Tom Davisson is not ready to leave Prague, but local authorities tell him it's time to go.

By Dan Fitzgerald

Czech authorities have order five students enrolled in NYU’s study-abroad program in Prague to pack their bags and go home early.

The five students faced deportation after their visas expired in April. A sixth, Samuel Greenberg, escaped a deportation order when he received a visa extension from Spain, where he studied last autumn

Like Greenberg, the other five students were studying abroad last semester and did not apply for student visas in their home country as required by Czech law.

Citizens of the United States and many other countries may travel to the Czech Republic and stay as tourists for up to 90 days. Such travelers are on their honor to leave the country again within that time. NYU’s Prague program lasts 118 days.

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Czech scientists are creating manipulating molecules to create materials that do not exist in nature.

Czech research in nanotechnology rivals that in the West, but scientist are still struggling to make ends meet.

By Lecia Bushak

Jiří Rathouský led a visitor through a building which looked frozen in time from Soviet-era 1980s — tattered brown leather chairs encircling glass tables for a sitting room, plastic plants lining beige walls, an old man leafing through a typewritten directory at the front desk. The Department of Structure and Dynamics, an institute under the umbrella of the Czech Academy of Sciences, hadn’t changed much.

“These elevators are really terrible,” Rathouský said as the metal doors clamped shut on us in the 4 foot-by-4 foot elevator box. “Sometimes they break down, so we’re hoping for new ones soon.”

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Roma girls show off the results of their dance classes at the Living Together community center in Ostrava.

Civic organization Living Together seeks to foster understanding between the Roma minority and general society in Ostrava.

By Rosie Gray

Music swells from the speakers as three teenage girls take the floor of the community center. Dressed in floor-length skirts, crop tops, and medallion-laden belts, the girls begin a traditional dance routine. They pop their hips and spin their wrists in moves not unlike belly dancing. The girls giggle shyly and miss a few steps; they seem like any average girls showing off the fruits of their dance classes.

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By Dan Fitzgerald

A whirlwind tour of Prague’s Old Town, a Czech history lecture from NYU professor Jan Urban and a visit to Terezín were only some of the events that NYU’s College of Arts and Science Presidential Honors Scholars attended during their weeklong visit, March 14–20.

The scholars spent their time with a combination of academic and cultural events. Scholars attended lectures and guided tours during the day and went to the theater at night. One evening, they attended La Traviata at the Prague State Opera, while on another they saw The Makropulos Affair at the Estates Theater.

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NYU instructor William Miller says the curve makes for a more competitive classroom.

By Dan Fitzgerald

Smaller class sizes at NYU in Prague this semester mean fewer available As for business students.

All courses in the Leonard N. Stern School of Business grade according to guidelines known as the Stern Curve: Only about 25% of students will receive As, 40% Bs, the rest Cs or lower.

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Doctors inject a human egg with sperm in the IVF process.

American couples are discovering fertility treatment services offered in the Czech Republic.

By Ruby Hlivko

Dr. Štěpán Machač of Reprofit International, a fertility clinic in the Czech Republic’s second-largest city of Brno, asks his clients if the clinic’s treatment has changed their lives. The answer is usually yes. Couples for whom he has performed in-vitro fertilization (IVF) during the clinic’s first operating year in 2007 are now returning for their second babies, and showing him photos of their first. Nearly 25% of these couples are American.

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With just three students in his radio journalism course, NYU instructor Rob Cameron can give each student more individual attention.

By Dan Fitzgerald

Decreased enrollment at NYU’s Prague campus has translated to the smallest class sizes that NYU students are ever likely to encounter. Currently, 136 students are enrolled in 57 available courses. Some classes have as few as three students.

NYU instructor Rob Cameron teaches radio journalism in Prague. His class has three students this semester but in recent years has had as many nine. “It has fluctuated wildly in the past,” he says.

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Our Lady of Victory is just one of thousands of churches that have been robbed in recent years.

Thieves have broken into nearly 90 percent of the country’s churches in recent years and stolen countless valuable works of art.

By Michelle Lee

For years, Lucia Suchá visited Prague’s Church of Our Lady of Victory weekly to pray. But on one visit four years ago, she noticed that a small, blue, stained-glass window in the church’s door was missing. Instead, a small piece of cardboard covered the four-square-inch opening.

Thieves had broken into the church’s main entrance, smashed through the glass of the second door and opened it from the other side. They stole a three-and-a-half-foot tall wooden statue of St. John the Baptist.

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From left, Student Council Treasurer Christina Apollonio, student Marcus Richard, Secretary Dana Skerry, President Jenny Liang and faculty advisor Darina Batorova.

By Joseph Cappabianca

The spring-semester student council took office January 26 and immediately began planning events to foster a sense of community among NYU students in Prague.

“I feel like Student Council is a great way to meet not just the students in the program, but the RAs and other staff at NYU,” said President Jenny Liang.

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Job seeker Michaela Drahovzalová says employers are looking for candidates with more experience.

In a job market crippled by high unemployment, young Czechs find their academic achievements mean less and experience means more.

By Tiffany Lo

Michaela Drahovzalová attended a prestigious economics high school, has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Charles University in Prague, and is currently finishing a second degree in Russian and Lithuanian language studies. For six years now, however, the 27-year-old student has been struggling to find a job.

Her frustration is apparent as she ponders what she did wrong. “Maybe if I were out of high school now, I would choose something else. Maybe economics. It would be more practical to go to an economics university,” she says.

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