The All State

The APSU Lady Govs volleyball team began their four-match road trip with a sweep of Tennessee State Tigers 3-0 (26-24, 25-13, 25-22) Friday, Oct. 9, in Ohio Valley Conference action.

The Lady Govs improve to 13-5 overall and 7-1 in OVC action, while Tennessee State drops to 2-16 overall and 1-6 in the conference slate.

APSU trailed early in the first two sets, no more than one point jumping out to a six point lead before Tennessee State would rally back to tie the set 24-24.

Stephanie Champine would break the tie with one of her kills, and Paige Economos would serve an ace to finish the set.

The second set was all APSU, which was capped off on an 11-3 run to end it 25-13.

APSU and Tennessee State battled a tough third set. While APSU would not lead by any point more than three points, the match finished on a kill by Kristin Distler to win, 25-22.

Champine had match-high 14 kills on 42 attacks and a .214 attack percentage, while Distler chipped in 10 kills on 21 attempts and a .381 attack percentage. APSU finished with 46 kills as a team and committed only 11 errors for a .271 attack percentage.

The Lady Tigers did not have one player reach double digit kills and recorded only 35 kills with 18 errors and a .130 attack percentage.

APSU will take a seven-day break before going on the road to Murray State on Friday, Oct. 16, with a 7p.m. tip-off.

Then Saturday, Oct. 17, APSU will go on the road to play Tennessee Martin in conference action with a 2 p.m. tip-off.

Students at APSU expect to come to campus each semester with a clean face, a clean slate — and a clean environment.

Some members of the editorial board at The All State have noticed lately the campus has become a little trashy. Cigarette butts line the walkways and flood the designated smoking areas almost entirely. It seems students are too lazy to walk the extra few feet to the ashtrays or trashcans provided for them.

Cigarettes are not the only problem. Candy wrappers can be found in water fountains, trash cans are overflowing and an editorial board member said she smelled rotten milk in a dormitory trashcan for an entire weekend. She also discovered a Band-Aid on the floor of a classroom, only to find it was in the same place a week later.

A visit to Austin’s Diner may reveal leftover trash on top of the tables. It’s not the responsibility of the employees to pick up trash students leave behind.

Students need to be aware of their own belongings and waste and dispose of them appropriately. There is not a lack of receptacles, nor is it a major inconvenience to use them.

In a time when many are panicking about diseases and viruses, particularly the recent outbreak of the H1N1 virus, it seems we would all be more concerned with our health and our cleanliness. A dirty Band-Aid that sits in the same spot for days does not paint a picture of health.

As the winter months approach, students, faculty and staff need to be more careful about their waste and their personal hygiene.

Not only will this promote a healthier campus, but it will also do wonders for us. We felt in the past APSU has had bragging rights as one of the cleanest campuses in the Tennessee Board of Regents.

In order to maintain this status, we need to step up and be more respectful of our environment and those around us. We must all share this campus, and everyone should make an effort to take more pride in its upkeep.

APSU should feel like a second home to everyone, and should be kept clean and fresh so we can all feel comfortable here.

Going green does not necessarily have to involve multi-million dollar energy projects. Simply putting your dirty napkins in the trashcan or flicking a cigarette butt into an ashtray is a decent contribution.

We asked ourselves the question: are the residents more at fault, or is it a problem amongst the entire student body, faculty and staff?

Simply put, the majority of students eat on campus at some point, and therefore create waste. The blame cannot accurately be placed on any one group.

We also considered perhaps trash pickup as part of the problem. According to the APSU Physical Plant Web site, classrooms are cleaned twice a week, but trash is collected daily.

Offices are cleaned twice a week, and trash is collected twice a week. All bathrooms, meeting rooms and common areas are cleaned daily.

A complete cleaning schedule for each facility can be found at www.apsu.edu/physical_plant/.

If we all made an effort to keep the areas that have less frequent cleaning or pickups less trashy, the problem would be significantly decreased. It all comes down to a matter of respect, and how much we care about our campus.

Unless we want APSU to start resembling a landfill, everyone, including students, faculty and staff, must pick up their trash.

