It is almost noon. The weather is in limbo, and there is no available parking spot on or near campus. A stop at the Paw Print for lunch and the weekly miscellaneous budget is out of balance for the next two weeks. AB1 is the final destination. Hopefully a computer is available, which there never is and right before entering into the computer lab, “I’m a Little Teapot,” perfumes throughout the campus.
Some hate it, some love it, the music that is, coming from the Sam Houston State University bell tower.
Rodgers and Hammerstein, classical, world folk, Christmas and love songs are some of the genres that the Sam’s bell tower plays. The university chose the Standard Secular Package Classic. The package came with over 200 melodies and a keyboard that allows for customizing.
Although the bell tower stands tall in front of the Bobby K. Marks Administration Building and is a part of the Sam’s recent construction projects in 2005, faculty and students have mixed reviews about the songs coming from the bell tower.
“Songs are boring. It just sounds like an alarm, and it does not grab my attention,” said Valerie Mukoro, a student at Sam Houston.
Songs like “Climb Every Mountain,” “Hush Little Baby” and “Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head” have notably been heard around campus.
Brad Sheffield, a public relations major at Sam said, “It is better than that big tree we had up there. I like the bell tower. I think it is a neat addition to the campus.”
Sam’s alma mater can also be heard from the bell tower. The alma mater was customized by assistant music professor Jay Whatley.
Kathy Gilcrease, assistant to the president for operations, said, “I think the bell tower is a wonderful addition to our campus.”
Wonderful addition or boring, the bell tower will continue to strike every half hour. Faculty and students will continue their daily rituals of their intense schedules, and the bell tower will continue to ring and plays its melodies.