Prague Journal

Sunday, May 1, 2005.

Today is May Day, the old Communist International Workers’ Day, the anniversary of the EU ascension, the Orthodox Easter, and the last day of Passover. Thirty years ago, on April 30, 1975, North Vietnamese tanks knocked down the gates of the presidential palace, the heart of the U.S.-backed South Vietnamese government and the South Vietnamese surrendered, officially marking the end of the Vietnam War and the communist victory over the U.S.-backed regime. At Strelecky Ostrov island in Prague, trade union leaders commemorated the first May Day today.
My afternoon was spent at UNVA listening to the remaining “Redefining Europe” conference sessions. I especially enjoyed Joelle’s presentation comparing Canada’s constitution and situation with that of the EU, and Michael’s comparison of the EU process with American Federalism.
Recently, Czech President Vaclav Klaus urged the Czechs to reject the EU constitution, describing it as a revolutionary document which will change the lives of all Europeans for the worse. Klaus’s stance against the constitution has been making headlines after a Spanish vice president of the European Parliament accused him of misleading and lying to voters, and said his Euro-skepticism could lead Czechs to isolation. Former Prime Minister Stanislav Gross has warned that EU entry would provoke exorbitant price hikes and loss of competitiveness. So far, however, macroeconomic figures have shown that the Czech Republic has benefited from the move. Three quarters of Czech voters said Yes to joining the EU, and even supporters of Klaus’s party the Civic Democrats tend to be generally pro-European. Just under a month from now, the whole of Europe will be watching France, where a crucial referendum is being held on ratifying the European Union’s first constitution. The Czech Republic is due to hold a referendum on the issue next year.
Rick and I had dinner with Marty and Harriet. Marty renewed his Fulbright to stay on the second semester, but we had not had a chance to get together with them since before Christmas. They have a flat in Old Town, so they know all the good (and cheap) places to go. We had a most relaxing dinner at Blatnička, followed by ice cream at Cream & Dream.
The surprise of the evening is that Rick discovered that Marty, who is a cultural anthropologist at Kansas State where Dick Greechie conducted his career for many years, not only knew Dick, but had written several papers with him. In case you might think that mathematicians might have a hard time finding common ground with anthropologists and vice-versa, consider kinship relations. They are a cultural variable of unlimited complexity, and readily admit modeling by abstract mathematical constructs. Sure enough, when Rick Googled Dick’s web page, he found mathematical anthropology among Dick’s listed interests. In fact, the famous C3P0 is a reference to terminology established by this collaboration, since the screenwriter had somehow been exposed to the Greechie-Ottenheimer stuff, and had absorbed at least this fascinating bit of their terminology.
All in all, the evening constituted an extreme example of the small-world phenomenon. And in any case, Dick enjoyed finding out that he was warmly remembered in Prague that night.

posted by JWinn @ 10:02 PM