ABSTRACTS of PAPERS To be presented at the 2006 SVU World Congress Edited by Miloslav Rechcigl, Jr. North America a Tropical Paradise David V. Alcid, Saint Peter's University Hospital, New Brunswick, NJ North America, to include United States and Canada, is considered to be a westernized continent. This will be a presentation on what it is like to practice tropical medicine and infectious diseases in the United States. The discussion will include indigenous parasitic (tropical) as well as imported disease. Cases will be presented, and this will include the clinical presentations. Some indigenous diseases include Strongyloides stercoralis, Toxocara canis, Baylisascaris procyonis, Diphylobothrium latum, Anisakis simplex, Pseudoterranova decipiens, and Metorchis conjunctus, to name a few. Also a long list of imported diseases, such as Malaria, Trypanosomiasis, Leishmaniasis, Schistosomiasis, Microfilaria, Neurocysticercosis, Myasis, Leptospirosis, Hansen’s disease. Most of the diseases mentioned, initially presented to their primary physicians. Because of increasing travel between continents, we see a wide variety of “tropical” diseases from; Africa, Asia, South America. .Jan Polarik’s Attempt at Slovak Liberalism and his Failure Josette Baer, Smolny College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia Mostly unknown in the West, the playwright, journalist and Catholic priest Jan Palarík (1822-1870) was a crucial intellectual of the Slovak national movement. He expressed sharp critique of Imperial Vienna’s Centralism. Unlike the majority of leading figures of the Slovak national movement opting for independence from Budapest, he favoured the co-operation with the ruling Hungarians. Palarik realistically considered Slovak independence as infeasible and premature. His strict allegiance to the constitution foresaw a significant political autonomy for the Slovaks in Upper Hungary. Yet, he ran against the tide of times, since moderation and co-operation would not gain him many sympathies. His liberalism advocating for a moderate but feasible constitutional change was unsuccessful; it drowned in the waves of increasingly radical nationalism on both Hungarian and Slovak sides. I attempt to show that Palarik’s political ideas of realism and liberalism are influenced by Montesquieu, and, to a certain extent by Kant’s rejection of revolutionary actions. Contribution of US Higher Education Partnership to Development of SUA in Nitra A. Bandlerová, D. Húska and M. Látecka The start of democracy changes at Slovak universities after 1989 was dependent mainly on international cooperation. Shortly after political changes the historical journey of Czecho-Slovak Federative Republic representatives to USA was carried out. This opportunity opened the way for bilateral cooperation. Partnership of foreign institutions created a scope for democracy principles development at universities in the field of student and teacher staff education, for discovering higher education system in USA and its organization and for creating study programs in the 3-cycle education system. This paper demonstrates results of this cooperation in a 15 year-long period. Globalization, Institutional Arrangements and Poverty in Rural Sub Sahara Africa Francis Menjo Baye, Damasius Niba Fuh, Butum Augustine Njong, Njongwe Emmanuel Niba, Suhwalters Niba, Nforah Kingsley Fonji, Achangwa Iweh Joseph and Emilia Nkeng Eyang, Cameroon Universities Arts and Cultural Union, Buea, South West Province, Republic of Cameroon This paper posits that the institutional environment, which is constantly modified by the forces of globalisation, significantly influences access to and returns on primary assets that determine poverty outcomes in rural societies. Within the framework of institutional economics related to globalisation, rural institutions and poverty, the paper (1) identifies monetary and exchange rate arrangements, public debt burden, democratic culture and rent-seeking, openness and obstacles to international trade, economic and structural reforms, and NGO activities as the main channels by which the forces of globalisation permeate down to the rural poor and (2) considers changes in land tenure arrangements, rural financial markets and marketing of agricultural products as important within the institutional environment that determines the capacity of rural dwellers to build on and derive returns from their primary asset endowments. Good governance is viewed as crucial in curbing socio-economic difficulties and poverty in rural Africa, Cameroon and in the world. The Question of Czechness in Final Works of Gideon Klein's "Terezin Requiem" Michael Beckerman, New York University, New York, NY According to the date written on the manuscript, Gideon Klein finished his Trio for Strings