud and realizes that fascination with
Chernobyl. No matter how small missioning units 1-3. Amadinejad to Adolf Hitler are mass murder and its emotional
the risk, people say, it is just not It still remains unknown useful for justifying military ac- impact can be used to influence
worth it. The World Health Or- whether the accident could have tion and building political coali- people.
ganization (WHO) suggests that been prevented by the operators tions. Why not instead compare There are far too many politi-
this perception may change in the Miroslava is one of many Ukrainian children receiving daily treatment in Chernobyl. It’s clear that some these leaders to Joseph Stalin, who cal interests that have a great deal
using placental extract and ultraviolet lamps developed by Cubans
future, but only because the pres- safety procedures were violated admittedly killed more people to gain by “owning” the Holo-
sure to reduce CO2 emissions is though the southern hemisphere problems are “economic and psy- by the station’s technicians. Dur- than Hitler and whom Saddam caust. Let us be clear: The Holo-
even stronger. seems to have escaped. chological, not health or environ- ing the accident only 6-8 control Hussein regarded as his idol? caust does not belong to anyone,
But the reality of what hap- National authorities were mental,” the Forum reports. rods were used despite there has The answer: The industri- and remembering it should serve
pened is nonetheless harrowing. surprised at the scale of the prob- The environmental lobbying been a standard operating order alized mass murder of millions to remind us of what evil deeds
The explosion at Chernobyl, lem, and none had effective se- group Greenpeace predicts more stating that a minimum of 30 makes the Holocaust unique and we are capable of as human be-
is thought to have been caused curity plans in place. Outside of serious health effects, anticipating rods were required to retain con- causes us to question our very ings. Instead of invoking it on all
mainly by steam pressure and the Soviet Union, countermeas- up to 93,000 extra cancer deaths, trol. humanity. Stalin may have mur- possible occasions, we should in-
chemical reactions with the ex- ures were pretty much limited with other illnesses taking the toll Despite all the costly safety dered more people than Hitler, ternalize it and let it guide us in
posed fuel, blowing the 1000- to restrictions and prohibitions as high as 200,000. precautions, no experts deny that but he did not do it in assembly- our future decision-making.
tonne lid clear of the core. A on the marketing, consumption The actual site of Chernobyl there is always a possibility of hu- line fashion. Whether out of disrespect,
second explosion threw out frag- and importation of certain foods was cleaned up quickly following man error. How could we ever be The Holocaust combined false motives or misguided inten-
ments of burning fuel and graph- thought to be contaminated or the event -- with the initial insu- sure that no planner, no designer, modern technology with primor- tions, any appropriation of the
ite from the core and allowed air from contaminated areas. lating ‘sarcophagus’ completed in no maintenance engineer, and dial racism. It defied comprehen- Holocaust should be questioned.
to rush in, causing the graphite The health consequences are only seven months in November ultimately no political leader, sion that a modern, industrial- We owe at least that much to the
moderator to burst into flames. enduring strongly, according to 1986 -- and radiation levels on would ever make a mistake? ized nation could use its tech- memories of those who perished.
The exact cause of the second WHO. A notable rise in thyroid
explosion remains unknown, but cancer in the most contaminated
it is thought that hydrogen may areas, rising from 4-6 incidents SEX TRAFFIC desperately struggling in the affection, as when Elena escapes all, thought-provoking.
have played a part. per million children annually in Continued from page 10 water, screaming and crying for her pimp and wanders through Tantalizing as a thriller, but as
After the explosion, a plume the Ukraine between 1981 and apartment when their pimp en- help. Her fight not to sink is the streets of London or tries to realistic as a documentary, this
of smoke, radioactive fission 1985, to 45 incidents per mil- ters, and without any warning, portrayed from under as well as console her sister. movie is based on an excellent
products and debris rose up lion between 1986 and 1997. In pulls out a gun and shoots the over water for several minutes. Mostly, however, the film screenplay which holds up on
about 1 km into the air. The all, 64% of all Ukrainian thyroid third girl dead. She had con- With screen writer Mor- makers rely on the acting of repeated viewings.
material was carried northwest cancer patients under 15 lived in tracted herpes, and she was now gan and cinematographer Chris their characters, their voices Though shocking with its
by the wind- mainly to Belarus the most contaminated regions, useless. Seager, David Yates creates a and facial expressions and relentless clarification of forced
though other areas were affected, the provinces of Kiev, Chernigov, The scene is shot all in one world of realistic brutality, cor- bearing. prostitution, it still may not
including Ukraine. Zhitomir, Cherkassy, and Rovno. take, and there is no music. Only ruption and violence that the All unknowns, the cast change much.
It is estimated that about The cancer is most prevalent the sound of the short sound of prostitutes are forced to live in. delivers strong performances But it does help to inform
3.5%, or 6 tons, of the uranium in children under five at the time the pimp’s firearm is heard, fol- In this production we see all throughout -- especially An- the public about this world of
dioxide fuel and fission products of exposure, and is thought to be lowed by the cars driving past aspects of this business -- the amaria Marinca, in the lead role horror, not easily forgotten.
escaped as well as many other ra- caused by radioactive iodine con- -- and a deadly silence. Though perspectives of the prostitutes, of Elena,, for which she was
dio-nuclides - principally xenon, tamination in milk and certain the two Moldavian sisters make the pimps, the customers and named ‘best actress’ 2005 by Sex Traffic - Great Britain 2004;
krypton, iodine, tellurium and foods collecting in the thyroid no noise, the shock and look of the prostitutes’ families. BAFTA. Granada Television Production
caesium, around 200 times that gland. The disease is treatable horror is unmistakeable. Overall, Yates uses ordinary This movie, as shocking and David Yates – Director, Abi Morgan
of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki and not often fatal. Although the Later in the film, Vara and sounds, like cars passing, tones brutal it may be, is a powerful – Screen writer, Chris Seager – Cin-
bombs according to the WHO. risk has subsided as the iodine Elena are brought to Italy on a of voice, bird calls, or club mu- portrait of a true-to-life situa- ematographer
At first, the Soviet govern- has decayed to low levels, the dis- boat on a cold night. When a sic in the brothel scenes. tion without any glorifications. Actors: Anamaria Marinca – Elena
ment tried to deny that anything ease takes years to show up and coast guard ship appears, their There is little if any drama It contains many brutal scenes, Visinescu, Maria Popistasu – Vara
had happened, until the plume the number of cancers diagnosed pimp just throws Elena over to the music, either sentimental but they are essential, as it is Vivinescu, John Simm – Daniel Ap-
was detected outside of the USSR is still increasing. board. And while she is res- or anxious, used only to sup- they that make the film so up- pleton, Wendy Crewson – Madeleine
by workers at a Swedish nuclear The accident also left psy- cued, it is horrible to watch her port the few scenes of relief or setting, touching and most of Harlsburgh
12 Modern Times
Real Islamic Feminism
In terms of equal opportunities, Islam is one of the fairest religions
By Shadi Jahangard
There are many Islamic
countries, where legislation is
based on the Sharia (Islamic
Law). The question remains if
the laws follow exactly what
Islam states. From this perspec-
tive, women’s rights are an issue
worth discussing.
In terms of equal opportuni-
ties for men and women, Islam is
one of the fairest religions observ-
ing the two genders from a very
neutral perspective. Its standpoint
for scrutinizing men’s and wom-
en’s rights is very impartial and
balanced. Hence, Islamic coun-
tries would have had the fewest of
sexist discrimination problems if
the regulations had been followed
correctly and entirely.
Women after the Revolution
Authors addressing the issue of
women in Iran claim that women
have suffered enormous setbacks in
the last decade, due to the rise of
Islamic Fundamentalism.
Yet, William O. Beeman says
that “on a recent trip to Iran – my
first in many years – my greatest
surprise was the clear evidence that
Iranian women are better off today
than they were under the Shah.”
The average marriage age for
women has increased from 18
years old before the Revolution to
21 today. Education for women
is obligatory and universal. More
than 75 percent of the population
is under the age of 25 – well over
90 percent of both men and wom-
en are literate, even in rural areas.
University enrollment is nearly
equal for men and women. And as
women’s education has increased,
Iran’s birthrate has fallen stead-
ily and is now estimated at 18.29
births per thousand people.
The new Islamic Woman is a
reality, and will undoubtedly be a
force to reckon with in the future.
Company for Cash
Or, How to Study and Still Afford All the Good Things in Life:
The Dream of Thousands of Girls From All Over Eastern Europe
By Ruta Kurselyte
Let’s call her Jane. She’s very
attractive: slender, about 165
centimeters tall, blond – a real
Northern beauty, with a smile
that never leaves her face.
Her moves are easy and el-
egant – even the way she picks
up a tiny cup of coffee cannot
go unnoticed, as if she is hold-
ing the most precious thing in
the world.
With the same calmness and
elegance, she puts it down again,
without making a sound. Not a
single detail gives away what is
really on her mind.
Jane is 24, but she has al-
ready experienced many things
in life that others never will –
and wouldn’t want to – in a life-
time. She gets a lot of attention
on the street, and she’s aware of
it. She knows not only how to
use it, but also how much it’s
worth.
Everything started when
Women and Feminism
Iranian feminism is on rise.
During the campaign for the fifth
majlis (legislative assembly) in
1996, both religious and secular
women began calling for more
attention to women’s issues. They
agreed that the system was not
protecting its women and that
Islamic family law was securing
male domination at home. In the
1996 elections 190 women ran
alongside more than 3,000 men
for the 270 seat majlis. Women
generally voted for women. 13
women were elected to the majlis
and began campaigning to change
the status quo. The most popular
woman to run was Faezeh Hashe-
mi, the daughter of ex-president
Rafsanjani. Even though she still
formulates her calls for change in
Jane was in high school. She
grew up in a small town, with-
out many prospects, but she
had always been a good student
– the best, in fact – in that lone-
ly school in her town. And that
promised her more out of life
than the others.
Then she met a man from
a neighboring town. He was
older, much older, with family
and all the things that accom-
pany a nice settled life. He was
rich enough to attract any girl’s
attention, and looked pretty de-
cent for his age.
They met in a hotel one
evening. She told him she need-
ed money.
He did not hesitate. Again
and again, they met for secret
rendez-vous, It was very com-
fortable – she got money for all
the things her parents could not
afford, and he had the company
of a pretty young girl – just one
more proof that he was still a
Islamic terms, she is called “the though both husband and wife
closest thing to a feminist in Ira- suffer as a result of a divorce, a
nian politics.” man has the additional burden of
Today Iranian women have a heavy responsibility,” consider-
to live with certain contradictions ing mainly the financial part of
in their society. Even though they the practice. The pure fact that
can be elected to parliament, they even after divorce, it will be the
cannot leave the country without man who will have to provide
their husbands’ permission. Those money for the raising of a child,
unmarried have to obtain the same makes the women financially de-
permission from their father. pendent on their husbands.
In the face of these disturbing On the other hand, men, con-
contradictions, Iranian women sidering the high financial loss of a
are provoking reform. There is possible divorce, are not willing to
give women equal rights in decid-
ing whether the marriage should
come to an end. That is why in
practice the right to divorce be-
longs to men.
A woman has the right to ini-
tiate the divorce only with permis-
sion of her husband.
“It does not mean that Islam
does not give the wife the right
to break the marital bond when
she wants to. It only checks the
abusing of such right,” says Mah-
mudul Hasan
Inheritance
“From what is left by parents
and those nearest related there is
a share for men and a share for
women, whether the property
Courtesy of islamdoor.com
be small or large – a determinate
share” (Qur’an 4:7).
A woman’s share of any in-
heritance is half of a man’s. What
some scholars argue is that be-
cause of men’s financial obliga-
tions, which by far exceed those of
the women’s, the share cannot be
equal. The man is responsible for
earning money and for supporting
a marked rise in the number of the whole family; whereas a wom-
women working as journalists, an has no responsibilities towards
publishers, professors, and even her family’s income and expendi-
elected heads of universities or tures. Her property is for her own
members of parliament. use, unless she wishes to spend it
Divorce for her family voluntarily.
Dr. Jamal A. Badawi, a promi- In the modernized life of today
nent Islamic scholar, says that “al- the economic situations usually re-
desirable man.
“How about your parents,”
I asked? “They trusted me,” she
said. She was just 16 years old.
For the last couple of years
of the high school, she went on
to study in a bigger city and en-
tered a carousel of (older) men
and money, that turned faster
and faster, and brought her ever
more “clients.” The money was
growing. She still managed to
finish high school with premi-
um grades and get accepted to
University. Professors liked her;
her female classmates didn’t.
No, she didn’t use her body to
get good grades. She was simply
smarter and faster than the oth-
ers.
She was gifted somehow.
When I met up with her two children.
in the capital city, where she “He was gay when we met,”
was keeping company with one she said. “But he cannot take
of “her” men. He was a well- the risk of being uncovered.
known public figure, hand- He is too famous and respected
some, with a beautiful wife and – a Lithuanian headquarters of
quire that both men and women
work. Since women have achieved
high levels of academic education
as well as economic independ-
ence, they cannot be considered
“subhuman” as in the time of little-
educated Arabian societies, from
which Islam originated.
In today’s societies, there are
cases when it is the woman who
is financially responsible for the
family, while the man stays at
home. But since in most Islamic
countries legislators have mainly
been men, one can realize why the
laws have been carefully selected
by them.
Employment
Women in Islam have no duty
to do the housework or to feed
their babies. They have the right
to ask for payment for everything
they do at home.
Even though this is a largely
known regulation, it is almost
never practiced.
Polygamy
Polygamy was well known
amongst Arabian tribes prior to
the advent of Islam. In fact, there
were no set limitations for the
number of wives the husband
could take in wedlock. With the
advent of Islam, polygamy was
condoned; however, a man was re-
stricted and limited to four wives
only. Moreover, Islam set certain
rules and regulations to organize
and control this important feature
in the social life of Muslims. Po-
lygamy was also well known to the
Persians, Assyrians, Japanese and
Hindus. Russians and Germanic
people also practiced it as well as
some Egyptian and Greek kings.
During the many wars that
occurred between Arabian tribes,
where thousands of soldiers were
killed leaving many widows be-
hind, Prophet Mohammad re-
ceived revelations from God al-
lowing a man to take up to four
wives on the condition that he was
capable of treating them all fairly
and providing support to them.
Since in most of the Arab
countries men have continu-
ously married more women, the
culture has adjusted to polyga-
Courtesy of Look Models
an international company.” He
said she was the only woman for
whom he felt any attraction.
“What about his wife,” I
asked. “He respects her a lot,”
Jane said. “She knows it all, but
my. Unfortunately, many listen
only to the first part of the law,
and not to the section that im-
poses fairness and equality.
Mandatory Veil
The formal religious covering
(Hijab) was enforced in Iran two
years after the fall of the monarchy
and victory of the Islamic revolution
in February 1979.
Since the Revolution, an alter-
nate form of acceptable dress has
emerged – a long dress with full
length opaque stockings, a long
sleeved coat, and a head scarf. The
dress has gradually evolved into a
thin shoulder to ankle smock called
a “manto”. In adopting this dress,
women have been wonderfully in-
ventive. The “manto,” though dark
in color, is often made of silk or other
fine fabric, embroidered, finely tai-
lored, with elegant closures. Women
wear it over jeans or other Western
fashionable clothes.
This new code of dressing has
helped many women from conserva-
tive families integrate better in soci-
ety. “Before the revolution, religious
parents would not let their girls even
go to school fearing they would be
dishonored,” said Parvaneh Rashi-
di,” a Tehran schoolteacher.
‘Now they have no trouble let-
ting their daughters go anywhere.”
Judging from the large number of
women on the streets, in retail man-
agement, in offices and on university
campuses, Ms. Rashisi´s assessment
appears to be correct.
But religion is a matter of belief,
not a matter of force. “Let there be
no compulsion in religion: Truth
stands out clear from Error: whoever
rejects evil and believes in Allah hath
grasped the most trustworthy hand-
hold that never breaks. And Allah
heareth and knoweth all things.”
(Qur’an 2:257) The question is if
the same logic should also apply to
the Hijab.
There is a major debate wheth-
er religion is violating women’s
rights in Muslim countries. But
if anyone studies Islam, it will be
easy to understand that there is
much difference between how the
laws are interpreted and what the
Qur’an says exactly.
it’s just simpler for them to act
out this nice normal family.”
Jane showed me a photo –
his wife looked better than any
model, with long curly brown
hair, smooth tanned skin, per-
fect proportions and bright, se-
ductive eyes.
Over time, Jane developed
pretty well-defined standards
for her clientele – no one who
earned less than 5,000 Euros a
month, which is an enormous
amount of money in Lithuania.
These were men who could
afford leaving her a couple of
hundred Euros per night – a
dream-come-true for a girl from
the countryside.
This is a dream that lives
on in the heads of thousands
of young women from all over
Eastern Europe.
Low living standards, pres-
sure for a perfect appearance
from the media, and the wish
for a perfect, fantasy life – it all
leads them to jump onto a fast
train of selling their bodies.
Some, like Jane, succeed,
if you want to call this success.
But mostly, the girls end up in
local and foreign whorehouses,
where they are treated worse
Continued on page 10

