Derek Bok & continuity

I normally don't read The Harvard Community Resource, a newspaper, but the interview with the interim president Derek Bok was an exception. The anxiety with which I started to read wasn't justified. There are no politically controversial things in it. President Bok wants to complete the curricular review, intensify interdisciplinary activities in sciences, and maintain the momentum in Allston. See also The Crimson.

Czech news

Yesterday, the St. Vitus Cathedral at the Prague Castle has become a property of the Catholic Church again, showing that the rights of the church are respected in the mostly atheist country. Madonna had her first concert in Prague.

The new government led by center-right Mirek Topolanek (ODS) took over. Today, the former dissident Alexander Vondra became a minister of foreign affairs.

His predecessor Cyril Svoboda attended the friendly event. Svoboda, Vondra, as well as Topolanek (and your humble correspondent) support a U.S. missile defense base in the Czech Republic. All of us say that the referendum is not appropriate in technical decisions about the defense. A referendum would surely kill the project since 80% of the Czechs oppose the base.