The 167-foot Von KleinSmid Center (VKC) Tower contains a carillon and supports this globe-shaped finial. The globe was added in 1966 based on a proposal by Tony Lazzaro, USC's Associate Business Manager and Director of Campus Development at the time, who had seen a similar metal orb on one of the buildings at the 1964 World's Fair.
The carillon is electronically operated using special cassettes and a computer console located inside the VKC Library (at the base of the tower). Sounds are amplified by a magnetic mallet that strikes the instrument's alloy bars and are released through speakers at the top of the tower. The carillon was made by the Maas-Rowe Company of Escondido, CA. It was installed in the tower shortly after the building's dedication in 1967 as a gift from the Trojan League, a support group of USC alumnae.
(Photographed 19 January 2011.)
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