Built in 1963, Humanities Building A is one of the oldest buildings inside campus

     Ewha will rebuild Humanities Building A, according to Nam Seok-jin, the director of the Office of Facilities Maintenance (OFM). The school has not officially announced its building plans to the students, but Nam confirmed the project in response to widespread rumors among students.
     "Word has been going around among Liberal Arts majors that Humanities Building A will be rebuilt. I have also seen a notice asking students for their opinions about the rebuilding," said Hyun Ji-seung (French, 2).
Nam says the school rebuilding will be done partly for safety reasons. "The safety problem does not mean that the building is in imminent  danger. But Humanities Building A is very old and the time has come for an overall renewal," said Nam.
     Built in 1963, Humanities Building A is one of the oldest buildings on campus, and students often complain of its inconveniences. "Heating and air-conditioning systems in the building do not work well compared to those in other buildings, and they also make noisy sounds. I guess the building innately has problems since the noise never seems to stop," said Cho Sang-hee (English, 3).
     Nonetheless, not all students support the rebuilding plans. The student council of the College of Liberal Arts had put a notice board asking for the students' opinion on the rebuilding. Opinions on the rebuilding varied among students. "Even if there are many students who feel incovenience in using Humanities Building A, I wish that the unique atmosphere of the building can be preserved. The building can be renewed by establishing elevators or new air-conditioning system," said Lee So-young (Liberal Arts, 2). "There can be other solutions than destructing the building." Meanwhile, the Student Government Association (SGA) and the student council of the College of Liberal Arts are seeking greater student input in any plans drawn up by the university.
     "We have heard nothing from the school. It is unreasonable to plan a rebuilding project without notifying the SGA," said Kang Jung-ju (Korean, 4), the SGA president. "Opinions written by the students on the notice board were sent to the Office of Student Affairs (OSA) and we also let the school know that there are some students who oppose to dismantling the building," said Kim Hae-in (History, 3), the president of the student council for the College of Liberal Arts.
     As it was revealed that the student council of the College of Liberal Arts is not in the preparatory commitee for the rebuilding project, the rumor that the student council was "excluded" from the project has arisen.
     Nevertheless, Kim says the student council was never "excluded" from the committee. "It is ineffective for student councils to be the members of the committee where deals with the expert knowledge. No student council has participated in school committees for building construction before," said Kim. Rather, the student council of the College of Liberal Arts had a meeting session with the OSA on October 28 to convey the opinions of the students. "The OSA promised to have the regular sessions with us to reflect the opinions from the students," said Kim.
     "Nothing about the construction has been decided yet, but the school will reflect the opinions of students when it comes from the OSA," said Nam.
     However, students' worries that their voices will not be reflected remain. "The school insisted that students can not participate in the meetings for the Ewha Campus Complex (ECC) construction. The SGA did not know which commercial shops were coming into the ECC even when the construction was finished. School kept saying nothing had been decided yet, when we asked for information," said Yang Kyung-un (Korean, 4), the former SGA president.
"If students have any ideas or requests related to the construction, the student council is always ready to meet with the school. I hope the school seriously listens to the voice of the students," said Kim.

저작권자 © Ewha Voice 무단전재 및 재배포 금지