Hangover
How One Last Beer Turns
Into Oh-So Many More
By Sean Delaney
Monday night drinking is
never a good idea. But I was alone,
doing some reading when Eddie
called, and asked me if I wouldn’t
like to have just “one last beer”
before he left for the US. Me, my
book, and the US colonialism I
was reading about were not both-
ering anyone. “Why did he have
to call tonight,” I thought.
I was exhausted; the seven red
bulls I had guzzled were wearing
off; sleep had hegemony over my
thoughts. He said he didn’t care;
maybe not, but I would be the
one with the last laugh.
A little more “negotiation” – I
wouldn’t see him for a month --
and I was putting some pants on
and heading for the bar. I mean
this was the friend that, on a
whim, agreed to go to Oktoberfest
with me. How could I miss this?
Seconds out the apartment,
I turned around. I had forgotten
my phone. Seconds later, it was
my book. This was pathetic.
My mind was trying to tell me
it was a bad idea. I was damning
my friend for leading me astray. I
kept telling myself it would be a
quiet night, but somewhere in a
more honest corner of my mind,
Ipost_webster
knew it would surely turn into a
01.03.2005
night of pure debauchery.
Max Schmeling.
Die Sondermarke zu Ehren
der großen Legende des
europäischen Boxsports.
Besuchen Sie den
neuen Online-Shop!
www.philatelie.at
Österreichische Post AG
Sammler-Service
Steinheilgasse 1
1210 Wien
Österreich
Die Post bringt allen was.
colonized my couch.
Then someone (it might have
been me) had the bright idea of
having an Irish Car Bomb, fol-
lowed by other shots of some-
thing else. Eddie looked at me as
if I were the devil. Perhaps I was;
and poor Eddie would be the one
For one thing, we decided to who would pay for it.
meet at the Merry Monk, But I was will-
hardly a sober deci- ing to make a
sion. The Irish pub gesture. He
was empty when we was leaving, so
arrived, but for the I figured that
few friends sitting I would pay
at the bar. These for everything.
are friends who Later I would
claim to like the regret this;
“dank,” the thick, the bill was
unwholesome €73…
€ Oh,
darkness that hides Vienna, Vienna,
our problems from the how could you betray
world and maybe even me? And what have
from the others in the you done to my bank
bar. A waitress, yes, account? As morning
Jen, sitting on a stool broke, we took the
behind the taps serv- first U-bahn home,
ing drinks, was talking to my and I said good-bye to my good
Courtesy of Blain Hefner
friends. She’s good at her job and friend.
proceeded to give me great head Arriving home at 5:30 in
on my beer. Well she is good, but the morning; I was exhausted. I
this night she was also sore and collapsed on my couch, not re-
hardly moved from that stool the ally sleeping, but merely waiting
whole evening. for the punishing hangover that
One beer turned into five and would strike when my alarm beck-
the night meandered on in spite oned me to class. And this was all
of the 9am wake-up call Eddie on a Monday.
would be needing in a few hours If the rest of the week had the
to make it to the train heading for same in store, I might just decide
the Munich Airport. to give up drinking, a thought
I kept feeding him drinks; that had never crossed my mind
soon he would understand how before that night.
I had felt
19:58 just Seite
Uhr a few hours
1 before As I said, drinking on a Mon-
at home where I had thoroughly day night is never a good idea.
Tel: +43 (1) 250 25-4040
Fax: +43 (1) 250 25-4080
E-Mail: sammler-service@post.at
Hotline: 0800 100 197 (Österreich)
A Night at Do & Co
A Warm Atmosphere and Good Food: Worth the Extra Cost
By Sandya Gain
It was Easter Sunday evening
when we arranged to meet at
DO&CO, a restaurant right
across from Stephansdom in cen-
tral Vienna. The restaurant is on
top of the Haas Haus, a controver-
sial modern masterpiece by Hans
Hollein that offers a view over the
whole of Stephansplatz through
its floor to ceiling windows in
which the Dom and surrounding
buildings are reflected.
Already a few minutes late, I
was relieved when the cathedral
appeared in front of me. The
entrance is a little hard to find,
tucked away around the corner on
Stephansplatz 12, but eventually
I found my way. With an eleva-
tor that was lit a smoky red from
inside, I was taken up to the 7th
floor where a greeter took off my
cloak and escorted me to the ta-
ble where the others were waiting.
The restaurant was fully booked,
but luckily we had a table right
next to the windows and enjoyed
the fantastic view over the magical
night lights of the square.
The atmosphere in DO&CO
is elegant, yet somehow not over
done. The whole restaurant is kept
in warm light - beige and sand
colours, the tables decorated with
bright tablecloth and napkins.
Peter Paul
Rubens.
Das Meisterwerk im neuen
Liechtenstein Museum Wien -
als Gemeinschaftsausgabe
mit Liechtenstein.
Stephan Eberharter.
Unser Ski-As und zweifacher Gesamtweltcupsieger jetzt
auf einer Sondermarke!
On the Town
Candles were burning and flowers
were placed on each. Visitors are
able to see into the open kitchen,
which I think is always a good
sign. All the fresh and colourful
vegetables were laid out on a huge
chopping block. Yet although the
restaurant was full, we didn’t have
Courtesy of DO & CO
to raise our voices to be heard.
All of us ordered Asian food
and only to smell it and see how
beautifully it was prepared and
presented on the plates. The Wok
vegetables were served on round,
deep dishes with cushioned rice
and a sweet sauce. They were a
colourful composition of mixed
vegetables, lettuce, sprouts, cau-
liflowers, turnips, carrots, mush-
rooms and pieces of bamboo. The
Sushi Mix was served on a narrow
13
lacquered platter and consisted of
several fresh varieties of Sushi, like
California Roll, Sake Maki which
is with Salmon, Kappa Maki
– with cucumbers, Tuna Maki,
Maki with shrimps, San Francisco
Roll, Hotategai Nigiri (scallop)
and Trout Nigiri.
I ordered beef which was
sprinkled with tiny pieces of chilli
and rice as a side dish and a deli-
cious spicy sauce. Though I was
the only one who ordered a Sor-
bet for dessert, no one could resist
the colourful ice balls that came in
four colors.
The waiters were very friend-
ly while not intrusive, and most of
all attentive, immediately refilling
our wine and water glasses as soon
as their volume tended to become
less. Conversation flowed, with
many interesting and funny tales
of our summer trip to the states,
the postage-stamp hotel my
friend’s mother was staying at, the
Italian elections as well as some
funny stories of the week before.
While it’s not inexpensive,
DO&CO is definitely worth the
prices. After we finished dinner,
we wanted to have a drink down-
stairs in the bar but found it full.
For the bar as well as for the res-
taurant, reservations should be
made in advance.
14 On the Town

Vienna Events
Events Calendar
As usual, the Jugendstil Events Calendar team will be presenting the latest, hippest,
most cultural and coolest happenings in order to make your life in Vienna as enjoyable
and (if you’re sober enough) unforgettable as possible. The Vienna Events Team wel-
comes any information on upcoming events: please email us at newjugendstil@yahoo.
com and we try to make space for it in the next issue.
For all future Webster party entrepreneurs: If you want your party or happening men-
tioned in our publication, please make sure to let us know as early as possible for listing
in the Parties section of the Calendar.

Sincerely,
Ruta Kurselyte, Mazin Elfehaid and Jugendstil staff

‘La Cage aux Folles’ at the Volksoper: the popular, provocative comedy musical of homosexual love.
THEATER in English
DRESDEN
The play by Ian Leonard Directed
by Danny Scott takes place in
a hospital in Munich in the late
1950s. The Characters are caught
in sexual personal and political
post-war divisions. Each storyline
captures the idiocyncracies and
humanity of the characters as each
struggles with his own quirks and
weaknesses and some find the
ability to love and forgive.
Premiere: May 22
May 24-26, June 2 and 3, 19:30
Interkulttheater,
6., Fillgradergasse 16
(01) 587 05 30
www.interkulttheater.at
LOVE’S A LUXURY
Written by Guy Paxton and Ed-
ward V. Hoile, Love’s a Luxury is
an archetypal frenzied farce set in
the 1940’s which includes mari-
tal misunderstandings, mistaken
identities, female impersonation,
a knobbly kneed scout master,
pretty girls, a missing dog and the
very secretive A.B.C.I.D – ‘the
Actor’s Branch of the Criminal
Investigation Department’!
May 22 - Jul. 1, 19:30
Vienna’s English Theatre
8., Josefsgasse 12
(01) 402 12 60-0
tickets@englishtheatre.at
PLAY IT AGAIN SAM
In one of Woody Allen’s finest
romantic comedies, Allan Fe-
lix, film critic and worshipper of
Humphrey Bogart, has been re-
cently deserted by his spouse. His
friends, step in and console him
by fixing him up with a variety
of eligible young women. Little
do they know that Allan is being
coached by Humphrey Bogart.
Allan tries to assume the persona
of Rick- the tough macho man
from Casablanca- and is a dismal
failure in the dating game. Direct-
ed by Jack Babb and starring Jason
Markowsky and Laura Mitchell.
May 9- Jul. 1, 19:30
The Intertnational Theater
9,. Porzellangasse 8
(01) 319 62 72
www.internationaltheatre.at/
office@internationaltheatre.at
THEATER in German
DIE STADT OHNE JUDEN
Helmut Peschina’s dramatisation
of Hugo Bettlauer’s novel is being
satged in the legendary Bellaria
Kino under the Direction of Ma-
tin Oelbermann.
“Die Stadt ohne Juden” (The City
Without Jews) was Bettlauers
most successful novel, was trans-
lated into many languages and
was made into a film in 1924 (two
years after its publishing) with
Hans Moser playing thr lead. The
Author was murdured by reac-
tionary Austrian copnservatives
in 1926.
May 5-6, 20:00
Bellaria Kino
7., Museumstrasse 3
(01) 523 75 91
MARIA BILL SINGT EDITH
PIAF
20 of her most famous songs lead
the audience through Edit Piafs
life. Milord, Mon Dieu, La vie en
rose and Non, je ne regrette riens.
The little sparrow drank herself to
an early death at 48 but has stayed
in the hearts of all all who hear her
musik. An unforgettable evening
of laughs and tears.
May 17-19, 19:30
Theater Akzent
4., Theresianumgasse 16-18
(01) 501 65 3306
AKZENT@akzent.at
Jun. 29 19:30
Wiener Urania
1., Urainiastrasse 1
(01) 712 61 91
office@urania-wien.at
www.events.at
EXHIBITIONS
H.R. GIGER
A surrealist painter combining
airbrush and freehand painting
techniques, Swiss national H.R.
Giger has contributed more than
a fair share of icons to popular
culture. Most famously, Giger
created the creatures for the “Al-
ien” movies, but his work was also
seen on “Poltergeist II” and “Spe-
cies.” This exhibit features more
than 100 of Giger’s originals.
Opens May 24.
Kunst Haus Wien
3., Untere Weissbergerstrasse 13.
(01) 712 04 95
www.kunsthauswien.com
EVERYDAY LIFE
Focusing on everyday technology,
this exhibit aims to enlighten the
visitor on the application, func-
tion, and history of things such as
the light switch, mixers, refrigera-
tors, vending machines and cos-
metics. By focusing on each item
individually, the exhibit begs the
question: Is technology affecting
our daily lives so much, that it is
in fact dictating its direction?
Until Oct. 31.
Technisches Museum
14., Mariahilferstrasse 212
(01) 899 98-6000
www.tmw.ac.at
WAITING FOR THE BUS
Get groovy on Saturday Night
In concentrating on the signifi-
cance of the bus stops, this ex-
hibit attempts to show that there
is much more to these common
landmarks than most assume.
According to the exhibitors, they
serve as “post office, coffee house,
advertising column and a place
to sleep.” Bus stops have much
more impact on our daily lives
than we are perhaps even aware of.
Markus Steinmair’s exhibit tries to
bring awareness to that.
May 11-29.
Architekturzentrum Wien
7., Museumsplatz 1
(01) 522 31 15-32
www.azw.at
BLACK, BROWN, WHITE
Rather than focusing directly on
South Africa’s deep social cleav-
ages, this collection of images
taken by photographers from all
around the country aims to al-
low the viewer a glimpse into the
country’s everyday existence. Of
special note are photographers
David Goldblatt and Omar Bad-
sha, who focus on black workers
commuting to central Pretoria,
and the Indian population living
in the city of Durban.
Until June 18.
Kunsthalle Wien
7., Museumsplatz 1
(01) 521 89-1201
www.kunsthallewien.at
OPERA
IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA
The Barber of Seville is a French
play by Pierre Beaumarchais writ-
ten in1775, and originally enti-
tled Le Barbier de Seville. Acomic
opera in two acts entitled Il Bar-
biere di Siviglia by Giacchino
Rossini was based on Beaumar-
chais’s comedy with a libretto by
Cesare Sterbini. The story of The
Barber of Seville is continued in
Beaumarchais’s play The Marriage
of Figaro and theMozart opera
based on it, which was composed
in1786. The Barber Of Seville is
one of the most famous operas
ever written. Especally the aria
“Largo el Factotum” with its “Fi-
garo”-chant is well known to most
people.
May 30
June 1
Both nights at 20:00
Wiener Staatsoper
1., Opernring 2
(01) 51444 2250
L’OCA El CAIRO
(The Cairo Goose)
A new libretto by Stephen Oliver
including the eight sketches by
Varesco and W.A. Mozart. Trans-
lated by Luisa Saviori to music
by Stephen Oliver. A Turkish del-
egation from Cairo, a goose ´in
disguise´ and a hilarious plot of
mistaken identities.
Presented by the Wiener Kam-
meroper in cooperation with the
Wiener Mozartjahr 2006
May 11, 13, 16, 18,
May 23, 25, 27, 30
June 1, 3
All performances at: 19:30
Wiener Kammeroper
1., Fleischmarkt 24
(01) 512 01-77
MANON LESCAUT
By Puccini
Manon Lescaut is an opera in four
acts by Giacomo Puccini to an
Italian libretto by Domenico Ol-
iva and Luigi Illica, based on one
of the greatest novels of the 18th
century, L’ histoire du Chevalier
des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut
by Abbe Prevest. First perform-
ance:Teatro Regio, Turin, 1893.
His third opera, and first success.
June 2, 6, 10
Wiener Staatsoper
1., Opernring 2
(01) 51444 2250
MUSICALS
SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER
(in ENGLISH)
The Hot and funky 70’s are back
with an exciting performance on
the stage of Wiener Stadthalle.
Descend into a colorful realm of
Disco with the greatest hits of
the Bee Gees, including “Night
Fever,” “Staying Alive,” and “You
Should be Dancing.”
May 16-28, 20:00
Wiener Stadthalle, Halle F
15.,Vogelweidplatz 14
(01) 98 100/0
service@stadthalle.com
www.stadthalle.com
LA CAGE AUX FOLLES
(in GERMAN)
A provocative comedy musical
by Jerry Herman. In sunny St.
Tropez the extravagant family of
Georges, owner of the legendary
night club “La Cage” is about to
face an intricate challenge that
would change the life of his son
Michel.
May 12, 19:00
Volksoper Wien
9., Währingerstraße 78
(01) 514 44 30
tickets@volksoper.at
www.volksoper.at
SCHLAF (GERMAN)
A couple, in search of a new
apartment enters an empty room.
They dream of a new life with
their happy family. At the same
time a second couple enters the
room, but their future projection
is dim. Finally, an old man enters
the room… Dreams of the young,
experience of the old, and fragil-
ity of the life itself converge in an
exciting musical by Jon Fosse, di-
rected by Luc Bondy.
Black Brown and White
May 15-20, 20:00; May 21,
19:00; May 27, 20:00; May 28,
19:00
Akademietheater
3., Lisztstraße 1
(01) 514 44 4140
info@burgtheater.at
www.akademietheater.at
THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS
(in ENGLISH)
Written by one of the greatest an-
cient Greek tragedians, Sophocles,
Oedipus (Do you mean The Gos-
pel at Colonus?) at Colonus tells
the story of Oedupus’ tragic life.
Blinded and doomed for exile, he
seeks a place where he can finally
rest in peace.
In this original production, a phil-
osophical narrative is combined
by the brightest voices of New
York gospel chior and world-fa-
mous soul band, The Blind Boys
of Alabama.
June 14-15, 21:00; June 16-17,
21:30
Gustav Adolf Kirche
6., Lutherplatz 1
(01) 597 34 30
gumpendorf@evang.at
www.wvb-evang.at
NOTE: This performance is
based on the ancient Greek myth
“Oedipus at Colonus”, while the
musical arrangement is presented
in the form of gospel (choir with
religious motifs). Hence, the
name of the event is “The Gospel
at Colonus”.
JAZZ CONCERTS
MONIKA STADLER
“Vom Barock zum Jazz”
Monika Stadler is an Austrian
harp player who initially special-
ized in classical music, but is now
successfully using her instrument
for fine jazz tunes. She manages

