Due to social distancing, many stores and restaurants in and around universities have seen losses. A survey of commercial stores around the campus of 15 universities in Seoul, done by Shinhan Card and published by the JoongAng Ilbo, showed that card usage decreased by 23.7% in 2020 compared to 2019. Usage by customers in their 20s decreased, while the usage by customers in their 30s and 40s increased slightly. In particular, restaurants suffered the heaviest losses around universities.The Postech Times interviewed the owner of Hong Woon, a Chinese takeaway restaurant near campus in Hyoja-dong,

On Dec. 6, the “Future Planning for College Life” course (MSUS103) came to an end with an online closing ceremony at Gather Town, a metaverse platform, and WebEx. MSUS103 is a mandatory class for all freshmen and sophomores that did not complete the course last year. The MSUS103 class requires students to complete a few assignments, including writing a short report on their personal meetings with their advisor professor and participating in the “creating memories with class students”. Students have to get into random groups within the class and then plan and participate in an activity. Sophomo

On Nov. 18, a ceremonial declaration of The Bill of Rights for Graduate Students at Pohang University of Science and Technology took place at the Hogil Kim Memorial Hall. The ceremony was to celebrate the complete amendment to the original Bill of Rights which was enacted on Dec. 9, 2015. While the amendment was declared on April 7 by the Graduate Student Association, COVID-19 prevention measures caused the opening of the ceremony to be postponed to Nov. 18.The ceremony was attended by President Moo Hwan Kim, Professor In Seok Kang (Head of Human Rights Center and Professor Emeritus of the Dep

2021 is the third year since Moo Hwan Kim, the eighth President of POSTECH, took office. Marking the third anniversary of his inauguration, The Postech Times interviewed the president.How do you feel about your third year as the President of POSTECH?First and foremost, I feel grateful to all members of POSTECH.As I have said since I took office as President, I want to be faithful to the founding ideology of POSTECH, to select a small number of elites, educate them, and support pioneering research to contribute to the country and the world. Since my second year in office, cooperative relations

Until now, exchange student programs in POSTECH have only proceeded under offline conditions—by flying overseas, staying at a foreign university for a semester, and taking classes offered at the visiting school. However, beginning this fall semester, students can now take exchange programs at home, thanks to the newly implemented virtual student exchange program. The virtual student exchange program is a program in which member universities provide mutual online lectures, and students of the member universities take credit-acquirable courses of their interests. Postechians may participate in t

As non-face-to-face classes continued until the partial face-to-face conversion in November, most midterm exams took place online. There are many ways of conducting an online exam, with different classes choosing a variety of methods. Some adopted Zoom or Webex as their exam platform, while others utilized exam-oriented platforms such as Monito School or exam.net.Cheating prevention measures are implemented most of the time, such as requiring for students to prepare multiple cameras and making sure all students take their exams in isolated environments. However, an exam taken online does not o

Starting from Aug. 24, the Tae-Joon Park Library began a trial operation of its new library seat booking system. As part of its “Living Library” renovation, which aims to create a comfortable atmosphere similar to a household living room, the library seat booking system was implemented for efficient and convenient use of the new library spaces.The trial operation was supposed to last until Sept. 6. However, since most of the trial operation period took place during vacation time and there was a COVID-19 outbreak on campus, there was not enough feedback from users. Therefore, the Tae-Joon Park

The POSTECH Graduate Students Rest and Recharge policy, enacted on Sept. 6, recommends at least 10 vacation days per year to all graduate students of POSTECH. The policy is the first among South Korean universities to systematically guarantee the right to rest for all graduate students. The vacation days can be freely used as long as disruption of course or experiment schedules is minimized.Some foreign universities already have vacation policies for graduate students. For example, Caltech guarantees 21 vacation days (including institute holidays). Yet currently, graduate students are not lega

Greetings, readers of The Postech Times!We find ourselves at such a weird time in history. Although it is a cliché, the fact still stands. It is almost impossible to fathom what life would have been like in a different universe where COVID-19 did not break out. All the pains and economical losses it has induced seem to be insurmountable. It is difficult to put ourselves into other people’s shoes, but I want us to try for a moment. Think of the people who are mentally vulnerable; he who is lost in a maze that everyone else seems to have made it through. He who hears people outside who sound hap

My interest in journalism first sparked when I attended a lecture about fake news a few years ago. During the presentation, the speaker cited a research paper that revealed social media as the most commonly used source for news. Then, the lecturer showed how most of the news from social media was fake. I laughed along with the crowd after looking at those statistics, but deep down I knew I should not have because I was also guilty of using social media as my main source for news. The statistics told me that I was not the only one. I knew I needed to change, so I started by reading news from mo

