Photos by Lisa Finocchio | Managing Editor

We realize that some students may be unable to return to campus safely, because of the extreme weather conditions that we are experiencing. If you find yourself unable to attend your final exam, please contact your professor prior to the exam so that appropriate arrangements can be made.

Tristan Denley – Provost APSU

According to representatives from Pi Kappa Alpha Memorial Headquarters, APSU’s Eta Tau chapter of the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity has been suspended.

A statement from the fraternity’s Finance and Insurance Officer, J. R. Parsons, said the suspension was due to “financial delinquency.”

See the next issue of The All State for more details.

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Austin Peay sophomore guard James Harris has been dismissed from the team.

The school announced Thursday that the 6-foot-1, 150-pound player from Kalamazoo, Mich., was dismissed for violating athletic department policy. Harris was suspended from team activities a week earlier.

Harris played in 16 games last season, averaging 1.1 points per game.

Austin Peay said Harris will remain in school through the end of the semester.

As a student in my third year at APSU, I’ll be the first to admit this college campus, while not perfect, is pretty great. There a lot of things I love about APSU, and I honestly enjoy being on campus. But there’s one thing — besides the seemingly constant rain in the fall — I definitely don’t enjoy: the smell of wet cigarette butts in the morning.

I’m in no way against smokers; I’ll gladly admit I don’t like smoking, and I definitely think it’s terrible for you, but I’m not going to hold it against anyone. But APSU is a smoke-free campus, so there’s no reason for it to smell like the back parking lot of a sketchy dive bar when the ground is still damp in the mornings.

At APSU, there are a number of designated smoking areas, and all of them are parking lots or streets. There is no shortage of trashcans on campus, either. For this reason, the cigarette butts littering the grass along campus walkways don’t really make a lot of sense to me. Last week’s Our Take focused on respecting our campus, and I brought up some of the issues that were written about. I feel a little like I’m beating a dead horse, but come on — I can’t be the only one who has noticed this offensive smell.

When I walk to Sundquist for class every day, I pass a grassy, tree-lined median between the Sundquist and Trahern parking lots. That grass is covered with cigarette butts, and there are trashcans at either end. According to a Discovery Channel Planet Green article, 30 percent of all cigarette butts end up somewhere other than the trash where they belong.

Are classes really so stressful that some APSU smokers don’t have the energy to walk an extra 10 feet to dispose of their cigarette properly? Most smokers should already be in the habit of doing this, and I know many — maybe even most — do.

If you’re one of those smokers, thank you. You’re doing your part to respect our campus and your fellow students. Similarly, kudos to the smokers who stick to the designated smoking areas, which are pretty conveniently placed, if you ask me. I’ve noticed more people walking around campus trailing cigarette smoke this semester than my previous semesters combined.

I can almost guarantee this will be the last negative opinion column from a staff member of The All State for a while, but I wanted to speak my piece. APSU may not be your favorite place to hang out, but that isn’t an excuse to make it less enjoyable for the other people on campus. So put your butt where it belongs, encourage others to do the same, and make good use of the designated smoking areas; everyone will be a little happier if you do.