There have been complaints about awkward situations including where male Postechians meet female janitors at men’s restroom. Those grievances were occasionally uploaded in POSTECH Lounge or POSTECH Bamboo Forest. Recently, there was a gathering organized by the student union, where this problem can be discussed. The purpose of the event was to celebrate the second ‘POSTECH Appreciation Day,’ to hear about some problems actually happening from janitors and discuss together to find out the optimal solution. Meeting with janitors was held at 4 P.M. on Apr. 26, at middle auditorium, POSTECH. The meeting was supervised by Student Union’s Bureau of Communication and Connection (director Kang Han-sol, LIFE 15). Registration of participation was conducted from Apr. 20 to Apr. 25 by the internet survey using Google Docs, and rough information about the meeting were publicized on Bora (toilet readings), and SNS like Kakao Talk and Facebook. Survey consisted of taking some multiple choices and answering whether they would participate in the event or not. Main questions were about respondent’s recycling habit, communication problems with janitors, experiences related to janitor’s lounge using, and last short question asking respondents to write about questions that they would like to discuss at the meeting.
Nine comments in total were suggested for the last question. With regard to the comments related to female janitor’s working at men’s restroom, there was an opinion which hopes janitor of the same sex to take the charge. Though that comment was not directly handled at the meeting, the awkward situation when male students meet female janitors at the shower room was discussed. A student made a proposition to announce cleaning schedule beforehand to avoid facing that situation. But the cleaning company said that since cleaning time is flexibly adjusted under existing system, it is hard to inform students in advance. A janitor suggested that students can practice opening shower doors when they are not taking a shower. Another worker explained it in more detail, that they encounter students mostly when a student is turning off the light or have no response to a knocking. She concluded that it is easy for workers to identify whether a student is showering or not if students practice opening shower doors when they are not showering.
Two students had shown their intention of involvement through the survey, and about five students including some from the student union took part at the day. Furthermore, only about 14 Postechians have responded to the survey. In spite of its importance, few students had participated. Of course, it would be better if more Postechians were involved in the event. There must be a number of uncomfortable details living in POSTECH. It would be a mature attitude of Postechians to make a good use of chances that are for the purpose of solving the problem.