to delicately mix classical music,
jazz improvisation and influences
of foreign cultures. Good show.
May. 28, 14:00
Liechtenstein Museum Wien,
Herkules Saal
9., Fuerstengasse 1
(01) 31957670
info@liechtensteinmuseum.at
www.liechtensteinmuseum.at
DIANNE REEVES WITH
RUSSEL MALONE
& ROMEO LUBAMBO
Dianne Reeves a.k.a “The Queen
of Jazz” is back in Vienna. Several
shows that Reeves really walks in
the footsteps of Sarah Vaughana or
Ella Fitzgerald. This time she will
be accompanied by two extraordi-
nary guitarists. Russel Malone who
already supported the programs of
Mary Connick jr. and Diana Krall,
as well as Romero Lumbambo who
has lent his talent to artists such as
Maria Monk and Al Jarreau.
May. 16, 19:30
(01)242002
3., Lothringerstrasse 20
ticket@konzerthaus.at
www.konzerthaus.at
ULRICH DRECHSLER JAZZ
QUARTETT
Saxaphonist Tord Gustavson has
broken out of the back up band to
present present his own music in
his own personal style, described
as bring his experiences, people
and locations now coming to life
in his own blend.
Mai. 29, 19:30
(01)242002
Human & Places
3., Lothringerstrasse 20
ticket@konzerthaus.at
www.konzerthaus.at
INSEN: ALVA NOTO
& RYUICHI SAKAMOTO
Sakamoto plays the piano parts,
while Alva Noto refines the tunes
via digital post-production. This
is done in a subtle way which
leaves enough of the soft piano
notes to surface. Their music can
be described as a successful and
rare combination of free associa-
tion and dreamlike beauty.
Jun. 29, 20:30
‘Schlaf ’ at Akademietheater, by Jon Fosse, directed by Luc Bondy
Halle E Museums Quartier.
(0820)600600
7., Museumsplatz 1/5
mqpoint@mqw.at
www.mqw.at/news.en.html
ROCK CONCERTS
LOCAL HEROES BAND
CONTEST FINALE
The last stage of the show will be
held in Viennese Arena. The show
is about young bands and new
hopes of Austrian music scene.
Influences and styles of bands
range from pop, hip-hop, to rock
and electro music. The show will
culminate in late May where win-
ners will pick their prize.
May, 27, 20:00
Arena Wien
3, Baumgasse 80
(01) 798 85 95
arena@arena.co.at
www.arena.co.at
30 JAHRE ARENA OPEN AIR
In June, Viennese Arena is cel-
ebrating 30 years of existence, so
during the month every few days
various bands will be performing
for the anniversary, local as well
as foreign. Some of the perform-
ing bands are Papermoon, Denk,
Texta, Tito & Tarantula, Arctic
Monkeys, Hatebreed, etc.
June, 01-28, 18:00
Arena Wien
3, Baumgasse 80
(01) 798 85 95
arena@arena.co.at
www.arena.co.at
DIE KILLERPILZE
Die Killerpilze are very young
Austrian punk-rock band. Age of
band is between 13 and 17 years.
They have produced and com-
posed their debut album them-
selves and been touring the coun-
try for some time already. Their
Debut single has appeared on 21st
of April called “Richtig Scheisse”.
Really young hopes of Austrian
punk-rock scene.
May, 26, 20:00
Planet Music
Vienna Events
20, Adalbert-Stifter-Strasse 73
(01) 332 46 41-0
office@planet.tt
LECTURES
MOZART’S ENLIGHTMENT
By Peter Gay
Yale University Professor Peter
Gay will present a fresh overview
of the period in which Mozart
worked, suggesting ways that this
new social and political environ-
ment influenced Mozart and
continues to frame wide-ranging
debates on religion, politics, and
personal identity.
May 2, 19:00
Vienna City Hall, Festsaal
1., Lichtenfelsgasse 2, Feststiege I
(01) 4000
office@wienmozart2006.at
CLEANSING THE NATION
AL BODY: PUBLIC HEALTH,
WELFARE AND “RACIAL HY-
GENE” IN WWII VIENNA
By Herwig Czech
In accordance with the National
Socialists’ racist and biologist
views, Nazi medicine did not
concern itself with care for the
sick, but with the protection of
the ‘national body’ and in par-
ticular with keeping the ‘national
genotype’ pure. Human life was
subjected to a relentless cost-ben-
efit analysis.
May 17, 14:30
The Institute for Human Scienc-
es, Library
9., Spittelauer Lande 3
(01) 313 58 - 109
Sabine Assmann,
assmann@iwm.at
www.iwm.at
DOMESTIC PLAN PRODUC-
TIVITY AND MARGINAL SP-
ILLOVERS FROM FOREIGN
DIRECT INVESTMENT
By Carlo Altomonte of Bocconi
University, Milan, will give an in-
sight into the real option theory of
investments and its implications,
which were empirically tested by
the author himself through a de-
veloped database of foreign direct
investment (FDI) operations in
Central and Eastern Europe.
May 18, 16:00
The Institute for International
Economic Studies,
Seminar Room
1., Oppolzergasse 6
(01) 533 66 10 24
Julia Woerz, woerz@wiiw.ac.at
www.wiiw.ac.at
THE “SCIENCE OF CON-
SCIOUSNESS”? : A CRITIQUE
OF NATURALISTIC THEO-
RIES OF THE MIND
By Thomas Szanto
The efforts made in contempo-
rary cognitive science towards
the establishment of a naturalistic
framework for phenomenology
are undoubtedly of significant sci-
entific relevance.
May 24, 14:00
The Institute for Human Scienc-
es, Library
9., Spittelauer Lande 3
(01) 313 58 - 109
Ms. Assmann,
assmann@iwm.at
www.iwm.at
NETWORK OR CENTER? :
Spanish Riding School
REMEMBERING FORCED
MIGRATION IN EUROPE
By Claus Leggewie, Philipp Ther
Forced migration has accompa-
nied religious and political per-
secution, as well as war, through-
out human history but has only
become a topic of serious study
and discussion relatively recently.
Contemporary internal and inter-
national displacement of persons
will be discussed in comparison to
the historical ones.
June 1, 14:30
Institute for Human Sciences,
9., Spittelauer Lande 3
(01) 313 58 - 109
Sabine Assmann,
assmann@iwm.at
www.iwm.at
CONFIGURATION III: WHAT
THE WORLD THINKS IS
IMPOSSIBLE
Those in 18th century Viennese
society seen as “figures” or “ob-
jects”- a historical narrative al-
most unchanged to this day. How
Black women, men and children
of those times resisted and how
they developed forms of breaking
out and persistence.
June 21, 19:00
Kuffner Sternwarte
16., Johann Staud Strasse 10
(01) 914 81 30
remapping.mozart@initiative.
minderheiten.at
http://remappingmozart.mur.at/
SPORTS
HORSE RACING
Top horse racing weekends at
the Magna Racino, 15 kilome-
tres south outside from Vienna
in Ebreichsdorf. You can watch
the horse races from a classical
tribune browse through the ra-
cino area,don`t forget to bet on
your favourite horse and feel the
spirit of Englands famous Ascot.
Noblesse oblige, so please dress
properly, even if the races start in
the morning you will be expected
to dress.
Every Saturday and Sunday
morning, but starting time differs
a little bit, so check the details on
their webpage:
www.magnaracino.at
YOGA
For the stressed and burned out
after too many parties in your last
term. You might just ease your soul
and body with a little oga. Close
to Webster University the Holmes
Place Life Style Club offers now
special Yoga sessions twice a week.
You will get addicted to this relax-
ation soon. And after your session
take a swim at Vienna`s pool with
the most spectacular view over the
whole city..
On the Town 15
Holmes Place
22; Wagramer Strasse 17-19
(01) 263 8989
www.holmesplace.at
BIKING IN VIENNA
The cheapest way to combine
workout with sightseeing. There
are different routes in Vienna with
special biking paths, you can bike
around the ring, or if you want to
fill your lungs with fresh air enjoy
the Donauinsel, where no cars
are permitted. As a service to all
guests and residents alike, bikes
are available for rent at special sta-
tions in Vienna, with a credit card
inserted in an automat. The first
hour is free.
For rental stations and routes see:
www.wien.gv.at/verkehr/rad-
fahren/stadtrad/
SPECIAL EVENTS
VIENNA FESTWOCHEN
This year’s Wiener Festwochen
offer presentations From coun-
tries like China, South Africa,
Sweden, France and music, art
Tito Tarantula appearing at the ‘30 Years-Arena’ Festival
and theatre many more. A special
highlight will be the production
of Sophocles’ tragedy “Oedipus”
in a new version by the Gospel at
Colonus.
May 12 – Jun. 18
Fr – Sun 10:00 – 21:00
Musikverein Wien
Börsendorferstr. 12
(01) 5892222
www.festwochen.at
kartenbuero@festwochen.at
BALKAN FEVER 2006
This is the only music festival
from the Balkan. Not to miss is
the guitar music by the Trio in-
fernal presenting old Macedonian
folk music.
Apr. 21 – May 14
Various locations
(0699) 1 9131411
www.balkanfever.at
office@gamuekl.org
MUSEUMS QUARTIER
In the whole yard of MQ there
will be anchorages offering the
opportunity to relax and drink.
There will be music and fashion
highlights like Brazilian festival
and the Modepalast 06.
May 4 – Sept. 30
Museums Quartier
(0820) 600600
www.mqw.at
office@mqw.at
MOZART ON FILM
The Austrian Film Archive invites
guests to dig deep into the back
shelves to see a fine list of film por-
traits of the composer in honor of
his 200th birthday. Countless ver-
sions: classic, bizarre, modern and
romantic, of the life of Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart.
Reservations required.
Jun. 16, 16:00
Filmarchiv Austria
(01) 332 36 94
www.kultur.park.augarten.org
office@kultur.park.augarten.org
OTHER
ENTERTAINMENT
THE SPANISH RIDING
SCHOOL
This is the oldest and last riding
school that still practices classic
riding in its pure and original
form, right down to the attire.
Senior instructors demonstrate
the classic equestrian rearing of
the Lipizzan horses from young
stallions to the fully trained hors-
es. This is presented with a com-
mentary on history, tradition, and
breeding of these special horses.
This presentation gives insight
into the ‘Secrets of the Spanish
Riding School.’
Shows run year round.
1., Michaelerplatz 1
Prices range from 20-160 euros.
(01)533 90 31-13
(01)533 90 31-40
evamaria.schoebinger@srs.at
www.spanische-reitschule.com
ARCHAEOLOGICAL PARK
CARTNUNTUM
Celebrating the 2000 anniver-
sary of the former Roman town
of Cartnuntum, the archaeologi-
cal park that sits in this former
Roman town is opening a large
exhibit on Legionsadler and Bru-
idenstab (Roman Eagle and Druid
Staff). The Cartnuntum Museum
is located just outside of Vienna at
Bad Deutsch-Altenburg. Visitors
can experience the rapid develop-
ment from a military camp to one
of the most important cities of the
Roman Empire. Computer anima-
tions assist in this time travel to
ancient eras.
March 21-November 12
Hauptstraße 3,
2404 Petronell-Carnuntum,
(2163)33 77 0
www.carnuntum.co.at
CRUISE TO WACHAU
Every Sunday the MS Admiral
Tegetthoff travels between Vienna
and the Wachau. There are short
stops in Korneuburg, Tulln and
Krems, before a final 2 hour stop
in Durnstein before returning to
the Vienna.
Every Sunday from May 14 to
September 24, 8:35
Reichesbrucke, DDSG Schif-
fahrtszentrum, Handelskai 365,
Vienna (U1 Vorgartenstrasse)
Price: 22 Euros
www.ddsg-blue-danube.at
16 On the Town
‘Beauty De Luxe’
Ms. Pretty Goes to a Cosmetics Trade Fair and
Finds Herself Trapped in a Kafka-esque Nightmare
By Ruta Kurselyte
After a cold winter and slow
spring this year, we decided to
visit a widely advertised (in Vor-
magazin, at U-bahn) Beauty
de Luxe exhibition at the Wien
Messezentrum, and sent our best
‘man, “Ms. Pretty,” who knew her
way around this mad world of
marketable aesthetics, and articles
of must-have-style.
The website promised a lot:
new trends in plastic surgery,
the sun-tan shower (the one that
is explicitly shown in new Pink
video “Stupid Girls”), state-of-
the-art professional make up and
hair dressing, and other exciting
things.
“Wow”, thought Ms. Pretty,
“that looks like a place to start a
spring shape-up.”
At the Wienerin magazine
booth, visitors were welcomed
with a gift subscription of two free
issues and a glass of champagne.
People were smiling and seemed
to be really enjoying the event.
Already?
A solarium-ed girl in vulgar high heels took the stage for body painting. All body – that was it. No clothes.
Ms. Pretty came to a big
room filled with bubbling con-
versations, polished nails and the
buzz of a tattooing machine and,
and music from some far-away
stage. Colorful bottles with magi-
cal creams and cure-all vitamins
filled the bright displays; up-beat
sounds spilled out from speakers
hanging from the ceiling.
The whole event seemed alive
– maybe a bit too alive.
“Where to start?” Ms. Pretty
thought for a second, when she
was accosted by a countrified
woman with a very loud voice
insisting she should try a gooey,
ketchup-like spread slathered
across a piece of bread. “All natu-
ral,” apparently, with special vita-
mins and other mysterious ingre-
dients. “Ketchup? But I thought
this was a beauty exhibition!” Ms.
Pretty was getting confused.
Maybe a foray by brand was
not such a bad idea. So off she
went – to a Panasonic booth of-
fering big massaging chairs, which
many were already enjoying. Well,
no, that wasn’t what Ms. Pretty
was looking for.
Suddenly a plastic model
appeared right in front of her
wrapped all around with colorful
bandages and covered hand and
foot with plastic bags. A most
charming man in a tasteless tie
and badly-cut suit launched into
a fast patter in German describing
the wrappings – showing some
pictures of bubbles that were sup-
posed to be human cells and tox-
ins between them and how magi-
cal those bandages are and so on
and on…
“What are these plastic bags
for?” asked Ms. Pretty.
“For those toxins to collect
after they come out of patient’s
skin,” the man explained. Impres-
sive. And slightly disgusting… By
looking closer at those bags, our
reporter found the brand – “Top-
pits” cooling bags.
“Well thanks,” she smiled
sweetly, and walked away, nearly
crashing into a woman toasted
to a golden brown by a solarium
(which the magazines now admit
is not entirely healthy…). She
forced a piece of paper at Ms.
Pretty to fill in, so, if she were
lucky, she could win some fantas-
tic machine not unlike a vacuum
cleaner, to purify the air in her liv-
ing room. The woman tossed in a
piece of candy as compensation.
Time to move on. Faces were
changing and loud voices compet-
ing – and frustrations rising. From
all sides, colorful pamphlets were
flying, offering to lengthen and/or
thicken hair, get rid of cellulite, or
improve your career success with
the help of some magic magnets
worn an hour per day. Or was it
two hours…?
Then suddenly, eyes turned
to the stage, where a show of posh
hairdressing was getting under
way. It looked funny: young girls
pretending to be podium super
stars and one very arrogant hair-
dresser dispensing trade secrets.
One girl had to get down on her
knees while her hair was being
done – all this for beauty?
Beginning to tire, Ms. Pretty
headed for the bar that was situat-
ed right in front of the stage, just
in time to take in a Girl Band of
six dressed in fashionable hip-hop
outfits trying to dance to the hit
song “Can I Have It Like That”
by Pharrell and Gwen Stefani, but
never quite catching the beat.
“Do those singers know what
their song is being used for?” won-
dered the reporter.
Later things got a little better.
A very tall, very solarium-ed girl
in very vulgar high-heels, the ones
that strip dancers wear so proudly,
and a string took the stage – a
model for body painting. All body
– that was it. No clothes.
Ms. Pretty looked at her
watch, then at the band of dancers
that were surely not older than 16,
“The birds just didn’t sound right,” in a sightless world. Charlie Chaplin greets a blind girl in City Lights
then again at her watch…
“Where were the censors
Dialog im Dunkeln
when we needed them?” she won-
dered. But nobody was listening.
Thank God. Nobody would have
understood her anyway. What do
they care about mental beauty?
Overall, this was all about THE
Discovering First Hand What it Really Means to be Blind
BODY.
All in all, it was getting to be By Paul Krauskpf
too much. Did you ever wonder what it
Ms. Pretty was just heading was like to be blind? What it was
towards the exit when a petite like to spent your time - from
Asian girl crossed her way. “Let walking around in your living
me tell you about acupuncture,” room, to visiting a crowded bar
she said, taking Ms. Pretty’s fin- - in complete darkness? It seemed
ger, put on it a little angled circle impossible at first, but once you’re
made of wires and starting to pull- exposed to it for over 45 minutes,
ing it up and down, while going you learned to adjust. “Dialog im
Dunkeln” catapults into a numb
world of sounds, smells and
touches. While leading through
an obstacle course that would’ve
usually been a daily routine, it
made you instantly dependant on
one person. In my case, her name
was Maria.
After we had paid the 7,50�
we were huddled into a group
of 5.We headed down the stairs,
Courtesy of Ruta Kurselyte
a wide, gradually descending
aisle adjusted for the blind, and
stopped at a dimly lit corridor
marking the entrance to the world
of darkness. We were each handed
a white cane, shown how to hold
it about 20 cm away from our
bodies and make a semi-circle
while walking.
Easy – until I tried to do it.
on about its useful effects for “eve- The cane was to become one
rything in one’s life.” Ms. Pretty wiggly pointing stick, a measure
felt a little sick. Besides her fingers of my uncertainty as I stumbled
had started hurting from the sharp about in the dark trying to make
angles of those idiotic circles. But out objects a meter away from us.
the Asian girl was looking some- As soon as the dim light
where off in the distance and just turned green, we walked in to
talking, talking, talking… meet our (blind) guide Maria.
“Two circles cost 12 euros, but The first meeting wouldn’t be in
for you I can give both for 10,” my world, but in hers-- in the
she whispered conspiratorially. dark. After a minute of clumsy
But Ms. Pretty had already step-by-stepping and grabbing for
turned her back and was head- a handrail, I heard the voice that
ing for the exit, her head spin- would become very familiar in the
ning from all these smells, faces, next 45 minutes.
sounds and colorful packages. It We would participate in
took another 10 minutes wander- what it was like to live a day in
ing through the bewildering floor her life, emphasizing she had said
plan, before she finally found the participate, not experience. There
door. The exit was probably hid- were seven of us, which suddenly
den on purposely, she mused, seemed like a lot.
so unhappy customers end up In case we got lost, we were
trapped in this Kafka-esque night- to just call out her name and she
mare. would come get us. There were a
Finally outside, she breathed few giggles of nervous laughter.
in the fresh air, thought nostalgi- Shouting out for help to a person
cally about a bike ride in the park we’d just met? What other choice
on a Sunday morning and juicy did we have.
apples from the market, experi- I blinked; my eyes tried hard
ences that could actually work to focus; Open or shut, there was
bigger miracles than all those no change.
magical soaps and creams, most First encounter; the forest.
likely boiled up in a witches caul- They had avoided any brush or
dron somewhere deep in the for- rough ground, branches or fallen
ests of Poland. logs lying around to trip over,
but the trees, the grass, the smells
and even the miniature waterfall
were real. As far as I could hear.
Although the birds somehow just
didn’t sound right.
From the beginning the lack
of dimension made it impossible
to walk in a straight line. I ran
around like Frankenstein, holding
onto everything I found in order
to compensate for the loss of my
vision. Maria quickly became the
safe haven, when it was time to
end the “ten step expedition to
the left”. As soon as we were com-
pletely lost we shouted out her
name and she would firmly grab
our arm and lead us further along
the way.
I realized later that the for-
est, even with all its intensive
sounds and smells, was an easier
world to decipher than man
made environments because of
the high contrasts.
Not so the gate to an un-
known house, our next station,
where merely finding the entrance
would have been impossible with-
out Maria.
Lumbering through the house
out the back door, we were forced
to cross an intersection on the
way to our bus stop. The board-
walk ended abruptly, causing us to
bump into one another while try-
ing to line up at the traffic light.
The slow clicking signalled us
a green light, so we crossed in a
manner that would have caused
hysterical laughter in broad day-
light. The bus was clearly a hy-
draulic construction of some
sort, but Maria refused to admit
to any ruse, and insisted it was a
real bus.
She didn’t want us only going
through the motions.
After another stop at the
greengrocer we hit the bar. Here
we met other groups and were
supposed to interact. Yet the help-
lessness and disorientation made
small talk almost impossible. Af-
ter five minutes of silent interac-
tion in the dark, Maria called us
to a table.
Like little kids, we toddled in
her direction, kicking over chairs
and hitting our knees on table-
legs. From around the bar guides
yelled out their names, and groups
of 4-5 grown up men and women
trudged towards them like in the
movie March of the Penguins.
Sitting around the table
Maria calmly answered questions
and shared anecdotes. I ordered a
beer and when asked what it was.
“Ottakringer,” Maria answered
quickly. In a moment of cocki-
ness, I ripped off the label. It’s
what I do with every bottle, but
what was the point this time when
I couldn’t even see it?
After an hour in the world of
darkness, it all ended as abruptly
as it had started. Suddenly around
the corner there was light and in-
stantly the cane, which had been
so essential, became a useless stick
again, our steps firm and the pace
fast. We were welcomed by a
warm, dimly lit hall and involun-
tarily, several shouted out:
“Licht!”
Maria slowed her pace as we
rushed towards it, and I wondered
what it was like for her to expe-
rience that every day, to be left
behind by her once-helpless flock
as they returned as masters to the
world of light. It was then that
we saw Maria for the first time, a
young woman in her late 20’s with
curly hair and a warm face. Now
the situation was reversed and
suddenly Maria seemed helpless
and vulnerable.
We thanked her and went on
our way into a world of color that
now seemed dense, full of high
contrasts and a grey sky that had
a new shimmer to it I didn’t re-
member seeing before.
Vision is the sense we use for
80% of our perception, Maria had
told us. Now that I had gained it
back, it seemed like a superpower.
And just as I was looking
around, astonished at all the
detail, I remembered the beer
label that must still be in my
pocket. I took it out and un-
folded the paper.
It was not Ottakringer, but a
random brand I had never heard
of. I mused over the many reasons
for this. But in the end, in came
down to the fact that I had be-
lieved her and so experienced the
vulnerability of being blind.
I had really tasted the familiar
brand of beer – or thought I had
– merely because someone else
had told me it was so.
Not until I could see again,
could I even argue or question
what Maria had told me. I was
glad, no, unendingly grateful,
that I was able to leave this state
of complete dependency behind.
 add for Webester-3.ai 3/29/2006 11:37:11 AM

