The public hearing for the next student council was held in the Natural Sciences Campus on November 21st. It consisted of three parts: a policy questioning period between the two parties, S:with and SKKU, Wind of Wish, a policy questioning period of SKKU’s three student media: the Sungkyunkwan University(SKKU) Weekly, the Sungkyun Times (SKT), and the Sungkyunkwan University Broadcasting Station (SUBS), and a policy questioning of Kingos.
- Myeong-yul Scholarship (SKKU, Wind of Wish)
The public hearing for the next student council started with a policy questioning period between the two parties. Kim Jun-seok (Architecture, 11), the representative candidate of S:with, first questioned about whether the establishment of a scholarship that only a small portion of students will benefit from is fair. Lim Jae-yul (Electronic and Electrical Engineering, 15), the representative candidate of SKKU, Wind of Wish answered this question by mentioning that “we, SKKU, Wind of Wish wanted to support everyday living expenses of students, and transportation expenses support was the best answer. Other forms of financial support have an obscurity on where the scholarship will be spent, but transportation expenses are clear on their uses and are easy to monitor.” Kim Jun-seok (Architecture, 11), the representative candidate of S:with, added to his first question by asking whether SKKU, Wind of Wish has a fair method of selecting Myeong-yul Scholarship’s recipients. Lee Jae-hyun (Software, 15), the leader of the policy team of SKKU, Wind of Wish answered, “Myeong-yul Scholarship’s applicants will have to submit documents proving their transportation expenses of the last three months. Moreover, the selection will be carried out through the evaluation of one student council member, one administration office employee, and one professor in order to make the selection fair.”
Then, Kim Jun-seok (Architecture, 11), the representative candidate of S:with, explained about KakaoTalk’s emoticons before asking his second question. “KakaoTalk manages two types of emoticons. One type is for sale and the other is for free distribution. I want to request information on what type of emoticon Myeong-yul will be and the expected level of its profit.” Lee Jae-hyun (Software, 15), the leader of the policy team of SKKU, Wind of Wish, replied, “the Myeong-yul emoticon is a sales type emoticon, but the expected profit scale could not be a topic of discussion at the moment, since we are not a student council yet. Many groups of interest with copyright issues and commission problems that cannot be mediated at the candidate level are included in the profit distribution. SKKU told us that profit issues should be a matter to worry later.”
On the other hand, Kim Jun-seok (Architecture, 11), the representative candidate of S:with, made a counterargument to SKKU, Wind of Wish’s position on the Myeong-yul emoticon. “KakaoTalk’s policies state that emoticons used as a representative character of a school or company cannot be classified as sales type emoticons. The Myeong-yul emoticon must be a brand emoticon, which is distributed for free. How does SKKU, Wind of Wish propose to solve this complication?” Lee Jae-hyun (Software, 15), the leader of the policy team of SKKU, Wind of Wish, acknowledged that this claim is true in most cases, but the Myeong-yul emoticon is under different circumstances. He explained that “sales type emoticons of organizations can be registered if the main objective is not of a promotional nature. The Myeong-yul emoticon is a student council project with its main objective being profits for a scholarship.”
Finally, Kim Jun-seok (Architecture, 11), the representative candidate of S:with, brought up the copyright issues of the Myeong-yul emoticon. He mentioned that the copyright of the Myeong-yul character is currently owned by SKKU’s Public Relations Team. According to S:with, SKKU’s Public Relations Team does not have any plans of allowing an emoticon production which makes the Myeong-yul scholarship pledge of SKKU, Wind of Wish very unreasonable. S:with questioned whether the realization of this scholarship is possible. Lim Jae-yul (Electronic and Electrical Engineering, 15), the representative candidate of SKKU, Wind of Wish, defended their position by replying that SKKU, Wind of Wish has already contacted Studio Kan, the producer of the Myeong-yul characters and that Studio Kan showed interest in their project. He also claimed that the copyright of the Myeong-yul emoticon does not belong to SKKU’s Public Relations Team but to SKKU’s online news page, SKKUZine. S:with mentioned KakaoTalk’s emoticon policy problem once again before ending the questioning, but SKKU, Wind of Wish persisted on their stance that the Myeong-yul emoticon registration will be possible.
On the second part of the public hearing for the next student council, SKT first mentioned about the form of scholarship provision. The student council should take thorough processes when establishing scholarships since it is a sensitive topic among students. The Myeong-yul scholarship pledge of SKKU, Wind of Wish, however, did not seem to conduct a proper survey. The SKT therefore questioned whether the transportation expenses support was decided based on the opinions of students. Lim Jae-yul (Electronic and Electrical Engineering, 15), the representative candidate of SKKU, Wind of Wish, explained the background of planning the Myeong-yul scholarship, but did not mention regarding a student survey. The SKT added to the prior question and asked if a student survey will not be conducted even in the future. Lim Jae-yul (Electronic and Electrical Engineering, 15), the representative candidate of SKKU, Wind of Wish, answered, “one of the main reasons we decided on transportation expenses support was the expected level of profit. If the actual profit turns out different with the expectation, we also think that a student survey on the form of scholarship is needed.”
