I dislike the idea of judging from appearance. However, the first impression is very important and The Seoul Time has a very fine layout. I think the cover really does reflect the story in the issue. Nonetheless, it may be a good idea for The Seoul Time to have its own logo (or may be it already has one, I don`t know since each issue has different logo).
There is a saying that a picture worth thousand words and I really like the comics section. Though I am not following Korean news closely (In fact, I only know of the big one that is covered by CNN or New York Times), it gives me some ideas. If I have to describe The Seoul Times, I will compare it to a swiss army knife. For its thin volume, it covers a pretty impressive wide range of topics from political, society, student activities, music and movie review to English lesson. Maybe it is due to my field or taste, but I think a section about science and technology may be good to include, since we are living in a science dominated world. It may also be a good idea to throw out an essay topic and see who will love to write one to sound out his/her opinion. Experiment with different forms of discussion may be interesting as well. For example, you may have a male and female attack a touchy topic from different angle or an art major crashes with a science major with different point of view on certain issue.
Another thing that I like about The Seoul Time is the English lesson section. There are some expression that I heard in my normal conversation in the states. However, due to my ignorant and lack of time, sometimes, those expressions just went past by. Through the English lesson, I do, actually learn some idioms that are used in everyday life.
Lastly, I am sure there are always rooms for improvement and I wish The Seoul Time the best for this new century!
Maytee Lerttamrb
ziraiht@excite.com
Senior, Lehigh University, USA
The UOS Times
webmaster@uos.ac.kr