by Cathy Peng
Have you sensed anything different this semester in NTU? Indeed, the dormitory cafeterias during meal times are more crowded than ever and there are students everywhere on campus at night taking courses. Where do all these people come from? The answer lies in the sign in front of the old library building that says “National Chi-Nan University’s (NCNU) Temporary Office in Taipei”. The fact is after the terrible 9/21 earthquake, three main buildings at NCNU, including the administration center, the general classroom building and one of the student dormitories, were severely damaged. However, the NCNU students need a place to study. Consequently, beside some special departments located now at Taiwan Normal University and Cheng-chi University, most departments have moved to NTU. Three reasons might explain why they chose NTU as their temporary office instead of other available universities. First of all, NTU has the most resources in the country. Secondly, a lot of NCNU’s professors are actually borrowed from NTU and the environment is more familiar to them. Last but not least, NTU is far away from the earthquake-stricken area, which gives students and professors a sense of security. So here they are, ready for an unknown future. The idea of moving to NTU was suggested by The Ministry of Education after the classrooms at NCNU were destroyed. However, complex and perplexing questions followed, such as when the students would take their courses and what is to happen to all their activities. The most important principle is not to disrupt NTU’s regular schedule. Therefore, NCNU students have to go to school at night and during the weekends, which is exactly like a night school. Furthermore, they are not allowed to use NTU’s Computer Center and Audio-Visual Center because these two places cannot accommodate so many people. Even so, the situation is not that bad. They can still use all the other facilities, such as the library, student activity centers, sports fields, etc. Nevertheless, the above are only facts on the surface. We should be more concerned about how NCNU students feel. Although some of the students’ homes are in Taipei and it would only be more convenient for them to study in NTU, most of them have homes around the country and there are no dormitories for them, which force them to rent houses in Taipei. The cost of living in Taipei is high and a foreign environment is not easy to adjust to. All these problems become harsh challenges for NCNU students. Contrary to popular opinion, these hurdles are not easy to overcome. Its no wonder students from other universities say, “We’d rather stay at our school instead of going to NTU, even if it seems somehow better!” What exactly do the students of NTU and NCNU, respectively, think about this situation? For NCNU students, they don’t really have a choice but to try to adjust themselves to present condition. For the students of NTU, however, there seem to be two different reactions. Some students think it’s no problem to have more students on campus as long as it doesn’t disturb their routine. Moreover, they believe that more sympathy should be given for them because they have no “home” to stay in anymore. Others think differently. Because they worked so hard to enter NTU, it’s not fair that now other students can simply listen to NTU courses and use the resources as much as they like. When asked about NCNU’s future, no one has a definite answer. Although their former president Jia-tong Lee claimed that they will go back to Puli before February 21, 2000 (which is when their six-month lease of NTU buildings expires), no one can guarantee that Puli classrooms will be repaired and safe enough to study in by then. Currently, there are only two or three university staff staying in Puli cleaning up the debris. And the reconstruction project has just gotten started. “We want to go back!” said one of NCNU students anxiously, “But that is not something we can control.” a
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The Taida Student Journal has been active since 1995 with an ever-changing roster of student journalists at NTU. Click the above link to read about the authors Archives
May 2024
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