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the petroleum industry.
18 Arts & Letters
“When I think about it, I don’t
know anything about him --
Although he likes to talk,” Eva
Braun muses. “He’s changed so
much. He only talks about dogs
and vegetarian meals.”
In the 2002 German docu-
mentary, Blind Spot: Hitler’s
Secretary, Traudl Junge talked of
him as a father figure.
“I admit, I was fascinated
by Adolf Hitler,” she tells the
interviewer. “He was a pleasant
boss and a fatherly friend. I de-
liberately ignored all the warn-
ing voices inside me and enjoyed
the time by his side almost until
the bitter end. It wasn’t what he
said, but the way he said things
Bruno Ganz as Adolf Hitler greeting new recruits in Oliver Hirschbiegel’s film of the Führer’s last days
and how he did things.”
Hilter seems to have the
same influence on his under-
be such a caring person. But then
he says… such brutal things.
– When he’s the Führer.”
As much as Eichinger tries
to humanize him, Hitler is still
the “monster” while doing busi-
ness.
“If there’s a battle in Berlin,
we’ll fight to the last man,” Hit-
ler barks. “We can’t worry about
these so-called civilians now. In
a war like this there are no civil-
ians.”
When Albert Speer begs him
to spare the German people, he
again is cold-blooded: “If my
own people fail this test,” he
says, “I will shed not one tear
for them. They deserve nothing
else. It’s their own destiny. They
themselves are to blame.”
Performances in the film
I thought you have to show it.
That’s what I did. […] It is not
humanizing. I think it’s rather
responsible. I say, ‘a closer look.’
And maybe this is the thing to
do in these days. What Chap-
lin did many, many years ago
[in The Great Dictator] was to
make him ridiculous. That was,
at that time, the right thing to
do. But not now.”
“So I was looking for the
center of this evil, and I didn’t
find a heart. I found a hole, or
[an] emptiness.”
Eichinger is convinced that
Hitler produced his own final
scene ‘completely and conscious-
ly.’ He only made other people
believe that they would come
out victorious, but he knew it
was over. He planned his down-

The Downfall lings, as you can see from a con-

Was Germany Ready to See Hitler as a Movie Star?
by P.C. Prebensen
and J. Hein
Whatever else it was, director
Oliver Hirschbiegel’s decision to
make The Downfall was daring.
Would anyone want to watch a
film that humanized Adolf Hil-
ter? Critics in the United States
were favorable on the whole, but
wondered whether it could win
an Oscar (it didn’t). In Europe,
however, and especially in Ger-
many, Hirschbiegel faced criti-
cism and even antipathy.
The Downfall focuses on
Hitler’s last days in his bunker
in Berlin in 1945, drawing on
Joachim Fest’s Inside Hitler’s
Bunker, Inside the Third Reich,
the memoirs of Hitler’s architect
Albert Speer, and interviews and
autobiography of his personal
secretary Traudl Junge. Scenes
inside Hitler’s legendary bunker
were shot on a rebuilt set in Mu-
nich. Exteriors took place in St.
Petersburg.
Directed by Oliver Hirsch-
biegel, produced and written
by Bernd Eichinger, the film
is a milestone in German film
history. Germans had never
dramatized Hitler. If he was
represented at all, he was shown
for fractions of a second, seen
from the rear or from a distance,
and nearly always without text.
It was an unspoken agreement:
the dread of showing a man who
had controlled the fantasies of
Germans perhaps more than any
other historical figure to date.
With Eichinger’s fine screen-
play, Hirschbiegel’s The Down-
fall shows Hitler as a multidi-
mensional character, giving him,
in effect, a starring role.
But have they humanized
Hitler? Or are they just showing
a side of him that they believe
must have existed on some level?
Despite his being a monster – a
matter that is not questioned by
the film – the portrait assumes
that there must have been a rea-
son why so many Germans fol-
lowed him.
To realize what this film
means to Germans, focus has
to be put on the choice of the
63-year-old Swiss actor Bruno
Ganz – one of the most beloved
actors of contemporary German
cinema, to play Adolf Hitler.
Ganz/Hitler enters the action to
receive a very young, poised but
nervous Traudl Junge (Alexandra
Maria Lara), who has come to be
interviewed for a job as his per-
sonal secretary. It is November,
1942. The job applicants
had been coached: No Nazi
salute, the attaché tells them.
“The Führer isn’t recruiting you
as soldiers, he’s looking for a sec-
retary…Just be natural.”
Thus the first time we meet
Hitler, we see him not as a brutal
leader -- wandering and scream-
ing, ignoring the hopeless situ-
ation and oblivious to the suf-
fering of his population – but
as a private person, considerate
towards his female staff and his
dog, and his vulnerability in se-
cluded moments.
He thanks them for coming
in the middle of the night. “In
war,” he explains, “we aren’t al-
ways masters of our time.” And
he reassures his new secretary.
“Don’t be nervous,” he says. “I
make so many mistakes when
I dictate. You’ll never make as
many as I do.”
But still, he is complicated.
versation between Walter Hewel
(Gerald Alexander Held), diplo-
mat in the Foreign Ministry, and
Prof. Dr. Ernst-Günter Schenck
(Christian Berkel), a doctor:
“He made me swear a vow.
That I would kill myself the
moment the Russians captured
me. – Hitler made you promise
to kill yourself? But why? – He
probably didn’t want me to be
forced to speak negatively of
him.”
It seems a paradox, that
Hewel would be grateful while
receiving a poison capsule from
Hitler. The film tries to imply
that Hitler gives him the capsule
out of good will, and not to stop
up a leak. When his people do
not follow him, Hitler seems
hurt, as when Albert Speer (Hei-
no Ferch) comes to say good-
bye and admits abandoning his
command. After he leaves, Hit-
ler starts crying and stares at the
wall. We also see signs of regret,
as Hitler leaves the screen: “To-
morrow millions of people will
curse me, but fate has taken its
course.”
So it is his role as Fuhrer, the
film suggests, that transforms
this man, so considerate in pri-
vate, into a monster.
“It seems he doesn’t want
anyone to see inside him. I mean
deep inside,” Eva Braun says to
Traudl Junge. “In private, he can
are universally strong. However
Ganz’ performance can only be
described as astonishing, begin-
ning with an unnerving photo-
graphic resemblance to Hitler
– wig and moustache perfect, his
permanent stoop, the trembling
and twitching of a sick man,
many now suspect he suffered
from Parkinson’s disease.
But most outstanding per-
haps is his accent, a mix of Aus-
trian and Bavarian, that Ganz
imitates very realistically, cap-
turing the rage, one hand placed
behind his back, his voice rising,
his breath getting shorter as his
body stiffens and suddenly ex-
plodes. To regain his calmness,
he slicks back his messy part of
hair in his famous pose.
There is only one known re-
cording that exists of Hitler in
a normal conversation, at Field
Marshall Gustaf Mannerheim’
75 birthday in 1942, unaware
of being recorded. Ganz studied
this unique tape thoroughly.
“If I had not felt sympathy
for the character and had not
managed to make the audience
feel sympathy for the creature
Hitler, then I would have failed
in my job as an actor,” Ganz
told NBC News. Ganz does not
question that he was an evil per-
son. But Ganz also believes, that
behind the brutal facade there
was more.
“If you dare to discover that,
fall with a clear view of history.
“He produced it, and if you
want to be cynical, you could
say, that he was the best director
for this you can imagine.”
However, many in the Ger-
man press were unhappy. “Are
we allowed to show the mon-
ster as a human being?” screen
writer Eichinger remembered
reading. But how frighten-
ingly normal it is,” he says on
the film’s website, “for Hitler
to pet his dog and at the same
time give out instructions that
cost hundreds of thousands
their lives.
“Some day, we have to be
capable of telling our own his-
tory.”
Oliver Hirschbiegel agrees.
“It’s an obligation, really. I
think we as Germans have the
obligation to show him as he
was. I think we owe this to the
millions and millions of vic-
tims. They have not been killed
by an evil creature. They have
been killed, on purpose, with
industrialized means, and any-
thing else is to me nonsense.”
One final irony: Many
Germans had problems under-
standing Hitler’s speeches be-
cause of his accent and explo-
sive style. Bruno Ganz did his
job so well, that when our Ger-
man friends gathered to watch
the movie, we had to turn on
the subtitles.

Music Review would be great if he would again. work. Though he sings one for- the rhythm guitarist, weren’t on on his drums, Smelly’s drum work
And though the lyrics are gettable Spanish ditty with sam- board as well. This CD gives more has the power to make you say

Aging Punks
Getting Old and Giving a Big “60%”
by Mazin Elfehaid
After three years of silence,
punk-rock band NoFX is back
with their 10th studio album in
two decades. Entitled Wolves in
Wolves Clothing, it’s a fast paced
punk rock frenzy that is in many
ways what their previous release,
The War on Errorism, should have
been.
The last album received a
tepid reaction from critics and
longtime fans, and while this lat-
est album, released late April, has
some of the same weaknesses, it is
in many ways a much more solid
piece of work.
It does take some getting used
to though. At first, it seemed like
another “medio-core” album, a
term coined by the band referring
to music with simplistic and un-
original songwriting.
But after several (dozen)
times through the CD player, it
has, much like an acquired taste,
turned out to be a very solid re-
lease.
The bad news first: Nofx
frontman Fat Mike (who also
writes the lyrics) still has a ma-
jor bone to pick with the US’s
Neo-Conservative faction, result-
ing in lyrics that seem more like
agenda-pushing, and are anything
but timeless. Nofx have always
been a socially and politically
critical band. But listening to a
song about how evil George Bush
and his cronies are gets old very
quickly. And it is possible to uni-
versalize the same political points,
and produce songs as timeless as
Bob Dylan.
Fat Mike has done this in the
past on albums like The Decline; it
painfully clichéd at times (“Cul- pled drums, his work as a musi- vocal time to the man whose voice “my god, how does he do that?”
tural revolution / now, neo-con- cian is fun, solid, and surprisingly has been dubbed “the mel-yell.” NoFX has always worked well
servatives run outta town…”), complex. Great guitar solos here But as always, it’s the incred- together as a band, and this album
what’s here is mostly very good. and there, chugging and fast riffs ible synchronization between doesn’t disappoint. Although they
There are songs dealing with what all round, and not a whole lot of Melvin and El Hefe that make the don’t stray too far from the tried-
aging means to the guitar work a joy to and-true, it’s a formula that works
band (they don’t care listen to. The album’s and will always been fun to listen
about it), the horrors title track, along with to. Couple the intensity of the
of a numbing consum- “The Man I killed,” musicians with the pure wit of Fat
er culture, the death and “USA-holes,” are Mike’s lyrics (“No longer svelte
penalty, and people amongst the best stuff / they gotta punch new holes in
who think they can on the CD. the Bible belt,” and “We march to
change the world from One thing that re- the beat of indifferent drum”) and
the comforts of their ally stands out on this you’ve got yourself an explosive,
homes. album is the drums. fun, thought provoking, and yet
Additionally there Erik Sandin has some totally sensory experience.
are the usual “silly of his best drum work Some might accuse NoFX
songs,” this time in the of NoFX’s career of being too comfortable, maybe
form of a 34-second on this release, and even a little played out. The band
ode to a long lost lover, its something that, would probably agree. Their first
a song about Japanese by itself, warrants a song, “60%,” and the song’s re-
hardcore sex bars, and, purchase. Never re- prise, sum up what this album is
believe it or not, a trib- petitive (except for all about: “Welcome to our mis-
ute to all the old punk- Wolves in Wolves Clothing: A solid NoFX release the awful sampling sion statement / total self debase-
rockers who have died on “Contado En Espanol”) ment / and not giving our all.”
over the years. Only NoFX could variety from a tried and true for- Sandin, or ‘Smelly’ as his band- Honesty is a very valuable thing.
make something like that amusing mula give this album a fun, fast- mates have dubbed him, is simply Clearly, giving only about
without it becoming meaningless. paced edge. an amazing drummer. Sometimes 60% is totally ok with all of them,
Lead guitarist El-Hefe gives Of course, NoFX wouldn’t be commenting on the guitar, some- and to be quite frank, NoFX at
the listeners more of his signature half the band it is if Eric Melvin, times almost playing the melody sixty percent still rocks!
 Arts & Letters 19

Literary Encounter
Irving By Accident

Courtesy of Omar Badsha

Happening on the Great Man, but too Impressed to Speak
By Meinrad Knapp
The best things sometimes
happen by accident. I was just
hanging loose one cold and windy
Saturday in March. Well wrapped
up, I was drifting through Vien-
Two men outside their home in an Indian neighborhood of Durban na’s 1st District, maybe to end
up in a coffeehouse, my thoughts
wandering through my mind…
Black, Brown, White I didn’t even mind having to
put my gloves on, when I passed
the back of the Burgtheater and
Free the Bears – that is gifted in
350.000 special-edition copies to
the people of Vienna.
John Irving looks like a busi-
nessman, wears a suit, a tie and a
white shirt. His hair is starting to
grey and his clothes hide a body
Vienna when he was studying lous characters that you fell in
at the Institut für Höhere Eu- love with, who had opened up a
ropäische Studien and shared a new way of looking at things…
flat with a friend in Vienna`s 4 and here he was speaking my lan-
th District. All who are familiar guage. He talked, sipped some
with The World According to water, stopped for a second,
Garp would recognize the mes- searching for the right word.
My head was full of ques-
tions, but my mouth refused to
open. I was afraid of breaking the
magic. I did not want to inter-
rupt the flow, so I decided to let

