BY KURT MARTONE, NEWS EDITOR
The bells stationed above Devereux Hall’s fourth floor, now ring across campus after months of inactivity and some Dev residents are pissed.
“They are just so loud and after they wake me up I cannot go back to bed because they continue to go off repeatedly in short intervals for the rest of the day,” said Adrianna Lamarti, a freshman political science and government major and fourth Dev resident. “I’m not even a light sleeper.”
A power-surge last Wednesday afternoon that left the campus and greater Allegany community without power for 10 seconds supercharged the electronic system that programs the bells above Dev, resetting them and turning them back on for the first time since November.
“Nobody – this is hard to believe here – nobody noticed [that the bells were off],” said Tom Missel, chief communications officer. “So, no, it didn’t come to anybody’s attention until they started malfunctioning last week.”
The bells rang five and a half minutes late at the top of the hour, starting at 8 a.m., and every 15 minutes after until 9 p.m. The power surge threw the clocks off, and also reset the bells to their factory settings, ringing in at 80 decibels, from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., even on the weekends. 80 decibels is roughly equivalent to the sound of a blender or busy road with heavy traffic, according to Purdue University.
The bells were resynced to the clock Monday afternoon after “The Bona Venture” brought it to the school’s attention.
St. Bonaventure has reduced the decibels to 65 decibels, according to Missel. A test using the decibel meter app “Decibel X” confirmed this on the second floor of Dev: the tongs of the bells peaked at 60 decibels from a room facing the courtyard with the window open. The standing noise of a Dev room averages 41 decibels.
However, the same test done outside next to the Quick Center for the Arts, facing Dev Hall, saw peaks at the 6 p.m. hour on Tuesday of 70 decibels.
Students still complain about the bells disrupting their sleep.
“The Dev bells are constantly disrupting my sleep. I also do not think they should go off as often as they do or for long periods of time. It is hard to focus on my homework,” said Stephanie Curcio, a sophomore psychology major and a resident of fourth Dev.
Missel understands that students want to sleep but insists that this tradition will not go anywhere.
“I do understand. I have a teenager … she will sleep periodically past noon on a weekend,” Missel said. “But, it’s been part of St. Bonaventure tradition for, I don’t know, as long as the Carolina’s have existed. It was the first time I ever remember students [complaining]. I understand, you know, this temporary glitch with a power surge, it being off by five minutes. [But, this is] the first that I’ve heard, and I’ve been here 21 years.”
The Dev bells are now programmed to run from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
For some students that retooled schedule is not short enough.
“I think If they are going to go off, they should start at 11:00am and end at 6/7:00pm. There’s no need for bells going off early in the morning,” said Alaina Brinkerhoff, a sophomore finance major and resident of fourth Dev.
Missel, sympathetic to the student’s irritation, said: “It might just be simply getting used to it [again].”
While some students are irritated at their return, others appreciate the tongs throughout the day.
“I honestly don’t mind the bells,” said Sophie Nix, a sophomore education major and resident of fourth Dev. “I kind of like hearing them honestly. They have never woken me up when I am sleeping.”
Safety and Security will now have someone check on the bells daily to make sure that the bells keep ringing.
“It was one of those things that in essence fell through the cracks,” said Missel. “Nobody just, nobody noticed it.”
martonekd18@bonaventure.edu
