?ntering the main gate, I was surprised to see the placards on the building saying, ?ust pay a 10 percent deposit to make a contract. It showed the extremity of commercialization of the educational environment, says Choi Chan-mi (International Studies, 2). What makes students more anxious is that May Queen is advertised in several major newspapers, emphasizing that it is a women? shopping mall (only offering female consumer goods), and it stands ?ight next to Ewha. The advertisement even mentions the mall? proximity to the Ewha Campus Center (underground campus to be built by 2007) as one of its merits.
Even students in other schools worry about the construction. ?t? nonsense to have a shopping mall positioned right next to a university. Actually, it? standing inside the main gate making it appear to be part of the campus. If the shopping mall stands there, the hectic environment around Ewha will worsen without any doubt, says Kim Tae-hyun (Korea Univ., 2).
The groups of students who object to the increasing commercialization around Ewha also argue that building a ?omen? theme shopping mall next to a ?omen? university enhances the prejudice that women are lavish spenders who care more about their appearance than anything else.
To this, the school is not taking any strong action. The representative of the Association of Professors for Protecting the Educational Environment of Ewha said she did not even know about the construction of May Queen.
However, May Queen is only one of the various examples of rapid commercialization around the campus. Preceding this case, the designation of the street leading to Ewha? main gate as ?eauty Street, and the allotment of 30 percent of Ewha Campus Center to private businesses arose much controversy regarding this issue.
At first, in an effort to change the situation, professors submitted a petition to the National Human Rights Commission of Korea last year to stop the designation of Beauty Street.
They have had no response up to the present moment, but no further action has been taken.