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언론원

Volume 38 June 2012

Student CouncilBrief History, Interview and Student Opinion

SNU FestivalActivities. Bands. Cuisine. Drinks.

Student Study HabitA Survey

APPey ROAD, KLETO, Sorijigi

The Seoul National University English-Language Journal

SNU-37호 표지 2012.5.25 7:22 PM 페이지1

Quill Finder

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Editor’s Letter

Campus News

Cover Story: An Evening Interview Sesh

A brief history of SNU student election

Inside the Campus

2012 and the Student Council

Campus: The Spring Festival

SNU students’study habits

Disabilities, Money, and Literature

The Rise of Startups

Smart SNU APPers

KLETO, the road onto the sea of Korean literature waves

Arts & Culture: Peter Jensen’s Muses - a high- fashion scene experience

The passion of SNU, ChongjangBae

The Sorijigi Way

In Mt. Gwanak, there is Beodulgol

Pictures from the festival

Cheap, Tasty and Convenient

Perspective: Scooters - a safe vehicle or a hazardous trip?

Editorial: This is the wonderful IT era

Salvaging individualism through technology

May Culture Calender

Volume 38June 2012

CONTENTS

SCOOTERS THE SORIJIGI WAY

THE SPRING FESTIVAL

An interview with the new school president

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What you are holding in your hands is the 38th issue of the Quill. This issue will be

the last for this semester and we have some good news for you.

First of all, our situation improved since the OIA and the CEP are now willing to

support us financially! I am really happy about the results of the hard work our

Managing Directors, Su-Hyun and Yeun-Il put for the cause of the Quill in this affair.

The second great news is that finally, after years of non-existence, the student

council election vote was successfully held. We are excited for what the new president

and his staff will put through and are wishing him good luck. You can find an interview

with him and the vice-president in this month’s issue as well as some background

information about the history of our student council.

We also changed the design and the structure of the layout for this issue, we are still

experimenting and trying to figure out what will suit best. A new editorial section was

added where our writers Yun Hwan and Sung Hoon will express their thoughts and

then there is a section called ‘Perspective’ where Tselmeg is writing about experiences

she makes in her daily life on campus as a foreign student.

May is coming to an end - this semester could have been a good one, a perfectly

enriching one if there were not also some dark spots in our ‘timeline’ (you know that

facebook is going to force you to have the timeline, right?). There was uncontrolled,

excessive drinking causing the campus police to intervene during the school festival,

sexual harassments of fellow female students outside campus by one of our alumni and

the tragic death of a freshman two weeks ago in the school dormitory. What can WE as

students do to prevent such things? It is on us to care for our fellow students and ensure

that everybody can live happily on our campus grounds. Don’t look away if people are

having hard times, try to help and support them as much as you can. Everybody should

take a minute and try to reflect on themselves

Finally we want to say that we are really thankful for having such great readers who

support us with emails and feedbacks on ‘facebook’ and ‘snulife’. We will not fail the

expectations you have in us and will always try to fulfill the expectations you have in

our journal.

We wish you all the best with your final exams and wish you a good and well

deserved summer vacation! See you next semester!

BY YOON SONG-UG

EDITOR -IN-CHIEF

THE SEOUL NATIONALUNIVERSITY

uill Staff

FROMTHE EDITOR

Chief Managing Director Bae Su Hyen

Editor in Chief Yoon Song-Ug

Vice Managing Director Jeong Yeun-il

Cover Story & Feature Section

Editor Chae Yun Hwan

Kim Haesol

Lee Da Eun

Campus Section

Editor Oh Josefina

Chuluunbaatar Tselmeg

Hwang Johannes Tae-In

Ko Sung Hoon

Park So Hyun

Arts & Culture Section

Editor Jung Jiyun

Chung Hyun Chung

Maskey Abhas

Go Dae Ho

Kwon Inhwa

Song Bohye

Cover Design Hee Won Lee

Kim Nu Ri

Photographer Woo Minsoo

E Mail snuquill@gmail.com

Website club.cyworld.com/thesnuquill

Advisor Professor Eli Sorensen

Sponsor SNU College English Program

Printing Late Spring (02 2269 8030)

Design Kim Sun Hee

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June 2012. Vol. 38

CAMPUS NEWSCollege of Business AdministrationOn 23rd May, the College of Business Administration held a

flamboyant festival to mark 50 years of its establishment. A myriad ofdiverse events were prepared with colossal amounts of money poured intothe event. The scale of the event was emphasized by the fact that thefestival was not constrained to just one place; football, basketball andtennis finals (with the preliminary contests already fought out before D-day) were held in Gwanaksa while the baseball final took place in the fieldopposite the CBA building. Furthermore, a ‘Biz Got Talent’ show tookplace with 5 teams competing for the grand prize of 1,000,000 won.

Celebrated announcers, singers and musical actors all attended to congratulate the CBA, Psy expectedly entertaining thedelighted crowd. CBA students were provided with lunch and dinner as well as a barrage of other benefits such as coffee,chicken and ice cream. There were plenty of events to enjoy throughout the day for all CBA students!

College of Social SciencesThe College of Social Sciences’ student government held its thirtieth

Hae-Oh Reum Festival on the evening of May 10th. Many studentsgathered in front of building 83 to receive free beef and Makgulli. Thescenery of the students enjoying the food in groups sitting on thealuminum mats seemed like a large picnic smack in the middle of thecampus. Student clubs performed a variety of shows on the stage fromKorean traditional Mimes, rock band performances, to dancing andsinging by Go-Ahead and Triple-H. The Mime dancing to old Koreansongs highlighted the tradition of the College of Social Sciences and

accentuated the uniqueness of the Hae-Oh Reum Festival. At which college festival would you be able to view such interestingKorean Mimes? Overall, the festival provided an opportunity for the College of Social Science students to strengthen theirsolidarity and to think about the role of the student governments.

College of EducationAs the whole concept of baseball is catching on in the nation, more and

more people are getting interested in playing the sports while still enjoyingthe comfortable state of spectating. Consisting of 18 members, theMasters is the newest baseball club in campus. Founded this year, themembers are mostly students from the college of education. The team’smain scheme is to create an atmosphere where anyone can join andactually enjoy playing baseball unlike the other clubs where only the mostcompetitive players have chances to actually stand on the mound. Ofcourse, winning is the biggest goal, but the team emphasizes more on

actually taking pleasure in practicing baseball. In order to fulfill this intent, the team also goes to ballparks and enjoys watchingsome games on a regular basis. Though they only got to play once in the SNU league this semester, the future is bright for thisyoung team. If you are interested in friendly ball playing and also want to be able to play at serious league games, the Masters isthe just the right answer for you.

BY KIM HAE SOL, JEONG YEUN-IL, BAE SU HYEN

June 2012. Vol. 38

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June 2012. Vol. 38Cover Story

administration” in 2011. We talked a lot and discovered weheld similar ideas about the general direction of schoolreform. Ju Yong: The election? It wasn’t part of our grand planinitially. We just shared the same passion about the needfor school reform and later realized there was no otherway to it than taking ready action ourselves. So we decidedto take the plunge.

We understand that there were a few hardshipsduring the whole span of your election campaign.Tell us about some.

Ju Yong: I guess the biggest detour in our whole electionwas the failure of our first election due to the shortage ofvotes. If it had been a loss to the other team, we wouldhave more or less come to terms with it. But the shortageof votes told us the biggest problem was in the students’indifference. We felt the way to make change was to getstudents interested first. We could not afford anothervacuum of power in the student council. It would puteverything on hold vacuum of power in the student council. It would put

the issue of half-priced school fees,the incorporation of SNU, etc. So we decided we wouldrun for a second election; this time we turned out to be theonly running team.

The second big problem we faced was the school’snonnegotiable attitude. We thought that if two parties hada common interest [the welfare of SNU students], theywould be able to work out some kind of compromise nomatter what. The reality was vastly different. Every timewe [students] requested some kind of action on theschool’s part, they only responded by turning a blind eyeto the problems. Complaints, demands were piling up butall we heard back from the administration was a “Yes, wewill take care of it,” without practically anything beingdone. So we reached the conclusion that the strongestoption for us was to call an “all students meeting,” a chong-whae, and show the school our determination. We wouldgo over the list of all school issues together, finalize ourchoices on what actions to take and officially notify theadministration. We thought this was the most effectiveway of giving them pressure administration. We thought this was the most effective

making them see that theyhad to answer directly to the students.

What do you see as the most fundamentalproblem in our school?

Joon Kyu: The foremost problem is the murky governing

structure inside SNU. All issues concerning the school’sfinances are voted on and decided by an all-powerful boardof directors, consisted of prominent members in society.None of the students can say for sure through what kindof screening process they got to those positions. How arewe supposed to know whether they are even qualifiedwhen the board holds meetings outside of school (usuallyin hotels) and remains impervious to our surveillance? Webelieve that since it is our interests and welfare that thesemen juggle with, the board should be nominated andselectively chosen by the students themselves.

The thing is, if the school proceeds to become acorporation as planned, the government will interveneeven less and the school board will come to have almostunrestrained power. We cannot have that. We need aneffective system of checks and balances to make sure thedecision makers of our school prioritize student welfareand student rights.

What do you plan to achieve during your term?Tell us about your ideal vision of SNU in the longterm.

Ju Yong: We believe that all important decision makingprocesses at SNU should rightfully include its students.From managing school finance, charging school tuition,distributing scholarships to electing the school president.students have a right to know and intervene where theirvital interests are at stake. The administration needs to seethat. They need to put student rights and welfare as theirfirst priority and make all transactions transparent to us.Thatfirst priority and make all transactions transparent to us.

s the only way they can earn trust and cooperatetogether with the students. This is the kind of vision wehave and seek to achieve.

Any additional comments?

Joon Kyu & Ju Yong: Another “all students meeting” isbeing held on May 31st in front of the administrationbuilding. Please join us there if you wish to take part inmaking a better future for our school. It would mean a lot!

