After a tumultuous festival week in September, students returned to normal life. However, the controversy over the university festival has continued every year. This year, there was a problem with one university’s (club’s) pub menu item name. The students used two criminals’ names, one has recently committed a heinous crime and the other was an entertainer who was child sex offender. Making raunchy pub posters and wearing provocative clothes in order to draw customers is the dark side of school festivals. So, what do you think about CWNU’s ‘Bongrim Daedong-je’? There are positive things about the festival in the previous page, so let’s think about what needs to be improved for a better festival.

First, not only CWNU, but many universities depend on popular singers. Of course we can enjoy the festival for a short time, but to some degree many people regard the school festival as just a chance to see a free concert. It is supposed to be that students are the main subject, but in fact, all the attention is focused on the famous singer. For students, it is a big issue: who will be invited to the festival? So, if an unpopular singer comes, they will not take part in the event. What’s more, according to the Ministry of Education, universities spend more of the festival budget inviting an entertainer than on supporting students. CWNU also spent about 30~40% of the budget on singers, the student council member said.

The second issue is about operating pub booths by students. In Bongrim daedonge-je, almost every department operated a pub except for several departments running booths for specialized business. Therefore many first and second grade students were not able to enjoy the festival because they were operating booths. Also, the pubs were closed at 1am, but students had to clean up, so they actually went home much later or even slept in school. Each department should think again about selling alcohol and help students go home safely.

The next problem is garbage. After 3 days of festivities, on Friday morning there was a nasty smell coming from the mass of garbage on the playing field and the parking lot. Food waste was not separated from other waste and many people used general plastic bags instead of a standard one. Moreover, indiscriminate use of disposables and pouring dirty oil into a drain can cause environmental pollution.

Lastly, there is a potential risk of sexual assault. It’s because many outsiders come and everybody is drunk due to the characteristics of the festival. Actually, during the festival period, several male students from other universities tried to take our university’s female students by force. Fortunately, some witnesses were around and stopped the men. To prevent this kind of situation, you shouldn’t drink too much and always be on guard for strangers.

In general, the university festival is called ‘Daedong-je’. It means bringing people together and integrating with each other. It is important to not to forget its original purpose. I hope the new Bongrim Daedong-je will make all the school members come together.

Lee Ha-eun  -

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