While preparing for my Ewha university entrance exam, my tutor (who coincidently, is also a graduate of Ewha DIS) once told me, “The newspaper is to an international studies student what the Bible is to a Christian.” So I religiously poured over the pages making mental notes as to what was going on around the world. After several months the newspaper has become a friend-figure, a reliable bank of information that kept me touch with the world beyond my own. After my acceptance to Ewha, I eagerly waited for the publication of the monthly Ewha Voice, to read the inside scoop about what goes on inside the school. I found myself pleasantly surprised. However, as a fan, I also have a number of suggestions.
The articles in the newspaper are highly commendable. They are interesting, well-written, and above all, closest to being objective as any newspaper can get. I particularly found the article about Ewha alumnus, stepping into the world, very much inspiring. I’m sure it had the same impact on the hundreds of fellow students anxiously waiting to spread our wings after graduations. I, for one, scrapped that particular article and slipped it my diary for constant stimulus. In that way, the Ewha Voice has succeeded in planting motivation and pride for our school. These are very important.
One area of weakness however, is the fact that the Ewha Voice does not actually reach the entire student body. Technical problems aside, such as problems in circulation, the paper needs to be more reader-friendly. By reader-friendly, I do not mean that the Ewha Voice should adjust the standard of English. The level of our paper reflects the level of our school. The linguistics is not the problem. My proposal is that the paper contains a little something for everyone in all departments. Perhaps it could publish interviews of students in different departments, or leave a section for TOEFL questions or Chinese characters with explanation. Or it contains more cartoons for those of us that immediately flip to the back page and work its way up. Anoth! er suggestion is that the Ewha Voice induces more student participation with the paper. Of course for many of us, seeing our writing in print is reward enough. However, for more active participation, the Ewha Voice can hold events that reward the best writer or most frequent contributor. Although it is already an excellent paper, the Ewha Voice will be able further its influence by making adjustments to increase its target audience.
Kim Sae Me (International Studies, 1)