It was a little quieter around campus this semester, until April 6.
Since finals weeks in December 2015, Central Hall’s clock tower chimes did not ring out every 15 minutes as usual.
Once a student brought attention to administration about the silence, maintenance turned on the bells, which had apparently been off since final exams the prior semester.
“I’m kind of surprised it went that long,” said Richard Day from maintenance.
Day said he believes the bells have not rang since December because they were turned off for finals week and forgotten to be switched back on.
“We try not to disturb the classes,” Day said.
An automatic system times the chimes. Along with finals week, the college turns off the bells when commencement occurs outdoors. The bells also go silent when maintenance adjusts the clock faces, such as at daylight savings time.
Yet, it took someone to the point when there were only five weeks left in the semester to notice the bells weren’t ringing.
“I spoke with some of the guys I work with, and they didn’t notice,” Day said.
Chief Administrative Officer Rich Péwé said turning the bell on is simple, a matter of flipping a switch.
“We’ve probably been oblivious,” Péwé said. “I haven’t noticed at all.”
Now that the bells are chiming again, students said, unlike at times in the past, the rings are happening at each 15-minute interval in an hour. Some claimed that the bells were slow before.
“It’s nice it rings on time now so you know if you’re late to class,” sophomore Sarah Casebeer said.
Day said the mechanisms that control the clock faces and chimes are two different system, so sometimes they become slightly off in timing from each other.
“They don’t tie together,” Day said. “We try to keep it as close as we can.”
In the future, if someone does notice a discrepancy with the clock faces and the bells, Day recommended notifying administration or maintenance.
“Let us know,” Day said, “and we’ll do what we can.”