An EveningInterviewSesh: Getting Chummy withthe New Student Council BY LEE DA EUN

Ju Yong Lee, the student vicepresident, warmly greets me as Iwalk into our scheduled interview

in room 436 of the Student Center.The mangy arrangement of an ovaldesk, three chairs, and a sofa is the oneand only student council officeapparently and it strikes me as a bitstartling, in deep contrast to the imageof an immaculate if not swanky officein my mind fit for the new caretakersof our on-campus welfare. They arethe ones looking out for our bestinterests after all and probably deservea little more than this humble jam ofspace. Nevertheless, this sort ofinconvenience seems to be the least oftheir worries at the moment. Twounidentified council members lookslightly flushed debating in restrainedtones about an issue which I know notof and the student president, JoonKyu Oh, and the vice president, JuYong Lee are both sitting down at thedesk with their attentions directed atme. They look calm yet radiate withspirit and vigor - they make a nice duowithout a doubt. After exchanginggreetings, a word of thanks, andpleasant smiles, so it goes.

How did you guys find eachother? When did you first startto talk about entering thestudent council elections?

Joon Kyu: I am enrolled in theCollege of Law and Ju Yong is inthe College of Liberal studies. Andsince the two colleges do joint socialgatherings in the freshmen year, wenaturally had the chance to getacquainted with each other. Wedidn’t know each other that wellback then, but we became closewhen we met during the protest for“half-priced school tuition fees” andthe “student takeover of the school

June 2012. Vol. 38

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Cover Story

actually contributed to theindifference. Although there had beenseveral cases of alleged corruption ofthe SNU student council throughoutthe history, the impeachment of theacting student president due tocredential embellishment in year 2006was perhaps the most significant one.Then-president Hwang Rayeol wasaccused of fabricating his previouswork history (Being admitted to thecollege of pre-medicine of Koreauniversity, being a licensed Muay Thaimartial arts performer which wereboth found to be fake) and was foundguilty in a press conference. After that,SNU had no other choice but to makehim resign during his term.

Another grim history of corruptionoccurred in 2009 when a series ofabsurd incidents had happened. Oneof the campaigns had apparentlysucceeded in manipulating the votes bygetting access to the ballot box andopening it. The evidence that hadcontributed to their exposure was arecording that was produced alsoduring an act of yet another corruptedcampaign who had actually plantedrecording devices (bugs) at the sitewhere the ballot boxes were kept atnight. (Sounds familiar?) After thishad happened, the student body ofSNU had evidently lost theirconfidence in the student council in

whole and the next student electionwas foundered yet again leading theschool to leave the chair unattendedfor the longest period (over a year) inthe history of the school ever since thestudent council was re-introduced in1984.

Even though they are not directlyrelated to the corruption of thestudent council, there had been someminor incidents that had to do withputting dents in the credibility of theSNU student council. One of theexecutives of a past school presidentoffice was indicted for counterfeitingSNU meal coupons in 2009. Theperson in subject, Choi Sangwon wasfound guilty of forging school mealcoupons and selling them at a lowerprice than the regular price and illegallyearning 5,000,000 won in total. Eventhough he was no longer a part of thestudent council, the voters wereoutraged by the immoral act of thisfigure and thus lost faith in othermembers of the campaigns that wererooting for the future elections.

As seen above, there seems to be alot of reasons for the decliningconcerns regarding the election of thestudent council but that does notmean that the students are all thatindifferent with the existence of one.They had now experienced what it islike to not have an acting studentcouncil. Even though the so-called,joint conference still operates behalf ofthe missing student council whenelections are foundered, having a leaderfigure and having a reluctant group ofmany members who are already busywith taking care of their own collegedepartments are not the same when itcomes to taking actions against abigger power; the school authorities.

One might say that the school boardis doing just fine but as history has it,great power requires monitoring,intervening even, to see if what theyare doing is in fact beneficial for thepublic; in this case, the students notthe beaurocrats of the school who tendto take their joy of having distancefrom the students.

Now is the time to change, yetagain, the tendency of taking interestin school politics; it is now that weshould remind ourselves of the realmeaning of the student council’sexistence and even engage byenthusiastically casting our votes whenthe election season comes back.

It’s been finally settled. The newstudent council of SNU hasemerged as the final result of the

election was revealed on 24th of May.The 54th student council of SeoulNational had been successfully putthrough as the voter turnout reached50.37%, with 8703 votes. (Note thatthe turnout rate of 50% is theminimum requirement for theconfirmation of the election.) Sincethis election had only one candidate,Mr. Oh Junkyu (College of Law, 08)as the school president and Mr. LeeJuyong (College of Liberal Studies,09) as the vice, the voters were giventheir choice to either concur or objectto their being elected president. Theresult was astonishing as 83.33% of thevoters cast their votes marked as‘concur’ showing that most of thevoters were in a quite welcomingmood for the new school president.

Let aside the preference for the newpresident’s course of agenda for theschool, the electorates of SNU werehappy to finally bear a student councilafter the heartbreaking incident in lastNovember when the attempt to electthe new student council was met withdreadful failure. (The most recentelection is, in fact, the re-election ofthis one.) As the voter turnout ratemerely reached 48.74% back then,(even with extended voting days)

SNU had no other choice but toaccept the numbers and facts.Moreover, abiding what is stated in theSNU student council regulation, theelectorates had to let the presidents ofeach college student body form thejoint conference.

The tragic state, however, is notsomething that is totally new to SNU.In fact, the SNU student council wasunder many perils since the start of thenew millennium; with 13 cases ofextended voting days and 6 electionsfoundered. The reason why this articleputs its emphasis on the term‘millennium’ is because before the year2000, there had never once been aperiod when there was no studentcouncil due to the shortage of votes. Itwas in the year of 2003 when thestudent council of SNU foundered forthe first time in its history and eversince then, the turnout rate had alwaysbeen hanging by a thread.

Before the new millennium hadbegun, voting for the student councilwas recognized as a direct act topreserve democracy. During the 70sand the 80s, the implication held someof its literality as at that era, thestudent council performed its functionas a means to rally the student force togo on protests against the non-democratic government. Even afterdemocracy was achieved, this trait was

still significant for the student councilof SNU even in the 90s.

When the new millennium came,students had to change their mindsetswithin the course of conversion. Therewere no more dictators or socialinjustice to fight against. One mightstill believe that this statement isuntrue, but at least that is what themajority of students believe in thesedays. So instead of taking interest insocial engagement, the children of thenew era began focusing on their ownbeing; their career plans, theirwellbeing, etc. This is precisely whenthe voting turnout rate started todecline. After the foundering of the47th student council in 2003, practicallyevery election went through extendedvoting days. (The re-election of the47th student council and the re-electionof the 50th student council were theonly two without the extended daysamong 14 elections.)

Apart from the new trend of self-orientation, several cases of corruption

Well, it’s about time...A brief history of SNU’s student election

BY JEONG YEUN-IL

Above: Park Jin-hyuck being found guilty ofattempting to manipulate the ballot box in 2009

The graph depict the voter turnouts of the last 15 consecutive student elections in SNU.

June 2012. Vol. 38

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The drawn out effort to establishthe general student councilbody has finally come into

fruition this semester with a staggeringapproval rate of 83.33% for the singleparty candidate Ready, Action. The 54th

student council election of SeoulNational University (SNU) hadalready taken place in the previousyear, however the election had failed tomaterialize as the voter turnout ratedid not reach the needed 50% of thestudent body population, arequirement of election regulations.For potential candidates this year, newstrategies were needed in order togarner more interest in the elections.

It is noteworthy that this year’selection was historically the firsttime that only one party was in

contention in the race for the generalstudent council. The election alsoattracted the highest voter turnout ratesince 2007 of 45.53%. Despite theoverall success in electing a studentbody, the election still required theextended voting period, a followingprocedure if voter turnout rate fails toreach 50% during the standard votingperiod. The annual tribulation ofelecting a student council bodyultimately calls into question whethernew measures should be taken for amore effective method to stimulate alethargic voting population.

Although the student councilelection is conducted annually, activeinterest and participation of thestudent body is dubious as extendedvoting periods have been conductedfor nine consecutive years since 2003.The nearly decade long trend isalarming as it points to a ratherreserved character of the votingpopulation. Last year’s election hadbeen disappointing as the elections hadcome during a period of the impendingprocess of privatization of SNU thathas had great impact on the studentbody. At a time whe student voice andparticipation was crucial, the electionhad instead folded. Although theelection results of the 54th studentcouncil sends out a glimmer of hopethrough the overwhelming support forthe elected representatives, it maysimply be a corollary result to a oneparty race. Rather than conducting ademocratic procedure of electing aparty the voter truly supports, therecent election can be criticized as adesperate attempt of student leaders toattract more voters by streamlining thecandidate list.

Ultimately, two scenarios seem tobe likely: either the currentrepresentatives succeed in stimulatingthe student body to more proactiveparticipation in student affairs or theyfail and the vicious cycle of uninspired

elections continue. Administrativemeasures such as changing electionregulations by reducing the required50% voter turnout rate may solve theapparent problem and such measureshave already been taken in place inother universities in Korea such asSogang University. However, if takenthey will fail to address the inherentissue of voter passivity.

The elected representatives arealready tackling the issue in a postivedirection as they have called a generalstudent body meeting to address theirparticular concerns with the issue ofprivatization. The student council’sability to mobilize and motivate theentire student body remains to beseen, however, the alternative ofchanging election regulations will beyielding to the aloof stance of thestudent body regarding studentpolitics. Privatization may be agodsend opportunity for the studentcouncil to inspire the studentpopulation. The issue has influence onall aspects of student life at SNU andshould be tackled by a united studentfront. The new student council has thepotential to vitalize the studentpopulation in this crisis and hopefully,2012 could become a turning point forwhat had been an uninspired studentbody.

What were SNU students’attitudes to the 54thStudent Council

elections that needed 3 extra days tovalidate itself? This article explores indepth differing student opinions aboutthis year’s Student Council as well asthe Student Council in general.

Kim Chang Duck is a sophomore atthe college of mechanical engineering.He entered the school during thesecond semester of last year. As aspecial case of admission, he hasthankfully shared his opinion aboutthe SNU Student Council with theQuill.

