By Candace Allen

The Student Government Association is making an effort to increase school spirit campus-wide through a project involving the clock tower.

The clock tower located near the Student Activities Center actually has no bell at all. The loud bell sound that can be heard from nearly anywhere on the Belknap campus every half hour is a recording played over a public-address system.

But instead of bell chimes, SGA President Bill Brammell would like to hear a recording of the C-A-R-D-S cheer the day before major sporting events in hopes that students and faculty would gather around the tower and chant along.

“We want to start a tradition,” Brammell said.

In addition to the cheer, the face of the clock tower would be lit up red in recognition of a victory. Because planning is still in progress, the SGA would initially focus on the “tier-1 sports,” or those sports that bring in the most money and have the most fans, like football, basketball, volleyball and soccer.

“I think it would help school spirit,” said Katie Widener, a junior at U of L. “There are enough people around the SAC at noon that I think you could get a crowd.”

Another idea suggested in conjunction with the C-A-R-D-S cheer would be playing the fight song over the public-address system at 12:30. Students could sing along to that as well.

Corey Burton, a junior, said that playing the fight song might help to increase school spirit but wasn’t convinced that people would want to join in the singing.

“I don’t tend to think that a lot of people would participate,” he said.

The SGA is working with the physical plant to determine the feasibility of having the clock light up red. At this time, the SGA doesn’t known if the lighting project would be a simple matter of changing the normally white light bulbs to red bulbs or if it requires an installation of a new lighting system.

There is no word yet on the cost, either. The decision on which methods to use will largely influence the price of the project. According to Brammell, the SGA will pay for the upgrades if they only have to change the light bulbs. If the project takes more extensive work to implement, then the SGA will seek the assistance of other programs or organizations for funding.