GOOD Line enlists Drewids to lend an ear to troubled students

There's a little-known group of undergraduate students in the Drew Community who work on behalf of their fellow students for an organization called Peer Assisted Referral. PAR is a student-run program which provides an anonymous phone line for students to call when they're in need, and is run by two student co-chairs, a senior and a junior, who asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of their jobs.

They are in turn assisted by a faculty adviser, a staff counselor and psychologist Carol Gernat, who helps them with administrative matters and certain aspects relating to the upper-level operations common to any one of Drew's student organizations.

PAR is also known as the GOOD Line, because of the telephone number of the organization, 4663, spells it out on the touchpad of a telephone. The Senior Co-Chair of PAR described it as a "middle-man" when it comes to helping out the students who call the line with their problems. This is because PAR members don't try to solve problems-they listen to them and then offer to refer the individual to a professional, or to another individual better equipped to deal with certain issues, she said.

The Senior Co-Chair characterizes herself and the organization as "a sounding board for the Drew community." The Junior Co-Chair concurs, stating that "calling the GOOD Line is a good way to sort out what's going on, not only in the caller's life, but in the lives of other people the caller may be worried about."

The Co-Chairs are also quick to dispel any rumors that may or may not be circulating the campus regarding the line's activities and the problems of its callers. While the GOOD Line accepts all callers and will assist those callers with any and all problems, they are quick to point out that they have not received any suicide calls this semester. In fact, such calls are quite rare, with an estimated total of three calls over the entire four-year period during which the Co-Chairs have been with the organization.

They are each keen to point out that no faculty members are on the phones and that the confidentiality of each and every caller is strictly maintained and respected. "We're professional listeners," the Senior Co-Chair said.

The GOOD Line is also "great for people interested in the psychology or social work fields, because it allows them to actually get practical experience via listening to real people's problems and trying to find the best way to bring distressed callers peace of mind," the Senior Co-Chair said.

The GOOD Line is also seeking new members to go through its intensive training program, which revolves around respect for caller's confidentiality and role-play scenarios in order to determine an individual's competence when dealing with actual scenarios, the chairs said.

Individuals interested in applying must contact Gernat and fill out an application before a face-to-face interview.

People who have any type of situation that they want to talk about can call the GOOD Line at 4663 at any time between 5 p.m. and 9 a.m., seven days a week.