At a meeting attended by the chairpersons of all student clubs, TKU’s President, Chang Horng-jinh, who also presided over the meeting, responded positively to nearly every request raised by the participants.

Among all the issues that had been discussed at the meeting, the concern over shortage of space for club activities and rehearsals ranked the highest in terms of urgency by most clubs. In particular, clubs such as Standard Dancing, Tamkang Kang-fu (Recreational Guidance), Hard Tennis, Skating, etc. made their predicament known to the President by presenting their difficulties emphatically and at times humorously.

For example, the Standard Dancing Club, as pointed out by its chairperson, Chiu Fan-Hsi, does not have an ideal place where they can practice regularly. The place that has been offered to them, Aerobic Dance Studio, is not suitable, as shoes are not allowed there. President Chang responded immediately by providing the lobby of the Shao-mo Memorial Natatorium Complex for their practice. He quipped that swimmers would certainly swim better when they hear the music played by the club.

The Tamkang Kang-fu Club, on the other hand, does not have problem with space but rather with time. Its chairperson, Wu Ming-ru pointed out that they often practice until midnight; however, with their club office closing at 10 pm, they have been forced to change places, which can be difficult to find at these hours. President Chang offered them the Chueh Hsuan Chinese-styled Garden to continue their practice without hesitation. He commented good-naturally that as he was the only resident around the Garden area, he would not be bothered by any noise. “I am quite used to it, anyway”, he said.

The other club that also has problem with time is the Hard Tennis Club. As the lights at the tennis courts are turned off immediately at 10 pm sharp, Chang Yao-ren, the chairperson was wondering whether the university could have a more flexible control over the lighting. Such an inflexible scheme, Chang mentioned with a deadpan face, cost him a victory. He explained that he could have won a game that was played at night the other day, but as the lights on the court were switched off at 10 before the game was finished, he was denied the sweet taste of victory. President Chang promised him that as long as the club informed the authorities concerned in advance, it would be possible for the lights to stay on until the game is completed.

Despite that, Chiang Ding-an, the Dean of the Student Affairs, emphases on the importance of ending all activities before 10 pm. He reminded all clubs to be considerate of the residents who live around the campus and find excessive noise until late hours disturbing.

Apart from the discussion of club activities, some other issues related to student affairs were also considered at the meeting. One of them was the limitation of allowing students of the evening school to receive credits by attending classes of the day school due to the incompatible system. However, President Chang regrettably pointed out that the present restriction would remain so for an indefinite period of time. Only in extreme cases, where the senior students of the evening school can demonstrate convincingly the necessity and relevance of taking certain daytime courses for graduation, the university can make exception on an ad hoc basis.

Such differences prompted Chang Kuang-ying, the president of the Evening School Student Union, to claim that TKU’s Student Union had not been very supportive to the interests of the evening school students. In response, President Chang urged them to be more involved in affairs related to Student Union or Student Congress.

UPDATE： 2010/09/27 CLICKS： 1240 DOWNLOADS：