Courtesy of Claudia Knoepfler

A Photo Exhibition at the Kunsthalle Wien
Gives Insights into Apartheid’s Lasting Effects
by Sean Delaney
Though it has been ten years
since the end of apartheid in
South Africa, the wounds rubbed
raw through so many generations
will take much longer to heal.
The depths of these wounds can
be difficult to grasp from the out-
side, but the powerful photo ex-
hibition “Black, Brown, White,”
at the Kunsthalle Wien, which
runs until June 18th, gives us
some insight into apartheid and
its lasting effects.
The exhibit looks mainly
through the cameras of three pre-
dominant photographers through
three eras are South Africa in the
20th century; Omar Badsha, Dav-
id Goldblatt, and Pieter Hugo,
are among others featured in this
photo exhibition.
David Goldblatt thought of
the camera not as a machine gun,
as some South African photogra-
phers thought, but rather a means
of navigating the complex layers
of society, culture and politics.
One of the pioneers of South Afri-
can photography, Goldblatt came
from a mining town, the setting
for the photos in his first book,
On the Mines (1973).
A second group of photos
portray a white town called Boks-
burg in the 1970s and 80s. A
masterful observer of the social,
economic, and cultural divides,
Goldblatt captured the contrasts
between the life of the white mi-
nority and that of the blacks and
coloreds, whose lives by this time
have been roped off into the same
restricted world.
In one photo, “Saturday
morning at the Hypermarket:
Semi-final of the Miss Lovely Legs
Competition,” (1980), Goldblatt
captures a beauty competition,
the white contestants parading
on an open stage, with a crowd of
colored and black people stand-
ing below gazing up at them. In
another, more modern photo
he shows a black mayor sitting
at a conference table, flanked by
portraits of Nelson Mandela and
other black leaders on the wall be-
hind him.
Omar Badsha, born in Durbin,
South Africa in 1945, and grew up
in a Gujarati Muslim family. A self
taught photographer, he started
his photo journalistic career in the
1960s in high school and released
his first book of photos, Letter to
Farzanah. (1979)
Some of his works from the
Durbin collection Imperial Ghet-
headed for the Burggarten, a the river run. I was just too im-
green, calm and welcoming is- pressed. So, it seemed, were the
land within the city in spring or other journalists. Even the pho-
summer, but depressing if you’re tographers stopped for a time.
there on a windy winter day. The No click, click, just John Irving
to, ironic, because main streets of snow covered most of the garden, telling about 1986, when he had
the ghetto are named for Queen which made it seem even more last come to Vienna to present his
Victoria and other aristocrats silent than it’s unpeopled spaces new book, the Prayer for Owen
and political leaders of the Brit- already were. Meany - when I accidentally fell
ish Empire. A turn to the left, I left the in love, with this story and with
In “Street performer. Victo- Hofburg behind me and headed this writer.
ria Street,” he shows a crowd of downtown. I’m not sure what at- At this time the Austrian
blacks and coloreds – some di- tracted my attention first, Mayor president Kurt Waldheim was on
sheveled, some carrying their lives of Vienna Michael Häupl or the the watch list, accused of being a
on their backs – gathered around man following him, the one sur- member of the SS during World
a juggler in the ghetto, as a black rounded by reporters. But before War II. Irving paid a price for his
police officer watches. I could get close, they had slipped visit in the eyes of American pub-
In “Whitey and friends. Victo- into the Café Griensteidl. lic, alarmed that Irving would
ria Street,” (1979) Badsha showed Luck was with me, though. I support support Waldheim.
a white man surrounded by two picked up a familiar face in the But then I had to leave; I had
blacks. “Why do you look, please crowd; he grinned at me and lost track of the time. Even if I
John Irving honored in Vienna for his novel Setting Free the Bears
help” and “Help? Why Lord?” is I was in. Writer John Irving had taken the day off I still had
written on the wall behind them. – for that’s who it was – author clearly in good shape. If you had sage Garp left for his mother: an appointment I should keep.
Even though this man was white, of best sellers, The World Ac- expected a cozy writer in a tweed “”If you get lost, go to Wien IV, I went outside. The light
he was treated as black because of cording to Garp, Cider House jacket with leather patches and Schwindgasse 15/2.” This was his already had started to fade. My
his poverty. Rules, or my all time favorite A a pullover you would have been real address in Vienna. head was spinning, as I gazed
The youngest of the pho- Prayer for Owean Meany was in disappointed. Irving could eas- There was something surreal around at the cityscape I know so
tographers, Pieter Hugo, was town for the annual celebration ily be mistaken for the CEO of about the whole scene, being just well. I canceled my appointment
born in 1976 in Johannesburg. of literature, “Ein Buch – Eine a large company talking about 15 meters away in the same room and went home, and started to
A self-trained photographer, he Stadt” (One Book – One City). going public and culling support with the person who had created reread Owen Meany.
has focused his work around is- Each year a novel is chosen with a from the Viennese major. such wonderful stories, who had I had a very special voice in
sues of developing countries in particular connection to Vienna Irving talked, in a very like- made stay up the whole night my ear and in my mind. And I
Africa. His most striking photos -- this year, John Irving’s Setting able German, about his time in reading, who had invented fabu- did not want to loose it.
are of three men who have died
from AIDS. In these giant pho-
tos of this giant problem, the
men lie in their caskets, with
A Triumphant Tosca That evening, the sound
was luxuriously rich, seizing the
musicians’ insecurity may be
explained, however, by Sutej’s
only their heads shown. These Deborah Voight Soars Over Ensemble passionate musicality of Puc- having stepped in at the last
final photos in the exhibition cini’s orchestration, engulfing minute. The original conduc-
Problems at the Wiener Staatsoper
are perhaps the most shocking and sweet, at times, so intense tor fell sick.
and hard to shake off. by Ana Simundza such as Napolens’s Battle of that the audience was visibly The lack of coordination
There are also three audio/ Rarely had an opera garnered Marengo are also true to the his- moved. could probably best be seen
video presentations. One on the such open hostility from the toric record. Following singers every in Cavaradossi’s E lucevan le
second floor entitled “Drum. Pho- critics as Puccini’s Tosca when The staging of the Wiener whim of timing can be nigh stele. Despite individual tri-
tojournalism from South Africa,” it premiered in Rome in 1900. Staatsoper production was set on impossible, though, and umphs of both the orchestra
features photos from the early The professional music world under an imaginative, angled one could occasionally hear a and tenor Walter Fraccaro (Ca-
days of Apartheid from photog- was “sickened by the cheapness divider, emphasizing the main second of technical insecurity, varadossi), the phrasing and
raphers like Jürgen Schadeberg, and emptiness” of the score. events in lines and the tempo were on the edge of
who narrates the emotion and un- But the prime judge of To- the front groups of falling apart.
rest in South Africa as Apartheid sca’s immense success turned out without los- instruments As a drama, the acting was
took hold. In “We won’t move, to be the public, who for over ing sight of f a l l i n g presentable and everybody did
Sophiatown,” (1955) Schadeberg a century have been head over the parallel briefly out a decent job. Perhaps bari-
captured these words in graffiti on heels in love with this melodra- h a p p e n i n g s of sync. A tone Alberto Mastromarino, as
a wall, with three black men play- matic jewel of an opera. and context conducting Scarpia, could have been more
ing a game below on the curb. This first tragedy of a new in the back. error? Dis- agile and the brilliant soprano
Of special interest are a series age plays not merely with feel- The set was tracted mu- Deborah Voigt as Tosca more
of photos of Nelson Mandela be- ings but with the most dramatic a perfect bal- sicians? imaginative. For example,
fore he was imprisoned and others expression of deep passions. This ance – lavish Hard to while her lover Cavaradossi
of the Jazz movement in South simple plot has it all - love, jeal- enough to say, and one was being tortured, she sat in
Africa in the 1950s. Among the ousy, murder, politics, and the c o r r e s p o n d of the risks in place, serene and apparently
most dramatic and memorable of lack of aesthetic distance – has to the origi- run rou- unmoved.
these was “Lighting Up” (1953) made Tosca one of the most be- nal early tinely at an Although the singing was
by Schadeberg, showing black loved operas of all time. 19th cen- opera house excellent across the board,
man lighting a cigarette in pitch Tosca is a work of perfection- tury, yetwas that has 54 Voigt and Fraccaro simply tri-
black, his hand cupped around ist musical realism. The morn- also not too operas in ro- umphed. Fraccaro’s classic ten-
Deborah Voight as Tosca
the lighter, with only the flame ing bells of Act 3 required carry- elaborate so tation during or has a special warmth.
lighting his face and the edge of ing the original bells of churches as to distract attention from the the season. A bit of good old He was also the most im-
his hat. surrounding Castel Sant’Angelo plot and the music. rehearsal could do the orches- pressive in his musicality and
Powerful as it is, the exhibit into the opera house. The score is challenging, tra some good. passionate expression and was
is surprisingly not depressing. Puccini learned the pitch of although not for this orchestra However, it was clear from technically impeccable.
It may be in the honesty of the St. Peter’s big bell and pressed that has had it in the repertoire the body language of the or- However, flaws were few
visual narration, that there is his clerical friends for the pitch- for many years. Most players chestra members that conduc- and fleeting. All in all, it was a
such a strong sense of hope for a es and chants. Numerous refer- can probably play at perform- tor Vjekosav Sutej had a strong musically masterful evening of
brighter future. ences to historic figures, events ance level from sight. presence. One part of the Puccinian pathos at its finest.
20 Business & Media
Quaint or Racist?
The Meinl Logo is a Long-Standing Tradition
By Ardalan Maher
The significance of the logo
the ‘Meinl Coffee boy’ says a
lot about Austria. Originally
designed in 1924 by a Viennese
artist Josef Binder, and later
modernized in 1950 by Otto
Exinger, the company describes
the logo as combining “Turkish
Sultanate and Arabic traditions
with those of the Baroque Angels
of European architecture”.
Familiar things easily pass
unnoticed. I have lived in Aus-
tria a long time. And in the Iran
of my childhood, I was never ex-
posed to a so-called “black” or
“colored” population. Perhaps
that is why it was easier to ac-
cept the glamorous historical
significance of the ever popular
“Mohr” figure.
In the earlier portrayals the
boy wears the Fez, as he does
in this 1924 version, a popular
headdress with an attached black
tassel. The boy’s exotic facial
features are clear to the eye, the
classic gold earring, the servant’s
collar with the matching gold
embroiled buttons. The boy is
depicted sipping a coffee, pick-
ing up the cup with one hand.
The color of the figures face
is clearly brown, hinting towards
either someone from an Arabic
or African background, some-
thing quite exotic in 1924. The
image was supposed to give the
viewer a sense of worldliness, a
sense of exoticness, a very popu-
lar cultural outlook towards the
world at a time when traveling
wasn’t as easy as it is today. Cof-
feehouses and Hotels often used
the image of the “Mohr” to give
that seems to go hand in hand
with service, something repre-
senting classic, majestic grace as
well old fashioned charm.
Several decades later, the
logo evolved yet again, losing
the Meinl inscription, just the
figure of the “Mohr” that Aus-
trians had learned to associate
with the company and the coffee
products.
The opening of a Julius
Meinl store in Chicago recently
presented the companz with an
interesting dilemma. What logo
would the store use in America, a
country where the iconography
of a dark-skinned servant, how-
ever exotic, would be a complete
taboo? Products are boycotted
in America when they have the
slightest hint to any racial mi-
nority. Would Meinl change the
figure of such historic signifi-
cance in Vienna?
The logo used in America
looked like this:
The reds remained, but the
their places of establishment a facial color was lightened, to a
worldlier feel. mix between grey and brown,
The new logo is different. The and its structure is in some man-
facial features aren’t displayed as ner more detailed. The back-
accurately as that of the 1924 ground color is completely blue,
image. Here, the boy’s face seems a modern touch, especially for a
to be facing downward, the red company such as Meinl.
collar sticking out from bellow But wouldn’t what forced
his chin more clearly visible, the Meinl to change the logo in
facial color is clearly darker, now America, make it wise to change
closer to black. This in Austria as
simplified logo has well? The glo-
become minimalist, bal definition
showing more by of the term
showing less. The “worldliness” has
reds echo the red changed over the
velvet cushions of a years, and to-
Kaffeehaus, widely day, something
popular in the 20s as common as
and 30s to decorate American Logo the “Mohr” in
public spaces, like the “Café Alt Austria is looked as an insulting
Wien” open since the 1930s, or slight to a minority by others.
the Sacher Hotel. It’s a color As a Middle Easterner my-
self, I find it degrading, especial-
ly after learning about the inten-
tions and history behind it. Like
the political ads of the “FPÖ”,
or the parade of pornography on
the newsstands, this logo seems
needlessly insensitive, giving no
thought to how it might degrade
and aggravate people, making
them feel threatened and dis-
respected by their government.
Austria seems rife with images
that shock.
One would hope
that change and un-
derstanding would
go hand in hand
with moderniza-
tion. And one is
motivated to ask
how a country so
heavily dependant on
tourism could not realize
the backwardness of it all, the
hesitation – evident in the little
things -- towards a more diverse
cultural understanding of the
surrounding world, is what Aus-
tria is lacking. The Viennese will
still buy their coffee, its part of
their culture, but will they ever
try and understand that the logo
on their cup might offend the
people of another country, may-
be an immigrant from Africa,
Morocco, Arabia?
Imagine an Austrian drink-
ing out of a cup with a swastika
on it, or maybe a picture of Adolf
Hitler, Stalin, or Mussolini? Cer-
tainly a disturbing iconographic
image, one that would awaken
awful memories for many Austri-
ans. Minorities feel the same way,
the picture of a black servant can
arouse feelings of shame or fear,
and possibly a sense of hopeless-
ness toward the traumatic his-
tory of his or her peoples.
Image can be astonishingly
powerful. Take the swastika
for example. This is an ancient
Indo-Aryan religious symbol
that in India and China to this
day means “good fortune,” and
can be seen on temples and stat-
uary. But after its use by the Nazi
party, would it be an appropriate
logo for an Indian restaurant in
Vienna?
Julius Meinl has kept the old
logo here in Austria, with the
“Mohr’s” dark face clearly point-
ed downwards, in a servile atti-
tude, common to the slaves
of previous centuries.
And we are reminded
of the depth of the
cultural divide: What
can seem too obvi-
ously shocking to one
society can seem com-
pletely unremarkable to
another.
As S.I Hayakawa said “In
the age of television, image be-
comes more important than sub-
stance.”
The image of the “Mohr”
will probably remain in Austrian
culture, and the people from
around the world who associate
with Austria and Germany, take
it as it is and judge the picture
by what it means to the local
culture, according to the history
of the country they find them-
selves in.
Foreigners accept the Aus-
trian “Mohr” because new global
understanding has made people
more tolerant. Tourists come to
Austria to learn and understand,
even though they might not al-
ways agree with whatever they
see, they respect the culture.
However this doesn’t excuse
Austrians from trying to under-
stand what effect this simple
image is having on their guests;
a good host should always be
humble.
 Business & Media 21
which last year made the largest
Media
initial public offering in Vienna’s
history, worth �1.1 billion, earns
all of its revenue there.
This long association and
CNN‘s New Look
mutual reliance helps the Wiener
Hardly Revolutionary, But at Least it’ s Calmer
Börse to accommodate local sen-
sitivities, as it did in its alliance
with the Budapest exchange.
Rather than an outright takeover, By Sean Delaney thought to be easier to grasp as a
Wiener Börse engineered a deal in Three months after the whole.
which it joined a consortium of launch of CNN International’s But none of this is particu-
banks to purchase 68.6 percent of “new Look,” media profession- larly radical, and is still far from
the Budapest exchange from the als in Europe are left scratching innovations in other markets.
Hungarian brokerages that had their heads. The change from the “CNN still has a long way to
owned it. well know multi/layered, clutter go,” said Dr. Anthony Löwstedt,
So while the Vienna Exchange screen to what some have called a Webster Professor of Media Com-

The Empire Strikes Back:

owns 16 percent directly, it has “minimalist” look, went on the air munication. Al Jazeera, which
also made it possible for the con- in Europe Feb. 5, with some pro- Löwstedt got to know this past
trolling interest to stay in Hungar- gramming available world wide. semester in Palestine, has “simply

Wiener Börse Booming ian hands.

This complex structure pre-
serves the autonomy of the Buda-
What the station heralded as
a “radical break from the norm in
news channels,” observers see it
better graphics, is slicker, and the
movements, music and the cut-
ting (or editing) are all better.”
From a Provincial Past, the Vienna Exchange is Top Performer Worldwide pest exchange, and Michael Buhl, as a late-in-the-game catch up to In breaking news, for exam-
General Director of the Wiener techniques and styles already well ple, “often (on CNN) there is a
by M.T.M. Childs has seen a rise of 285.71%, while major Austrian players like the Börse, is the sole Austrian to sit established elsewhere.. blank screen. This never happens
Behind the inconspicuous the DAX, DJI, FTSE, CAC 40 Raiffeisen Bankengruppe, but also on its board. Assured of its own “This new look is nothing on Al Jazeera.”
façade of a 17th century palais and SMI have remained hover- giants like ABN, AMRO, Merrill autonomy, the Budapest exchange revolutionary,” said Dr. Michael Though there is still a ways to
in the Wallnergasse, tucked be- ing around the same performance Lynch, Templeton and Goldman can keep a firm Hungarian hand Freund, an editor at the Austrian go, Löwstedt has seen improve-
hind the Freyung in Vienna’s First numbers for the past six years (see Sachs, offer mutual funds and on the tiller, allowing it to develop daily Der Standard and Head ments. By shortening the intro-
District, the tiny Wiener Börse is Chart above). other investment products that relationships with local brokerages of the Media Communications ductory music, it now takes much
making big waves. Long trapped As Western European finan- monitor the stocks in the indices as well as fast-growing Hungarian department at Webster Vienna. less time to “get into the news.”
in an economic and political cul de cial markets argued over who will and channel money into the com- companies. “It’s just a good modification of Dr. Löwstedt thinks CNN Inter-
sac surrounded by communism, own whom, exchanges from Vi- panies listed on exchanges east of At the same time, Wiener its screen appearance, more calm, national may just have taken a
things have begun to change. enna to Budapest and Bucharest Vienna. As the banks pay royalties Börse is distributing Budapest’s less stuff moving at the bottom” -- page out of Al Jazeera’s book.
From a low-profile, regional quietly pursued collective interests for use of the Vienna based index- financial data - a vital revenue in fact, far less than the change to Senior vice president Rena
stock exchange that relied on pri- and ambitions for a region whose es, Austrians cash in. source for many exchanges - to the ORF, Austria’s national chan- Golden sees the change as “more
vatizations and long term partner- growth shows no signs of waning. Although the Börse does not companies like Bloomberg and
ships rather than the mergers and The Austrians, and particu- reveal the revenue collected from Reuters in exchange for a cut of
acquisitions of its Western Euro- larly the Viennese, are known these relationships, the net profit the profits. It is also helping the
pean and American counter parts, for their avoidance of confronta- in 2004 reached 6.3 million Eu- Hungarian exchange to create ex-
the Vienna Stock Exchange has tion and this tradition has proved ros and recently posted net profit change-traded funds, investment
emerged as the top performing profitable for the Börse. While for 2005 approaches 15.8 million vehicles that track a single stock
index world wide. others constantly seek cost-effi- Euros. market index but are listed on the
So now, in this former cient consolidation opportunities In the long run, these gains in exchange.
Habsburg administration build- that keep them rooted in mature Eastern Europe reflect the brisk Not every dream of the am-
ing, it has, centuries later, become markets, Vienna and its eastern economic growth since the fall of bitious Viennese financiers has
the hub of the financial life of pre- partners have been building net- communism, made possible by been realized. Hopes that the
cisely those Central and Eastern works to gain from the expansion low starting levels, a highly trained Warsaw Stock Exchange would
European countries that were part they knew was coming. work force and decades of pent up become a third partner in the
of the far-flung adminstrative re- Viennese practice involves demand - and an international network evaporated last year as
gions of the former Austro-Hun- buying direct shareholdings, as will to channel global investment a new Polish government put
garian Empire. when Wiener Börse secured a capital toward the region. privatization of the country’s
And it is in fact these tradi- stake in the Budapest exchange The profit is not one sided. state-owned exchange on in-
tions that help keep business rela- last year. But it also includes many Vienna lends its credibility to definite hold. The share sale was
tionships intact. smaller-scale ventures. less established eastern exchanges envisioned for this year, but the
This is not a coincidence. In February of 2006 exchang- and Vienna’s successes are derived new Polish government - now in
Throughout the years, even under es in Bucharest, Ljubljana, Sophia from their deep dependence on a bitter fight over foreign own-
communism, Austrian businesses and Zagreb, along with Wiener Eastern Europe. ership of Polish banks - offers
maintained steady, low-key rela- Börse agreed to begin publishing Both sides need the other, and little chance of that happening,
tions with Eastern Europe. the South-East European index, they both know it. A full 86% of experts say.
In the early 1990s, there was monitored and compiled in Vi- the companies that compose the However a deal may not be
talk that Vienna could greatly enna, a compendium of the 15 Wiener Börse’s ATX index do far off. Warsaw, with 80 per-
profit from the opening of markets largest copmanies in the region. business in Central and Eastern cent of the market capitalization
in the East. But many thought it Among these other indices de- Europe, with companies like the that Vienna has now and grow-
was just wishful thinking. signed for investors in central Eu- food processor Agrana and the in- ing rapidly, may soon be better nel, ten years ago. evolution than revolution.” She
This time, the skeptics have rope, the Romanian stock index, surer Wiener Städtische deriving placed to negotiate terms with “The ORF was far more radi- said the goal of the change “is to
been proven wrong. After years the ROTX, is calculated and pub- over 30 percent of their revenue the more established Austrians. cal,” Freund said. “(They) estab- ensure that our viewers around
of respectable growth, since 2000 lished by the Wiener Börse. from the region overall. Vienna’s answer to Warsaw lished a calm and cool look. Very the globe, many of whom do not
the
addAustrian
vienna Stock Index ATX
1 17/2/06 18:11 Investment
Page 1 banks including Raiffeisen Bankengruppe, has been to forge ahead with distinct, different from other TV speak English as a first language,
other forms of cooperation in stations, based on several basic understand and engage with the
Central and Eastern Europe. colors and some geometric, most- news we deliver.” In this, she hopes
In January it signed framework ly square, units.” that on CNN International, jour-
agreements with exchanges in The new look – created by nalism can “take center stage.”
Zagreb and Belgrade that should CNN International’s creative Dr. Freund sees the change as
pave the way for indexes like the director Mark Wright, in coop- a distancing from the busy screen
one in Romania. In early April eration with London based inde- developed originally by Bloomb-
Vienna agreed to help Bucharest pendent creative consultant Frank erg Business News, modified with
OFFICE LENDORFF
develop investment vehicles to Lampen, and Mark Haviland, a lot of effects and graphics – a
MÜTZEN, SCHALS
UND TASCHEN channel funds into that market. CNN’s marketing director for style that has become “démodé.”
OFFICE LENDORFF PIXEL-ART WWW.OFFICELENDORFF.COM

MADE IN ENGLAND Five years ago, the interna-
tional contribution to trading
IN WIEN ERHÄLTLICH
BEI BERNHART UND on the Wiener Börse was nearly
GLOOM. zero, but it now accounts for
nearly half of the exchange’s
roughly �10 billion monthly
turnover after the steady promo-
tion of its links with Central and
Eastern Europe. The Austrians
and their partners are now envi-
sioning a future that could bring
the same kind of success to other
exchanges, and build a new re-
gional empire of prosperity in
Central Europe.
Europe, the Middle East, and Af-
rica – sets the new logo on a silver
and gold globe. The new jingle is
shorter and punchier, and many
graphic elements were removed to
“create a cleaner look.”
One of the biggest changes is
the removal of the “ticker” across
the bottom of the screen. This has
been replaced with what CNN
calls a “flicker.”
Instead of full sentences
scrolling across the bottom of
the screen, phrases and sentence
fragments flash as complete units,
It was the over abundance of
these elements, the visual clut-
ter, that had become exhausting
for audiences. With this change,
CNN International has returned
to a purer and simpler form.
“CNN International still uses
a lot of gimmickry, with the many
squares partially covering the
screen,” Freund said. “But there
seems to be an understanding that
viewers want to concentrate on
the main image and not be dis-
tracted too much by supporting
information.”
22 Business & Media

Kenyan Media at Risk

In Spite of Promises for Reform the New Government
has Launched Police Raids on Newspapers and TV

By Issa A. Mansaray that was defeated in a referendum tion of The Standard.

