“KU Info.”

Chances are good that at some point in your student life you will dial 864-3506 and get a person on the line who says “KU Info” and is ready to help you find the answer to just about any question you have.

KU student Galen Turner, Lawrence senior, answers a call at the University Information Center. The number for KU Info is 864-3506.

The University Information Center is used every year by thousands of people who are seeking vital information, such as how to get a scholarship or where the nearest pizza place is.

The students who staff the three phones in a small office in the Kansas Union dispense a ton of information daily.

“We are the pulse of the University of Kansas,” said program director Susan Elkins, who is in charge of the information center.

“This is a very large, massive institution. We help people find their way through the university maze,” Elkins said.

The lines are staffed from 8 a.m. until midnight every day. The center receives about 130,000 calls a year, and another 200,000 callers listen to Jaytalk, the recorded calendar of events that plays when the center’s three phone lines are busy.

Every inch of wall space in the center’s office is papered with schedules, advertisements, fliers and leaflets about upcoming events at KU and around Lawrence and Kansas City.

There are 200 research books and a table of rolodexes with 4,000 cards.

First to hear

KU Info started after the 1970 student unrest as a “rumor control” effort, Elkins said.

The center still serves as rumor control, she said.

“If there’s something weird going on, we hear about it first,” Elkins said, explaining that students will call them with the information.

If there are numerous police or fire sirens in a certain area and calls start coming in wanting information or trying to give information, one of the staffers will call police on a special “Batphone” to get the scoop.

The students work in two-hour shifts and constantly answer the phones and the callers’ questions, but they say it doesn’t wear them out.

“This is the best job I’ve ever had,” said Sarah Hoskinson, a senior from Burrton. “It’s always something different.”

On the door to the office is a sign that reads “KU Info: gun-toting, cannibalistic, hippie revolutionaries.”

On a typical day, Cori Gilbert, a graduate student from Overland Park, Galen Turner, a senior from Lawrence, and Hoskinson are staffing the phones.

After a few phone calls requesting the same information, it becomes evident that a business class has received an assignment and some students are trying to take the shortcut by asking KU Info for the answer.

But the KU Info group is quick to size up the situation and starts telling the callers that they need to do their own homework.

It goes with the territory, said Elkins.

Dealing with disaster

The majority of KU Info callers request information about happenings around KU, but the center also receives many calls requesting a wide range of information, from phone numbers to answers to crossword puzzles. Usually, KU Info will dig for the answer.

One man called every week for the TV listings. One time when he couldn’t get through to a live person, he called the police to report that something was wrong with KU Info.

Hoskinson said late at night is when drunks “who think they are funny” call.

But Hoskinson said she will never forget coming to work on Sept. 11 after having just heard about the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C.

“I was freaking out, and when I came to work the calls were nonstop,” she said. “They were very considerate. Everyone was in shock.”

Elkins said she knows of no other school that has a setup like KU Info. However, she said budget cuts have forced her to reduce hours at the center and she fears that future funding constraints could hurt.

Although the center is not critical to the academic mission of the university, Elkins said it is essential to many students on a daily basis.

“864-3506. That’s the one number a KU alum will always remember,” she said.