Don't Worry, Be Happy (Page 3)

Since a fifth of the McGill student body is made up of students from other countries, the University has had to be somewhat of a leader in international student services. "International students have more hoops to jump through to get organized," says Jukier. "They need visas, they need funding, they need housing, they need winter coats, they need to adapt to a new country and a new language, and they often come with families." It gets complicated, and even arriving at Dorval airport and trying to find McGill for the first time can be a daunting task.

The University always had an international student adviser who worked under the rubric of the financial aid office, but in the new Brown Building there is now a whole area devoted to international student services. "We have someone working full-time just on the health insurance that every international student has to have. We have two full-time student advisers. We have extra reception help, and an entire lounge in this building devoted to international students, the McGill International Students' Network lounge. I can't say it was starting a new service but we went from a three-quarter-time employee to an entire crew for international students."

McGill has come a long way since the days when the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) was on the second floor of a building with no elevators, and the University is now about 80% accessible for students in wheelchairs, according to the staff of the OSD. The University offers free adapted transport service, sign language and oral interpreters, special library services, a computerized interpretation system for lectures for students with hearing impairments, brailling and reading services, and equipment loans for tape recorders, speech synthesizers, laptops and portable word processors, and talking dictionaries, among other services.

Still, disabled students have hit a temporary road block at the Brown Building. The entrance, sidewalk and front steps are still under construction and this has prevented the OSD from moving in since there is no proper access. It's a City of Montreal responsibility according to McGill administration, and the work will be completed in the spring.

Many students are planning their careers early on in their education, and the Career and Placement Services (CAPS) is a wealth of resources for those students looking to move from the ivory tower to the daily grind. With online job postings and resumés, workshops on interviewing skills, C.V. composition, networking, and setting up your own business, as well as recruiting fairs featuring major corporations, this centre provides all sorts of guidance for a task that can be even more daunting than starting university. CAPS offers career advisers, summer job placement, and eight computer terminals devoted to students looking for that dream job. Current students can also apply for jobs at McGill -- leading campus tours for example -- through programs like Work-Study.

CHAPLAINCY: offers services to many faiths, including Catholic, Protestant, Anglican, Jewish, Eastern Orthodox, Buddhist, Sikh and Muslim students.

ATHLETICS: a wide range of sports and recreational activities, intramural and intercollegiate sports, a sports medicine clinic, and new facilities that include the fitness centre and field house complex.

MATURE/RE-ENTRY STUDENT SERVICES: helps mature students and those resuming university studies with workshops, orientation, a mature students' lounge and student association.

BLOUIN-MACBAIN STUDENT AID CENTRE: provides information, advice and assistance to students who need financial aid.

The Students' Society and other student groups offer a number of successful services. Here are just a few:

WALKSAFE: provides students with a safe and accessible alternative to walking or travelling on public transportation alone at night. Walksafe volunteers will walk you home.

MCGILL NIGHTLINE: a confidential listening, information and referral telephone service run at night by trained student volunteers who'll listen to callers and if necessary provide them with information on resources at McGill and around Montreal.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: a volunteer-run food bank for students operated out of the Yellow Door Coffee House.

DRIVESAFE: a nighttime shuttle van service for students at no cost, providing rides to residences and metro stops, and available for student events.

FIRST AID SERVICE: student volunteers with advanced first aid and CPR qualifications, providing first aid support for student events on campus.