The All State

» By MORGAN SMITH – msmith156@my.apsu.edu

Organizations in Clarksville such as The Salvation Army and Lighthouse Ministries’ Safe Harbor are spreading hope among the homeless for the holidays.
According to statistics provided by the Old Firehouse Day Shelter, there are 300-500 homeless in Clarksville. There are also an estimated 2,000 vagrants, those who move from place to place with no fixed home.
Safe Harbor’s Program Chaplain, Michael Williams said, “In Clarksville, there’s a lot homelessness going on. We’ve got large numbers of them.
If you just drive down Kraft Street early in the morning, you’ll see them. And it’s men and women. Unfortunately, sometimes you see kids with them too.”
Although the numbers are high, the communities’ shelters are working together to help get people off the streets.
Clarksville Salvation Army’s Cadet in Charge, Sarah Quinn said, “In Clarksville, we have the benefit of having more than one organization actively seeking to meet the needs of the homeless in the community.
The Salvation Army seeks to provide a safe place where people can stay while they get on their feet, and we also seek to provide the necessary resources for people to meet their needs as they seek stable housing and employment.
Many times, this involves partnering with community agencies who specialize in specific areas, so that we do not duplicate services and so that the most needs can be met in the community.
We hope that as we continue to receive support from the community, we can begin extending our services to the homeless over time so as to provide better and more complete services that go further in helping them to move forward.”
Homelessness isn’t the only issue being treated by the shelters in Clarksville. Safe Harbor is a place exclusively for “disenfranchised men”.
According to Williams, the program seeks out men who are not only homeless but fresh out of jail or battling an addiction problem.
Safe Harbor even uses different wording when referring to their services. “We don’t like to say shelter, we like to say recovery because we have guys that come in and are then able to recapture and rebuild their lives.
We also find jobs for them, once we’ve found jobs for them, we’re responsible for taking them into work on time, we get them back from work, send them to work with a lunch. We provide three meals a day.
We encourage them. We’re a faith-based mission. We feel is a man is going to change, we really feel that Jesus is the way to go,” Williams said.
Safe Harbor isn’t in the business of giving handouts. They insist on giving men a “hand-up” and “making them feel like men again,” Williams said.
The holidays are supposed to be a time of joy and cheer. Often those who are homeless feel the exact opposite when the holidays roll around.
Williams of Safe Harbor says, “A lot of times, around this time of year, the men start getting kind of melancholy about family and being homeless and whatever their situation may be.”
The programs around Clarksville aim to relieve some of disappointment the homeless feel this time of year. Quinn said, “The Salvation Army is very active during the holiday season.
Many people have already seen our red kettles at local stores and our Angel Trees around town.
Our Red Kettle Campaign is our chief fundraiser for the year, providing the largest portion of our operating budget for the year.
“As such, it plays a vital role in our efforts to help the community. Our Angel Tree program is specifically designed to help provide gifts to children whose families are struggling financially this holiday season,” Quinn said.
Safe Harbor recovery program offers a special holiday feast for the holidays to lift the mens’ spirits. But most of all, this holiday season,
Williams said, “We offer stability, safety, a roof, a clean place to lay down, lights. Prayer is important. We pray everyday. When they come in we like to say, ‘welcome home.’ So there is no homelessness for them during the holidays.”
Both the Salvation Army of Clarksville and Safe Harbor can’t support the homeless of Clarksville alone. Community involvement, donations and support are needed.
Anyone looking to give back to the community this holiday season is encouraged to contact the Safe Harbor offices at 931-503-3000 or the Salvation Army at 931-553-8494 and ask for more information. TAS

Publication veteran Marlon Scott reflects on his years as a renaissance man

“The Austin Peay State University Lady Govs soccer team did not play like they were missing starters or that this was their third game this week.”

This was the first line of the first story I wrote for The All State. It was published in the Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2006 edition of TAS.

I remember my sense of pride and relief when I read it in the paper under my first byline: Marlon Scott, guest writer.

Since then, I have written, edited, designed, photographed or recorded some kind of content in every issue of TAS. I have been working for TAS a long time.

I still get a special feeling of pride and relief when I see my byline on a story. However, unlike that first time, the emotion comes from knowing all the people and all the work it takes to produce the paper.

I have held eight different positions at TAS, ranging from staff writer to editor-in-chief. I’ve worked in two offices, with three different advisers, two different design programs and under four EICs (not including myself).

I’ve also written in every section, special editions and the yearbook.

It has not been easy. I tell people it takes a special kind of insanity to work for a paper on top of attending school.

No matter what, the paper has to get done. Stories have to be chosen, interviews have to be done, pictures need to be taken, layouts have to be made and mistakes have to be found. Every week I was a cog in a machine that has rolled forward for over 80 years.

Being part of this machine has taught me so much. I didn’t come to school to become a journalist, but working for TAS has made me develop a passion for the field.

