Through http://www.ewhaian.com, students complained that the entrance of male students disturbs the educational environment and makes other Ewha students feel uncomfortable due to couples showing too much affection.
Two weeks ago, a couple showing high level of affection in a classroom in B1 floor was caught by the guard and was forced out of the building.
Due to constant complaints, the Social Sciences Department office decided to take this action. Kim Ji-yeon (Media Studies, 1) says, "Public area is where everyone shares equal rights and acts comfortably. However, if couples show too much affection, it is infringing on the rights of other people since people feel uncomfortable by seeing such sights. I think it is right to ban male students from entering school buildings except when they are for educational purposes." Due to the large number of classrooms and comfortable environment of the building, the Ewha-POSCO Hall has been a site for holding a variety of events from seminars to joint study group meetings. It became a problem, however, since some students used the hall not only for academic purposes but rather for displaying personal affections.
Guards of the Ewha-POSCO Hall also pointed out the problems that students come in through windows located at the backside of the building. Though CCTVs are equipped on each entrance, it is very difficult to find the intruders. A guard of the Ewha-POSCO Hall says, "The windows on the doors of each classroom are small and there are too many classrooms for the guards to search one by one. Since there are too many doors in the Ewha-POSCO Hall, it is almost impossible to catch everyone." The guards admit that a new, and more and effective solution to the problem is needed.
Some students argue back to the guards who stop them from entering with their male friends, and some allow their male friends to enter through back windows and doors where the guards cannot easily see. Lee Gyu-sung (Sogang University, 2) currently dating an Ewha student says, "I think showing affection to their loved ones is expressing their emotions and feelings. Everyone has equal rights to express their feelings, so banning all male students just for this reason is not reasonable." Since many students showed great displeasure of the notice saying, "Male students prohibited," all the notices were changed to "Outsiders prohibited."
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