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Our SUNY Canton

The email address for Our SUNY Canton, the weekly faculty/staff newsletter is oursunycanton@canton.edu

The Bells Toll at SUNY Canton

 The Westminster Chimes, sounds long associated with higher education, now ring out the hour at SUNY Canton.

SUNY Canton President Joseph L. Kennedy recently obtained a Carillon Digital Sound System, which consists of four 100-watt loudspeakers, a 1,000-watt amplifier, and a new computer-operated chime control system with monies from his own discretionary fund.

"This is something Dr. Kennedy has wanted for about three years," said Dr. Carli C. Schiffner, Executive Assistant to the President and Chief Government Relations Officer. "It is really going to help add to the collegiate atmosphere by adding the sounds of a four-year campus."

The Carillon system can play any song in MP3 format, according to Schiffner, who was in charge of getting the bells ringing before the College opens its doors for the Fall 2005 semester. "We have special song lists for the holidays and other special event days," Schiffner said.

The Westminster Chimes ring every hour from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. followed by the number of tones corresponding with the time of day. The chimes correspond with an "Atomic Clock" or remote link that ensures accuracy within less than a second during an estimated one million years.

When technicians from NCC Systems of Potsdam installed the Carillon system, there were frequent tests of different chimed songs across campus, which caught at least one staff member off guard. Stephen L. Livernois, University Police Officer and Director of the David Sullivan/St. Lawrence County Law Enforcement Academy, was setting up a computer presentation as part of the "e-JusticeNY" seminar for North Country law enforcement professionals and emergency personnel. He said he was already having technical difficulties with the computer when the bells rung. He thought that he somehow had caused the classroom to reverberate with a chimed rendition of "Battle Hymn of the Republic." Livernois said he panicked slightly and adjusted the volume settings on his computer, before realizing that there were larger speakers at work across the campus.

August 22, 2005

Media inquiries should be directed to Gregory Kie, Media Relations Coordinator, or call 315/386-7527.

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