November 11, 2002

"Where do I park?" "Where's the bathroom?" "Can I bring my horse onto campus?"

The good-natured men and women who serve as CSUS information employees have heard it all, from the mundane to the unusual.

Shirley Vicari, assistant to the director in university telecommunications services, which answers calls to campus operators, says the friendly folks helping the community are very important. "They are on the information frontlines, so to speak." Vicari says the employees performing these jobs are the first impression many visitors receive of the school.

Among the dozen or so people who greet visitors is Carmen Gonzalez in the visitors' center, which is run by university affairs. She spends 40 hours per week helping the people who walk into Sacramento Hall.

University transportation and parking services' Freddy Orozco in the drive-up information booths assists those who come onto campus via the north and south entrances. Sukhdeep Sandher of university telecommunications services answers the operator line. And Kosaku Yui of the information desk helps the students and visitors with questions in the University Union.

But although they are all CSUS employees dealing in information, they each handle different aspects of the campus.

Most people wander into Sacramento Hall looking for admissions and records or have academic counseling appointments. Gonzalez smiles and says one of the most common questions is "Where's the bathroom?"

For Orozco, most people entering campus at the J Street north entrance are generally looking for visitor parking or access to particular buildings-from Alpine Hall to Eureka Hall. Sandher says most people phone to ask about financial aid or school transcripts. And Yui receives most questions from visitors or students searching for a specific event in the Union, although he says many people ask about the location of other buildings or the copy graphics center.

The folks on the frontlines of information have had their atypical moments. The most unusual encounter Gonzalez remembers was with a woman who came into the building to find a Sacramento city parking permit. Gonzalez says she still isn't quite sure if the confused woman was looking for the junior college or the city government.

Orozco recalls being amused when a driver at asked if she could make a right turn at an intersection ahead, an intersection clearly marked with "No Right Turn" signs and a gate barring the way. He says the woman was good-natured when he pointed out her error.

Vicari says the operator line used to receive numerous phone calls for "Sac Skate." Just recently, she says, someone asked if he could bring his horse onto campus. "We told him it probably wouldn't be a good idea." And Yui says someone phoned the information desk and asked, "Are there any events happening on campus?" Yui asked him to be more specific, but the caller was satisfied with any event.

The information employees agree they each feel lucky to have University jobs. Gonzalez is a CSUS business alum who spent a short time working off campus after she graduated in 2000. "I missed working for the University," she says. Orozco, a Humboldt State alumnus, says he too likes CSUS and is thinking about enrolling in some classes.

Sandher, a civil engineering student says he feels good helping people on campus. Yui is an art and philosophy student at CSUS who enjoys talking with students and visitors, no matter what the topic. "Some people have just come up to the desk and waxed philosophic or talked about Jerry Garcia."

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