just several days before he was transported from Terezin to Auschwitz and Furstengrube where he died, probably in January of 1945. My study contends that Klein has hidden some special things in the middle movement of the work, a traditional site for secrets. I will argue, based on a study of the manuscript and a close reading of the score that this movement is nothing more or less than a personal requiem, 1 of 59 one that may even contain coded speech utterances. Command Economy after the Shocks of Opening up: The Factors of Adjustment in the Czech Trade with the EU Vladimír Benáček and Jiří Podpiera, Charles University and Czech National Bank, Prague, CR By quantifying the determining factors of Czech exports and imports during 1993–2002, this paper enriches the empirical trade literature with evidence from an economy that has undergone intensive structural changes. Our findings lend significance to the variables of aggregate demand and the real exchange rate, in addition to liberalisation of tariffs, evolution of unit prices of exports and imports, changes in quality, diversion in factor usage and economies of scale. Unimpeded opening-up can be a crucial driver of an in-depth restructuring, which brings positive results from the very start, even though its spillover into an overall growth can be delayed. The Reality and Evolution of the Czech Concept of God: From Jan Hus and Augustin Smetana to Tomas Garrigue Masaryk, Alexander Sommer Batek and Norbert Fabian Capek Joseph Ben-David, Church of Humanism, New York, NY The shifting sands of history affect all aspects of society, and individual transformation, as well. The same is true of deific concepts. It is a long stretch from the pantheons of the ancients to the emergence of the moral imperatives of the leading Czech people of the spirit, including Jan Hus, Augustin Smetana, Tomas Garrigue Masaryk, Alexander Sommer Batek, and Norbert Fabian Capek. This presentation will explore the role of these spiritual leaders in the Czech philosophy of religion. The Hussite movement, i.e., the Czech reformation, was an important catalyst for the ascendance of the general Protestant Reformation. President Masaryk, who was also a major philosopher of religion, made original contributions in the field of the theology of realism. His thoughts, with a radical emphasis on living an ethical life associated with the God-phenomenon, were eloquently expressed by the martyred Unitarian Minister, Norbert Capek. It is fascinating to observe the evolution of the Judeo/Christian concept of God as a heavenly being into a universal vision of God as love and the creative process in nature. Perhaps in the Czech lands, where a large segment of the population is atheist, a spiritual compass pointing the way to the highest good could contribute to the enrichment of culture in general. The Preservation of Slovak Heritage in “Smalltown” America: Cases in Broome County, New York; Middletown, Pennsylvania, and Fayetteville, North Carolina John Andrew Berta, Methodist College, Fayetteville, NC The ability, if so desired, to preserve the heritage of one’s forebears is a salient feature of the United States. Aside from affording immigrants economic opportunities unavailable “in the old country”, for some such as the Slovaks, the United States provided an opportunity for their cultural and political maturation. That stability, however, is determined by societal influences that either strengthen, or weaken, that survivability. In large metropolitan areas such as New York City, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, or Chicago, the concentration of a particular ethnic group recreated a semblance of the “old world”. “Older” immigrants organized the parishes, schools, as well as cultural and benevolent societies that facilitated the transition of subsequent immigrants in their new homeland.However, as the children of Slovak immigrants began their climb up the American socioeconomic ladder, that ascent had them moving to other parts of the country where the elements that had preserved the Slovak language and customs were smaller or non-existent, making them more susceptible to Americanization. This paper will describe that transition by focusing on the three specific locations: Broome County, New York (encompassing towns such as Johnson City, Endicott, Binghamton, and Vestal); Middletown, Pennsylvania; and Fayetteville, North Carolina. The Contribution of Czech Musicians to the Development of Bulgarian Musical Culture at the End of the 19th Century and the Beginning of the 20th Century Yordanka Bibina and Kalina Peeva, Institute for Balkan Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria The first Bulgarian musical institutions were formed immediately after the re-establishing of Bulgarian statehood