From a young age, I never had a taste for writing. In high school, I excelled in every subject except for language and literature, the only subject that required good skills in writing essays to get good grades. I always had trouble expressing my thoughts in words using the right diction, sentences, and grammar, even when writing lab reports. To me, writing has always been a challenging and burdensome task.Yet, I have always known the importance of writing, especially when it comes to newspaper articles. As an avid newspaper reader, I have witnessed how society, even myself, could easily be sw

Reading has always been an integral part of my life since I picked up my first book as a toddler. The sensation of immersing myself into the flow of a story and indirectly experiencing things that I could never do in reality was something other mediums could not deliver with the same intensity. Books, essays, and newspapers were a window into the wider world, bringing me new insights and knowledge on a variety of subjects. These experiences changed and shaped me into who I am today, for better or worse. As a new reporter of The Postech Times, I have now gained the opportunity to inspire others

Due to the seemingly endless pandemic, it has been over a year since we have been able to interact with even the closest friends. Nevertheless, Postechians’ time flied by, and freshmen are now entering their second semester. Like many of my friends, I enjoyed my first semester at POSTECH.Since I entered POSTECH and first arrived on campus, I felt a strong sense of pride in our school. For this reason, I decided to participate in some activities that could positively affect POSTECH, and that is The Postech Times. I think that newspapers are able to exert a powerful influence on readers, and I w

From June 14 to Sept. 3, Postechians are given a summer recess. During this time, Postechians participate in various activities. Some participate in internships to gain social experiences and experience office life before starting their careers. Some students conduct research in laboratories on campus to cultivate academic depth. Others prepare for achieving various certificates that they could not prepare for during the busy semester. POSTECH has a long summer recess of 82 days, so it is a good time for Postechians to either gain out-of-school experience or to rest and recharge. To find out h

It has been a year and a half since POSTECH adapted all its activities to the COVID-19 pandemic. While it is easy to check how classes are being done through surveys and course evaluation, the information on how club activities are conducted has not been organized. The Postech Times investigated how club activities were conducted in the 2021 Spring Semester.In the 2020 Spring Semester, performance club activities were absent since they were difficult to hold online. However, during the 2021 Spring Semester, as more students moved into the dormitory in the middle of the semester, club activitie

Knowing my limits, I feel dazed at graduating with honors. I will think of this as an encouragement for my life going forward and try my best to become a worthwhile, respectable person. I would like to sincerely thank Professor Seung Hwan Cho, Prof. Young-Tae Chang, Prof. Kim Kimoon, Prof. Sungjee Kim, Prof. Eunsung Lee, and Prof. Seung Jun Hwang, who guided me through life in college. Thank you also to my friends, upperclassmen, lowerclassmen, and laboratory classmates who have endured with me so far.Special studying methods?I tried to read the class resources and textbook material two to thr

On April 19, the Tae-Joon Park Library re-opened after a year of renovation. The reopening ceremony was held on the fifth floor of the library using the newly established media wall. Approximately 100 people attended the event, including President Moo Hwan Kim, donors of the library, and the University Administration Council. Also present were Kyungpook National University Library officials and Handong University Professor Songhee You, who gave advice and help on the library renovation.Renovation StatusThe library reduced about 100,000 volumes of books that were not commonly used to secure roo

POSTECH Tech-Review (Tech-Review) hosted its first Techaton on Zoom from Jan. 30 to 31. The event was held in order to help Postechians create business models based on promising technologies, ultimately raising interest in launching technology-based startups. Out of the 14 speakers who gave lectures at the 2020 Tech-Review technology startup seminars and networking sessions, Tech-Review invited five speakers as technological mentors to the Techaton. Each of the mentors’ lecture topics was assigned to a team as its target business product. During the Techaton, five teams, each comprised of five

For Postechians, recesses are opportunities to free themselves from studying and take time for new experiences. Some learn social relationships during internships, some study more deeply by conducting research in laboratories, and some sing and dance with their club members. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, such activities were difficult to hold face-to-face, and so many had to be canceled or downscaled. To find out how students’ winter recess has changed, The Postech Times surveyed Postechians’ 2020 Winter Recess activities from Jan. 20 to Jan. 27, 2021. A total of 69 answers were colle

To celebrate the beginning of a new year, The Postech Times looked back into the year 2020 to honor Postechians who excelled in their fields and boosted POSTECH’s stature. Tens of Postechians came to our attention, and choosing the top 7 to feature in the list below was difficult. Bear in mind; even if you were not listed here, take pride in yourself. You have done your best to make POSTECH proud, and POSTECH is mutually grateful.Disclaimer: This list is based on The Postech Times’ subjective understanding that has been obtained through various media outlets. The ordering of this list is alpha