What Students and the University Think about Game Regulation
What Students and the University Think about Game Regulation
  • Reporter Park Min-young
  • 승인 2015.03.04 17:21
  • 댓글 0
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From Mar. 1, POSTECH is implementing a game regulation throughout the residential area of campus. In order to prevent Postechians from being immersed in games excessively and to create a more comfortable environment for those, who don’t play games, this system regulates games from 2 to 7 A.M. In addition to the game regulation, downloading will be restricted to 100 gigabytes per week per terminal. But there are some differences of opinion between POSTECH authorities and some Postechians. The Postech Times interviewed the vice president of academic information affairs, Professor Kim Dai Jin (CSE), the Representative of UA Lee Won Jong (IME 13), and Vice Representative Kim Tae Hwa (CiTE 13) to hear a university official’s and students’ opinions.
The purpose of this regulation policy is to protect students, who play games, but also those, who do not play games. He said that this policy is not a regulation of games all day, but for a particular time to protect students from immersing themselves in games excessively and to ensure roommates’ sleeping rights. In POSTECH, this policy has been suggested since 2010. POSTECH gave students numerous opportunities to control their game time spontaneously but found that many students were unwilling or unable to do so.
Many students oppose this policy. The representative of UA and vice representative explained Postechians’ opinions and what the student council is doing in response to this policy. According to them, many students are sending personal e-mails to them and expressing their opposing opinions through hand-written posters. Most students’ objection is to the regulation itself, but also to the manner, in which it was decided. They argue that the policy is applied to students but it was decided without considering their opinion, which is an undemocratic process.
UA is actively responding to the policy. It opened an emergency meeting of the general representatives on Feb. 2, at which they discussed this issue. UA is also helping students express their opinions through hand-written posters and banners. It tried to organize a performance or demonstration, but there were not enough people during the vacation to implement either effectively.
Still, there are some differences of opinion between the university and students. UA suggested some alternatives such as using counseling center or adding “gaming time” as an additional item, considered when assigning dormitory rooms. The university said the policy could be reconsidered if strong opposition is expressed through campaigns. However, the past campaigns were not effective and the university persists that the game regulation is the most efficient method to solve many problems related to game immersion. Therefore, the university plans to implement the regulation policy with the students’ alternatives at the same time. Students and the university must communicate withy open mind to each other as they work to resolve this issue.