How much do you know about

the school’s Student Council? To be honest, I know very little

about the Student Council in ourschool. In fact, I am not aware of whatkind of events they are involved in andwhat roles they are exactly meant tofulfill. I came to this school whileeveryone else was in their secondsemester thus I haven’t been very wellinformed of what goes on in thisschool. I don’t think people areinformed well enough about the roleor even the existence of the StudentCouncil in SNU. I believe people needto gain more interest for the StudentCouncil. However, to do this, thereseems to be a need for moreadvertisement and interaction with thestudents about school events.

Have you ever taken part in aStudent Council vote in ourschool?

This semester in our campus, Isuddenly came across an event to votefor the next Student Council. Peoplesuddenly approached me on my wayto class, telling me to vote. There was abooth with some information aboutthe Student Council candidates. Eventhough I had actually voted, I did notfeel good since I hadn’t heard of thisevent or the candidates’ plansbeforehand. Yet not voting felt like

not helping the school, so ultimately, Idid indeed vote. Next time, I wouldlike to find out more before I vote sothat I can actually participatedemocratically in making the school abetter place for myself and fellowstudents.

Kim Dong Young is a junior at theCollege of Business School. He hasgracefully given up his time to sharehis opinion about this year’s StudentCouncil and their pledges.

What do you think about the50.37% turnout during thisyear’s voting?

The fact that the voting period hadto be extended by another three days isobviously disappointing. I thinkpeople fail to ultimately vote becausethey simply cannot be bothered to orare completely indifferent to schoolissues. This may be because it is notrelated to them or the Student Councilis not advertised enough. I hope that inthe future people give more attentionto the Student Council and participatemore in the voting procedure.

What is your opinion aboutthe Student Council’s pledges?

I think it is very right for theaccounting information of the schoolto be made transparent so thateveryone in the school knows what isgoing on in the school and where theirtuition fees are being spent on. As forthe tuition fee problem, I think it is anongoing issue so it would be wise toset up a separate committee that dealsspecifically with that issue. Moreover,the pledge of making a general studentcommittee wouldn’t be bad eitherbecause student opinions will bereflected. Of course we do not knowyet to which extent it will be increasedbut having an establishment thatrepresents the students’ voice wouldnot be a negative policy.

2012 and theStudent Council

BY CHAE YUN HWAN

Inside theCampus: Student views on the Student Council BY KIM HAESOL

Cover Story

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June 2012. Vol. 38

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Administration Building. Scatteredaround the rest of campus are otherstalls, but the Festival’s prime venue,where crowds of customers blanketthe grass, is the field facing theAdministration Building. Here residenot only booths, but also trampolines,arcade games, and small markets.

Overseeing it all is the stage. Smallperformances are on displaythroughout the afternoon into theevening, though only a few peoplestay to watch. Once the sun sets,however, the mood, along with thenumber of spectators, rises. For therest of the night, center stage belongsto Seoul National’s most famousbands, singing clubs, and dancegroups, with a performance finisher bycelebrity guests.

Though the acts are over, peopleremain. They keep drinking. Theykeep eating. They keep laughing. Evenif it’s just for another hour, studentssit amongst familiar friends andunfamiliar faces, many drunk, somesober, all content to stay where theyare.

Although some convenientlycontinue to converse, the restremaining begin to clean up.Community service, religious, andother school clubs pick up the bottles,plates, and utensils left by guests.Among these kind-hearted societies is Choo-Kah-Sah.

If one were to stroll around campustoday and peruse his surroundings,he’d have not the slightest idea thatpreviously this month Seoul NationalUniversity hosted its annual SpringFestival. No traces of trash lie around.No booths stay standing. The Festivalhas gone, as quickly as it came.

Choo-Kah-Sah: the organization responsible for coordinating the SpringFestival. Without it, SNU’s Spring (and Fall) Festivals would not be asthey are.

Choo-Kah-Sah began in 2003. Prior to its existence, SNU’s Festivals constantlychanged in theme and characteristic, as the Student Council, who decided how theFestivals would be, also changed. Essentally, Choo-Kah-Sah serves to maintainthe Festivals’consistency.

After Choo-Kah-Sah was founded, Seoul National University’s Festivalsimproved in quality and garnered more guests each year. Additionally posts onSNUlife, a social forum site for SNU students, have commented on theFestivals’growing popularity and fun.

However, as more and more people come to SNU’s Festivals, the more workChoo-Kah-Sah has to do. Thinking of exciting activities and guest celebrities, toensure a more successful Festival than the previous, is a lot of pressure.Furthermore, the growing number of Festival participants means more leftovertrash needed to be thrown out by Choo-Kah-Sah and other organizationsafterwards.

Nonetheless, planning out the Festival is what Choo-Kah-Sah is all about, andthe organization enjoys what it does. But there is nothing more rewarding thanbeing recognized for one’s hard work. If you happen to see someone from Choo-Kah-Sah, or if you stop by their room in the Student Center, make sure to expressyour thanks! They deserve it.

May 15, 16, 17: a triumvirateof activities, beer, andculture; a celebration

coalescing the countless congruent,contrasting characters that comprisethis campus into one. It is, though a

limited time, a gregarious one, one thatallows for the invisible barriers ofcliques, majors, and other social marksto vanish, as the inhibitions initiated bysociety wash down with the alcoholand food.

The location of the Festival,covering much of the campus, ismultifaceted. A bunch of boothsclusters about the Student Center. Astrafe of international food stands linesthe passageway behind the

Activities. Bands. Cuisine. Drinks.

The SpringFestival.

Club Highlights

BY KO SUNG HOON

Campus

June 2012. Vol. 38

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Campus

SNU students’study habits

T he SouthK o r e a neducation is

oftentimes praised for its goodresults; among others high profilepersons such as Obama, the President ofthe USA, has stated that the South Koreaeducation model should be copied by U.S.students. PISA scores (Programme for InternationalStudent Assessment) show that Korean middle schoolstudents are among the best in the world but also among themost inefficient (24th out of 30 OECD countries, 2008). It is verycommon to see children spending a huge amount of time in after-school academies or together with private tutors. Moreover major examssuch as the college-entrance exam drive up suicide rates for students and SouthKorea’s suicide rate is one of the highest among OECD countries. While theKorean education model might produce good results the method of studying might notbe the most efficient and could negatively affect mental and physical health. Dozens of well-written articles exist about study habits of secondary-level Korean students, which criticize theoverachieving yet ineffective methods that children practice from a young age, there is surprisinglylittle to no information regarding the study habits of Korean students at higher-level institutions. Thus,The Quill decided to examine the study habits of Seoul National University students and how it affected theirmental and physical health. A survey was conducted with eight questions asking about the surveyors’studyhabits, how content they were with their study results, health and social life. The purpose of the survey was to find outhow students felt about the above mentioned factors depending on how much they studied on average per week.

How many hours on average do you spend studying per week?

a. Less than 5 hours.

b. 5-10 hour.

c. 10-15 hours.

d. More than 15 hours.

Contrary to popular belief it seems that a significant percentage of SNU students spend less than five hours a week onaverage on out of class studies. However, 61% of students spend at least five hours a week studying and as much as 21% spendmore than 15 hours on average per week on their academics.

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Study time total

BY HWANG JOHANNES AND OH JOSEFINA

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June 2012. Vol. 38Campus

How do you organize your study time?

a. Study a lot throughout the semester.

b. Study throughout the semester but more around exam periods.

c. Study almost only around exam periods.

On average we can see that a large majority of students tend to study mostly around exam periods. However, when dividingthe surveyors into groups depending on how much the students study per week we can find some interesting results. Studentswho study 15 hours or more per week study throughout the semester much more than the average student. Furthermore,students who study 5-15 hours a week seem to be somewhat similar in that they study throughout the semester but mostlyaround exam periods. Not very surprisingly those that study less than 5 hours per week seem to be the group that study almostonly around exams. While the other groups are closer to the average as much as 72% of those that study the least seem to studyonly around exam periods.

Are you content with your results?

a. Very

b. Pretty much

c. Fairly

d. Not at all

The average student is not very content with their study results. As many as 32% are unhappy with their results, incomparison just 1% are very happy with their performance. When looking at the different groups the results are moreconsistent than in the previous question. Most notably the 5-10 hour group seems more content than other groups while the15 hours or more group have very few that are pretty much content.

Do you get sufficient sleep?

a. Agree to a large extent.

b. Agree.

c. Disagree.

d. Disagree to a large extent.

A majority of SNU students believe that they get sufficient sleep but as much as 44% would actually like to sleep more.When analyzing the individual groups those that study 5-10 hours seems to fare the best. Only 19% are unhappy with theamount they sleep. Individuals who study the least also seem more happy with time for sleep while students who study 10hours or more seem to want more sleep on average.

Do you have time to properly take care of your body (exercise)?

a. Agree to a large extent.

b. Agree.

c. Disagree.

d. Disagree to a large extent

A majority also feels that they have sufficient time to take care of their bodies; however, the margin is once again minor. Theanswers to this question show similar results as in the previous question where students who study 10 hours or less have moretime over for exercise while those that study 15 hours or more seem to be busier.

Total15 hours or more 10-15 hours 5-10 hours Less than 5 hours

Total15 hours or more 10-15 hours 5-10 hours Less than 5 hours

Total15 hours or more 10-15 hours 5-10 hours Less than 5 hours

Total15 hours or more 10-15 hours 5-10 hours Less than 5 hours

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Do you feel stressed due to studies?

a. Agree to a large extent.

b. Agree.

c. Disagree.

d. Disagree to a large extent.

SNU students clearly seem to be stressed overall. Only 19% did not feel stressed due to studies. Among those studying 15hours or more as much as 65% agreed to a large extent that studies caused them to feel stressed. Only 6% in this group did notfeel stressed. Even spending a little time on studies does not seem to help with stress as students spending 5 hours or less perweek also showed rather high levels of stress. Surprisingly those that study 10-15 hours seems to experience less stress thanother groups.

Do you have sufficient time to socialize with friends/family?

a. Agree to a large extent.

b. Agree.

c. Disagree.

d. Disagree to a large extent.

It seems that SNU students have more time over for socializing with friends or family than sleeping or exercising. 76% feltthat they had enough time for their social life. The only group that did not feel content on average with time for socializing wasstudents that studied the most.

Do you have sufficient time for hobbies or other activities?

a. Agree to a large extent.

b. Agree.

c. Disagree.

d. Disagree to a large extent.

