On March 27, approximately 1,900 students including the General Students Council (GSC), which is about one-tenth of the total CNU student population, gathered in front of Bongji Fountain to exchange their views with University Administration (UA) on Chonnam National University (CNU) policies with particular focus on the tuition fee hike.
However, the gathering proceeded with just questions from the GSC staff and answers to them from the UA representatives. Most students just sat there without advancing their opinions on the issues at hand. Except for a few moments of wild excitement, when the GSC raised objections to the UA views, it was a pretty tame event.
It seems many CNU members - students, professors and staff - have no interest in campus issues, although many students probably had no chance to speak out due to the GSC-dominated debate.
In solving such issues as tuition fee hikes it is crucial that CNU members advance their opinions in a timely and effective manner to the relevant bodies on campus. Lack of communication can result in hasty decisions that can even lead to alienation. Furthermore this often results in the opinions of many affected people not being reflected in decision-making. 
Are issues such as tuition fee hikes the concern only of the GSC and the UA? Why do so many CNU members display indifference in these matters? Several communication channels, especially those on websites like the CNU homepages and the CNU Press and Broadcasting net-center are readily available to students. These provide useful information and a student can freely post his or her opinions thereon.
However, many CNUians appear reluctant to post their opinions on websites despite the fact that particular decisions and/or polices by the UA and/or GSC may have an enormous effect on the students’ own lives and future.
Lee E-jung, Editor-in-Chef of CNU Press and Broadcasting Center (CNUPBC) said, “CNU members, especially students do not know the proper channels where they can obtain information and express their thoughts and opinions.
For this reason, discussion and debate about common agendas on our campus are in rapid decline compared with other universities.” Kyungpook National University (KNU) is a case in point, where so many students post their opinions on issues on their campus, be they serious ones like tuition fee hikes or relatively minor ones. It is important that CNU students participate in integrated discussion and in establishing public opinion.
What are the reasons for the lack of communication among CNU professors, students and staff? They may be summarized as follows: firstly we have no representative media through which to channel communications.
If professors, who have a right to decide a particular CNU policy, want to know students’ opinions and requirements regarding the policy, where can they go? In the case of students, where can they get information and express their opinions about the policy?
Park Se-jong, a manager of the Information Commuting Institute (ICI) said, “Because no media is representative of any given members’ opinions and interests, we actually don’t have many opportunities for relevant communication at CNU.”
The second is in relation to the question whether the UA and the GSC play important roles as leading groups and whether or not the CNUPBC as a representative medium at CNU provides appropriate news and information, necessary for good communication.
We need to have a flow of information and opinion in establishing common agendas that reflect public opinion in CNU. In order to promote communication and generate opinions, it is necessary to provide accurate and reliable information about particular campus issues.
For example, the UA just issued a written statement on the serious problems at the Graduate School of Culture through an electronic bulletin board called ‘Areumi’, a board which only professors can access. The statement did not make clear what caused the campus trouble.
Most CNU-ians were only informed of the problem through local newspapers and broadcasts. The same goes for the GSC. It must adequately inform the rest of the students of important relevant information.
Do you think CNU needs some media to put proper information into the public sphere and thus generate discussion? Many students replied affirmatively to this question, especially as regards info on the internet.
Ironically, CNU already has that sort of net-media with such as, “Space for Debate” on the CNU homepage and CONG (CNU Opinion & News Gate). However, too few postings and replies appear on these bulletin boards, showing that few people to use them.
This may indicate that members are not concerned with happenings in or around CNU. If the members of CNU took pride in their university and local community, they would be interested in campus affairs and access the various media for relevant information and voice their opinions accordingly.
Some CNU-ians may consider themselves like 'Will', the hero of the movie “About a Boy.” ‘Will’ is reluctant to help others as he thinks he is just a useless person unable to solve seemingly serious problems. However, certain CNU-ians have been trying effortlessly to cause effective communication to flow at CNU.
For example, council members of the 'College of Human Ecology’, try to come together once a month to discuss certain problems in their college. They have also met the leaders of the student union to listen to their opinions and requests.
In the addition, student reporters and editors of CNUPBC make every effort to provide up-to-date news and reliable information to promote communication within the university. The ICI is also trying to provide useful information to CNU members and sometimes to collect related feedback such as recording the comments reflecting back on the 5.18 Gwangju Democratic Uprising.
Your participation is also needed at CNU! Do you think you are a useless person who cannot help solve problems here? Your will and love for CNU are above all, the essential resources for the flow of effective communication. Come on CNU-ians!! It’s up to you.
- 기자명 기병수 기자
- 승인 2007.05.28 22:34
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