In what will likely be the most moving part of Wednesday's Sept. 11 commemoration ceremony, the USS Arizona bell now hanging in the Student Union Memorial Center will be rung in the memory of the six UA alumni killed in the World Trade Center. It will also be rung subsequently every month in memory of the Pearl Harbor victims who died on the USS Arizona.

Such attention to the bell rightfully draws our eye to to the tower that houses it, and many will likely be disappointed by what they see. A nightmarish checkerboard of red and tan manufactured block, the tower was designed to symbolize not just the prow of a battleship but an extension of Canyon Wall, which stretches along a ravine through the union. What should have been the jewel of the union anchoring it to the landscape was never provided the appropriate material ÷ Arizona stone ÷ nor worthy craftsmen.

Provost George Davis envisioned a masonry technique that would abstractly suggest the geologic landscape of southwestern Arizona, characterized by tilted, inclined and faulted layering. The built result, however, was a dumbed-down, two-dimensional compromise.

UA's Facilities Design and Construction department did entertain the idea of upgrading to real Arizona stone. Unfortunately, they decided against it and ÷ unbeknownst to Bob Bertolini, senior project superintendant for Swinerton Builders, who admitted Davis' vision was lost on his masons ÷ opted instead for what was perceived to be more durable. The substitute, Renaissance¨ Masonry Units, is man-made block from Canada that features predictable colors like "paprika," "sage" and "wheat," and a warranty that extends to the life of the building.

The finished product is inconsistent with its own vision and the nature of the site. The sad fact is the administration allowed compromise to do a disservice to our bell ÷ a decision that may taint the integrity of the ceremonies to remember the victims of the two most deadly attacks on our nation.