Spare time for hobbies show similar result as the previous question. While SNU students seem content overall those thatstudy the most seemed to have little time over for their hobby.

ConclusionIn conclusion one can see that those who study more are not necessarily more content or less stressed out during the

semester. This can either mean that SNU students have enormously high standards or that their studying methods are notnecessarily effective. However, it seems that those studying less at least have more time over for other activities; this does noton the other hand show lower levels of stress. This is probably because such students only study for exams and thus face amassive load of work that in turn stresses them out as well. It is necessary to find a balance in order to achieve maximumperformance. The fact that students who study 10-15 hours experience less stress could perhaps show that studying too littleor too much is both negative for one’s stress levels. While more solid research needs to be produced, there seems to be arelation between efficient studying and health. Based on the results of this survey The SNU Quill advises university students tolook over their study routines and perhaps change them if one feels too stressed or does not have enough time for basic humanneeds such as sleep and proper meals.

Total15 hours or more 10-15 hours 5-10 hours Less than 5 hours

Total15 hours or more 10-15 hours 5-10 hours Less than 5 hours

Total15 hours or more 10-15 hours 5-10 hours Less than 5 hours

Refer any questions regarding the survey, how it was conducted and the results to The SNU Quill’s official email:snuquill@gmail.comOr contact one of the reporters directly:Johannes Hwang: johannes.hwang@gmail.comJosefina Oh: josefinaoh93@gmail.com

study comparative literature.However, Shell, the current chair ofBabbit, believes that undergraduatestoo, should be given an opportunity tostudy comparative literature as long asthey fulfill the minimum requirementof knowing two languages. Thisencompasses the idea that “unless youknow two you don’t know one.”

Surprisingly, an undergraduatestudent currently majors incomparative literature at SeoulNational University. SNU endorses aprogram of “Student DesignedMajors,” which is authorized andprovided only by the College ofLiberal Studies. Through the program,Kim Sumin (College of LiberalStudies, 10’) is studying comparativeliterature created by her self-designedcurriculum. The interview with Suminabout constructing her owncurriculum despite the difficulties as anundergraduate depicts how genuineinterest and passion should be themain factors in deciding whether ornot an undergraduate could studycomparative literature. In summary,Professor Marc Shell’s seminar oncomparative literature enlightened theSNU students’ views on limitlessboundaries of comparative literature,its hopeful prospects, and thehardships they may have to face duringtheir studies.

Interview with Kim Sumin

Q: What makes comparativeliterature an attractive study foryou?

To tell you the truth, I cannot saythat I love literature. I enjoy it, but Idecided that I could not pursue it allmy life. The reason why I am majoringin literature is because I see the value ofit. My ability to perceive somebody’sway of thinking and to analyse it indetail developed from my literaturestudies. By being exposed to manydiverse thoughts in the world throughliterature, I expand my knowledge andbecome sensitive to people’s logic,whilst being able to logically arguemyself. What makes comparativeliterature attractive is that I can do allthese with writers of different nationalhistory, culture, and customs. I likelooking at things on a global level, andstudying literature of differentlanguages and nationality allows me tosee the network of ideas on a biggerscale. You also get to see the differenttrends in literary history for eachcountry, and how their uniquehistories had an effect on literaryproductions.

Q: What are you studying?Could you give us a very simpleoutline of your curriculum?

For now, I am focusing on English,French, and German Literature. I haveincluded some history courses to havebackground knowledge. At themoment, I am taking a course in‘Modern Southeast Asia andImperialism,’ which exposed me toideologies behind colonialism,nationalist movements, and post-colonial literature in Southeast Asia. Ibelieve all these will help me when Istart studying post-colonial literaturesomeday, or when I want to expandmy area of interest into Asian

literature. Linguistics is another fieldthat I cannot give up on. I haveincluded some courses in English,French and German Linguistics, buthave not taken any so far. I would liketo especially experience studyingFrench and German linguistics, whichI was not able to do before.

Q: Some people argue thatonly graduate students shouldstudy comparative literature.What are the merits of studyingcomp lit as an undergraduate?In what ways is it difficult?

I can understand why ComparativeLiterature is generally offered atgraduate level. It is difficult to study itintensely at undergraduate level, andone might miss the opportunity ofstudying literature of one language in-depth with its various genres and timeperiods. However, if you enjoylooking at the cross-national picture,then you can develop your interestsfrom earlier on. Currently, I aminterested in exploring how thenetwork between English, French andGerman Literature compare to thenetwork between Chinese, Japaneseand Korean Literature, although thiswould be a magnanimous field ofresearch. I am just happy that I havethe freedom from my undergraduateyears to jump from Rabelais to Swiftto Voltaire, or from Bruder Grimm toPerrault, and think about the sameRomanticism in English, American,French, and German context. You endup developing a very wide perspective.I remember studying G.E. Lessing’sMiss Sara Simpson, a German play withan English setting, and GeorgBuchner’s Dantons Tod, also aGerman play set in the FrenchRevolution, and the English and theFrench elements come alive, becauseyou have already made yourselffamiliar with them through Englishand French Literature.

“What do disabilitystudies have to dowith Comparative

Literature?” is the question thatProfessor Marc Shell threw to hisaudience in the lecture room ofbuilding 1 on the morning of April27th. Professor Marc Shell’s ingeniousworks and outstandingaccomplishments made him a perfectcandidate to invite to Seoul NationalUniversity for the ComparativeLiterature Graduate Program SpecialSeminar. Pleasuring the audiencecomposed of graduate students andprofessors with his wit and sense ofhumor, Shell ignored the original topicof the “Prospects for ComparativeLiterature in an Asian Century,” andmade the seminar into a truly personalone by sharing his experiences, works,and concerns about comparativeliterature as a study.

Professor Marc Shell is a Canadianliterary critic and the Irving BabbittProfessor of Comparative Literatureand Professor of Engish and AmericanLiterature and Language at HarvardUniversity. His areas of interest,mostly coming from his personalbackground, include, but are notlimited to, money and language,nationhood, politics and languagedifference, kinship, and medical anddisability studies. Due to his gamut ofinterest regarding comparativeliterature, Professor Shell gave time foreach person of the audience tointroduce themselves so that he wouldknow which common topic to focuson. The intimate communication

between Shell and the audience madethe seminar even more intellectuallystimulating as everyone tuned on tothe same frequency.

Returning to the first question,talking and walking are the sameaccording to Shell. Hamlet’s difficultyis that he is paralyzed, and Achilles isdepicted as being frozen in the airwhen he does not do anything; suchexamples demonstrate the relationshipbetween physical disabilities withliterature. Shell also takes interest instuttering as a subject for literaturesince stuttering at core is language andthere exists a relationship betweensound and meaning. His book“Stutter” and recently completedmanuscript “Talking the Walk andWalking the Talk” explores disabilitiesand literature further.

In addition to Shell’s studies ondisabilities, he also mentioned hisworks on money and language. Moneyas a language or an art has never been atopic in comparative literature until hisintroduction of it. Shell defends thetopic by stating that money is not alanguage, but a language itself in a waythat others are language. In “Money,Language, and Thought,” Shellexplores the interaction betweenlinguistic and economic productionfrom the Medieval to the Modern erain literature of Shakespeare, Goethe,Poe, and others. In “The Economy ofLiterature,” Shell investigates howmoney and literature both provide amedium of exchange and therevolutionary change in philosophicalthought and language brought by the

development of money. Comparative literature is

cosmopolitan and that is a uniquecharacteristic of the study, but Shellwarned the graduate students thatthose studying comparative literaturemust always be prepared to handle thecriticism of being ‘superficial.’ Notfocusing on a specific area makes theman easy target to be accused ofsuperficiality and not knowinganything in-depth. However, theworst is when “everyone assumes youknow everything.”

After sparking the audience’sinterest through his novel works, Shellbrought up more serious issuesregarding the study of comparativeliterature. There has been a continuoustension between the view ofcomparative literature as a study thatgalvanizes together variousdepartments of literature and the viewthat comparative literature is anentirely separate discipline.Furthermore, there is also a problemof including and excluding variousliteratures. Many political ideals of themoment reflect multiculturalliterature, cosmopolitan literature, andminority literature, but still 99.9% ofworld literature is excluded. The thirdissue is whether undergraduatestudents should be able to studycomparative literature. At Harvard andSeoul National University, anundergraduate program for acomparative literature study is notprovided. The past chair of Babbitonce commented that allundergraduates are too ignorant to

Disabilities, Money,and Literature BY BAE SU HYEN

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Campus

Professor Marc Shell

“W hat are you doinghere?”

I turned around to see who it was.Hamza Lasri(College of Engineering‘10) had just surfaced into plain view. Icould not believe it. It is not every daythat you bump into a fellow classmatefrom the engineering school inside thevery core of College of BusinessAdministration.

“I could ask the same question” wasmy reply and we both burst into

laughter. Just then, a firm voiceinterrupted. “Are you from theQuill?”

Gyu Seok Lee (College of BusinessAdministration ‘05) was right on time.We exchanged greetings and then heled me into uncharted waters where wefinally got to sit down and get straightinto business.

Lee with his team in MODUcommunications-a company he openedup with his friends-managed to publishtheir first issue of magazine “MODU”

in May of 2011. A year after, thecompany has managed to distribute itsflagship magazine to all high schoolsand middle schools in Seoul and hasmanaged to cover a third of theschools in all South Korea. In printingbusiness, that’s abrupt. Results showprogress and MODUCommunications seem to be definitelyheading into the right direction.

“We started MODU because wehad a question” he states, “A questionas to why students in Korea rush togood universities and why everyonewants to be a doctor or lawyer orteacher. High school students don’thave much knowledge about othercareers, jobs or majors.”

“MODU” provides youngerstudents the opportunity to learnabout diverse career options that theycan choose from. By allowing them tolearn and comprehend about peoplewho have chosen their careers in otherfields and by providing them the rightinformation about the job market, the

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The Rise ofStartups

magazine aims to minimize confusionand maximize confidence when it istime for them to choose a career path.

But before they could do all that, thecompany had to face a lot ofchallenges, both with resources andbusiness model. Stressing on resourceshe said, “It is important that a start-upbusiness has an intimate and dedicatedteam. Most people misunderstand thatthe idea comes first and the teamsecond but as we have experiencedthis, we can say that the team is themost important thing in venturebusiness.”