Meanwhile, SUBS questioned SKKU, Wind of Wish on their position of the KakaoTalk emoticon policies. SUBS claimed that most students and third parties will consider the Myeong-yul emoticon as a means of promotion. SUBS asked SKKU, Wind of Wish what alternate plans they have in the case that KakaoTalk classifies the Myeong-yul emoticon as a brand emoticon. Lee Jae-hyun (Software, 15), the leader of the policy team of SKKU, Wind of Wish, replied, “Hanwha and the soccer club Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors registered their emoticons in the past that were not classified as brand emoticons. We will consider these cases as a reference, but if things do not go according to the plan and the Myeong-yul emoticon becomes classified as a brand emoticon, Naver Line emoticon is our alternative plan.”
- Ssum with Student Council, Anonymous Booth & Anonymous Suggestion Box (SKKU, Wind of Wish)
SKT gave a question to SKKU, Wind of Wish about how their policy, Ssum with student council is different from Sungkeum’s current business report. Lee Jae-hyun (Software, 15), the leader of the policy team of SKKU, Wind of Wish answered that “The purpose of the policy is to encourage Kingos to communicate and manage SKKU together, and it is more than to simply report our budget proposal or business plan. We will make a place for communication where Kingos can express their ideas or recommendations freely. While the original method is a one-way notice, our policy has a meaning of visiting and communicating with Kingos first.”
In addition, the SKT asked how SKKU, Wind of Wish would draw Kingos’ participation of anonymous booth and anonymous suggestion box. Kim Dong-eun (Mathematics, 15), the deputy candidate of SKKU, Wind of Wish answered that “Anonymous booth has same keynote with Ssum with student council. We will install the booths and suggestion boxes in area with a large floating population so that Kingos can communicate with us without exposing their identity.”
Lastly, the SKT proposed a doubt on SKKU, Wind of Wish that their pledge to convey their information to Kingos about business plan or budget plan through various media contents can be an obstacle to delivering accurate information. To this question, Lim Jae-yul (Electronic and Electrical Engineering, 15), the representative candidate of SKKU, Wind of Wish said that “we agree that accurate delivering should be a top priority. Nevertheless, the reason why we try to approach Kingos friendly is related to our basic keynote. The main purpose of this pledge is to make Kingos look back to our policy one more time through entertaining contents, not simply giving information.”
- Revitalizing Interaction Between Campuses (SKKU, Wind of Wish)
Since SKKU has two separate campuses and Humanities and Social Sciences Campus and Natural Sciences Campus are located far away from each other, there is not enough interaction between two campuses. In order to solve this problem, the events like Sports Day and Kingo Run are held. These, however, are one-shot events that only focus on sports games. SKKU, Wind of Wish, therefore, set events to promote interaction between campuses with diverse contents. The purpose of the pledge is to organize applicants into groups, balancing group members’ campus, gender, and age, and to arrange and support continuous meetings.
During policy questioning period, Kim Jun-seok (Architecture, 11), the representative candidate of S:with, asked of the event’s specific plans, such as the number of participants, location, and the way to build intimacy between group members. Kim Dong-eun (Mathematics, 15), the deputy candidate of SKKU, Wind of Wish, answered “As a temporary plan, we are thinking of having 300 participants, 150 from Humanities and Social Sciences campus, and 150 from Natural Sciences campus. Then we will organize 30 groups with 10 members each. On the event day, icebreaking activities will be held to build intimacy between group members in the morning, and participants will enjoy fun games such as treasure hunt altogether in the afternoon.” As an additional question about this, Kim Jun-seok (Architecture, 11), the representative candidate of S:with and Lee Young-suk (Economics/Computer Science and Engineering, 14), the leader of the policy team of S:with pointed out that 300 is too small in number considering that the total number of students at SKKU is 18,000. Kim Dong-eun (Mathematics, 15), the deputy candidate of SKKU, Wind of Wish, replied that “This is just a temporary plan. We will pay more attention to it when we really carry out the event after we are elected as a student council.” SKKU, Wind of Wish did not mention about specific ways to make this event more effective in revitalizing interaction between two campuses.
Meanwhile, the SKT asked whether Kingos’ participation rate will be high, and what SKKU, Wind of Wish will do if participants’ campus ratio is imbalanced. SKT also asked whether holding this event is a really effective way to revitalize interaction between two campuses, while 49th student council Sungkeum’s survey result showed the biggest obstacles of the interaction are lack of campus-to-campus shuttle bus and not enough classes that both campuses’ students can take together. Lim Jae-yul (Electronic and Electrical Engineering, 15), the representative candidate of SKKU, Wind of Wish, answered that “the purpose of the event is to make an opportunity for students who want to interact with the other campus students. That is why we do not force all students to participate in the event, but receive applications. We will try to vitalize interaction in diverse ways including to supplement campus-to-campus shuttle buses and to expand tele-lecturing between two campuses.” SKT additionally asked about the specific plan for campus ratio imbalance which had been unanswered. Kim Dong-eun (Mathematics, 15), the deputy candidate of SKKU, Wind of Wish, and Lee Jae-hyun (Software, 15), the leader of the policy team of SKKU, Wind of Wish, said “The solution is to increase participation rate by making the event that everyone wants to join in. We cannot force unwanted students to participate only to balance the campus rate. Our headquarter has many people who have experiences of holding big school events, so we will be able to successfully carry out events that can attract students from both campuses as well. As Kingos’ calls for interaction between two campuses are growing, we will make a satisfying event.”
