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Most Musical Money. Stetson University houses an 11-bell carillon inside Hulley Tower, where the school’s second president, Lincoln Hulley, and his wife Eloise are buried. Every day at 5 p.m. from inside the 116-foot structure, a music student plays the "Eloise Chimes." The ringer earns the Helen J. Keiser Endowed Music Scholarship for performing on this and other bell-worthy occasions. Currently, students are developing guidelines for the chiming of the on-campus Victory Bell in another 43-foot tower, according to Cheryl Downs, news bureau director.

Best Required Course. Florida Gulf Coast University enrollees can't earn their coveted diplomas until they get out of the classroom. FGCU requires students to explore the outdoors through a basic environmental studies course to introduce them to their Southwest Florida surroundings and instill a sense of ecological responsibility. The school's 760-acre campus provides pupils with a living laboratory of natural and created wetlands, cypress domes, and pristine upland areas. The interdisciplinary course, called "University Colloquium: A Sustainable Future," helps students apply ecological principles to their future field. "It lets them see how the environment isn’t just flora and fauna but how it applies to everything," says Bill Doughty, FGCU’s director of communications.

Best First-Hand Feedback SGA officers at the University of Tampa don’t wait around to hear complaints from on-campus students —they go on foot to get a first-hand look. SG President Dan Cuneo teams up with RHA President Andrew Satterlee for monthly Campus Walks to look for ways to improve lighting, building access, trash pick-up, and other aspects of safety and facility maintenance that impact on-campus residents daily. Plus each fall, UT President Ronald Vaughn, Dean of Students Robert Ruday, and the entire SG exec board meet for a special "Safety Walk" to give administrators a better feel for student concerns. "It enhances the students’ experience because they feel they’re actually a part of the university because we ask for their input," Cuneo says. "They actually see their ideas being implemented." Improvements made since the walks began in fall 1996 include new pool tables and vending machines for one campus recreation area and resodding and benches outside of UT residence halls.

Best Spring Break Throughout winter term, most college students are counting the days until spring break. But at Florida Atlantic University, they're just gearing up for homecoming. In a state where college football coaches usually are more famous than college presidents, Florida Atlantic University trades touchdowns for lay-ups. Basketball remains the anticipated event for tailgaters—at least until 2001 when the Burrowing Owls will get a football team. According to Director of Homecoming Katasha Nelson, events for the Owl Prowl 1999 in February included spirit-boosters such as a hypnotist, polo match, theatre production, and an evening with comedian Bill Cosby. Teams of campus residents compete in a spirit competition for prizes such as a big-screen TV. The winner is the group with the most participants in a 5K run, lawn displays, and a spirit chant during Inter-Club Council block painting, in which student groups paint sidewalks to advertise events and show their support for FAU sports.

Yummiest Degree With an associate of science degree in baking and pastry arts, Johnson & Wales University grads will never go hungry. One of the few culinary schools to offer the two-year degree, the university offers mouth-watering courses such as Modern Cakes and Tortes, Marzipan, Bread and Rolls, Hot and Cold Dessert Presentation, and Advanced Chocolate and Sugar Artistry and Showpieces. That’s got everyone fighting over who gets to lick the spoon. Director of Public Relations Zoraya Suarez says if students still have an appetite for more, they can continue by pursuing a four-year degree at the school’s main campus in Providence, R. I.

Most Unconventional Career Center When shopping for information about their futures, University of South Florida students can buy a la cart. Started last fall, Careers a la Cart is an outreach program of the Career Center that operates from a golf cart that careens across campus to carry career facts and advice to busy USF students. The Bulls can pick up career news and talk with the center’s counselors from the green and gold pom-pom adorned cart that travels campus playing songs such as "I Wanna Be Rich." Counselors award PayDay candy bars to students who answer a career questionnaire at the quick stop. "Connecting with the Career Center pays," says Drema Howard, USF Career Center director.

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