As for the initial capital, the teamhad to dig deeper into theirpockets.According to Lee’sestimation, an initial investment ofaround $10,000 dollars is required foran IT company but costs a lot more ifsomeone wants to open up a printingbusiness like his. In Modu’s case, aseach member of the team has equalcapitalshares, it could get quite trickywhen someone in the team suddenlydecides to leave. Not only does itincrease the workload, but it createsconfusion regarding how the persongets his share back. Going back to hisargument again, a dedicated team fromthe very beginning could potentiallyavoid this.

The people behind Tangible Idea, anapp developing company formed inJuly of 2011, have similar arguments.Co-founders of the company, ShawnByun (College of BusinessAdministration ‘07) and Ingyun Baek(College of Business Administration‘07) sat down to discuss their startupbusiness.

“Finding the right people is actuallythe most difficult thing. We are

basically doing this with our ownmoney. With our own capital whichmeans that it is not much. We cannothire people. We recruit people throughour vision basically. If they have thesame interest then that’s all that ittakes”

Tangible Idea’s brainchild MEEPLEis such an app that provides Mentorsand Mentees a platform to meet anddiscuss from anything personal tocareers to assignments. This way, thestudents from middle and high schoolin Korea have the opportunity toconnect with university students,allowing them to further broaden theirknowledge on the subject of interest.

Released this year in January,MEEPLE aims to connect about ahundred thousand users by the end ofthe year. The user base will receive amajor boost once the Androidapplication is up and running in May.Currently, only iOS users have accessto the service.

As both company’s respectiveproducts are available for free for theend users there is no direct profit fromsales. It is a true test of character andpatience when it comes to managingsuch startup companies and theseyoung entrepreneurs are often foundto have to deal with stressful periods.As if juggling work with studies is nothard enough, having to put constanteffort with no tangible cash inflowcould get quite frustrating.

Fortunately though, these young,ambitious and equally talentedentrepreneurs seem to find a way to beoptimistic about the current and futurestatus of their companies. MODUCommunication’s “MODU” onlyrecently reached profit levels afteralmost a year of financial difficulties.Now the company plans to expand toreach almost all middle and highschool students in Korea. Althoughstill without profits, Tangible Idea hasfurther plans to release an internationalversion of its MEEPLE applicationallowing students all around the globeto interact constructively. With anincreased loyal user base, the companyplans to attract advertisements.

There is clear evidence that thesestartups have the vision and strengthto contribute a lot more to the society.Startups that pertain to the bettermentof society need recognition andsupport. Only then can they worktowards their goals effectively pavingthe way for other startups to followsuit.

SNU’s College of Business Administration is one the finest in the nation. No wonder they mold

the next generation of young entrepreneurs. BY MASKEY ABHASPeople behind Tangible Idea: Ingyun Baek andShawn Byun

months’ time, during the summervacation, several courses are openingup for future to-be app developers.With a minimum of 40 to 50 hours ofwork, students can become real appdevelopers in android and iphoneplatform.

The app center’s main objective is tonurture and support young appdevelopers. To do so, they haveremoved legal and institutionalrestrictions that arise in the course ofapp development and are aidingstudents in actual establishment of apprelated venture groups and enterprises.Many professors in the department ofcomputer science engineering arelecturing and guiding students thoughcourses run by the SNU app centerand nearly as many experienced appdevelopers currently working in thefield are also coming to the center toshare their practically acquired know-hows with the students.

Futhermore, through variouscompetitions on app developmentinside and outside school, students arebeing provided with the opportunityto meet other students who areinterested in app development andshare new ideas. Any undergraduate orpost-graduate student of SNU is ableto take part in the SNU AppDevelopment Contest and can applyas an individual or in groups of two tofour. After application, students sendin execution files and overview reporton their app to be assessed. They arejudged based on creativity, design,degree of completion, possibility ofutilization and its compatibility withthe smart device for which is has beendesigned. Students who take courses inthe SNU Mobile App Center aregranted with any expense needed indeveloping apps for this competition.Two groups of participants with thebest entrees go on to participate in the‘Taiwan International AppCompetition’. Apart from in-schoolcontests, students of SNU also

participate in many outside schoolcompetitions like “Smart ProductFoundation Competition Exposition”where they are judged for smart itemand app service planning.

In addition to the school’s efforts inSNU mobile centers, many studentsof SNU themselves are initiativelyparticipating in the app developingstudent groups. One recently formedgroup is "APPey ROAD"[pronouncedas abbey road]. Although its historyruns for less than a year, increasingnumber of students is showinginterest. The current members ofAPPey meet twice a week in computerrooms inside the school or the SNUapp center to learn app programming.New APPers, those with littleexperience in computer programming,first learn the computer languages,such as java for androids and objectiveC for iphones, and programs usedduring the process of appdevelopment. Simple apps can be madefrom programs inside the OperatingSystems (OS) of the phones but tocreate useful and unique software,students need thorough understandingof the OS itself. After becomingacquainted with the system andlanguage, they move on to bring theircreative ideas into developing real lifeapps. APPey is recently running small

project groups specialized in certainthemes like games and utilities, so thateven the beginners can participate inreal app development. Students feelthat, by taking part in APPey, theygain practicable tips from each otherabout app development sources andprograms.

These numerous app developmentworks done in SNU are indeed helpingstudents to display their creativity andtalent in the new “smart” field.However, abounding number does notknow that these opportunities areavailable for them at no cost. For moreSNU students’ engagement, they firstneed to be informed of what is offered.

So far, there has been a hightendency of students in theengineering department to showinterest in the app development butlow participation rate from peopleoutside the department. The activitiesthat school offer requires no basiccomputer skills or programmingknowledge, pure enthusiasm andcreativity is more than enough in thisnewly spotlighted field. Combinationof crisp ideas from students indifferent fields of study could bringout real synergy.

Why don’t you come and be partof the next smart era!!

Do you consider yourself a“smart” citizen living intoday’s ever accelerating

“smart” world? Most people, especiallythe young, own so called “smart”devices like phones and tablet PCs, butnot many make full use of theprovided technologies thatcharacterizes them. The mostdistinguishing element of the smartdevices which makes them “smart” isthe applications, most commonlyreferred to as “Apps”. They play acorresponding role in smart devices ascomputer programs do in computers.Compared to original PDA phones,which limited its users to using only

the built-in functions, smart phoneenables new users to downloadwhichever apps for whatever functionthey need. With growing numbers ofparticipants in this field, apps arebeginning to be developed forconvenient uses in everyday lives. Tokeep up with the rapid development ofsmart technology, Seoul NationalUniversity is providing many coursesand competitions to encourage itsstudents to become more involved inthe app development.

An apt place for app developerwannabes is SNU Mobile App Center,situated in building 138 on SeoulNational University’s Gwanak

campus. Established in March 2011,SNU Mobile App Center is activelyproviding its students with theopportunity to learn app programmingfor free. Over ten mobile app centerslike the one in SNU are located all overthe country; being the very first, SNUmobile app center is at the ready withnumerous projects and courses forpeople to jump into. At the MobileApp Centers, not only are therecourses pertaining to appprogramming, but also on theestablishment of professional app storemarkets; this is because thedistribution and utilization of apps isas crucial as its development. In a few

Smart SNUAPPers

BY PARK SO HYUN

June 2012. Vol. 38

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week, KLETO has weekly seminars todiscuss about the context and literarytechniques of the original Korean textand takes the step to translate,faithfully considering the adequatepoetic words, rhyme, rhythm and themain theme of the original text. Forexample, when the members try totranslate a word ‘돌’, they think aboutwhich word among ‘stone’, ‘pebble’and ‘rubble’ is the most suitable toexpress the meaning and impressiongiven by the original text. Debates onthe poetic expressions are such anexciting procedure to undergo, sincethrough sharing the differentperspectives the members have oninterpretation of certain literary texts,they happen to get betterunderstanding in the text of Koreanliterature and the method oftranslation. In the past, the membersgathered in small groups of three orfour based on their tastes andtranslation styles. However, all of themembers now get together to deepentheir comprehension and skill intranslation work.

While the students endeavor tointroduce Korean literature to manypeople across countries, KLETO faces

some difficulties. For example, sinceeach literary piece has its owncopyright, KLETO cannot share thetranslated pieces with the readersthrough publishing periodicals.However, KLETO looks forward tointroducing translated Koreanliterature to the foreign readers and theSNU students by having exhibitionswithin the campus such as the tunnelof Central Library or CultureIncubator in Student Center. Throughsuch activities that do not bringcopyright problems, KLETO tries tocommunicate with the people who areinterested in Korean literature.

KLETO has selected the literarypieces freely of those they wish totranslate. For the present semester,KLETO is proofreading the play“Marriage” by Kang Bak Lee, whichKLETO had already translated lastspring semester. As for the nextsemester, KLETO will try to translatediverse pieces, being more selective inchoosing the texts under the assistanceof its new professor, Sung Chang Parkof Korean language and literature.

Each semester, about ten studentsparticipate in translation work. Theofficial site of KLETO is http://kleto.

org/xe and the applications aredownloadable from http://kleto.org/xe/pr.If you would like to get moreinformation on KLETO, please accessthrough http://club.cyworld.com/KLETO.You may apply for KLETO any timeduring this semester and starting nextsemester, you will be available to applyduring the first two weeks of Septemberand March respectively.

KLETO is a student organiza-tion in Seoul NationalUniversity that translates

Korean literature into English in orderto enhance the understanding ofKorean literature not only for Koreanreaders but also for people of diversecultural backgrounds worldwide.KLETO is an abbreviation of KoreanLiterature English TranslationOrganization. It was established underthe guidance of Professor GwangHyun Shynne of the EnglishDepartment on 10 September 2009.KLETO seeks to translate variousgenres of Korean literature, includingpoetry, short fictions, plays and essays,

considering both grammaticaldifferences and cultural contexts.Moreover, KLETO attempts toadvance reflection upon the past,present and future of Korean literatureand promote the richness anduniqueness of Korean cultural heritage.

