Recently, I heard some grave news centered around our neighborhood. For hoping its prompt and complete solution, I will write this issue’s editorial. I shall not write about it in detail since it is an unresolved issue. However, it was quite devastating to hear about since it happened in the close vicinity of our office. The incident reminded of my very first feature article in The UOS Times; Sexual Harassment: From the Corner of Your Eyes. With a fellow reporter, Ahn Shin-ho, I wrote about sexual harassment on campus. Along with some other suggestions for prevention, we requested students to help and intervene in any situation, no matter how slight and inconvenient it appeared initially. By following this advice, an incident like this could perhaps be preempted by the concerns of the surrounding people.
Maybe, trying to follow this small suggestion could prevent such incidents, or maybe it could not. However, the point is that we must look around and check if any acquaintance in distress among us, even if the situation does not appear that serious at first glance. Many incidents can be started from a minor misunderstanding of one or both side(s). So, the next time we hear a small complaint or observe an unjust circumstance, we must intervene and try to help the person or solve the problem in any way we can. To my shame, I did not acquire such bravery to help others, but I will try hard to raise my voice, look at the corner of my eyes, and stop being a bystander in the future. I will end this part of the article with a quote from a famous phrase by the German pastor Martin Niemoller showing a bystander’s regret:
In this issue, we tried to deliver as much interesting news as we could fit in before the end of the fall semester. In the “Cover story”, you can see the University of Seoul (UOS) student body’s opinions on marriage, with reporter analysis included. Reporters covering “Society” wrote about emotional labor issues at work, particulary in the service industry. For the first article among the two “Focus on UOS” articles, we interviewed a student who studied at a university in China as an exchange student. In the second, we introduce the Non-smoking Program at UOS designed for student wellness. In the “People” kicker, we look at the life of a correctional officer. For the reader’s convenience, we visited the royal tombs of Joseon Dynasty located in Seoul in “The Place” section. In the “Review”, we introduce a fairy tale world for adults in Jean-Jacques Sempe’s book. Finally, we share some hidden knowledge of the coding system in the “Do You Know”. Enjoy our 145th edition and have a great the winter break!
Shin Jeong-ho
Editor-in-Chief
jhshin2110@uos.ac.kr