When Kenyans went to the in November. In recent times, Security Minister John Mi-
polls in 2002, they elected Mwai Kibaki’s government has been hit chuki declared that the police
Kibaki as president under the op- my newspaper headlines after al- were simply doing their job. “If
position Rainbow Coalition, thus legation by former corruption ad- you rattle a snake, you must be
ending a quarter-century of rule viser, John Githongo, that govern- prepared to be bitten by it,” he
under former president Daniel ment minister were entrenched in said. Police spokesman Jaspher
Arap Moi. The vote for Kibaki siphoning public funds. Ombati, in a statement on the
was driven by the nations urge for In previous years, Kenya raid, claimed that the media was
political reform and to end cor- has been considered a relatively raided following information that
ruption in high places. safe country for journalists, but it intended to perpetuate ethnic
Now, this new government things have changed of late. In hatred that posed a major threat
– equally intolerant of criticism early February, government of- to national security, reported the
– is going after the media. ficials arrested many journal- East African Standard. However,
In the early hours of March ists, including newsvendors and Police Commissioner Major
2, heavily armed, masked police a receptionist. The raid on The General Hussein Ali under whose
carrying AK-47 assault riffles Standard and KTN followed two name the statement was issued;
raided the printing house of The days after Muahi Kagwe, Infor- was said to be unaware of the raid
Standard daily in Kenya’s capital mation and Communication and the statement. He was on of-
Nairobi, arresting three journal- Minister issued a warning against ficial duty in Seychelles.
ists. Another group of armed media abuse of press freedom. Information minister Mu-
police raided the Kenya Televi- Kagwe also ordered FM stations tahi Kagwe and assistant min-
sion Network (KTN) in central operating in the city and it en- ister Koigi Wa Wamwere also
Nairobi and forced it off the air. virons to relocate their transmit- disassociated themselves with the
The raid, caught on office cam- ters out of the capital. At a press raid action claiming they had no
eras, was replayed on major TV conference, Kagwe said he knew knowledge of it. The police state-
channels across the world. Both noting about the police raid. ment was reportedly released as
media had been critical of the way “We have very strong evidence an after thought.
Kabaki was handling al- “The police
legations of government statement has come
corruption. too late. If the po-

Courtesy of WorldPress.org
The raid caused an lice were genuine it
international uproar and would have issued
huge embarrassment for that statement in the
the Kenyan government, morning immedi-
especially after mak- ately after the raids.
ing promises to uphold It’s not worth the pa-
press freedom during per it is written on,”
the International Press said Phillip Murgor,
Institute’s annual con- former Director of
Kenyan President Kibaki turned against Media
ference held in Nairobi Public Prosecutions.
in May last year. The raid carried to suggest that these acts were car- According to agency reports,
out on the printing house of The ried out by the police,” said Tom 28 foreign missions including
Standard, the country’s second Mshindi, chief executive of the the UN, 31 civil groups and the
largest-selling daily, left Kenyans Standard Group in Nairobi. Kenyan Union of Journalists con-
complaining about the govern- International reaction against demned the raid. The Standard
ment’s repressive methods. Police the media raids was swift in Af- Group’s directors said in a state-
seized and burnt about 20,000 of rica and abroad. In a statement ment that they believe the raid
copies of the Mar. 2 edition in the released by The Africa Editors’ was a move by government aimed
street, disabled the printing press Forum (TAEF), Mathatha Tsedu at crippling the operations of the
and confiscated office equipment, its leader asked Kibaki and his Standard newspapers and KTN.
including 40 computers. government to “desist from, “We believe that the extra-
“We strongly believe that the and prevent the terrorism meted judicial settling of scores has no
deployment of such a group to against Kenyan journalist. We place in any country which be-
harass and intimidate the media is call for the immediate release of lieves in the rule of law. It is our
a gross abuse of power that threat- those detained, for the return of belief that the country is still
ens the very democratic founda- equipment stolen, and for the respecting its constitution,” the
tions of the country. We respec- government to pay for the speedy statement said.
tively call on you to ensure that, repairs of broadcasting and print- In 2005, the government
in the future, such military-style ing equipment vandalized by the tried endlessly to introduce a
raids on the media organizations rouge policemen.” new constitution that would have
are strictly prohibited, and en- Statements were also released curtail media freedom. However,
courage you to hold an independ- from both the British and US Em- about 60 percent of the Kenyans
ent public inquiry into how the bassy in Nairobi. The US embassy rejected it in a referendum held in
original decision was made,” said had in part asked the Kenyan gov- November that led to the govern-
a joint statement issued by the ernment to “identify and disci- ment’s current political crisis. The
Vienna-based International Press pline those responsible, and cease president sacked 29 of his minis-
Institute (IPI), the World Associa- efforts to intimidate the press.” ters and their deputies after the
tion of Newspapers (WAN), and Series of demonstrations were referendum. It also created a tense
Distripresse (in Zurich). held in Nairobi and Kisimu to relationship between the govern-
The Standard was attacked for protest what some radio callers ment and the media.
publishing articles claiming that termed as “the darkest moment” The president’s wife, Lucy
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki in Kenyan history and demanded Kibaki also created media up-
had secretly held a meeting with the resignation of the Kibaki’s roar when she slapped Clifford
a leading opposition member, government. The crackdown de- Derrick Otieno a KTN camera-
Kalonzo Musyoka. The paper’s scribed by government critics as a man and brought the operations
Managing editor Chaacha Mwita, ‘commando-like operation’ on the of The Nation newspaper to a
News Editor Denis Onyango media was carried out by a police standstill. Last year, the police
and reporter Ayub Savula, were squad known as the Kanga Crack repeatedly questioned reporters
charged with publishing ‘alarm- group that beat up the journalists at the East African Standard after
ing statements’ and later released and confiscated equipment and publishing confessions allegedly
on bail. Musyoka who denied computers from the KTN news- made by suspects in a murder
meeting Kibaki was dismissed room. However, by 2 p.m. local case. Criminal charges against
from the government after op- time on day of the raid, the Stand- the paper’s managing editor Dav-
posing Kibaki’s draft constitution ard Group published a special edi- id Makali were later dropped.

Croatia Anti-Toursim
With Summer: The Season of Embarrassment
by Ana Valjak
The season of embarrassment
has arrived. My foreign friends are
starting to ask me where to go to
the seaside in Croatia. Although it
is beautiful, really Mediterranean,
I blush a deep red when I think
of what is on offer for tourists.
Vacationing on the Croatian
coast usually means gambling.
Maybe not in a casino, but the
result is the same. Tourists
come with money, spend it all,
and leave pretty much empty-
handed.
The other night, for ex-
ample, I was at a dinner party
where several guests asked me
to recommend a place to go.
I was in trouble. This was a
crowd of smart, fun people,
interested in good traditional
meals, pleasant small villages,
pristine beaches that don’t
look like a mosaic of towels
from the air, clubs that have
swingin’ music and so on.
After many hours on the In-
ternet and reading brochures, we
were all in shock. The prices were
astronomical. Renting a family
house on the Adriatic is very close
to renting a house on the Cote d
Azure, or chateaux in Provence.
Except, of course, that it’s not the
Cote d’Azure, and these cottages
are certainly not chateaux.
For some reason, my friends
still wanted to go. I guess they had
heard so much about the wonder-
ful Mediterranean coast and warm
peaceful seaside. They know that
in Croatia the infrastructure is a
bit behind the times, as well as the
clock, in most cases, so that they
can’t expect to be treated as they
Playing Pokemon
What’s This? Is somebody dying? Or being eaten alive?
by Mladen Kovacevic
On a freezing cold January
morning, you get up out of the
bed to make yourself a cup of a
hot coffee. During the ritual, you
hear a hideous guttural roar from
the nearby room and your blood
freezes in your veins. Is somebody
dying? Or being eaten alive? As
you enter the room you see your
child in front of the TV watching
a cartoon surrounded by little pic-
ture cards laid in a careful pattern
all around him. What’s this? Ac-
tually if you look closer, you can
make out the images of strange
little creatures…
This is Pokemon.
The creatures are the charac-
ters of a popular Japanese cartoon
series in which the heroes of the
show are immersed in a quest of
becoming a Pokemon Master.
To become a Masters, they need
to defeat other trainers, and cap-
ture Pokemon creatures scattered
throughout the world.
So they collect, and you col-
lect. And thus the creatures have
made it off the screen, becoming
not only specks of light, but reap-
would be in Cannes, but they still
don’t understand what that really
means. To them it means stone
houses, donkeys, seagulls and
pine trees coming right down to
the sea.
The reality is big concrete
‘Reality is
big concrete
block houses
with charmless
rooms to rent,
shopping malls,
and a lot of
plastic chairs’
block houses with charmless
rooms to rent, shopping malls,
and a lot of plastic chairs. There
may be one donkey here or there
without any interest in walking,
much less carrying anyone, only
maybe in posing for tourists and a
lump of sugar. The seagulls most-
ly dive into the sewage floating
along the shore, pine trees used
as hangers for towels or a trail of
strewn toys, because every centim-
eter is needed.
The tourists imagine good
company and even better music,
all in all a very pleasant atmos-
phere. Boy, are they ever wrong!
They can count themselves lucky
if the landlord smiles when you
tip him. The natives don’t have the
pearing as children playing cards
that are the hot merchandise of
the 2005-2006 season. This phe-
nomenon is known as a Trading
Card Game.
The Croatian LM Informa-
tika, the official distributor of the
card trading games, can not hide
its excitement. A branch of enter-
tainment that was almost non-ex-
istant only a few years ago now is
a runaway success.
At first, the only card trad-
ing game any one had ever heard
of was “Magic: The Gathering,”
played by only a few dozen fans.
But with the success of Pokemon,
Harry Potter and Lord of the
Rings, Yu-Gi-Oh and others, trad-
ing card games are going through
their own renaissance.
In 2002, the Pokemon televi-
sion cartoon was huge hit, at least
for a while, and LM Informatika
decided to hold tournaments in
the country’s two largest town,
Zagreb and Split. The tourna-
ments proved so successful that
they attracted a couple of hundred
of fans. In 2003, LM Informatika
decided to expand tournaments
Sports & Travel 23
time or energy to make an effort to
be interesting to tourists. Mostly
people are just thinking about how
to get as much money as they can
for doing as little as possible.
Shops are more often closed
then open. Coffee bars are always
full of locals (the ones who have
no time for tourists during the
season), so getting a table can
be like winning the jackpot.
Croatia is proud of its cui-
sine. Amazingly, though, we
don’t want to offer it to foreign-
ers. How dare they share in our
national pride! So it is almost
impossible to get a decent meal
in a normal price-range. Mostly
restaurant owners serve garbage
for the price of lobster. I find it
too embarrassing for words
The most annoying
drawback is the lack of op-
tions for tourists. There is
really isn’t much to do. Dur-
ing the day people can bake
in the sun, squeezed on the
beach like sardines, or they can
go sightseeing and bake in the
sun afterwards. It’s even hard
to find a nice souvenir without
a label ‘Made in China.’ Well,
global village and all that…
Restaurants and bars close at 11
PM. The government doesn’t al-
low them to stay open any later
because the locals complain of
the noise. They forget that we
live from the proceeds of tour-
ism and only have that chance
five months out of year.
So how much longer can we
cheat our tourists? Maybe the
slogan should change: Pay your
fee, but don’t bother coming;
Then we’ll really love you!
to smaller towns, a pattern it has
continued ever since. Today, the
number of players is growing by
leaps and bounds.
With the increase of inter-
est for the trade carding games
among children, even the large
Croatian dailies promote and
cover the tournaments. Tourna-
ments are in stages, where players
must first win in their towns, then
in their counties and finally in all-
state finals where the winner gets
a fee vacation or some other prize.
The audiences are mostly a prima-
ry- and high-school students.
Today, the country’s young-
Computer Consultants
sters are well acquainted with the
tournaments, and have turned it
into a generational phenomenon.
How long the fever will last
PC Repair & Problem Solving
is very hard to predict. Children
are influenced their peers who
are players themselves, or by the Alexander Jaber
movies and TV shows that lure
them into building their own
0676/ 181 9107
collections of cards. With fam- 10am-17pm
ily finances improving in Croatia,
children can now indulge a little.
If it’s not Pokemon, it will just be
something else.
24 Science & Technology
A Hurricane forms over Florida. An increase in the number and intensity of hurricanes in the region have been linked to global warming.
Global Warming, Colder Europe
With Worldwide Weather Change Increasingly Drastic, Action is Needed
by Mazin Elfehaid
You hear it every day: News
of hurricanes, floods, tidal waves,
earthquakes – the natural disasters
pile up relentlessly. And everyday
the refrain: With evidence mount-
ing that the Earth’s weather pat-
terns are spinning out of control,
it is time to get serious about glo-
bal warming.
We hear it; we may even re-
peat it. But few are listening. We
seem to be frozen in inaction, as if
afraid that our acknowledgement
would make it real. Thus climate
change has become one of those
things people know they should
care about, but instead happily
ignore, driving to work in their
SUV’s, leaving every light in their
house burning.
The problem is, while there is
wide consensus among scientists
that global warming will eventual-
ly come to bear on all of us, there
is disagreement on whether or not
current weather patterns can also
be attributed to it.
Some have blamed the recent
annual flooding of European riv-
ers on the warming of our planet.
“Undeniably, people are re-
sponsible for this disaster,” Martin
Kravic of the Slovak environmen-
tal think tank People and Water
told the Christian Science Moni-
tor. “Summer rains are expected
to increase by 20-30 percent by
2010. This will cause catastrophic
floods.”
Others, however, have con-
tested that view, claiming that the
link is difficult to prove.
“We believe that climate
change will happen in the next 50
to 80 years and it will be mostly
the result of human activities,”
said meteorologist Sean Clarke
of British government’s weather
agency, the Met Office. “It is pos-
sible that we are already seeing
some of the effects, but it is im-
possible to know for sure.”
While scientists continue to
disagree on whether or not we
are currently feeling the effects of
global warming, there is far reach-
ing consensus that it will eventu-
ally catch up with us, and parts
of Europe will be hard-hit by the
eventual changes in climate. In
an international study published
in Science Magazine, a team of
researchers concluded that the
mountainous and Mediterranean
regions of Europe would probably
be subject to the greatest changes
in climate.
In the Mediterranean, the
study concluded, there would be
an increased risk of forest fires, as
well as water shortages and chang-
es in land arability, which could
affect agriculture as well as climate
due to carbon dioxide contained
in soil. Mountains would see the
elevation of snow cover rise as well
as river run-off patterns becoming
more extreme.
“In winter, precipitation will
fall as rain instead of snow. The
whole regime of peak flow times
changes and you get an increased
probability of flooding in winter
and spring,” said Dr. Dagmar
Schroeter, lead author of the
study, in an interview with BBC
News. “You will get less water in
summer because the water which
was stored in the snow cover is
no longer there.” These changes
would have a significant impact
on the ski and hydroelectric indus-
tries, farms, parks and gardens.
However, while living in Eu-
rope will present unique challeng-
es, other parts of the world will
be even more affected by global
warming, Schroeter concluded.
A report, commissioned and
published by the British govern-
ment, has concluded that “dan-
gerous” changes in climate may
be unavoidable, adding that the
poorest countries of the world will
be hit the hardest.
How much climate change
will occur is unclear. However the
report concluded that any change
will have a serious impact on hu-
man life. Changes between one
and two degrees could result in
“a large number of extinctions
or even ecosystem collapses, ma-
jor increases in hunger and water
shortage risks as well as socio-
economic damage, particularly in
developing countries,” wrote Bill
Hare of the Potsdam Institute of
Climate Impact Research in Ger-
many.
The report found that, in ad-
dition to causing the extinction
of several species, a rise of two
degrees would cause decreases in
worldwide crop yields, signifi-
cantly poorer harvests in Europe
and Russia, water shortages for
up to 2.8 billion people, and the
spreading of malaria in Africa and
North America.
The technology, however,
does exist. Renewable energy
sources, nuclear power, and clean
coal all offer valid alternatives. In
addition, methods of conserva-
tion such as the replacement of
traditional light bulbs with energy
saving designs can be effective so-
lutions. But there are obstacles.
“The biggest problem is over-
coming the many political, social
and behavioral barriers,” wrote
Bert Metz and Detlef van Vuuren
of the Netherlands Environmen-
tal Assessment Agency.
“Lack of awareness, vested
interests, prices not reflecting
environmental impacts, cultural
and behavioral barriers to change
and… spreading of technologies
to developing countries” present
the biggest impediments to ef-
fective worldwide energy policies,
wrote Metz and van Vuuren.
It has thus become clearer that
questions about global warming
no longer involve “if ” it happens,
but rather when and how much,
and how to best deal with it. The
EU has set a goal of maintaining
an atmospheric ceiling of 450
parts-per million (ppm) of car-
bon dioxide, a greenhouse gas and
one of the main factors in global
EUROPEAN FLOODS
Continued from page 1
declared on 16th April, the
Danube reached a record 8.48
metres (26.4 feet) on 17th
April.
The recent trend of floods
had been attributed by most of
the scientist and studies to the
global warming threatening our
World with its severe conse-
quences.
courtesy of Blue Planet
“Climate change is one of
the biggest threats facing our
planet. Burning coal, oil and
gas, but also intensive agricul-
ture or cutting forests pollute
the atmosphere with greenhouse
gases that heat up the planet”
said meteorologist Vladimir Jo-
vanovic in Belgrade in April.
According to Jovanovic
the impacts of climate change
will be devastating. The world
is getting warmer, but higher
temperatures do not mean nicer
weather for us.
If the global average temper-
ature rises, so will the number
and intensity of freak weather
events such as flash floods,
storms, heat waves, mudslides
or droughts, causing cata-
strophic social, environmental
and economic damages. Rising
sea levels will wipe whole coun-
tries off the globe.
According to the U.S. En-
vironmental Protection Agency,
regional differences are relative-
warming. Maintaining this ceil- ly high in Europe, most of Eu-
ing will help ensure the EU’s goal rope has experienced increases
of preventing global warming of in temperature of about 0.8°C
more than two degrees Celsius. on average in this century.
Since the beginning of the The increase has not been
industrial revolution in the early continuous throughout
1800’s, levels of carbon dioxide the century; at most
have increased from about 275 stations, an increase
ppm to 380 ppm. to about 1940
In response the UK govern- was observed,
ment’s chief scientific advisor Sir followed by a ‘If global
David King called aiming for leveling off
such a ceiling as “unfeasible,” stat- or even a de- average
ing that in ten years time we’ll crease until
have reached 400 ppm. Oxford about 1970, temperatures
University professor Myles Allen and then
agrees. Evaluating a “safe level… a renewed rise, so will the
[is] a bit like asking a doctor warming to
what’s a safe number of cigarettes the present number and
to smoke per day,” he told the period.
BBC’s Richard Black. These
intensity of
It is clear that dealing with features are
global warming and climate most pro-
freak weather
change present many challenges
and dangers. Until now, there
nounced
middle to high
in
events’
has been little international effort latitudes. In the
to tackle these issues. The Kyoto 20th century the
Accord represents a benchmark in average global tem-
current efforts, but only applies to perature rose by 0.7 C as
industrialized countries and does a result of burning coal and gas-
not include the United States the carbon fuels that are mainly
and Australia, who have voiced to blame for the rise.
concern that it would retard their But the rise in Europe was
economic growth. 0.9 C, 35 percent higher, due
As a result, the US, which is to the continent’s vulnerable
the world’s single largest contribu- location and smaller land mass.
tor to carbon dioxide emissions, The warming is most apparent
has done little to curb its emis- in a belt extending from Spain
sions and energy use. This has through central Europe into
raised questions on whether or not Russia. At some high-elevation
the lack of US support will enable sites in the Alps, temperature
the EU to successfully implement increases have been even more
the Kyoto protocols. marked, exceeding 1°C in the
What this means is that the 1980s.
world still lacks a global, concen- The 1990’s had annual
trated effort to effectively tackle temperature anomalies that are
the problems it faces. When and systematically in excess of the
if this will happen is still up in the long-term mean.
air. With the situation becoming The geographical distri-
increasingly urgent, it is clear that bution of temperature trends
if something is not done soon, emphasizes greater warming
then humans will be faced with a (2°C per century) in the south-
brand new global challenge: Deal- western part of Europe (Iberian
ing with a planet that has become Peninsula, south and central
too warm for its own good. France) than in the British Isles
or along the Baltic coastline
(1°C per century).
The northern and central
parts of European Russia also
have experienced greater warm-
ing than the European average-
in some places exceeding 3°C
per century.
The European Environ-
mental Agency (EEA) reports
that Europe’s glaciers had lost a
tenth of their mass in the last
year alone. Switzerland’s gla-
ciers are affected the most.
The 23-kilometer Aletsch
glacier in Switzerland’s south-
ern Alps was the second worse
affected, after the Thift glacier,
which receded 216 meters over
the last year, according to the
Swiss Academy of Sciences.
Overall, 84 of the 91 glaciers in
the study shrank last year. If the
trend continues, three-quarters
of Switzerland’s glaciers will
melt by 2050.
“As water is one of the main
integrating factors for many
environmental and economic
systems in Europe, currently
sensitive areas in terms of their
hydrology include the Mediter-
ranean region, the Alps, north-
ern Scandinavia, certain coastal
zones, and central and eastern
Europe. A changing climate is
likely to enhance water-related
stresses in these already sensi-
tive regions,” Jovanovic states.
According to a report by
‘Friends of the Earth, Europe’
(FEE), fighting climate change
means reducing greenhouse gas
emissions. Scientists say indus-
trialized countries will have to
reduce their emissions by
up to 80% compared
to 1990 levels, to
limit climate
change to save
levels.
As a glo-
bal response
to the threat
of climate
change, gov-
ernments
have agreed
in the Kyo-
to Protocol
to reduce
greenhouse
gas emissions,
but all they
could come up
with after more
than ten years of
negotiations is a
5.2% reduction by 2012
compared to 1990 levels (and
annual emissions of industrial-
ized countries are up 8% since
then).
The agreement, which fi-
nally entered into force on 16
February 2005, is too weak to
save the climate, especially, be-
cause the world’s top polluter-
the US- has not signed up to
the treaty, but it is a first step
on which the world can build
now.
To achieve Europe’s goal of
limiting the rise in temperature,
global greenhouse emissions
need to be reduced substan-
tially.
Due to ongoing emissions
of greenhouse gases, the ob-
served rise is expected to con-
tinue increasing. It will take a
very long time to slow the rate
of climate change, the EEA
says, because of the longevity of
many gases.

