Korea University (KU) really did not have a variety in terms of facilities near campus that students could easily make use of. However, as it has almost been a trend in Anam these few years, there was a sudden increase of facilities including cafes, cosmetics shops, and clothing stores. Such a trend has also affected KU's campus directly, especially under the Central Plaza.

 
Anyone who has been on the Anam campus of KU before 2015 would have been at the Underground Central Plaza at least once. Also, if they revisit the place during the first semester of 2015, they would likely notice that most of the stores there have changed. There were several major changes. Some stores changed into different ones of the same or similar category, some got bigger, and some were completely new.
 
Major changes always bring along various responses. Change to the Underground Central Plaza was not an exception. Students show different responses towards the changes made on the Anam Liberal Arts and Humanities campus, which a great number of students use daily. Despite the university's stance that it put into full consideration the most requested needs of general students, not all students were not very enthusiastic.
 
Burger King changed from It's Fillet, which is also a franchise store that sells burgers and french fries. This change brought various responses from students since there are clear preferences even in terms of fast food stores. Those who loved It's Fillet's chicken and strongly spiced french fries did not welcome the change, whereas those who prefer the popular franchise stores and their particular characteristics awaited Burger King's opening since early February. Hong Ji-Song ('14, Geography Education) stated, "I love Burger King, so I was waiting for it to open ever since the new 2015 academic year started."
 
Two cafes have changed from Café Dudart and Café Marrone to De Chocolate and Caffe Bene. These changes also accompanied controversy among students who regularly used these facilities. Kim Kyu-Young ('14, Russian Language and Literature) stated that, "The coffee beverages at the cafes until last year were under 3000 won. However, now it is impossible to drink something with caffeine that is approximately the same price. All I can get for that price or lower is the canned coffee available in convenient stores." However, some students like Roh Hane ('12, Art and Design) stated that, "Franchised cafes are franchised for a reason. It proves that they are popular enough to succeed in various places. Personally, I am especially a great fan of De Chocolate’s Deep Chocolate Honey."
 
   
▲ Cafe De Chocolate, the new cafe in the Underground Central Plaza. Photographed by Jung Woo Jae.
 
Most others would also realize that the convenience store changed from Ministop to CU, and that it increased in terms of space to allow extra area for students to have the meals that they bought at the store. Most opinions towards this change to the convenience store were positive. Now students do not have to sit outside or walk around in the middle of the hallway to have their meal when they are too busy to sit at a restaurant.
 
   
▲ The convenience store CU that is new to the Underground Central Plaza. Photographed by Jung Woo Jae.
 
There were also some suggestions by students to make the change even better. Kim Soo-Rin ('11, Psychology) stated, "I spend most of my time on ampus at the study areas in the Underground Central Plaza. As everyone would know, the study areas can be used 24 hours, but the conveniece stores close early at nights. I think it would be helpful if there were a store where students could buy things to eat when they are spending the whole night on campus."
 
Responses were most negative when it came to the construction of Aritaum and Innisfree, because the Underground Central Plaza is a place for all students. Male students such as Sim Won-Bo ('14, Russian Language and Literature) stated, "I would have strongly disagreed about building cosmetics shops on campus, especially in the Underground Central Plaza, since it is a place that many other facilities for all students could have been built instead."
 
   
▲ Aritaum and Innisfree, the two new cosmetics shops in the Underground Central Plaza.Photographed by Jung Woo Jae.
 
The corporate body within KU in charge of stores being built on campus states that the changes made to the Underground Central Plaza resulted from the voices and needs of general students. In terms of the need of cosmetics shops within a university campus, Dong Koo, the team leader of this corporate body, responded, "There were too many stores at the Underground Central Plaza that were related to food. Fortunately, Amore Pacific applied for the space, which is why we decided to allow its entrance into KU. Allowing easy purchase of cosmetics within campus does not influence the right of students to study." Dong added, "Students can buy products at Morning Glory with a maximum of 50 percent discount, and we asked to increase the area allocated for the convenient store to allow eating space for students." In terms of the questions of students about the specific standards used to decide whether or not a particular store would enter KU or not, he denied a detailed response.
 
Since the major changes made to the campus were not all that pleasant, a greater number of students became interested in the process of new stores entering the Anam campus of KU. To these enquiries and requests for information, the KU Student Association (KUSA) expressed its worries by stating that there is no proper organization or system that allows accurate delivery of the needs and opinions of students when it comes to facilities on campus. It added that students should not be given notifications about the changes made by the university, but that they should be the ones who could make changes that are truly helpful for their own majority. These involvements should not only include what stores should enter the KU campus, but also where they should be located and how big of an area should be allocated to each of the stores.
 
Changes to university facilities and amenities are not often discussed with general students. Students have now realized this clearly, since they were directly impacted by the changes made without their knowledge. Both the university and the students should be responsible of these changes and the consequences, but it is true that there should be a formal organization to allow discussion between the university and ordinary students.
 
 
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