Organized chaos reigns at KU Info
Questions about cows and classes spice up a frantic office setting
By Alicia Hein
Special to the Kansan
"If leather shrinks when it gets wet, how come cows do not shrink when it rains?"
This is not a riddle from a 10-year-old's joke book. It is an example of the "thought-provoking" questions Chris Spurgin receives daily as a KU Info operator.
"People ask the most obscure questions," he said with a smile and a shake of his head.
Spurgin, a St. Louis senior majoring in architecture, spoke nonchalantly of his job which involves sitting inside a cluttered office tucked deep inside the Kansas Union and answering questions from drunk students or students cramming for exams.
"The questions kind of cycle," he said. "We get more academic questions during the day, and as the evening wears on and it gets toward the weekend, the questions get weirder."
Spurgin's job does have its benefits.
"I'm a much better Jeopardy player now," he said.
Spurgin has worked at the KU Info office for two years. Prior to that, he was a resident assistant at Joseph R. Pearson Hall and a summer orientation assistant. He took the position at KU Info not because of a driving ambition to be the next Alex Trebek of Jeopardy but because he needed a job.
"I don't really see how this job could directly benefit me in real life," he said. However,he said,searching for answers to students' questions has made him better informed.
KU Info operators do their best to answer all questions, even the ones that seem off the wall, Spurgin said. KU Info staff members usually are not bothered by the strange questions they receive, he said.
"We're all pretty easygoing here," he said. "If we can answer a question, regardless of what it is, we will."
Some answers are difficult to find.
"Some guy called in and wanted to know what kind of bacteria could grow on tobacco so he and his friends could complain to a cigarette company," Spurgin said. "I couldn't find an answer for him."
Not all calls received by KUInfo are weird. Spurgin said many callers asked routine questions about KU's activities and services.
"We get a lot of bus questions," he said. "Also, we're swamped with calls when the weather is bad."
Last winter, when heavy snowfall canceled classes twice, KU Info was overwhelmed with calls.
"You have to be the one to trudge through the snow to answer the phone and tell everyone else they can stay home." Spurgin said.
KU Info is also responsible for transferring crisis calls. Spurgin said people could call and be put in contact with everyone from
Entering the cramped office of KU Info sparks a change in Spurgin. His placid eyes take on an excited gleam.
gay counselors to rape crisis counselors.
"Go ahead," he said with a wide, sweeping motion of his hand. "Ask me anything."
After complaining that it was hard to think of a question on the spot, he replied "Spots? OK, what do you want to know?" He turned to a file cabinet and pulled out a folder labeled "spots."
All around the office, taped on walls doors, and anything else are pieces of information. Newspaper clippings, photos phone numbers and sports schedules are pasted up like some strange wallpaper. Rolodex files sit on the desk in front of the telephone, and metal file cabinets line the walls.
Some of the more bizarre questions have earned a place on a wall. One question, what a staff member calls a hall-of-famer, reads: "OK, I'm not drunk or anything, but can you, um, tell me if you take nude pictures, will they develop them?"
"It's kind of like your room at home," Spurgin said of the organized chaos in the office. "It's taken me a year, and I'm finally comfortable with where to find everything."
The room has something else unusual for a KU office — a bed, left over from the days when the KU Info line was open 24 hours a day.
"It was great," Spurgin said. "You could lie down and sleep with the phone right by you. There weren't a lot of calls during the early morning hours but if the phone rang, it woke you up."
"OK, I'm not drunk or anything, but can you um, tell me if you take nude pictures, will they develop them?"
A "Hall-of-Fame" question posted on the wall at the KU Info offices.
The line now is open from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m.
There is a sense of camaraderie between the research assistants at KU Info, Spurgin said.
Spurgin leaned on a file cabinet while three other KU Info staff members chatted around him.
"Hey," said one staff member, "do you ever answer the phone at home, 'KU Info?'
The response is a unanimous "yes!"
The office phone interrupts their conversation.
"What time does the homecoming parade start?" asked a caller.
"Hmmm, let me see," responded the answering operator.
Just a routine question this time — not another caller worried sick about shrinking cows.