By Hiroaki Konno

What was your purpose on entering SU? To study, enjoy yourself, or perhaps just to get a diploma to get a job? Of course itﾕs different for each person. Yet what we at least want as university students is to become people with knowledge and culture. The most important things for us to do are the things that can only be done at SU that will mold our individuality. It's not easy to say how to do that, but in order to do so we must reconsider our present campus life. Of course there are many club activities at SU, and you can feel this in the Club Building. Recently, however, there seem to be more than a few students who spend their time aimless there.

In the Club Building, room 208 is the location of the student-run self-governing executive committee. Usually it is called "the executive" where students debate campus issues. If students want something, the executive receives this request even if it is great or trivial, and makes efforts to realize it. Atusi Tawa, the chairperson of the executive committee and a sophomore in the Faculty of Economics, says, "SU students love the events very much and they are active, but they ought to make their activities more meaningful. I want club members to find something advantageous for themselves, not just enjoy clubs as hobbies or interests. The number of students who belong to clubs are decreasing because they can pursue their own interests outside of the university," he said. Naturally it is possible to find hobbies and interests outside of the university. Is it true that SU students donﾕt seek any hobbies and interests? If so, they might not feel it's neccesarry. University is for students. If students want to learn, they can. And if they want to participate in club activities, they can do that too. Such an atmosphere of freedom is based on the power to create an original university with what ought to be student's pride. And in order to approach this ideal we must take some action.

It is difficult now to sum up the characteristics of SU students, which total about seven thousand. Mr. Saito, who was in the third graduating class of SU and is currently the managing director of the SU cooperative society, says, "Students today are losing hope for the future because it's hard to get jobs. Under uncertain circumstances students must be upset about their future if they can't find something to enjoy. In order not to be upset, it is important that students group together to do something for pleasure, even if it would only be for one time."

Perhaps what is needed now is personal power, not collective power. Actually, we must get jobs by competing with others. It is one of the reasons why student's don't cooperate with each other. However, there is a limit to personal power. It canﾕt change the present social climate and the flow of the times. In order to come face to face with this reality and to get through hard times, we need cooperation. One self in the group, and one self as an individual. What we can get by facing these two aspects will play an important role in living in the coming society. Finally, Mr. Saito said, ﾒWhen I was a student there were too many demands for the executive committee, and the chairman looked too busy to reply everyday. The executive committee shouldn't only receive the student's demands passively, but they should also take the lead at SU and ask for something on their own initiative."

At Sapporo University, the self-governing executive committee and the students section officers reply to student's demands eagerly. What we now lack is a movement. If we would look around SU with a positive attitude, we would find as many possibilities to do what we want as we like. It doesn't matter if the demand strikes you as great or trivial. This is where we must start in order to do what we want to do. The various results of studies and research by students could decorate the SU corridors. The club activities, whose energies shouldn't be contained only in the club building, will attract students. I hope the day will come when our campus is more colorful, meaningful and attractive than now .