Communication Is Key

Communication Is Key

The University of California, Riverside has a beautiful campus. The authentic buildings look historically antique, the intricate structure of the H.U.B. gives a modern feel, and the students that roam the pathways from class to class complete the perfect image of a college experience. Most days, students, faculty, and staff walk on campus and see wide fields of green grass, trees blossoming white flowers, and birds flying swiftly through the buildings. It is hard to mask the smells of all the different types of food the campus has and to escape the feeling of warmth from the sun that beams upon Riverside. In addition, the university is filled with amazing colorful banners and posters representing the many different programs UCR has to offer which makes the environment school spirited and involved. With all these things that make the campus unique and beautiful, there is still one sight and sound that cannot be missed: The Bell Tower.

The Bell Tower on the campus of UCR is probably the first thing a person would see or hear when entering. It is right in the center and stands one hundred and sixty-one feet high. The tower was dedicated in 1966 and is still standing strong and tall as UCR’s landmark, plus it represents a main source of pride for the university. At the top of the Bell Tower is a carillon: a musical instrument that consists of twenty-three or more chromatically tuned bells. Specifically, UCR’s bell tower consists of forty-eight bells from Marseilles, France and are all made of brass. Each bell ranges from twenty-eight pounds to five thousand and ninety-one pounds. The person that plays the carillon is called the carillonneur. The current carillonneur of UCR is David Christensen. He was appointed in 1987 and has been playing the carillon for 26 years. A not very well-known fact about the Bell Tower is that the carillonneur plays a concert with the carillon usually twice a quarter of typically Broadway tunes.

In addition to...