Here are the answers to some of the questions that are often asked by new students. More information can be found on the "New Students" pages and here.

What German language courses are there?

There are two main choices: one by the International Office and one by the Max Planck Institute for Informatics.

How can I sign up for sports clubs etc.?

The Hochschulsport programme can be found here. Sign up for courses from Oct. 5th. Courses with a small green shopping cart (on the right hand side) require a (usually small) fee, courses with an "i" (for information) don't. Click on the respective symbols to sign up for a course.

Where can I find a bicycle?

• Possibly on Ebay (used)
• or at the Fahrrad-Laden Saarbrücken (new, special offers)
• Try the various notice boards on campus and consider putting up your own "Am looking for a bike" notice.
• There should be lots of classified ads in local newspapers. The library has a subscription of the "Saarbrücker Zeitung" and the staff will surely let you browse.
• You might also find a second-hand bike at the monthly "Gebraucht-Fahrrad-Börse"

Where can I print stuff?

In the Computer Lab (C7.2) - make sure to bring your own paper! The printer name is "univers" and you can print two-sided.

Where can I print/bind my thesis?

Apart from the usual copy shop option, you are eligible for 3 free copies at the university printing shop (building A5.3, http://www.uni-saarland.de/de/campus/service-und-kultur/medien-und-it-service/druckerei.html). Each further copy is 3.30€.

Where can I scan stuff?

• In the Computer Lab (C7.2) - consult documentation down there.
• At the Fotostelle of the university – They have a document scanner. Do-it-yourself is 50 ct for e-mailing/USB + 5 ct per page.
• At the Germanistik library. They say it should be possible there.
• At the main library with an Aufsichtscanner

Where can I buy copy cards?

At the Coli library - or have a look at this map (click to enlarge) to find more places with copy card vending machines:

Where can I buy coffee?

Have a look at the map, as well. You will notice tiny cup symbols to indicate Places That Sell Coffee. The place closest to the Coli buildings is in the "Germanistik-/Romanistik-Verteiler" next to the Musiksaal. Note: There you can save 10 ct. and get a coffee for 0,40 € if you put a cup to the place the coffee comes out. Yay! And return an old cup to get another 0,05 €.

Who can I complain to about my Coli account, access card etc.?

The System Group - contact them (via e-mail) whenever there is trouble, they will almost always be able to help you. Complain if you must, but be polite - they are very nice people, they work very hard and they are very, very powerful.

Which links should I know about?

• Jobs
• University Library

How can I access/use the Master study rooms?

Preparations

• Find Mrs. Kröner's office. (C7.2, 1.10)
• Ask her, nicely, for a key to the Master rooms, leave a deposit of 10€ with her and sign your name. You will be given a small key which you can keep as long as you need it. Usual procedure is to return it at the end of your Master studies in Saarbrücken (at the latest). Your deposit will be returned to you when you return your key.
• Find the Master rooms: Turn left on entering the foyer, walk past the library, head downstairs, turn left again and walk down the hallway. The master rooms should now be on your right-hand side - look for the labels at the doors, they should say "Master-Arbeitsraum".
• Find the key box: It is on the wall, this should not be a problem.
• Open the key box with the small key. The key box contains the three keys to the individual study rooms. Choose one and open the corresponding door.

A few simple guidelines on how to use the rooms
The rooms should be accessible to all key holders at all times. This means that upon opening the key box, there should be exactly two scenarios:
1. The key to the room of your choice is in the box.
=> Excellent. You take the key out of the box, lock the box and open the door to the room.
2. The key is not in the box.
=> No problem. This usually means that someone else has already completed the steps described in Scenario 1 and is currently in the room. Open the door and join them! (Or choose another room if you don't feel like having company.)

To guarantee that both scenarios work smoothly, please

• do not remove the actual room keys. They should, at all times, either be inside the key box or inside their respective rooms.
• do not lock the room you're using from the inside. Doing so will create the impression that someone has locked and left the room, taking the key with them. This will lead to great anxiety, as the keys are valuable and their loss would be extremely inconvenient!

I want to know something about XeTeX.

Here is a simple example with XeLaTeX with IPA, a tree and an AVM. (No guarantee that the analysis is correct!) Note that it needs a recent version of xetex to work such as the one in TeXLive 2008. TeXLive 2007 which is installed on the computer labs at the moment is too old!

• All files in a tgz archive Δ — includes qtree.sty and avm.sty, or else get them from [http://www.ling.upenn.edu/advice/latex/qtree/ Qtree] or [http://nlp.stanford.edu/~manning/tex/avm.sty AVM] and save them in the same folder as the TeX file, or install them. [NB. the archive file can't be downloaded at the moment; so you'll have to download the other four files linked here.]
• The XeLaTeX source file
• The PDF it makes