- Sungdaehan Mentoring and Sungdaehan Night (S:with)
The SKT asked S:with about the detailed operation plans and the specific periodicity of "Sungdaehan Mentoring" and "Sungdaehan Night", which are policies S:with suggested as a way of increasing the interaction between the graduates and the enrolled students. These policies will be meaningful only when these are held on a regular basis instead of being one-shot events. The SKT, therefore, asked whether S:with will operate these programs on a regular basis or not, whether periodic operation will be possible, and how often they will host these events.
Kim Jun-seok (Architecture, 11), the representative candidate of S:with, answered that “we are planning these programs as annual programs instead of a one-shot event. There are already successful on-going mentoring programs hos
ted by the College of Economics and the first mentoring program in the Department of Bio-mechatronic Engineering. Moreover, since SKKU Alumni Association successfully hosted 2017 1st Busan World Kingo Festival, maintaining intimate interaction between many graduates from inside and outside of the country, and SKKU Development Cooperation Team is sustainably connected with the SKKU Alumni Association, we are expecting them to willingly participate in these programs. We will successfully hold these programs based on the increasing demand of the mentoring programs by students.”
Furthermore, the SKT asked S:with how they will advertise these mentoring programs to students and the graduates, how they will survey the most wanted graduates that students wish to meet, and especially which specific contents will the programs contain. Kim Jun-seok (Architecture, 11), the representative candidate of S:with replied that “the detailed factors are not yet determined and should be determined in the future, after being elected as a student council, through the preliminary and discussion among council members.”
- Dalkom Membership (S:with)
SKT raised questions about Dalkom Membership, a pledge of S:with. Questions were whether they are planning to retain all the existing affiliated shops or not and if so, whether all the shops agreed or not. They promised to maintain existing affiliated shops and to look for new shops to affiliate. Lee Hwi-ra (Mechanical Engineering, 15), the deputy candidate of S:with, answered that “Sungkeum membership, which was the policy of the former student council Sungkeum, is made by visiting all shops. We can also ask the shops about whether to maintain the contents of alliance or to change the contents.” Moreover, the SKT asked about the standard of choosing new affiliated shops and the plan for advertising new affiliated shops. Lee Hwi-ra (Mechanical Engineering, 15), the deputy candidate of S:with, answered “we will visit every shops near school and ask for affiliating, and we promise Kingos to get many benefits as possible from affiliated shops.
- Foundation of Representative Community (S:with)
SKKU, Wind of Wish asked S:with of how they will keep new community vitalized and how to secure finances. Lee Young-suk (Economics/Computer Science and Engineering, 14), the leader of the policy team of S:with, answered “we are going to recruit school clubs or gatherings to consistently manage the community and will establish those gatherings as temporal organizations according to Student Council’s school regulations chapter 11, 17th amendment. We are going to appoint those temporal organizations as special organizations through processes to manage the community. In terms of finances, we will firstly construct a basic website which does not cost money, and if the community is known well and used a lot, we will outsource the community. Furthermore, we will try not to use tuition fee, but to utilize donation from SKKU Alumni Association or else.
Meanwhile, it is thought that there should be a lot of data in school community for more Kingos to flow into community, but SKT was curious about the reason S:with promised to establish a new community which has no data at all while not using other ways such as vitalizing existing community which already has numerous data. Lee Young-suk (Economics/Computer Science and Engineering, 14), the leader of the policy team of S:with, answered “There are many communities that Kingos are now using such as Everytime and 배워서 남 주자. This means there is no united community for us. As a Kingo, I also had hardships to get information about signing up classes since there are many communities that have exclusive information, so I usually thought that it is necessary to construct one united community. In fact, there is a united community called Sungdaesarang that Kingos formerly used, but it is not operated well from years ago. Therefore, we thought that student council could construct new community which student council can leadingly operate, solving the problems that former community had. In addition, we have already recognized the problems of data construction, so we will try hard to resolve the problem.”
Furthermore, SKT asked of how they can facilitate Kingos’ influx to community through posting advertisement of student council’s businesses, which S:with suggested as a means of attracting Kingos to the new community, since the advertisement of businesses will also be posted on the facebook page. Lee Young-suk (Economics/Computer Science and Engineering, 14), the leader of the policy team of S:with, answered that “we will post advertisement of what we are progressing on our facebook page, and we will put the real ways to apply programs that we progress on the community.”
Moreover, SKKU, Wind of Wish asked S:with of what the ‘exchange of lectures’ that S:with specified on the policy pledge book means, and worried about the possibility of buying and selling of courses. Lee Hwi-ra (Mechanical Engineering, 15), the deputy candidate of S:with, answered that “the term does not mean to change the classes but to share some information about the classes.”