Every May brings with it the annual school festival, but it's not all fun and games for the students at KAIST, who are required to attend all their classes during this period. Is it right to keep the students back in class or should they be given the opportunity to enjoy themselves for this exciting occasion? The KAIST Herald has its say on the issue. 

Pro: Let the Students Enjoy the Festival to the Fullest
By DongJae Lee

After three months of studying, May has finally arrived, bringing the annual Spring Student Festival with it. It is the time for both undergraduate and graduate students to take a break from their studying to just relax and enjoy themselves for a while. Celebrities are coming and various student clubs and groups will open up booths where they will treat students with delicious food and entertaining performances. Some students are lucky enough to enjoy the festival without difficulties due to non-overlapping classes and festival schedules. However, many students have class schedules that coincide with the festival schedule, prohibiting them from going to the festival and enjoying it. Although the students may be acquiring academic knowledge, they are missing out on a valuable time with their friends and possibly a once-in-a-lifetime experience with lovers. The school should make the festival period a no-class period and let the students enjoy the festival without making them listen to lectures while celebrities sing outside.

On the first day of the festival, approximately one hundred students showed up for the opening ceremony at 6:20 p.m.. When the celebrity performance time neared around 10:30 p.m., about six hundred students were present at the festival area. Although it may not account for everything, it is clear that many students came only after their classes were over and missed the good performances given by many student groups. However, students who had recitation classes couldn’t watch the performances and had to sit in the classroom while other students were outside enjoying the festival. Although there might have been administrative difficulties, the classes could have been pushed back to another time so that the students could participate in the festival without the likes of recitation classes to obstruct them.

Also, when planning the school calendar it would be better to make the festival period a no-class period and push the end of the semester a few days back to compensate for the festival. This way, the students may enjoy the festival without worrying about classes and recitation, and just purely participate in the festival while the professors and teaching assistants don’t have to feel guilty about not letting the students go and enjoy the festival - a win-win situation for both parties involved. Back in April, the school told the press that the afternoon classes may be canceled during the festival week, but it didn’t happen. If the school had actually considered canceling the afternoon classes, the school surely can make it happen next year, for they have a lot of time to prepare for it. It would allow the students to get rid of their stress and pressure from studying for a while and let them start fresh.

Of course canceling classes during the festival doesn’t mean that all students are going to participate in the festival. Seoul National University actually did cancel classes during the festival period, but many students didn’t participate in the festival and instead went to their homes while some students just went out for drinks. Also, professors have to make up for the canceled classes later, and quizzes in recitation classes have to be postponed until later, making it difficult for teaching assistants to keep track. However, college isn’t just about learning and taking quizzes and exams. It also involves having fun and enjoying various activities. Some students have worked hard to prepare for their festival performances, sacrificing time for work and sleep to practice for it. Other students traveled to faraway stores to buy ingredients to make foods and drinks. Most importantly, the festival organizing committee worked so hard to make the festival more enjoyable for the students, hoping to make this festival one that would stay in the students’ memories forever. Missing out on all of this because of classes and recitation seems like an insult to their hard work and effort.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of KAIST, and there have been many activities during the festival to celebrate our school’s birthday. Many students, however, couldn’t participate in the activities due to classes. Knowing the special occasion, the school could have let the students enjoy and celebrate and push the classes to later times. It would have required a few administrative changes but, considering the circumstances, it would have meant a lot to the students. Though it may seem less important to the professors and administrators, the festival means relaxation and forgetting about the academic burden for just a brief period before returning to the usual, KAIST life. Surely the school can be a bit more lenient with its students.

Con: Students May Indulge but Classes Come First
By Chaerim Oh

Last week, the annual student festival brought students together for three days of food stands, cocktail booths and evening performances. Amidst the recent school tragedies, nationwide media had reported that school officials proposed the idea of cancelling all afternoon classes during the student festival. At first it seemed that cancelling classes would lower academic pressure and provide a “cool-off” period for everyone at KAIST. Despite what the media reported, however, the school decided to reinstate its original rules of holding official classes throughout the three days.

Though there was much controversy over this issue among students, it only seems appropriate to have classes during the student festival. Cancelling classes may alleviate academic stress for students by decreasing the workload, but only in a temporary manner. When classes are cancelled – with or without an official order from the school – professors typically schedule make-up classes. Thus cancelling classes during the festival will only result in having extra classes for the missed material. Professors may still choose to cancel classes during the student festival if they wish, but it should not be an official order from the school.

Moreover, most of the activities and contests scheduled for this year’s festival took place during the evening after classes ended. Both the 2011 Taewool Song Festival and the highly anticipated celebrity performances were scheduled for the evening as well. Therefore cancelling classes would be just an excuse as there is essentially no reason not to attend morning lectures during the festival period.

Rather than cancelling classes entirely during the three days, professors and students should search for alternative options. For instance, not taking attendance during the period will offer students more time for individual activities. Another option is to cancel classes only for freshmen to allow them to indulge in their first college festivities. The school did take alternative measures by cancelling or postponing evening recitation classes and quizzes for freshmen courses such as General Chemistry. One professor who teaches Calculus I chose not to have classes at all during the festival week.

The student festival has always been an optional event for the KAIST community, meaning it is not mandatory for students to attend these events. For someone who does not participate in any of the activities, or simply does not wish to partake in the festival, canceling classes would be unreasonable. If the student festival will always remain optional in the future, then why are we expecting a reward? KAIST professors, like those at other universities, generally have tight lecture plans and conducts classes according to the original syllabus. Unless professors decide to decrease the workload for all students for compensation of the festival week, they should not blindly cancel classes. 

The students’ recent uproar for change in President Nam Pyo Suh’s current school policies consisted of many propositions, but cancelling all classes during the festival was not one of them. Perhaps this serves as proof that while many students highly anticipated the spring festival, classes still remained as their first priority.

While the purpose of holding a student festival is to provide a diversion from the usual atmosphere, what students really need in order to relieve their academic stress is an overall reduction of class workload and not a temporary withdrawal. Skipping lectures for three days is not the best solution to solve underlying problems at KAIST; this will only increase the workload for students after the festival is over. Students took a much-deserved break during the festival, but after all we are here to learn; students should aim to play hard but to study hard as well.