Contact Kristi Lopez
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The new toll-free number for the UK Science
Hotline is (877) 465-0208. The hotline is operated by the UK Outreach Center for Science and Health Career
Opportunities.
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LEXINGTON, KY (June 8, 1999)
– A mix-up in toll-free telephone numbers has caused calls for the popular University
of Kentucky Science Hotline to stop cold. The telephone listing for the hotline that
fields calls from students, teachers and parents from across the state with scientific
inquiries was changed after another company was given the same toll-free number. "Calls
were coming in from all over the country from people thinking the hotline was a credit
card company and the system was overloaded causing the telephone company to change our
number," said Don Frazier, Ph.D., director of the UK Outreach Center for Science and
Health Career Opportunities.
Now, the number that was known to thousands of Kentuckians as the Science Hotline is
unknown, Frazier said. "Since the program began about seven years ago, we have
averaged nearly 600 calls a year," he said. "To suddenly not be able to assist
these students, teachers and parents is upsetting."
The new toll-free number for the hotline is (877) 465-0208.
The UK Science Hotline began in 1991 and is staffed by University
operators 24 hours per day, seven days a week. Operators answer calls and record the
caller’s name, phone number, age and question. This information is forwarded to
Frazier, who either answers the call himself or forwards it to an appropriate faculty
member. |
