Final Frontier?

Polish Discovery

Science monthly Nature reports that Polish scientists have discovered a peculiar star located 15,000 light years from Earth. It is a magnetar neutron star. It is old and incredibly dense; it is only 10 km in diameter but emits a very strong magnetic field. The behaviour of the star is quite astonishing as it heats up and immediately cools down every four seconds. What is more, it rotates around its axis in only 7 seconds. Scientists from the Nicholaus Coperenicus University in Toruń have explained that this magnetar shines with light visible to the human eye. They believe the discovery will be beneficial to understanding the origin and evolution of our galaxy after the Big Bang.
Dziennik

Moaning Poles

Miserable Old Gits

As many as 61.7 per cent of men and 62.5 per cent of women in their 50s declare that their state of health is poor. This is an exceptional high number for Europe. Although it is normal for older people to have poorer health and become more fragile and fall ill more often, Poles seem to complain about their poor health the most. Just to compare, approximately 40 per cent of Germans and Czechs, and almost every second Spaniard complain about their health. “If you are in your 50s you begin to suffer from diseases, which are caused by an unhealthy lifestyle,” says Katarzyna Bukol-Krawczyk, a GP from a private clinic in Warsaw. These include mainly coronary diseases, such as high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, tumours, and depression. However not everybody who complains about their health actually suffers from diseases. “Very often a negative opinion about our health is a result of chronic tiredness, which is felt by the majority of Poles,” says Dr Piotr Szukalski.
Polska

A Museum To Be

New Museum

The Museum of Contemporary Art, one of the most prestigious investments in Poland might not see its completion as Warsaw’s authorities have decided to suspend work on the project. This is an unexpected turn of events considering the series of successes that started in 2007 when Christian Kerez, the well-known Swiss architect, won a competition to design the museum. The Mayor of Warsaw Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz signed the official contract with Kerez for its design. It was a great success and a superb opportunity for Warsaw to have an amazing museum in the city centre that would finally change its hitherto gloomy landscape. But for unknown reasons the project has come to a halt.

The architect was informed that the city authorities have not yet concluded all the formalities. Kerez found it difficult cooperating with the city from the very beginning. When he delivered the first design of the museum in July 2008 it was slightly different from the original design that he presented during the competition. The city turned the project down claiming there should be three floors instead of two. Kerez changed the design and met with a refusal once again. The reason for all these delays is still unknown. The construction of the Museum of Contemporary Art is partly funded by the EU with Poland paying for only one-third of the total PLN 300 million. These unnecessary delays may well prevent the capital from having a cultural centre of European standards.
Gazeta Wyborcza

Improving Academia

Greater Grads

Barbara Kudrycka, Minister of Science and Higher Education, has put forward a package of bills which are to reform the schooling system and the manner in which research is conducted. In an interview with Gazeta Prawna she stated that the best students will be allowed to apply for research funds. Authors of the best projects will be able to start their PhD studies before they even have a masters degree. Next year, the Department of Science and Higher Education will prepare legislation in the form of the new Higher Education Act. Post-doctoral qualifications will continue to be treated as another rung on the career ladder, but will additionally be seen as a form of evaluation of academic achievements. University teachers, except for professors, will be hired on contract rather than be nominated. The more money universities receive from companies (e.g. for research), the more they will obtain from the national budget.
Gazeta Prawna

Cheap Church

Holy Phone

Era GSM has struck a very profitable deal: it has signed an agreement with the Catholic Church. As a result, priests will be able to receive discounts and cheaper mobile phones. This is a huge opportunity for the company as the Church constitutes a very large market. In 2007, there were 29,775 diocesan and monastic priests and 1,339 nuns and monks in Poland. Era GSM can now be sure that it will not lose clients. What is more, this special offer can be taken up by anyone employed by the Church such as teachers, catechists, workers of foundations, nursing homes, and cafeterias. According to Church authorities this group is so numerous that it is impossible to count them.
Polska

Ruling the Roost

Parliament to Change

Declan Ganley, the man who managed to hold the EU back with his protest against the Lisbon Treaty, has recently visited Warsaw. He has become a well-known person after he launched a campaign in Ireland against the signing of the Treaty. It turned out to be successful and, as a consequence, the Treaty did not come into force, and might never do so because the Irish government is afraid of organising another referendum that could once again end in failure.