Measuring Beauty
Is it Possible to Reduce Attraction to a Math Formula?
By Ruta Kurselyte
There is little more mysteri-
ous and unrevealed than the defi-
nition of beauty. It is so relative
that definitions do not even come
close to describing what is actually
beautiful.
Philosophers have tried. From
the early days, they have sought to
define, count and measure what
it is that makes someone more
attractive than another, what
it is that lifts someone on po-
dium, while others remain on
the ground.
The answer, they have said, is
harmony, balance…
Probably the most convinc-
ing measure has come from what
is called Pi, Proportion, ratio =
3.141, named after Phidias, a
sculptor, who first identified it.
Pi was thought to be a golden
number, called by Renaissance
Even with a perfectly proportioned face, there are endless variations in coloring and shapes that make beauty individual
artists the “Divine Proportion.” It
is an irrational number with many
unusual mathematical properties,
including the solution to a quad-
ratic equation.
Pi’s connection to the divine
proportion is based on the rela-
tion of three lines, each 3.141
times the length of next smaller.
“Combinations of the three line
ratios are said to be the
basis for the divine pro-
portion,” writes Cynthia
M Piccolo in Geometry
of Human Anatomy, “ t h e
basis for everything perfectly pro-
portional, and thus aesthetically
pleasant, in buildings, art, and liv-
ing things, including humans.”
One may call it complete non-
sense, but proportions based on Pi
are found in animals, plants, the
solar system, the stock market, the
Bible and in many other things
that surround us on an every day
basis – including the measure-
Green Machine
Laptop, eBook & TV for $100!
by Sean Delaney
A sturdy and cheap prototype
laptop for developing countries
was unveiled by MIT’s Nicholas
Negroponte at the UN Net Sum-
mit in Tunis in April.
The computer will feature a
500 mhz processor, wind-up crank
for power, low-power LEDs, flash
memory to reduce the number of
moving parts and is made from
durable rubber.
ments of the human body.
Beauty changes its definition
by the time, race, gender, culture
and other variables. But still, there
seems to be something constant
that makes it mathematically
precise. Students of aesthetics say
that we classify certain people as
beautiful because their face struc-
ture comes closer than most to the
Divine Proportion. Many of the
famous Hollywood stars fit these
measurements, which can be
counted by taking distances be-
tween various parts of the body.
Consciously or unconsciously,
artists and architects from all the
past civilizations used the Divine
Proportions in their works. For
example, a master sculpture of
a woman’s body – a Greek Aph-
rodite created by Agesander – is
largely based on those golden ra-
tios. The Greeks said that all beau-
ty is mathematics.
To have some firm ground to
stand on, Pi followers created a
mask corresponding to the facial
shape of those worshiped for their
beauty, like Marilyn Monroe. Us-
ing this mask, anyone may test
their own features, to see if they
fit this model of “perfection.”
Other studies by doctors and
students of Pi have shown that if
someone fits this mask, it often
means that he is healthier than
someone who doesn’t. For exam-
ple, if a person has a longer face,
he or she might be suffering from
breathing problems and the ones
who have shorter faces, might
have an overbite.
And while it may be argued
that these “standards” rob an ob-
ject of its individuality, identity
One of its greatest features, is
its ‘mesh’ networking. Hundreds
of computers can be connected
and can share an internet connec-
tion from a single node.
Initial sales will be restricted
to governments and states, re-
quired to buy at least a million
units. The goal is to make sure
students can own their laptops
rather than borrowing them, and
to reduce the possibility of second
Science & Technology 25
Courtesy of Petya Sabinova/Sofia News Agency (www.novinite.com)
or spirit, it is also obvious that
it is part of human nature to be
attracted to something that is aes-
thetically pleasing.
Not so long ago, beauty was
a gift of nature, to be appreci-
ated and wondered at. Now, we
have plastic surgery and some
of these problems can be, as it
were, solved.
What is clear is that we have
come to see them as problems in
Entire streets and bridges were swallowed up by the rising waters of the danube in Bulgaria
the first place. Fortunes are spent
each year to create “perfect beau-
ty.” But where are the limits?
“Is it too much to ask that
women be spared the daily strug-
gle for superhuman beauty in
order to offer it to the caresses
Letter from Sofia
of a subhuman ugly mate?” says
Germain Greer, from The Female Thousands are Forced to Walk the Planks to Safety
Eunich (1970). Yes, women are
much more the target group in
this crazy beauty-market-driven Hundreds of people in Bul- more tired, many turned their ever, for Bulgarians still have
garia didn’t get to church for anger towards the government. a lot to overcome. Unusually
Easter this year, imprisoned Cursing the waters didn’t do high levels of ground water,
by the elements. Even in these any good. for example, will be a problem
times of atheism it wasn’t the At the very height of the for quite a while, and so will
lack of faith that kept this peo- crisis the opposition in Bulgar- the sewage system. Until these
Courtesy of Marquardt Beauty Analysis
ple home at midnight; it was ia introduced a no-confidence waters retreat, there is no hope
the waters that had crept up to vote against the government, of cleaning up and disinfecting
their doorstep. claiming that it was unable to all the pipes, which means that
“We can’t go out in the handle the situation. drinking water in the flood-hit
evening, because we might Accusations were renewed towns is questionable.
fall off the planks we use for of misappropriating the flood- Many houses will need ma-
a pathway right into the wa- aid from the summer, and jor repairs that their owners
ter,” a woman commented for petty excuses were offered in can’t afford. And then there
private bTV channel. The first reply. In the meantime the wa- are the mosquitoes – as insig-
floor of their house in the Dan- ters kept on coming, reaching nificant as they may seem, the
ube town of Nikopol had been a critical level and entered peo- insects carry disease and are a
flooded and her family had to ple’s homes. serious threat to public health.
use the neighbours’ bathroom. Having grown up by the Their population has grown
society. And yes, women tend to Still, they had painted the eggs Danube, I couldn’t help but immensely and money will be
follow those predefined rules of according to tradition, and worry whether the dikes would needed for dealing with them
their beauty. Even if it is danger- looked forward to the holiday hold, whether my family would too.
ous to their lives… with excitement despite the be all right, and whether I Now it’s up to the govern-
But nature is cruel. What overflowing river. would soon be reporting with ment and kind helping hands
a human takes from it, nature There were stories like that impartial detachment that the to rebuild what was demol-
takes back. It starts with an in- all over Northern Bulgaria courtyard of the kindergarten ished, to clean up the mess and
nocent nose job, but then people along the Danube this Easter, where I had once played had deal with all the immediate
fall onto a fast train of changing, and with each centimetre added disappeared under two meters problems. People hope things
changing, changing… We have to the waters’ height, the fears of water. Now that the crisis will move faster and more ef-
had this possibility for grew. Memories of the severe has passed, I can report that fectively than last summer.
only a couple of dec- floods in the summer of 2005 the waters are slowly receding Then maybe the next time
ades. that changed the lives of about and none of these fears came people want to light a candle
But do we know 2 million Bulgarians were still true. At least for me. in church, they wouldn’t be
what’s to follow? What impact too fresh. And as the waters Thankfully no one was lost risking their lives.
will it have to the future society? continued to rise and the peo- in the budging waters, and last --Petya Sabinova
What will happen in 20 years to ple monitoring the dikes and summer’s tragedies were not Editor, Sofia News Agency
those who had several operations? rescuing the stranded grew repeated. It’s not all over, how- www.novinite.com
Will our faces, like Michael Jack-
son’s, start to collapse under the
strain of so many operations?
New technologies are advanc-
ing; the next steps may target our
genetics. A society of perfectly-
manufactured bodies will be cre-
ated. Where will we be then?
parties raising the price by flood-
ing the market.
Plans are to introduce these
laptops to poorer areas, extending
access to education and help bring
these youths and their families out
of poverty. Though still a proto-
type, companies like Google, and
media mogul Rupert Murdock
have expressed interest in under-
writing the project.
The laptops use Linux, reduc-
ing costs and allowing govern-
ments to modify them for lan-
guage requirements and students
for their needs. Development
should be completed by 2007.

26 Commentary
Jugendstil
The Student Newspaper of Webster University Vienna
Dardis McNamee
Editor in Chief, Faculty Advisor
Mazin Elfehaid Ruta Kurselyte
Executive Editor Managing Editor
Endri Fuga Izvor Moralic
Political Editor Arts and Letters Editor
Rita Pollozhani Tizia Barci
University News Editor Scenes of Vienna Editor
Konstantin Borovlev Oliver Zuber
Modern Times Editor Sports and Travel Editor
Alexander Kiss M.T.M. Childs
On the Town Editor Commentary Editor
Sean Delaney Ardalan Maher
Business and Media Editor Backpage Editor
Tony Krickl
Political Correspondent
Ana Simundza
Music Critic
Karla Bavoljak Kelsey Baird
Contributing Editor Restaurant Critic
Jugendstil is the Newspaper of Webster University, Vienna, Berchtoldsgasse 1, 1220 Vienna,
published periodically and distributed in Vienna and elsewhere in Austria as well as by
subscription. It is conceived, written and illustrated by the current and former students,
under the direction and guidance of Dardis McNamee, Professor of Journalism. Opinions
expressed are those of the newspapers editorial staff and do not represent those of the univer-
sity’s administration, faculty or directors. Submissions are welcome from all members of the
university community, as well as letters and commentry from readers. contact us either by
post, by telephone at (01) 269-9293, or by e-mail at jugendstilwebster@yahoo.com.
Jugendstil Revisited
In Revolt Against an Age of Style over Substance
With this issue, the Jugendstil is now available on Vienna news-
stands. After two and a half years of reporting on events, issues, trends
and personalities, and long editorial meetings and bleary hours in front
of the computer screen, the Jugendstil has grown from a class project
to a regional newspaper, reported and produced by current and former
media students and faculty of Webster University Vienna.
Jugendstil comes to life at the height of the Media Age, an age of
shallow glamour and pre-packaged experience, of celebrity and self-im-
portance, a kind of gilded cage of glitz and false impressions.
The Vienna of today is a wider stage, perhaps, but one not so very
different from that of an earlier Vienna of a century ago and the artists
and intellectuals of the original Jugenstil movement in revolt against a
world of style over substance.
We, too, live in a time that seems to lack vision, when bravado
passes for courage, confessionalism for sincerity. Instead of news we get
staged events, instead of truth, yet another Big Lie.
A century ago, fed up with the failures of political and economic
liberalism that could neither govern nor sustain the society, a collective
revolt sprung up among educated young Viennese – Die Jungen, The
Young. Playwrights Arthur Schnitzler (Dream Story, adapted for film as
Eyes Wide Shut) and Hugo von Hoffmannsthal, Sigmund Freud, satirical
journalist Karl Kraus, architect Otto Wagner, composers Gustav Mahler
and Arnold Schoenberg, artists Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt.
This was Jugendstil Vienna.
Klimt defiantly rejected what he saw as empty forms and pledged
his fellow young artists, the Viennese Secession, would “save culture
from their elders.” Jugendstil Vienna took on culture in the broadest
sense; to them art and politics, aesthetics and ideas, were inseparable and
interactive. “To every time it’s art,” wrote Hoffmannsthal. Their task,
said Otto Wagner, was “to show modern man his true face.”
At Jugendstil, this is our task as well.
Because a newspaper matters. Part Roman Forum, part soapbox, part
Hyde Park Corner, part Kaffeeklatsch, it’s important to have a place to as-
semble your thoughts, to speak out, to be heard, to swap stories. How do I
know what I think, until I hear what I say? And what you say.
Students at Webster have a lot to say. Nearly two-thirds of Webster
Vienna comes from Central Europe, countries still struggling to rebuild
their societies and economies after 40 or more years of communism.
Another 10% are from the Middle East, and another from Western Eu-
rope and Asia, and a handful from North America. Students come a
long way to get here; they are ambitious, and brave. They see the world
around them – with all of its deep compromises and failed ideals - with
a clear eye. They are not impressed by hollow celebrity, nor persuaded
by commercial cant. They are skeptical of pomposity and can smell out
self-interest behind the mask of condescension.
They live in an age of corporate media – an age of image, sound
bites and the tyranny of ratings, an age of global provincialism and short
attention spans. But somehow they see beyond it.
So read on: These are the voices of internationalism, possibly the
first real Global Generation, who respect local cultures as the key to
identity, while they reject the parochialism that insists on conformity.
They ask hard questions and reject stereotypes.
And they intend to be citizens of the world.
-- Dardis McNamee
Editor in Chief
Citizenship Test
Being a good ‘Bürger’ is no piece of cake
Beginning March 1, applicants for Austrian citizenship have had
a second test added to the existing one for German. The new test, the
joint product of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the federal states, is
comprised of 18 multiple choice questions about Austrian customs and
history, of which they have to answer at least nine correctly.
The questions in the test have raised quite a few eyebrows. For exam-
ple, the Austrian national hymn was not composed by Mozart, claimed
the Vienna daily Kurier, but by a certain Johann Holzer, a man whose
name does not appear among offered solutions. The Ministry calls this
“nit picking.”
“We should not enter high-level academic discussion,” said Minis-
try spokesman Johannes Rauch, “Mozart is the composer named in the
schoolbooks and people who want to become Austrians should not be
treated differently.”
Opposition Socialists in the parliament have complained very loud-
ly about the new law, the loudest voices the SPO’s National Security
spokesman, Rudolf Parnigoni, and Terezia Stoisitz, spokesperson of the
Green Party for minorities and human rights. Parnignoni named the
test “grotesque.” Both say that some questions are hard even for native
Austrians. The test does not contribute to integration, says Parnigoni,
but is only an “annoying duty.”
However, as many European countries have already required citizen-
ship, the logical question imposes itself, why shouldn’t Austria? In the
rapidly changing world, many states are trying to make sure that national
identity is not lost with the influx of the immigrants who wish to become
citizens. Although some questions do not seem, at first glance, to have
anything to do with Austria directly, looking more deeply, we realize they
are connected with contemporary objectives of the country. For example,
questions about the Kyoto agreement reflect Austria’s support of the agree-
ment and its emphasis on environmental issues.
Once the test is passed, what has actually been accomplished? Will
the immigrant be more integrated? With the German language test the
benefit is clear, but with the citizenship test it is not so easy to say. This
is the age of globalization, especially in the great federations like the EU,
where countries have free movement of people and goods.
Today, when many are concerned by loss of identity that seems to
come with globalization, societies feel under threat. This test is one way
to hold the line. But why is this protection needed, and against whom?
Now that the ideas of democracy and equality have finally become so
established in Europe, after centuries of bloody wars, it seems ironic that
some are not happy. Some seem to want to go back to a pre-EU state
of things when borders were still being debated and Realpolitik held its
grip on a European continent in turmoil.
When countries are trying to cooperate instead of compete, it seems
illogical to close the door to foreign influences. Why is this fear of
“other” so ever present? For some, there will always be “us” and “them.”
But now, with Europe finally so close to unification, setting restrictions
on citizenship just does not feel right.
-Mladen Kovacevic
Slobodan Milosevic
The ‘Butcher of the Balkans’ is Missed by Some
Slobodan Milosevic has lost his last battle. The former Serbian
president’s death in March cut short his war-crimes trial at the Hague,
denying his countrymen and the European court any satisfying closure
to the decade of conflict and violent disintegration he inspired. Even
after his death, the man called the ‘Butcher of the Balkans’ continues to
divide Serbian society, and leaves behind a Serbia whose reputation is
badly damaged in the eyes of the world.
Today, the region is still far from overcoming the devastating impact
of the wars Milosevic had been so eager to start. And yet, in Serbia, few
are happy that Milosevic is gone. In fact, the people were glad to see him
behind bars hoping for justice against the man who gave their country
a bad name.
“It’s a pity that the court did not reach a verdict,” said Sonja Biserko,
of the Serbian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights. “The possible
guilty sentence could have helped Serbs come to terms with crimes com-
mitted in their name. The chance is missed now.”
Since 2001, Milosevic has been facing judgment at the International
Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. The guilty verdict seemed inevita-
ble, but his death prior to the sentence allowed him to escape judgment.
Most Serbians see this coincidence as the biggest injustice.
The reaction to the former president’s death in Serbia, however, still
remains divided. For some, Milosevic will always remain the saint, who
defended Serbian pride against their ‘enemies’. Others however will nev-
er forget the fear and suffering he condemned them to and the heartless
destruction of so many lives and livelihoods.
One faction of Milosevic’s former political allies seek to gain an
advantage from his death by claiming he was a political martyr. They
point out that the tribunal refused to let him go to Moscow for medical
treatment. His followers, now a tiny Socialist Party of Serbia, claim that
Milosevic was killed by the Tribunal and have demanded the post-mor-
tem autopsy be performed in Russia, where some of Milosevic’s family
members are.
Serbian president Boris Tadic expressed condolences to the Milose-
vic family, but the government has refused to allow the ex-leader a state
funeral and Tadic did not attend the ceremonies. In 2003, the funeral of
On My Mind
assassinated Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, one of Milosevic’s greatest
political opponents was attended by about five times the 50,000 who
came to pay their respects to Milosevic.
In the former Yugoslav region as a whole, however, the passing away
of Slobodan Milosevic will make little difference. Bosnia, Serbia and
Kosovo are still struggling with the legacies of the Yugoslav wars. The
autonomy of Kosovo and Montenegro remains to be settled but most
expect their independence to triumph, against Serbia’s wishes.
“We enter every battle with the aim of winning it,” Milosevic de-
clared in one of his early speeches. But in the end, Serbia lost all of its
battles and instead was rewarded with international abhorrence making
it the subject of endless controversy and aversion.
Serbs are very proud people, whose pride has been damaged by Mi-
losevic, just like their reputation. Now that he is dead, Serbians can
recover their long lost status as affluent competitors in Central Europe.
His death can perhaps bring about some positive change and begin the
cleansing of Serbian national pride.
-Duska Gonja
What Are We to Them?
A University Ought to be Able to do Better
Webster University is a place
where people meet. Not just any
people: our students come from the
farthest corners of the continent. All
arrive with different portfolios of ex-
perience, different points of view and
different expectations. But we will be
shaping Europe’s future. Here, in this
relatively small capital in Europe, stu-
dents find a second home; they find
friends and with a little luck, food for
the soul.
However, you might have
This student party poster was ap-
gotten a different impression if you proved by WUV Student Affairs.
had entered the building on Thurs-
day, May 4th. A large poster for “just another student party” had been put
up on a board, right inside the entrance of the University, advertising an
event at the just-opened Champagne Club at the Moulin Rouge.
Against a background of deep glowing red, two hot chicks with the
barest of accessories are bumping and grinding to the thumping of some
invisible techno DJ. The one on the left, head thrown back, lost behind a
fringe of hair in some unimagined ecstasy, is sliding her leopard skin hug-
gers down off her hip as she disappears into shadow.
The one on the right, acres of skin glistening in the hot glare of a di-
rect spot, painted lips pouting from beneath a black fatigue cap and biker
shades, has untied the top of her jungle bikini, and is sliding it up just to
nipple height, while a triangle of black thong just peaks out above the 5 cm
of slide-on Amazon fanny pants.
Below, preposterously, are the words, “Dress Code: Evening Wear”
22:00 – 23:00 Ladies Entry Free.
Right.
Sounds like a great time. Let’s go girls, “Come and get f****d!”
Is that what women are, for those who designed -- and those who ap-
proved - this poster?
Is the Moulin Rouge so charmless, so devoid of style and ambiance, so
lacking in that special allure that makes a great nightclub, that they have to
offer strippers and street walkers to get their male clients in the door?
What woman with a shred of self-respect would respond to a poster
like that? And if the women don’t come, or do come and wish they hadn’t,
what’s the point?
Saddest, perhaps, is the misunderstanding of what great seduction is all
about -- the allure of understatement, of mystery and suggestion.
Advertisers seem unable to find any ways of selling without using nu-
dity and even sexual violence. It seems that their minds have got stuck in
a couple of limited areas of the female body, and their development some-
where between ages 11 and 13, before they learned how to spell “vulgar.”
Or “ridiculous.”
The poster is not sexy, and it is not inviting.
And the reality that there is ugliness on nearly every newsstand in Vien-
na is no excuse. This is a university, and we ought to be able to do better.
And we ought to at least be interested in what one another has to say.
-Ruta Kurselyte and
Dardis McNamee
Something to Say?
Comments?
Questions?
Complaints?
Contact Jugendstil
Send an E-Mail:
jugendstilwebster@yahoo.com

