A student sogms to receive a student handbook in the common room for liberal arts majors in Humanities Building A.

Beginning this semester, student handbooks will only be distributed to students who have paid the student activity fee, which is about 7,000 won. This decision was made in February by members of the Central Operation Committee, which consists of the president and vice president of the Student Government Association (SGA) and presidents from each college’s student council. To receive a student handbook, students must submit a receipt or other proof of payment of the student activity fee to their corresponding student council.
 “Every year, the number of students who pay the student activity fee is presumed to be decreasing. Actually we do not know how much money has been collected without specific data. Because of this, when important events are held in May, the SGA has no knowledge about how much there is in the budget for those events,” said SGA President Lim Na-youn (Voice, 4).
 According to the SGA,student activity fees are used to make student handbooks, support club associations and the folk music club. Some 61 percent of the rest is allotted to the SGA, while 39 percent goes to each department in the first semester according to a specific calculation. In the second semester, the SGA uses 39 percent and each department receives 61 percent since there are a lot of department-sponsored festivals in the second part of the school year.
 Since the activity fee is important not only for the SGA but also for the student councils of each college, the respective college student council presidents decided to distribute the handbooks only to students who paid the fee.
“This is to make it easy for the SGA and student councils of each college to budget for their operations. By counting the receipts from each college, we can predict how much money we have and how to manage it for the future,” said SGA Vice President Kim Yun-hee (Law, 4).
“I hope this will be a chance for the student council to notify students how the student activity fees are being spent,” said Kim Min-joo (Economics, 3), student president of the College of Social Science. “Many students do not know that the student diary is made using the activity fee. Some students visit the administrative office to receive a student handbook thinking it is made and distributed by the school.”
 “The collection of receipts will not only enhance the budget predictability, but also would endow students with an awareness that they are part of the team of student representatives,” said the SGA President Lim,
“All Ewha students are automatically registered as a member of student council when they enter Ewha. As student council members, Ewha students have the right to express their opinions and also have a responsibility to pay for the student activity fee,” said Lim.
 But some students are negative about the decision.
“I do not understand why students have to pay the student activity fee to get a student handbook. Since students pay a high amount for tuition, we have a right to get the student diary for free. It feels like the SGA is trading a handbook for the student activity fee,” said Jun Ha-na (’09, Human Movement Studies).
Similar ideas have been tried in the past.
“Two years ago, the student council of the Korean literature department tried withholding student handbooks from students who didn’t pay the activity fee to extend their budget. However, students’ response was quite cynical. They decided not to receive a student diary than to pay the fee. I am skeptical about the decision of the Central Operation Committee,” said a Korean Literature major, who wished to remain anonymous.
While many students are unsatisfied with the student council’s decision, others nod their heads out of a sense of sympathy..
“I think it is a fair decision because student council members might need budgets to make student handbooks and to operate the student council,” said Lee Eun-hye (Business Administration, 3).
“It would be unfair for students who don’t pay the activity fee to receive student handbooks. In that case, students who paid are disadvantaged,” said Eom Jung-eun (’09, Department of Social Studies).

저작권자 © Ewha Voice 무단전재 및 재배포 금지