The logo image of KLETO is veryinteresting. The name ‘KLETO’signifies not only its full name inEnglish but also can be expressed withfive Korean letters: ㅈ’, ‘ㄴ’, ‘ㅌ’, ‘ㅏ’,‘ㅇ’. Four of these letters are Koreanconsonants and one of them is a vowelin Korean language. Considering thatthe purpose of KLETO is to spreadworldwide the beauty of Korean

language and literature, the logo ofKLETO seems to be very meaningfulas well.

Students that participate as themembers of KLETO take theopportunity to talk about whattranslation is and how it should bedone. Moreover, they study translationtheory to improve their understandingand ability in translation. The membersalso read the literary works translatedby their seniors, try to evaluate theworks and think about how to makebetter translation. After all these stepshave gone through, the members ofKLETO finally start to translateKorean literature into English. Every

KLETO, the road onto the sea of Korean literature waves

“We are quite surprised to find that many students are intimidated by the idea of translating

Korean literature into English. We really want to say there is no need to be afraid at all. Not all of

us are native speakers of English and translation is not about being experts of foreign language. It

is more about understanding profoundly about the literature itself and trying to catch the subtle

relationship between the two languages. Our door is open for everyone who loves literature and

we are sure you will have wonderful new experience in translation once you join us.” - Soyun

Yang, the 4th student president of KLETO BY SONG BO HYE

June 2012. Vol. 38

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A&C

Are you interested in Fashion?Have you heard of Fashionweek and collections? Are

you interested in specific designers?Unless you are interested in fashionlike Blair from Gossip Girl, thesewords would not sound familiar toyou. As to give you a brief summary,fashion designers are required to leadindustry seasonally. This role demandsbi-annual collections every Februaryand September, which is quite tough.They are required to constantly leadthe market, creating and presentingsomething new and hip to theconsumers. Under this constantpressure, the ones that keep the

designers creative are called ‘Muses’.Although these terms might seemcomplicated and sophisticated at firstsight, it will definitely be a good shotto actually visit MoA and take a look atthe exhibition on Peter Jensen’sMuses. It will be an inspiringexperience to figure out what high-fashion industry is like and whoactually inspired the beloved designer.

The exhibition - ‘Peter Jensen’sMuses’ aims to introduce these muses,who have been the constant andendless sources for Jensen’sinspirations. Peter Jensen is a Danishfashion designer living and working inLondon who has presented collectionsat Paris, London and New Yorkfashion weeks. His designs favor basic,everyday clothing made his own byincorporating idiosyncrasies oroddities that ensure they stand out inthe crowd. Peter Jensen’s Musespresents clothing from 18 differentcollections, each accompanied byexplanations and images of thecollection’s muse. Some muses existfor real and some are fictional.However, regardless of the reality,clothes that the muses wear, show howPeter Jensen tried to actually embodywhat he felt from the muses. For

example, models in Jodie(Spring/Summer 2009) sported greysweat suits and forties floral dresses,referencing specific films starringactress Jodie Foster.

This exhibition will surely be suchan entertainment to everybody,whether they love fashion or not. Forthose who are interested in fashion,this exhibition will be a chance to addsomething more to their fashionknowledge. The clothes exhibited areoutrageous and simple at the sametime. Examining the clothes will be anexciting experience. Also for thosewho are not interested in fashion, thisexhibition will still be of a lot of joy.The colorful and intriguing designs aresurely to catch the eyes of the viewer.Also, figuring out how the musesinspired the designer and who themuses are, will also be a delightfulexperience. Since next to eachmannequin, wearing fabulous clothes,stands a small sign, providinginformation about the muse and howthey inspired him, it will be an easy andfun way to get to know about fashion.

With 18 mannequins standing for 18muses, the exhibition is not actually ahuge one. One might actually getdisappointed at first, at the moderatesize and humble way that the clothesare exhibited, if one has expected theextravagance usually shown at fashion-scene. However, by taking closer lookat each mannequin and actually gettingto know details about the muse, onewill find joy and creativeness thedesigner felt. Head to MoA today, andfeel the inspirations and creativenessthat lies beneath the splendid clothes!

Peter Jensen’sMuses - a high-fashion sceneexperience BY KWON IN HWA

Overall historyEvery May a special athletic

competition is held in SNU. In thiscompetition which is officially called“ChongJangBae Ball Game”. Everyathletic club and person interested andconfident in ball games can competefor his or her honor and glory. Thiscompetition is supervised by SNUathletics department and the playersfiercely compete in soccer, baseball,basketball, tennis, table tennis, andbadminton.

The origin of Chongjangbae datesback to the fall of 1948. Back thenSNU decided to hold the 1st SNU artfestival and the 1st SNU AthleticContest. After that, the AthleticContest has been held every autumn.But in spring, there was no particularAthletic Contest except for smallcompetitions. So in 2003, peopleunited to bind these smallcompetitions to the whole universityand asked the Physical Educationdepartmnet to supervise the wholeevent. The 2012 Chongjangbae is the10th competition.

Regulations and fun factsEach individual or club that wants to

participate in Chongjangbae has to sendan entry list and the proof ofenrollment in advance. In principle, theonly qualified participants ofChongjangbae are the currentlyenrolled SNU students and facultymembers. All referees of Chongjangbaeare composed of students from thedepartment of physical education.Usually each ball game’s regulations is

identical with professional rules exceptfew things. For example in soccer, eachteam can use 3 wild cards who arecurrnetly taking a leave or graduated.Also, all players must wear shin guardsfor leg protection and glasses arestrongly prohibited to prevent injury.But there is no regulation about thenumber of participating teams whichensures anyone who is interested inball games can enter the championship.In baseball, preliminaries consist of 5innings and semi and finals consist of 7innings.

Efforts of each clubs forvictoryWhen one club wins Chonjangbae

cup it means that the club grabs greatglory and honor. They will hold thetrophy forever (The related article isinserted in the regulation as well). Somany clubs which desire to win tryreally hard to be the best. Theycarefully and strictly recruit, train verysystemically, analyze other rival clubs,and make detailed plans to grabvictory. When you go see big soccer orbaseball match in SNU, you can findpeople who videotape their play whilethe match is being held.

Improvements and debatesIn the early stage of Chonjangbae

there were debates and controversiesbecause of the poor state of stadiums,the use of the Physical Educationstudents as wild cards, expensive entryfee (over 150,000 won per team)problem etc. But these problems havebeen solved by various solutions

including introducing home and awaymatches to solve paying too muchentry fee, discussing about the wildcard problem (now students ofphysical education department can alsoparticipate in Chonjangbae like otherSNU student), standardizingregulation such as the called game rulein baseball.

Of course, many players andstudents are thankful for the refereesand hosting organization: SNUPhysical Education. But Chongjangbaehas more things to be improved. Forinstance, there is the opinion that theentry fee is still expensive andsometimes some players know thereferee personally and thereforeproblems about fairness arise. Also,some players play too harsh and injureopponent players. Furthermore criticssay Chongjangbae is “A league of theirown” which means it is that the eventdoes not seem to welcome otherstudents who are not playing. Actually,many ordinary people in SNU(especially female students) do nothave a big interest in Chongjangbae. Itis quite a critical problem because thepurpose of Chonjangbae is to combineall SNU students into one.

Although this year’s Chonjangbae isover, the players’ sweat and passion isclearly meaningful. In spite of its shorthistory Chongjangbae is SNU’s biggestathletic competition in spring.timeMany players have been dignifingChongjangbae by their devoted play,and many people will make their ownlegendary history each year byparticipating in Chonjangbae.

The passion of SNU,ChongjangBae BY GO DAE HO

Exhibition scheduleMoA Gallery 6 (02-880-9504)13 May ~ 8 JulyTue~Sun 10:00-18:00

Admission feeSnu students ~ free (student ID card required)

THESORIJIGIWAYYang Ju Ryul sits down quietly

in his usual Monday morningshift at the Sorechigi’s Music

Room at the Student Center. In thebackground, one can notice animpressive array of CD’s and LP’sstacked up neatly into rows ofmulticolored stripes. He works onsome papers, then heads over towardsthe collection, promptly finds what hewas looking for and finally lets theroom reverberate with beautiful,soothing sound of classical music.

Ever since his freshman year atSNU, Ju Ryul has been following thesame routine. Now, almost in hisjunior year, he finds the process firmlyengraved into his weekly schedule. Thesense of pure passion for the music heloves seems to be a perennial source ofinspiration for all the work he has putin for the club. He really does lovewhat he is doing.

Unfortunately though, the Quilldecided to interrupt his usual freeflowing work to talk about Sorijigi,classical music and more importantly,the issue of “Sleepy Syndrome” that

his club’s music room induces.He begins by giving an insight into

how he joined the club, “When I firstenrolled in SNU, I was looking insidethe Student Center [Building no.63]for some clubs. I found out about themusical room in the first floor. I waslike “Oh wow!” and I went in andactually requested a piece.”

He adds, “It was interesting for mebecause before I enrolled into theUniversity, there were not manypeople who were knowledgeable aboutclassical music. I remember theinterviewer [when joining theclub] asking me who my favoriteConductor was. I wasimpressed.”

Sorijigi operates on a dailybasis except on Sundays.“On each day we have foursessions from 9-11, 11-1,1-3 and 3-5. Each sessionhas a one personresponsible. So there is acycle for four peopleand we operate onMonday to Friday but

on Saturday we only open from 9-11[am].”

“Before we actually work on ourown, we need to be trained by anotherperson who is already working like amentor. Mentee has to be with thementor for one semester and then youcan do it on your own. When you getinto the club you are required to workfor three semesters plus the trainingsemester”. He then explains the originof the name, “Sorijigi. “Sore” meanssound, “Jigi” is keeper. It’s like “Sound

keeper.” Sorijigi is well and truly in love with

classical music. The club’s collection ofthe music is astonishinglymagnanimous and with SNUproviding funds every semester, it isgrowing even further. With suchresources at its disposal, the club canafford to diversify. “One of our mainrules in Sorechigi is that we actuallyhave to play songs that are as diversegenres [classical sub-genres] aspossible. Some of us write out a listbefore we come.”

