Getting Involved at McMaster
Part Three: (more) Student Services
By Danielle Lorenz

My previous composition on student services features those which were a little bit on the ‘lighter’ side. The services I am going to mention are seen as more essential to students be it for emergencies, prevention, or education, AKA the ones you need to know about.

Uh oh, an emergency on campus; what do you do? You do NOT call 911. On any campus phone you dial 88, and you will be patched in to the Emergency First Response Team. EFRT is responsible for handling all emergencies that occur on campus, and are extensively trained in the areas of medical and first aid emergencies. Their average response time is less than two minutes (and they travel by bike and by foot!). There is an extensive interview process to be a member of the EFRT team at the beginning of every term. For more information, consult the website www.msu.mcmaster.ca/efrt, or stop by the office in MUSC 103. Additionally, EFRT offers first aid courses throughout the school year.

The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer Centre in MUSC 221 offers an essential service for students. Their mandate is to act as a place where individuals can access resources, support and contacts pertinent to issues surrounding gender and sexual identities. It alsooperates as a safe space for individuals who may identity themselves as either/or Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Asexual, Two-Spirited, Heterosexual, Questioning and other diverse sexual, gender and social identities. With at least eighteen services available, the GLBTQ centre offers many volunteer services each term. Additional information about the provided programs of GLBTQ can be found at their website http://www.msu.mcmaster.ca/glbt/index.php.

Various studies have found that many youth do not know the information about sexual health that they should. Oftentimes university-age students put themselves at risk by not knowing the facts that can save them from potentially devastating behaviors. SHEC, the Student Health Education Centre, located in MUSC 202 offers many services to students, including: free prophylactics, free anonymous pregnancy testing, confidential, anonymous, non-judgmental peer support, off-campus referrals, and tons of information and resources about sexual health. More information can be found at their website, which is http://www.msu.mcmaster.ca/shec/index.php. People who want to volunteer for SHEC need to be in an undergraduate program. Unfortunately, the deadline for volunteers for the 2007-2008 academic year has passed, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get involved next year!

The Student Walk Home Attendant Team, or SWHAT, is a volunteer service operational seven days a week during the fall and winter terms from dusk until 1AM. SWHAT will walk anyone anywhere on campus or within a thirty minute radius to make sure they get home safely. Two walkers, one male and one female, come with a SWHAT jacket, flashlights and a radio so they are in constant contact with the SWHAT office and McMaster security. Getting involved with SWHAT is a great way to meet a diverse range of people as well as to get to know the geography on and around campus. You will see SWHAT, and their mascot, SWHATTY at Clubsfest. However, if you want information before then you can either check out their website http://www.msu.mcmaster.ca/swhat/index.php, or visit MUSC 204 starting September 1st.

As I mentioned in the previous article, I was not going to mention all twenty of the student services offered by the MSU. For a complete listing, and all of their respective webpages, go to http://www.msu.mcmaster.ca/services/.