I’ve learned how to be a better writer, designer, editor, networker and have learned an infinite number of other skills that I use and improve upon every day.

The best part about working for TAS all this time is the people. They are the reason I have been at TAS so long.

Starting with Mandy Rogers, who hired me, to the Mikes, Young and Kellum, who taught me how awesome sports writing is. I admired and emulated the work ethic and passion for the paper from people like Stephanie Coward and Kasey Henricks.

I thrived and learned because of the support of Tabitha Gilliland and constantly grew in skill and desire along the sides of incredible talents and over-achievers like Patrick Armstrong.

Every semester, members of my TAS family would leave, but I would still be here. Every semester I would welcome new members into the TAS family.

It is great to see people like Jenelle Grewell and Kristin Kittell start off quietly and shyly, but eventually blossom and take over like giant, colorful, talented and smart butterflies.

The unofficial members of TAS, our beautiful and sassy support staff: Rachel, Ashley and Katherine, brightened the office everyday and made the countless hours I spent down there enjoyable.

Honestly, it would take a 10-page special edition to name everyone who has influenced me in some way during my long tenure with TAS.

However, I must admit, I had favorites. The adventures of my A-Team are what I will probably cherish most.

Despite opinions to the contrary, no one had more fun and “completed their missions” better than The A-Team.

The originals: Synthia, Devon, Mateen and Anthony; The Rookies: Dre and Cidnie; Nashville, Knoxville, Memphis, Morehead, Cincinnati, St. Louis and more, I would not have wanted to do it all with anyone else.

TAS would not be possible without the support of the incredible women in Student Affairs including Sherryl Bird and Tammy Bryant. They are part of the long list of people I owe my deepest, heartfelt thanks to.
I have worked at TAS a long time and it changed my life. The good, the bad and the ugly, I would not change a thing.

I have worked hard and look forward to graduation this semester, but I know wherever I am on a Monday in the middle of January next year, I will feel weird not being in the Student Publications office. TAS

Photographer online media senior Mateen Sidiq cherishes time spent learning with Student Publications

One of the best things that could have happened to me was joining Student Publications and becoming part of a team and a family.

When in high school, this was not on my list of adventures, but I wanted to find more things to do on campus. Of course, this is what I found.

I started in the fall of 2006 as an ad representative, moved up to online assistant editor and then online editor Now, I am a senior staff photographer, still dabbling in the online edition and helping out when I can.

The All State has been a second home to me. I have made so many friends and I have met so many people, not just at APSU, but also at other schools while working with Student Publications.

Through this adventure, I have met some amazing people. The first would have to be Mandy Rogers. She was the one that hired me and I appreciate her every day.

From there, it was nothing but an uphill climb of great people, from Lois Jones, Stephanie Coward, Patrick Armstrong, Dave Campbell and Marcel Gray to Shauna Moss and several others.

Also, I valued working with Tabitha Gilliland who gave me advice when I needed it, as well as the new adviser, Jake Lowary, who has given plenty advice on how to better my pictures and the website.

Thank you, Tabitha and Jake, for such a great adventure. You two being part of the paper has been a great asset to TAS. Thank you and I will miss you both.

To Lois Jones, Patrick Armstrong, Stephanie Martin and Shauna Moss, you guys were nothing but wonderful to me from the worst time of my photography to my best photos. I thank every one of you for allowing me to be part of an amazing photo team.

To Synthia Clark, what a great person and dear friend for pushing me to keep on going when there were times where I was worn out. I still kept on going to produce good photos.

To Marlon Scott, Anthony Shingler and Devon Robinson, you are an amazing group of friends and a brotherhood. I got to know you guys when we went on road trips to cover sporting events. I am so glad we had a chance to bond and also produce an amazing sports page every semester I was there. Thanks guys.

Part of my adventure was stepping out of the circle of the student newspaper and helping out other groups such as Student Affairs, Student Life and Leadership, African American Cultural Center, Education Department and also Sports Info.

Thank you for giving me an opportunity to work with you. I have had a blast and will miss all of you. I want to thank you for giving me a chance to work with you.

If anything, I am so glad to have met you guys and I will stay in touch and hopefully come back to do some work for you.

After the experience I have received, I have no regrets from wanting to be a biology teacher to wanting to be a physical education teacher. It has all paid off.

Thank you to the HHP Department for the great professors and staff. If it weren’t for you, I would not be where I am. TAS

» By TRENT SINGER – tsinger@my.apsu.edu

There is one common message among each nontraditional college student. “It’s never too late,” said Marian Perron, a part-time nontraditional student and full-time employee at APSU.

Perron is a personnel assistant in Human Resources and vice president of the Non-Traditional Student Society. Perron said she has not faced any particular hardships as a nontraditional student

“Fortunately for me, because I have that rich tradition in my family, I’ve never felt out of place,” Perron said.

