Imagine living in a country without a government, without law, and without a system. What do you think you would be able to do? Human beings have had a time like this, which today people know as the Stone Age, a time of uncivilized chaos. If somebody said today's university students, who are supposed to be most attentive towards becoming educated and civilized, are going back to such chaos, would you believe it?


In October and November 2014, there were elections taking place almost everywhere around Korea University (KU). Passionate faces and voices of those willing to lead a student group were frequently found around campus. Thereby, representatives of various groups were newly elected. However, as always, there were exceptions. In some colleges and majors, no one wished to stand as the voice of general students.

In Anam campus, the College of Liberal Arts, College of Engineering, and College of Informatics had to put away their hopes to the March elections because not a single candidate came out in the elections. This result directly reveals how indifferent students are towards the student society. Not having a representative or a leader means that they are going back to the times of chaos. In university, this means that the college has to depend on an Emergency Response Committee to lead thousands of students, which may be the start of a serious problem.

Without a president, the whole college is forced into silence. During an Emergency Response Committee system, there are great limitations when it comes to collecting various opinions. Without a president, the college-level businesses and projects that were held before are forced to stop. These projects include assigning on-campus lockers for students, planning the one-day bars that are arranged at the annual KU May Festival Week, and continuing many more amenities that students would be surprised to know are not possible without a student council. Without an actual student council representing the voices and needs of every student, nobody can get his or her voice officially delivered to the university.

How many people actually know that there is such a thing as an Emergency Response Committee in college? Not that many, mostly because it has not been very long since students stopped paying attention to the closest society that they are a member of. Moon Hyun-Seung ('13, Electrical Engineering) stated, "To be honest, I did not know much about the student society in general before this interview, and I believe most students are too busy with personal tasks to pay attention to the student council." The current Korean society does not allow students to care for things other than themselves, which is the main reason behind students' ignorance.

Currently, the College of Liberal Arts is still in an Emergency Response Committee system. More than 4 thousand KU students are out of control. The student who most realized the importance of a minimum system was Kim Dong-Phil ('08, Chinese Language and Literature), who is the current president of the Emergency Response Committee of the College of Liberal Arts. He explained, "There are difficulties accompanied with managing a whole college with an Emergency Response Committee system. A proper student council has a common goal, and strives towards that, so merging different opinions is easier."
 
   
▲ Kim Dong-Phil ('08, Chinese Language and Literature), president of the College of Liberal Arts Emergency Response Committee. Photographed by Kim Yoon Ji.

He added, "however, with an Emergency Response Committee, there are 15 different representatives of each major who have different goals and values, making it difficult to merge opinions. Since the president of the Emergency Response Committee is also a president of one of the 15 majors, that one person has too much work to do, so it is difficult for the committee to be carried out successfully."

Then is there a properly formulated system within an Emergency Response Committee? Jung Da Yeon ('14, Russian Language and Literature), the current student president of Russian Language and Literature, expressed, "The stated Academic Regulations about an Emergency Response Committee are sufficient if such a system prolongs for only a semester or less. However, if it continues for longer than that, the current academic regulations would not be adequate to lead so many students."
 
Although everyone realizes that there will be problems since a college is managed by an Emergency Response Committee, there is not much anyone can do for now. In order to add or change articles of the current Academic Regulations, there should be a College of Liberal Arts Students' Representatives Meeting, which, ironically, is possible only if a student council of the college exists. A temporary College of Liberal Arts students' representatives meeting can be arranged by an Emergency Response Committee, but it is difficult to make changes to a rule that dominates an unpredictable situation.
 
With an Emergency Response Committee, the whole College of Liberal Arts does have the right of speech, but not the right to vote at the Central Administrative Committee. This means that with nobody to formally and properly represent the college, 4000 students do not have the right to make choices that may directly affect their campus life. However, these students cannot make complaints, because they were the ones who did not care about the importance of having a proper representative. Nevertheless, it is difficult to ignore the needs of all students, which is why the members of the Emergency Response Committee are facing troubles.

Then why are students not interested in student council and student society in general? Kim explained that the previous image of university student councils being politically involved partially influenced students to stay away from such groups to begin with. However, now there is a greater problem related to societal atmosphere. "Being part of student council is not particularly advantageous when students apply for corporations during or after college graduation." Kim continues, "it is considered as an organization that works based on sacrifice, like social services, but I believe it is a place that allows a student to grow into a true adult."

The biggest problem is not that a whole college lacks a leader, but that a huge majority of students do not care about the student society in general. Ignorance itself is the worst problem in terms of public order. Those who are part of student council are not part of it simply because it gives something practical back to them. It does not directly show a particular ability or talent of a person. However, these students care about the society in general, and quickly realized that taking part in what they can change now will consequently lead to changing what they can change in the future.
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