The SGA held events such as "Write 100 Postcards," "A Vote from All Ewhaians," "Blue Balloon Week," and "Black Clothes Day" throughout March. All these events had the same three goals: To demand that the school administration handle tuition more openly, to petition the government to reserve at least 7 percent of the national budget for education, and to protest against the possible adoption of the WTO"s laissez-faire policy in the field of education. However, the majority of students have showed a rather indifferent attitude.
On March 13, the "Write 100 Postcards" event took place in front of the Student Union Building, and March 17 opened the "Blue Balloon Week." The SGA passed out blue balloons in front of the Welch-Ryang Auditorium and urged the students to keep the balloons while attending chapel and hang them on the trees in the forest near the Student Union Building afterwards. March 27 was the "Black Clothes Day" as a symbol that the education at Ewha is dead.
As a kind of finale, "A Vote from All Ewhaians" was conducted on March 24 to 25. A total of 2,546 people cast their votes. Though the result turned out on the accord with what the SGA has hoped for, the actual number of voters was less than 15 percent out of the whole student body.
Such low participation can be seen simply seen as a trend among the N-generation. However, some view it differently, saying that their decision not to participate comes from a feeling that the SGA is not, in fact, representing their views. "The SGA is putting a lot more emphasis on outside-of-school problems, but the SGA should stand for the students at Ewha. Because of this, I do not want to take part in any activities that the SGA is sponsoring," says a student who wishes to remain anonymous.
arielle@ewha.ac.kr