Perron’s story entails a family tradition of nontraditional students. In 1927, at age 14, Perron’s mother had to drop out of high school to stay at home and care for her ill mother.

“She always felt like she was inferior to the rest of the family because she was the only one without a high school education,” Perron said.

At 68, Perron’s mother received her GED and went on to graduate from SUNY Cobleskill. She was the oldest matriculated student at that time. However, the family tradition didn’t end there.

“This past spring, my uncle, who is her brother, graduated from Keene State with his bachelor’s in Criminal Justice and a minor in Sociology at the age of 94,” Perron said.

As a former New York City police officer and World War II pilot, Perron’s uncle chose to pursue a college education almost 20 years after the average U.S. male expectancy age.

“He had the opportunity to go to school and learn. It’s just the focus on learning and not being content and continually learning,” Perron said.

Following graduation, Perron’s uncle informed her that he now plans to pursue his master’s degree.

Perron thinks highly of being a nontraditional student at APSU. “My experience here has been fabulous. First, because I’m an employee, so I have that aspect of life and co-working at APSU. Plus, my experience as a student has been very good,” Perron said.

Perron is currently pursuing her bachelor’s degree in Professional Studies. She has attended APSU for a year now.

As an active nontraditional student, she hopes her story might inspire some of those who have always wanted to pursue college, but have never taken the opportunity to further their education.

“As a nontraditional student, we enrich the classes because of our experiences and what we can bring in that students who are younger don’t yet have,” Perron said. TAS

» STAFF REPORT

The ROTC celebrated its 40th anniversary on Thursday, Dec. 1, with a ceremony in the Memorial Health gymnasium.

The program has been awarded the MacArthur Award, which is given to the best ROTC program in the nation, five times during its 40-years. APSU has commissioned approximately 650 officers into the active-duty force, National Guard or Reserves.

Second Lt. Patrick Smith, the most recent commissioned officer to graduate from APSU, said the ROTC program was synonymous with “excellence” and that excellence is “expected at every level” of the program.

Col. Paul Bontrager, commander of the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade at Fort Campbell and 1987 graduate of APSU, was the keynote speaker.

Bontrager commended APSU for establishing ROTC in 1971, a time when the military was socially and politically unpopular due to the Vietnam War.

“APSU embraced its responsibility of training leaders,” Bontrager said, adding that APSU ROTC and its cadets are “all that is well and good with America.”

Bontrager, who will soon deploy to Afghanistan for the third time, addressed the cadets directly, cautioning that they “must be ready for a hybrid threat” and will be asked “to do more with less.”

Notable graduates of the program include retired Brig. Gen. Remo Butler, a 1974 graduate and only black special forces commander to date, and 2nd Lt. Richard Torres who was killed by an IED leading a platoon in Baghdad in October 2003. TAS

» By RAVEN JACKSON – rsjackson41@my.apsu.edu

As the end of the year draws near, it is hard not to see the red, green and gold lights hung around the city. These lights and many other decorations such as pine trees and mistletoes represent Christmas. But not everyone celebrates this holiday, at least not in the traditional sense.

Inside the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Clarksville, located off Madison Street and surrounded by the green of trees, one will find a place where it is not required to adhere to a particular religion.

According to their website, members of the UUFC include Agnostics, Atheists, Buddhists, Christians, Humanists and Wiccans among other religious traditions.

“What’s important to me is to tell the stories that have already been told and to put them in a modern context so that we know from where they came,” said Stan Bumgarner, a part-time minister at the church.

Wasau, a woman of Indian descent who regularly attends the UUFC, celebrates the holidays with those closest to her. “In the wintertime, you have gatherings where your family and friends come and spend time together. You might make all your preserves, dry the rest of the meat that hasn’t been dried, do the last of the hunting for the year, the last of the smoking of the fish and hang out with each other,” Wasau said.

A common thread found within UUFC is everyone’s openness concerning religion.

“There are different celebrations and different ways to celebrate, but the most important thing is giving of yourself and feeling that sense of community and that you’re connecting with other people,” said Shana Thornton, director of Religious Exploration at the UUFC.

Lee Gray, a member who grew up Catholic, celebrates in her own way. Gray’s upcoming plans for the holiday are to put up a Christmas tree with her partner, and hang guitar strings and cards between two rooms in her home for decoration. Gray also plans to sing Christmas carols with a xylophone in her neighborhood and the church.

“I have my own rituals,” Gray said. “I try to give all year long. I strive to do the best I can in my community.” She doesn’t think of Christmas and Thanksgiving as a time of giving because she does it all the time.

“For me personally, the story of Jesus being born the last month of the year, near the winter solstice, is a message to mankind in a broken world, that it will get better,” Bumgarner said through the laughs of children playing behind him. “It’s in the process of getting better. And that’s what we all need to have, hope,” Bumgarner said.
For more information on the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Clarksville, visit www.uuclarksville.org or call 931-368-0507. TAS