When asked how he defined thegenre, he replied “That’s a really bigquestion. You can take a semester’scourse to answer the question”(smiles) He does not leave thequestion unanswered though. “Thedefinition is getting vague. Modernclassical music includes electronicelements as well. People do weirdstuffs. [They are] Alwaysexperimenting but things are gettingextreme, music from different culturesare being rapidly fused.”

“About the [sub] genres, in musichistory, I think it basically divides tomedieval, renaissance music, Baroque,Classical/Romantic music, 20thcentury music.”

He explains some of them“Medieval music is either church musicsung in a Capella (it’s polyphonic) andsecular music like love songs. This wasbefore a lot of musical instruments

were developed so it sounds liketoday’s country songs because theviolins and other instruments were notinvented yet. That was the startingpoint. They didn’t even have the piano.Vocals and organs were used. Lutes,which were like the guitar were alsoused.”

When asked where the Beethoven’s9th symphony would fit in, he replied“That’s romantic music” He added,“that was after Classical andRenaissance period. Beethoven’ssymphony lasts like for seventyminutes. No symphony was that longbefore that symphony. So he was veryinnovative. He was the one whostarted the romantic era.”

“Just before Beethoven were Mozartand Haydn. Their music is really prettyso to speak. So people cannotdistinguish one from another becausethe mood is very similar. You couldsay it induces “Happy mood”. On theother hand Beethoven’s music is veryserious (sings a tune).”

For readers who have hard timefinding out which record to try outfirst, Ryal laid out a simple plan, “LikeI did, start with Beethoven’ssymphonies. His symphony recordingsymphony number five, six and sevencoupled together in two CD’s and isconducted by Herbert Von Karajan.Another recording I can think of isMozart’s piano concerto made byH?l?ne Grimaud. She is a French

pianist. She played Mozart’s pianoconcerto number 19 and 23.Thats areally cool CD.”

He goes on “Robert Schumann’s Dichterleibe. It’s Poets Love inGerman and there is an English tenorcalled Ion Bostwick. He made arecording of it and it’s absolutelystunning.”

Talking more about Sorijigi and thepeople who actually turn up in theroom to listen to what they have toplay Ju Ryul had an observation tomake, “The male to female ratio isinteresting one. Not too many girls inthe room” (smiles). When asked ifanything was being done to let peopleknow that they exist he replied, “Wedon’t really advertise about the room, Idon’t think there is much to gain.”

Some of students though have otherplans in mind. “People come here a lotto sleep, which is in a way sad but wecan play something loud and decentjust to wake them up (Laughs). Icannot blame people for sleeping.They are obviously tired with studyingand so on but still. When I play myfavorite tune and [if] people aresleeping, it could get lame.”

The plague of “Sleepy Syndrome”might have forced students to closetheir eyes but the guys at Sorijigi arehappy as long as they open up theirears.

Ever since the late 1970’s, Sorijigi at the Student Centerhas been a constant source of classical delight for SNUstudents willing to take that musical hitchhike. TheQuill caught up with Yang Ju Ryul to talk about theclub and the music he adores. BY MASKEY ABHAS

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June 2012. Vol. 38A&C

June 2012. Vol. 38

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A&C

In front of Yonsei University is adistrict called Shichon, and there arerows after rows of stores,

restaurants, and bars where studentsfrom not only Yonsei but also other

neighboring universities come to hangout. The district in front of KoreaUniversity is rather small, but still abustling commercial andentertainment zone where studentscan spend their free time and go backhome, maybe through the subwaystation gate that is directly connectedto the College of Business building ofthe Korea University campus.

Then what is in front of the Seoul

National Campus? Nothing toomuch. To be more precise, trees,multiple-lanes-wide boulevard, andconstruction site to build, guess what,more road. To grab a drink, oneshould take a short bus ride to get toNokdu street. The lack of commercialarea around SNU campus is due to thefact that the campus is located literallyon Gwanak Mountain. The campus isphysically separated from the

In Mt. Gwanak, there is Beodulgol surrounding areas by trees and steep

gradients.However, SNU members who

wants to get away from the stress ofschool is not rendered hopeless.Especially, during the spring and fallwhen the weather is beautiful, insteadof going out of the campus, thestudents can grab their bottles ofdrinks and walk up to Beodulgol,which is about at the center of the fourmillion square-meters wide campus.

Located between College ofEducation and College of Engineeringbuildings, Beodulgol is a huge spreadof lawn surrounded by trees and asmall brook, neighboring theOutdoors Amphitheater and campusroad. It is unclear how the lawn cameto be, but Joongang Daily, one ofmajor Korean newspapers, reported inApril, 2010 that the lawn was the a partof the private golf club owned by thelate Samsung Group chairman LeeByeongchul, who donated his estateon Gwanak Mountain to late PresidentPark Junghee’s administration, when itplanned to relocate the SNU campusfrom Hyehwa in the 70’s. All in all,this grassland is a beautiful and emptypiece of ground, which is a rarephenomenon in Seoul, where thesmallest scratch of land is filled withbuildings, people, cars, etc.

This small plateau on GwanakMountain, a rare geographicphenomenon in this part of thecountry, is a perfect place to get awayand enjoy sunshine and outdooractivities, and a unique SNU outdoorsculture prospers here. On a sunnyspring day, the green field is taken overby groups of people picnicking,

drinking Makeolli, or listening tomusic between classes. Duringweekends, more organized eventsunfold. Some smaller studentorganizations hold their athletic eventsthere.

With the minimal etiquettes inmind, Seoul National members are freeto get away to Beodulgol away fromclassworks and researches that can bestressful. The field is almost the lastlarge piece of land in the campus wherepeople can enjoy themselves in laidback manner. The soccer field in frontof the College of Social Sciences is alsoa place where many people spend freetime: playing sports, taking a walk,sitting on a bench. However, with theartificial grass, brown running track,and people walking to-and-frobetween the Business buildings andSocial Sciences building, theatmosphere is not the same as that ofthe more debonair Beodulgol.

Even tourists from outside theschool visit Beodulgol to picnic andrest. Gwanak Mountain itself is one ofthe frequented mountains that hikingfans in Seoul love for its rugged terrain.However, since Joogang Daily, one ofthe three major Korean newspapers,introduced the field in its travelsection, a constant flow of outsidetourists and mountain climbers stopby to spend some time. On the web,there are many blogger postings onBeodulgol, complete with the picturestaken during their picnic.

Even though a visitor may notnotice easily, the field is constantlymaintained and managed by Bureau ofFacilities Management. According tothe Bureau official Myeongsik Yoo,

cleaning personnel from College ofEducation clean up the trash left byvisitors in the morning. When grass ofcertain parts of the field is particularlydamaged, the maintenance personnelput chains around the area to reducethe footsteps on it. Event held in thefield are approved by the Bureau,which also notify users of theguidelines. Since the field is near somebuildings of College of Education andCollege of Humanities, and the newlyconstructed dormitory for graduatestudents, there are often complaintsabout excessive noise from the fieldwhen special events take place. Also,especially after the media exposure,there has been great number of outsidetourists who bring food or orderdelivery food into the field, whichgenerate greater amount of trash thanbefore. Thus, the Bureau is payinggreater attention to allow morestudents, dorm residents, and outsidevisitors to enjoy the field in morepleasant way.

“I think we are so lucky to have suchplace in campus”, said Kong Yeongjin(College of Social Science, 12). It istrue that going to a school on amountain has its disadvantages. Thedaily queuing up for shuttle buses,climbing up the countless stairs aroundthe campus, and navigating throughthe complex roads and paths, can bevery tiring time to time. However,Beodulgol is a unique and preciousplace which is rarely found in othercollege campuses, and the time spentthere would become remainingmemories for many members of SNU.

BY JUNG JIYUN

Cover Story June 2012. Vol. 38

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SNU Quill had its ownJang-teo!

June 2012. Vol. 38

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A&C

of the main dishes and set menus and amodern smart TV that entertainscustomers that are unaccompanied.Finally, red-covered menus that offerpictures and explanations of all dishesare orderly placed at the center ofevery table.

The very name of the restaurant wasnot conceived randomly. Ratinolstands for the combination of thethree most representative dishes of theplace: Ramen, Tiguim (fried-vegetablesand seafood) and Roll. By joining thefirst words of these dishes you canunderstand the meaning of itsdesignation. As its name connotes it,Ratinol specializes in Korean fast-food.

Five different types of Ramenoccupy the first lines of the menu:Hot-Ramen, Sea-Ramen, Army-Ramen, Bean-Ramen and Ice-Ramen.The first three of them are mostlyenjoyed by customers who like thefiery and deep taste of spicy food.Unlike the taste of the common ramenyou buy at a supermarket, Ratinol’sramen does not have an artificial flavor.The pungent and hot soup that resultsfrom the chef’s secret ingredient,combined with the chewy noodles, hasa mouth-watering and addictive effect.And for those who prefer less spicyfoods, the Bean-Ramen or Ice-Ramenare highly recommended as well, foryou can taste other types of flavorsnever expected before in thistraditional Korean fast food.

Noodles are not the only dishes thatearned Ratinol’s popularity. Fritter and

rice cuisines share some of the credit aswell. Different types of vegetables andseafood, like sweet potatoes,pumpkins, shrimps and squids are friedto the right degree, not too oily orgreasy, so you do not feel too muchremorse for eating fried food. Also,Korean fast food culture suggests thatto better enjoy fritter we should ordera portion of Topokki and dip themdeep in the spicy and sweet sauce of it.Last but not least, rolls complete themain dishes that must be tasted inRatinol. The traditional California roll,the Crunchy roll with its specialtopping consisting of pieces ofwalnuts, peanuts and other cutlets, andthe Shrimp roll, are the three types ofrolls offered. With colorful spicesspread along the roll, this dish is notonly visually appealing but also apleasure for the palate.

The design of the interior, thepoliteness of the ladies and thetastiness added to fast food dishes thatmight seem too tedious are the reasonswhy you should make time and have ameal at Ratinol.

Even though most students willhead to the Neok-Du areabecause of its variety of

restaurants with inexpensive prices,the SNU subway station area alsooffers a diversity of cuisines which youmight be tempted to try. Ratinol isone of them. Located in Gwanak-GuOffice, behind the well-knownrestaurants of the main street, it isrelatively unknown outside itsfrequenters. However, once you tryone of Ratinol’s main specialties, youwill be delighted by its taste andimpressed for its attainable prices.