Letters to the Editor
To the Editor,
Congratulations on the March-
April 2006 edition of “Jugendstil”.
The quality of this newspaper is
absolutely remarkable. It is maybe
the only student newspaper that
I have ever known in my entire
career that I look forward to read-
ing. You have in-depth reports
from various parts of the world.
I always can find something in
there that educates me and it is
well worth reading.
Regarding my meeting the
editorial staff of the Jugendstil,
there are just a few corrections to
the story that would make it en-
tirely correct. The challenges in
declining enrollments because of
hurricanes have been in Florida,
not Thailand. Also, I came from
Western Oregon University, a
public university in the State of
Oregon, just prior to Webster.
As to the subject of a physical
library, my main concern is that
students in Vienna give technol-
ogy a chance. All of our world-
wide research shows that students
are more connected to the web
than before, whether it be for
study, shopping, entertainment,
or news.
The University is investing a
great deal of money into improv-
ing not only our website but all of
the interactivity connected with
our classes, the library and all that
we do on the web.
Given this incredible resource
and what students elsewhere have
celebrated, it surprises me that
there is not the same eagerness for
attempting to use this technology
in Vienna. Before we invest heav-
ily in a physical library, I want to
On My Mind
In Parting...
Of Late Nights, and Proud By-Lines
By Endri Fuga
It is only when you‘re about
to be done with something, that
you start appreciating it. It has
happened to me so many times,
and is happing again now.
I never felt home in Vienna,
and yet, now that I will not have
to live here anymore, I start liking
this city. I almost never enjoyed
going out at night here. These
days, though, only walking by
the streets feels special. In fact, I
have been revisiting all the places
I went to during the first months.
But now, it all seems so different.
The same thing is true for
Webster. I feel comfortable now;
it feels cozy now when I sit and
read in the library I always hated.
There are still too few books and
most are pretty out of date; the
room is still small and most of
the chairs are uncomfortable. But
– I don’t know why – these days,
whenever I have 10 free minutes,
I rush to the Library.
Even the hamburgers at Stars
& Stripes have started to taste
good. Sitting in the little restau-
rant on the ground floor, among
the other students, talking, watch-
ing a little MTV… (Me? Watch-
ing MTV?) It all makes me feel
good, and not about how greasy
and American all the food tastes.
make sure that all of our students
in Vienna have utilized what we
have and what we plan.
As to how the budget is spent,
for the most part, Webster Uni-
versity loses money on its inter-
national campuses. This has not
deterred us from our goal of be-
ing a global university and “trying
to change the world one student
at a time.” Please let me know if
you would like additional budget
information. Every Student is
entitled to know how their tui-
tion money is being spent.
Richard S. Meyers
President
Webster University
To The Editor
I just waited 10 minutes to
write a letter to my colleagues via
Webster.ac.at and could never get
on.
This is typical of the worsening
internet connections the past weeks
which have now reached critical di-
mensions. The WUV tech folk tell
me this is Vienna campus wide and
is caused by our now having a pro-
vider, which is controlled entirely
in St. Louis. All Webster campuses
now have the same provider?
I am told that when a few peo-
ple at WUV download big items,
the entire WUV system is effec-
tively blocked or made very slow.
It is not clear whether WUV deci-
sion makers are aware of these mat-
ters. Could these things be checked
and improved? As it now stands,
we should not count on being able
to communicate via Internet.
Dr. Fred Bonkovsky,
Webster University Vienna
May 9, 2006, 10:17 am
But among all these nice nos-
talgic feelings, the deepest is the
one for the Jugendstil. This news-
paper, for which I am probably
writing my last commentary, has
been the most special thing from
all my time at Webster, or in Vi-
enna for that matter. And it is to
Jugendstil that I want to dedicate
this last piece.
It is funny how people re-
member even the smallest details
of things that happened years ago,
and to which you might have nev-
er given an important thought.
But I remember how I joined
the editorial staff, when I met
the people who then became my
closest friends and colleagues. I
remember when I wrote my first
piece, but also all those sleepless
nights spent laying out or the long
tiring days editing and proofread-
ing. It’s not easy to forget those
crazy weekends, when we had to
finish the paper at all costs, to
make the printing deadline.
And then there were the sto-
ries: Reporting from Iraq, inter-
viewing SPOe chief Alfred Gus-
senbauer, covering Kosovo and the
Orange Revolution in Ukraine,
writing about politics and social
issues, are not only great memo-
ries, but also important profes-
sional achievements.
Commentary 27
From “On the Couch,” cartoons on psychoanalysis from the New Yorker Magazine, curated by Webster Vienna professor Dr. Michael Fre-
und, in honor of the 150 birthday of Sigmund Freud. Catalogue presentation May 30, 18:00, at Investkredit Bank, 1. Renngasse 10.
Going Blind at the Virtual Library
How to Do All That Reading, Without the High Resolution Digital Headache
by S.R. Schubert dents are able to access newspa- library, the reality is quite differ- to read wherever they want and
and Dardis McNamee pers, magazines and academic ent. Researching is one thing; can, whether riding in the under-
A romance with technology is journals, the very stuff of knowl- online is not only a good idea, it ground, sitting under a tree, wait-
all very well. But when you want edge that nurtures the curious is necessary. But reading is an- ing for friends in a coffee house
to read, you want to read, and you into thinkers. other, and students are apparently or curled up on the living room
don’t want to be trapped at a com- Unfortunately, WUV also expected to read their findings couch.
puter terminal popping pain kill- seems to believe that reading that way too. Why? We are told it Of course every document
ers for your high resolution digital should only be done squinting at costs too much to allow students shouldn’t be printed every time
headache. a computer screen. to print out what they need to a student needs it. But there are
Webster University Vienna So reach for those head- read. Students pay for tuition and better solutions. Lengthy articles
lauds its online virtual library, ache pills. books, the or digital re-
Passports, for good reason. Stu- With all the talk of a virtual logic goes, ports could
so why be printed
From the beginning it was usually had students from all na- s h o u l d n’t and lent to
clear that we would cover not tionalities involved in the conflict, they pay to students, just
only the university but the world from all sides of the issue. What print arti- like books,
outside. And with Austria being
at the heart of Europe and Vienna
hosting so many internationals
do you do in these cases? Do you
try to be diplomatic, or you just
ignore the topic and don’t cover it
cles from
academic
journals?
and offered
through
the library,
and tourists, the niche for the Ju- at all? We have opted for a third This is where real
gendstil seemed to be there waiting way; To make constructive debate the wrong people come
for us. We might be students, and be the center of attention. approach to education. WUV to borrow real books that they re-
this might be a class, but we could So here I am thinking back should be encouraging reading, ally want to read.
also be journalists as well. to that cold Viennese winter day, not telling students in so many When someone wants a long
When I was in Paris a couple three years ago, on a bus, coming ways that it’s old fashioned, that text or report off the virtual li-
of weeks ago, I found myself read- back from a film class in Grinzing, readers of physical books have brary, the journal or book should
ing a very fine newsletter from the the very moment when I made up gone the way of the monks and be requested, the library should
Faculty of Law at Sorbonne and my mind about the Jugendstil. I scribes, quaint, perhaps even print out and bind a reference
noticed that 90% of it was cover- liked the people, and the heart charming, but certainly not cut- copy, adding it to the collection.
ing university news. they were putting in the paper. ting edge. This way all WUV students
And suddenly, I started visu- I hadn’t even heard about the The truth is, the best reading share in each others research and,
alizing all front pages of Jugendstil Newspaper Production Work- (and the deepest learning) often most importantly, its students can
and understood that most of its shop, but I had already decided to takes place at leisure. We should read and learn anywhere they like,
headlines and pictures were not join. It was where I belonged. be making it easy for students at any time.
about the little comings and go-
ings of university life, but about
issues and ideas, the world we live
in, and the way we look at the
world.
Even though university activi-
ties have always been covered, we
were more likely to write about
forums on 9/11 and Austria’s Nazi
past, surveys on students’ attitudes
toward religion, politics and fami-
ly life. But we also wrote about the
Tsunami, the death of Pope John
Paul II, the elections in the US or
in Germany, issues of identity in
an expanding EU, terrorist attacks
in Spain and UK and the evolving
crisis in the Middle – these have
all carried important weight in the
paper, and been reported by stu-
dent journalists.
Sometimes it has been hard to
write about these conflicts – be-
cause, here at Webster, we have
28 Backpage
Tagebuch
“I never travel without my
diary. One should always have
something sensational to read in
the train” - Oscar Wilde
Dear Diary,
I was walking down Mariahil-
ferstrasse with a girlfriend of mine;
browsing through windows and
observing the world bustling by.
It being the first day of Spring
(and actually feeling it), we de-
cided to get an ice cream. Standing
in line behind a rather stout man
with a receding hairline and a tall
man with a giant Great Dane.
“Oh my god, he’s huge!” my
friend exclaimed, meaning the dog.
The balding man spun around
on his heels, completely red in the
face and promptly exited the line.
“Oh no, not you!” gasped my
friend, mortified.
Too late. The fellow was al-
ready half way down the block. All
proportions aside, he had proved
surprisingly light on his feet.
I shrank back into my newspa-
per, trying to disappear.
– Paul Krauskopf
Dear Diary,
“Things I have learned in Jerusa-
lem” (see below)
1. Police cars always patrol
with their lights on. It makes them
easier to see. They started doing
this after the second Intifada.
2. Cats are a plague here.
They pop out of every garbage
bin. The good news is they also
make sure that there are no rats in
the garbage. Just do not adopt the
cats until you have taken them to
a vet first.
3. Do not go shopping on
Friday mornings. If there is a ter-
rorist attack, it is most likely to
occur on Friday morning since
this is the time that everyone uses
to prepare for the Sabbath.
4. Avoid crowded places like
bus stops, cafes, and the City
Market, Makhane Yehuda. These
are open invitations to attack.
5. Pedestrians are an endan-
gered species in Jerusalem. Cars
always have the right of way, even
if you are already in the crosswalk,
er I mean crosshairs.
6. Drivers here like to honk.
It does not matter if it is three
o’clock in the morning. They also
like to honk for no apparent pur-
pose other than to make noise.
A quiet neighborhood is worth a
premium.
7. Learn Hebrew, otherwise
you may eat something disgust-
ing.
8. Everybody here has a story
about the attack that almost got
him or her. One minute a bus is
there, the next minute it is gone.
One minute your friend is there,
the next minute, he is dead.
9. Automatic and semi-auto-
matic weapons are a fashion acces-
sory. Soldiers, even dressed up as a
civilian, never leave home without
them.
10. Get used to being wanded
whenever you enter a building
and being asked if you are carry-
ing a weapon.
11. If you speak Russian or
Yiddish, you will make a lot of
friends.
12. Count your change and if
there is no pricetag, do not pur-
chase it.
13. If you go to the post of-
fice, be prepared to wait an hour.
The bank is not much better.
14. The food is great.
15. There are more taxis here
than residents or tourists and you
can ride one of two ways, with
the meter and without the meter.
Usually you are better without the
meter as long as you have agreed
on the price in advance. No mat-
ter which way you ride, the taxi
driver will try to cheat you.
16. It does not rain for three
weeks, but when it does rain, it
pours and you are drenched to the
skin. After that, you have three
weeks of nice weather again.
17. Everything on the buses is
blastproof and solidly anchored.
18. You can pick up the Pen-
tagon Channel here. Good to
know in emergencies.
19. Do not expect great serv-
ice. It is not included.
20. You know you have been
here too long when you can laugh
at signs that say “Welcome brave
tourist” or “Big discount for brave
tourist.”
21. Journalists are never in
danger here. They stay in the best
hotels, which just look like they
are in the combat zone if you are
watching CNN. It is really cam-
ouflage.
Hope all is well. More to follow.
--Prof. Gregory Weeks
Dear Diary.
The other day over coffee, a
friend surprised me with an article
on Saparmurat Niyazov, the presi-
dent of Turkmenistan.
I guess word had gotten
around of my hobby of collecting
everything possible about this ex-
tremely crazy guy.
Niyazov’s latest was that those
who read his book Rukhnama
three times would become go
straight to the Paradise. Rukhna-
ma is a tome on Turkmen origins,
history, spiritual values and good
behavior.
Obey the rules and live a ful-
filled and happy life. Reading the
Rukhnama is now obligatory for
everyone, from students to politi-
cians, ranking right up there with
The Holy Book of Koran.
This guy never ceases to
amaze me. Just when I think he
used up all of his moves, here he
goes and strikes again. Yet some-
how, his absurdities seem to be
tolerated. First, he won the presi-
dential elections by 99.5%, not all
that surprising as he was the only
candidate.
Then he proclaimed himself
Turkmenbashi – the father of all
Turkmens. And finally he became
the Eternal President, installing
his cult of personality.
While Turkmen people live in
abject poverty, on the margins of
existence, Turkmenbashi has been
going on a spending spree - build-
ing $100 million worth of palaces,
race courses and shopping malls.
The centre of the capital city
of Ashgabat is dominated by the
Neutrality Arch, a 75 meters high
arch with a 12-meter golden stat-
ue of Turkmenbashi on the top,
which slowly rotates for 360 de-
grees 24 hours a day.
The intention of the rotation
is that Niyazov, who is presented
with open arms, is always turned
in direction of the sun, as if he is
going to embrace it.
As if that was not enough, he
has decided to built a zoo and cre-
ate a natural habitat for penguins!!
Penguins in a subtropical desert
climate!!??
But there is no point in telling
him that. Niyazov has the power
to sack meteorologists, which he
did on one occasion, because he
was not satisfied with the weather
forecast they had predicted.
Niyazov recently started re-
naming everything. The Caspian
Sea port of Krasnovodsk, the air-
port, stadium and the main av-
enue in the state capital were all
re-named Turkmenbashi.
He has also given his name
to a meteorite, which landed in
Turkmenistan in 1999 and to the
world’s biggest carpet, whose mak-
ing he ordered just for the purpose
of naming it.
Week days and calendar days
were also renamed, so January
became Turkmenbashi, April be-
came Gurbansoltan, a month of
his mother and June 10 became
the Day of Yanardag, honoring his
horse, which must be admired at
all times and criticizing or insult-
ing him is followed by imprison-
ment!
Niyazov’s pictures appear eve-
rywhere, from state buildings to
people’s homes.
All the currency bills, the
manat, have the portrait of Turk-
menbashi, redesigned every time
Niyazov gets a medal of honour.
His portrait also appears on local
brands of tea, vodka and yogurt.
Apparently health matters.
Ministers are obliged to walk 30
km every month, and are forbid-
den to smoke.
Once a passionate smoker,
Niyazov quit smoking after heart
surgery and banned it in the
whole country.
He has also banned make-up
and golden teeth, a symbol of
success. Although Niyazov him-
self dyes his gray hair black.
-- Nika Bracun