Nearly three weeks after the bells in the campanile malfunctioned as a result of a faulty circuit board, Storke Tower remains silent.

On Oct. 9, the bells rang about once per second from 7:50 to 8:47 p.m. After receiving complaints about the excessive ringing, UCSB Facilities Management shut off the bells.

In an e-mail, Bob Wright of Physical Facilities said the bells will remain disabled until the source of the problem is discovered.

“The problem with the carillon was several bells started ringing without a programmed command and did not shut off until we removed electrical power from the control system,” Wright said. “The bells will be off until we can determine what caused the problem.”

According to Wright, the age of the system – which is over 10 years old – may have caused some of the delay as well.

Additionally, he said an electrical part was sent to the manufacturer in Ohio for repair.

“We sent an electrical control board to the manufacturer of the system that controls the automatic ringing,” Wright said. “They are testing the board.”

The Storke Tower bells were dedicated Sept. 28, 1969. Through a system created by professor Carl Zytowski of the Music Dept., the bells spell out the University motto “Let There Be Light,” at 10 minutes to the hour and play “Westminster Quarters” on the hour.
-Staff Report