“This will surely happen even if I decide not to take part in the campaign”, predicted Ganley who was a guest during a debate organised by the demosEuropa Institute and Newsweek. “I encourage those people who believe in the Treaty to buy a wreath and place it on its grave.” During the speech Ganley confirmed his plans to change his organisation Libertas into the first pan-European political party. He has invested several thousands of euro in it and claims it will surely take the lead during the upcoming elections to the European Parliament. Ganley wishes to bring around 30 deputies to the EU Parliament. Libertas would then establish its branches in European capitals and seek out political allies, not necessarily from the ruling parties. Its primary choice would be charismatic members who would aid the party in increasing its electorate. There is most certainly a place for Polish politicians on Ganley’s political wanted list. During his visit to Warsaw, Ganley talked with right-wing politicians like Marek Jurek, although he did not want to reveal any more names. It also transpired that Ganley had a “quick conversation” with the League of Polish Families (LPR), although he showed interest in business people and scientists also. Elections to the EU Parliament in 2009 will surely be more interesting than they have been so far.
Gazeta Wyborcza

Dusk of Greenpoint

Weak Dollar

The so called ‘Polish’ district in New York, Greenpoint, has recently seen a significant increase in the number of Polish people returning from the USA. “A plane from Poland flies out half-empty, and to Poland full. This year the number of plane tickets bound for Poland sold has grown by one-third. The fact that people are leaving is clearly visible by the content and number of shipments,” says Tomasz Rutkowski from delivery company Polamer. The reasons why fewer people are willing to emigrate from Poland to the USA are the weaker dollar, chances of finding better paid and legal work in EU countries, the stricter emigration policy, and the recession in the USA. Basically, there are two main groups of those returning. The first one consists of people who came to the USA for an indefinite period of time in order to earn money, and now it is no longer worth staying in America as the dollar is weak and it is more difficult to find an legal employment. The second group are the elderly who are already receiving pensions, which are still much higher than in Poland. A considerably large number of emigrants who left Poland in the ’80s are reaching this pensionable age.
Gazeta Wyborcza

Cheap SMS

Texts on the Cheap

The European Commission is not about to cease waging war on phone operators after it won the battle for lowering the price of international calls. Now, the Commission is planning to make operators reduce the price of text messages sent in roaming, that is from one EU country to another, by as much as 33%. If successful, the bill will come into force on the 1th of July 2009. This means that we would pay less as early as next summer.

Currently, sending a text message between EU countries costs an average of €0.29 net (over PLN 1 plus VAT). After the implementation of these changes, operators will not be allowed to make customers pay more than €0.11 (about PLN 0.37). The European Commission is planning such a move because the previous price reductions were a great boost for the market. Last year, the mobile phone market grew by 34 per cent. Nonetheless, Viviane Reding, Commissioner for Information Society and Media, claims that we may expect opposition from operators once they hear about the reductions. “Of course they are going to argue that this may put them on the verge of bankruptcy. This is what happened after the first reductions,” said Viviane Reding.
Dziennik

Poland – Land of Opportunity

Nepal - Land of Cheap Labour?

“In the course of two years we have helped over 300 skilled workers from Asia to come to Poland. They are contracted for one year and include electricians, bricklayers, welders, and locksmiths,” says Agnieszka Barchan from K&K Selekt. Another group is due to come next week. 35 people from China will take up positions on various assembly lines, 30 people from India will work as welders, locksmiths, electricians, and painters, and  35 people from Nepal will work as butchers and upholsterers.

In the first half of 2008 over 8,000 foreigners were granted work permits allowing them to be employed in Poland. What is more, Polish companies have expressed their willingness to take on another 100,000 labourers from the East. Currently, the fee for issuing a work permit for a foreigner who wants to stay longer than 3 months is PLN 100. Representatives of K&K Selekt stress the fact that nowadays a worker from Asia is often the only reasonable option for many Polish companies. Foreign workers earn $4.5 per hour. Additionally,  companies give them accommodation at its own holiday centres, as well as food and transport. Their net monthly salaries amount to approximately PLN 1800. “If it wasn’t for upholsterers from Nepal we wouldn’t be able to do our job,” admits Igor Mackiewicz from Słupsk based furniture company Flair Poland.
Rzeczpospolita

Gullible Poles

Value for Money?

44 per cent of Poles are not able to evaluate which information conveyed in commercials is real and which is not. Companies take advantage of this fact and make no bones about deceiving their clients. Interestingly, they are not afraid of the consequences. “Notebook and modem for only PLN 1” was one such advert released in April by Plus. Consumers who made the effort and went to a phone shop expecting to sign a contract and receive a laptop for a symbolic 1 zloty were disappointed after learning the truth. The snag consisted in the fact that the price referred to the modem only, although the price tag was shown on the computer screen. Another example is PKT Centertel, the operator of the Orange network. In the “Wybrane trzy numery” (chosen three numbers) campaign the company advertised calls for free. Those gullible enough to take up the offer were distraught when they saw their phone bills. In reality, the offer did not cover the 24^th, 25^th, 26^th, 31^th of December or the New Year. However, lying in commercials may turn out to be painfully expensive for companies. The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) is planning to fine Plus, Orange and Tele2 in the region of PLN 1.6 million for their campaigns of misinformation.
Polska