When you first walk in therestaurant, an atmosphere offriendliness and coziness welcomesyou. The yellow walls and thepenetrating lights make the place lookshiny and bright. On the right side ofthe restaurant, big windows are widelyopened and connected to a smallbalcony full of plants. On the frontside and left side you can find pictures

Directionlocated in the Gwanak-gu Office area(straight from exit 2 of SNU subwaystation) find the alley between the “Goodat Champong” restaurant (next to theBody Shop) and a pharmacy. Afterwalking a few steps you will see Ratinol atyour left. .

Price:Ramen, ₩3,800 to ₩5,000Fritter, ₩3,500Roll, ₩7,000Toppoki, ₩3,000

Details:24 hours Monday to Saturday 8a.m to 10p.m Sunday

Cheap, Tasty and Convenient

Unlike the artificial taste ofmost fast food dishes, findout new alternative tastes toKorean Fast Food in Ratinol.BY CHUNG HYUN CHUNG

June 2012. Vol. 38

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Perspective

Scooters- a safe vehicle or a hazardous trip?

engineering building by foot, or elsetaking the shuttle bus all the wayaround the campus. I used to have ahard time running and trying to makeit to class before the TA calls for theattendance. Especially when you haveclass at one college and anotherstraight afterwards at a differentcollege. It was nearly impossible toarrive within 15minutes.

A problem for foreign students inSNU is insurance. The medical servicewas delayed and had limitation until aguardian or a relative came for themsince they were not insured. Thehospital refused to continue theirtreatment unless they paid for theservice that they had received. So oneof them had to wait for three hours toget the next medical help and tests.

Another big problem is, often thereis a second person sitting behind thedriver. Sometimes, even more peopleare on board. But most of the times,the driver is the only one with thehelmet. People should understand theyare risking the safety of several people,including the pedestrians.

Not surprisingly, my friend wascalled at Gwanak police station forquestioning and screening, especiallysince it was a case where a passengerwas hurt. His friend had to submit a

paper saying he has no complaintagainst the driver to save his friendfrom punisment. But he is stillexpecting a call from the police officer,hoping he would have no problemexiting and entering the country thissummer when he goes back home.

There are few things you shouldknow before getting a scooter. First ofall insurance! Whether you own a bikeor not, you should be insured for yourown safety and health. Secondly, besure to have the necessary paper forthe scooter you buy and license platethat is registered at the district office.Needless to say that driver’s license ismandatory. Also insure your scooteras well. Lastly, you should registeryour scooter at school, at the Office ofStudent Affairs.

As for my friend, it caused himmore problems than it helped him. Hispurpose of buying a scooter was to getto class on time from one building toanother where you cannot go by busand the walking distance is a bit far.Also the accident occurred not longafter he bought his scooter. Hementioned it was a traumatizingexperience making him unable to ride ascooter or any motor ride for a while.This led him to sell the scooter.Fortunately everything went well and

the guys are now sticking withwalking. Whenever they see peoplewho are not wearing helmet, theymumble words like “it’s not right, it’sno joke”. Clearly it was a big lesson tolearn from.

Don’t look down on scooters orbikes because it’s small and easy todrive. They can be more dangerousthan cars in the most dreadful scene.Besides, young people tend to enjoyspeeding up and turning it into adangerous trip. As seat belt isimportant for driving a car, helmet is amust for scooters! You can be pulledover by a police for not wearing onetoo. Always ensure the safety ofyourself as well as others. And ofcourse, driving by the rule is necessary!

Recently, there was a scooteraccident near the school dorms.Two of the passengers were

injured and taken to the hospital by anambulance immediately. Luckily, therewasn’t any car passing by or people

near-by. So no one else was hurt. The two passengers were close

friends of mine and regular foreignstudents from the College of SocialScience. Here’s how it happened, whilethey were going up the road beside thedorms, they saw their peer. Looking totheir side for a second to greet him, theguy who was driving lost control ofthe scooter and they hit the pavement.They became unconscious and weretaken to the hospital. It all happened ina span of second. Only one carelessmove and they had many stitches andsome heavy injuries on their heads

resulting with one of them receiving aminor surgery. All this happenedbecause they were not wearing ahelmet. They didn’t wear their helmetsbecause the destination wasn’t faraway. This silly mistake caused quite alot of trouble for them and in additionit was the midterm exam period, sothey had to miss classes and exams.Their family members were contactedfrom our school and an official fromOIA came to the hospital in person tocheck on their students. Theytransferred them to the SNU Hospitalbranch- Boramae hospital. For weeks,they were in contact with the studentsasking for them if they are feelingbetter.

When I first came to Korea, I waswarned to be careful of themotorcycles and scooters. The bikeculture in Korea is based on speed andefficiency. Especially for deliverydrivers who carry packages and foodsince their speedy arrival translates intomore income. What does using ascooter mean for these students?

One answer is racing to school to beon time for class-even for those whoare living in dorms. It is true that theSNU campus is rather big. It takestime to get from one place to another.It is a tough job going up the hill to the

BY CHULUUNBAATAR TSELMEG

June 2012. Vol. 38

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Editorial

Communication is so advanced, it’s now more often transmitted than it is verbal. Rapidtechnological progress has enabled individuals to surpass the human limitation ofhaving to talk with one another, especially in public places like cafes or subways, and

has permitted them to turn instead to their wonderful smartphones, where they can meetmuch more interesting people.

Technology today has also allowed humans to save mouth and jaw energy by creatingchat/texting applications for their phones. With the help of these programs, people’s thumbshereafter have a chance to exercise and to improve hand-eye coordination. Millions andmillions of years of natural selection have finally let these opposable appendages fulfill theirnow-obvious destiny.

Social networking services, which were in the primitivestages of the IT era only accessible on computers, haverecently been made available on smartphones, too.The long and productive hours spent on sites like

Facebook and Twitter are no longer limited to thehome. Instead of wasting time on less significantendeavors, like reports and presentations, people cancheck which funny status to “like” and see what their

favorite celebrity has got to Tweet about, whetherthey’re at school, work, or on the bus.

The Internet is quickly and beautifully evolving aswell. Online forums, with their ability to let users beanonymous, have given people the power to be

whoever they want. Those who can’t criticizesomeone or something in person are now able to attack

or vent about him, her, or it online, behind protectedanonymity. This namelessness has so much potential that,

with enough push, it can actually cause both regular folks and(more importantly) celebrities to commit suicide.

This is the wonderful IT era.

This is the wonderfulIT era.

Due to the accessibility ofprivate inormation by socialservices, there are often claims

that as technology advances, ourpersonal rights are at stake. However,this general stance seems to be muchtoo cynical and I'd take the contraryargument that technology ratherempowers people of their individualrights. The tradeoff of personalinformation for individualismultimately works in a beneficial way forthe ordinary person.

The recent developments intechnology have led to a wave ofinnovation that has made productivityand social interaction possible withinthe palm of our hands. A single tweetcan reach out to millions and a viralvideo can create a superstar. However,there are further implications to theseservices that may enhance ourestablished concepts of individualrights. Through a plethora of socialservices, the concept of sharing ideashas been simplified and this seemingbastardization has rendered thetraditional concept of owningintellectual property obsolete. Anyonecan share anything. This possibilityquestions the essential need fordistribution companies that have

previously dictated content anddirection of published works andbarred ordinary individuals from beingengaged in the public sphere.

The concept of intellectual propertygives exclusive rights to own intangibleassets and these properties havepreviously been controlled throughphysical copies of media such asbooks, newspapers, cassettes, etc.Through physical mediums managedby distribution companies, intangibleassets such as music were essentiallymanufactured in a controlledenvironment. This role held by megacorporations can only limit anindividual's true motivation as a creatorand because the ultimate goal of acompany is to maximize profit, itdistorts the input of the individual.However, as all these assets arecurrently being digitized into simplyinformation, we realize that they areironically being reverted back to anintangible state. But this time around,the assets are under the control of thecreator. With technology, individualshave full control over distribution,reducing the need for the rolepreviously held by distributioncompanies.

What had been a repressed

community of individuals yielding todemands of companies is now vibrantas ever through services like youtubeand facebook. Social interaction servesas the building block of free speechand the virtual environment providesunlimited potential for expression. Thenew culture that appreciates individualexpression has an implicit influence inencouraging individual rights. Theservices ultimately promote afundamental aspect of democracy, thefair representation of individuals.

Social networking services such asyoutube, facebook and twitter act asmediums of distribution thatultimately promote the individual thatyou are. Thus, the tradeoff of personalinformation is a more than justifiedprocedure for the benefits theindividual. Ultimately, the technopho-bic worries seem to be minor and aremore or less a fear of servicesmalfunctioning from how they areintended to.

Salvagingindividualismthrough technology

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BY KO SUNG HOON

BY CHAE YUN HWAN

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Culture Calendar

1Yoon Sang concert atCOEX (~3rd)

IU Concert atKyunghee Univ. (~3rd)

2

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

Vogue Moment, OneImage Two Dreamsexhibitions end at SNUMuseum of Art

3 4 5Madangpae TahlNawatday at theLounge

6Cellist ChoYeongchang recital atSeoul Art Center

7 8Incognito concert atGalleria Foret

9

10 11 12 13 14Epitone Project concertat Ewha Womens’Univ. (~17th)

15One Ok Rock concertat AX-Korea

16

Jisan Valley RockPlayer concert atHongdae V-HallBaptiste Strotignonconcert at OlympusHall

17 18Gangnam Symphonyat Seoul Art CenterWouter Hamel atHongdae V-Hall

19 20 21Acoustic BlossomMusic Festival atSogang Univ.

22Johan Kim concert atEwha Womens’ Univ.(~24th)

23

24

*The Lounge refers to the lounge at the second floor of the Student Center of SNU.*The blue are in-campus event

25 26 27Korean SymphonyOrchestra at Seoul ArtCenter

28Idiotape concert atKT&G SangsangMadang (~30th)

29 30

June Culture CalendarBY JUNG JIYUN

SCHEDULER

Danny JungJazz concert at AX-Korea

Lee Hori concert atYonsei Univ.Broken Valentineconcert at Mapo ArtCenter