By Staff Reports

“I support the freedom of speech, but I believe that certain people do more to hurt their cause.”

—Ryan Boyd, senior English major

“If they’re trying to convert people, it seems like it would make more sense if they preached a message of love, instead of bigotry and hate.”
—Joy Blair, sophomore music liberal studies major

“There is a point where freedom of speech goes into freedom of personal space. When they berate somebody it just turns you off. They should listen.”
—Amber Gaulden, senior theater major

“I believe the evangelists should ask permission before coming to campus so they can be scheduled and not take everyone by surprise.”
—Courtney Gill, freshman mathematics major

By Staff Reports

When the opportunity to train with soldiers on Fort Campbell presented itself, several students volunteered for the event.

Armed with cameras, digital voice recorders, pens and Steno pads, the students trained in eight-hour shifts with several different platoons from Tuesday, Sept 15., until Wednesday Sept. 23. It was a learning experience for both the soldiers and the students.

The soldiers learned to be ready to talk to media at anytime while operating overseas. The students learned how to deal with the soldiers as they strive to successfully achieve their objectives.

“As a student reporter this was an ecperience that I will never forget.” said Mateen Sidiq, Multimedia Editor of The All State. “But as a bystander you do have an idea of what soliders go through to protect our contry.”

See stories, photos and video at www.theallstate.org.

By Staff Reports

On college campuses across the United States, students are sitting in the bleachers, cheering on their home teams and cracking open an ice cold beer. At APSU, the students are enjoying a refreshing soda or a warm hot chocolate. Those who are not at the games are likely drinking alcohol elsewhere.

The reason? APSU is a dry campus.

According to the APSU Policies and Procedures Manual, dated Aug. 13, 1990, “an environment free of the illegal or abusive use of alcohol or other drugs by members of the academic community encourages educational development.”

APSU, as a member of the Tennessee Board of Regents, must follow this policy. The TBR Web site says “the use and/or possession of alcoholic beverages on university, community college and technology center owned or controlled property shall be prohibited except as provided by Policy 1:07:00:00.”

This policy is slightly more complicated. Policy 1:07:00:00: “The President of each four and two-year institution is authorized to, and may from time to time designate a place on property owned or controlled by the institution where alcoholic beverages may be served by alumni and foundation organizations at a function or event sponsored by said organization.

“This area shall not be in classrooms, labs, faculty or administrative offices, residence halls, student dining halls, student gathering areas, outdoor public areas or athletic facilities accessible to the public.

Furthermore, under Policy 3:05:01:01 the use and/or possession of alcoholic beverages by students are prohibited on property owned or controlled by the institution.

“The sale of alcoholic beverages at the designated place is prohibited. “Sale” means any transfer, trade, exchange or barter, in any manner or by any means, for consideration, including, but not limited to, requiring fees or the purchase of tickets for admission to the area or event at which alcoholic beverages will be served. State funds may not be used for the purchase of alcoholic beverages.”

This policy is basically stating exceptions can be made for alumni or certain organizations. It is almost as if students, regardless of age, are not considered adults

Non-traditional students made up about 35 percent of APSU’s undergraduates in 2008, according to the Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness.

This is a fairly large number, especially compared to more typical universities. What are the chances these fully grown adults drink alcohol on occasion? Probably very likely.

APSU has always been big on trying to get its students more involved in campus activities. One of the most popular campus activities is football. It is given the majority of the campus’s attention during the beginning of the Fall semester, and many people get involved.

Another important aspect of these games is the concessions. The stadium sells snacks, drinks and candy. No alcohol is served. No alcohol is permitted at the game.

This seems like a waste of a perfect opportunity to rake in some money, especially in a time of economic hardship, where every dollar draft— or just plain dollar—counts.

At The All State, we believe APSU, along with TBR, should reconsider its dry campus policy. It is possible to control the use of alcohol, and not let it get out of hand. Anyone with a valid, legal ID should be permitted to purchase alcohol at a sporting event or otherwise.

Granted, students should not just have free reign. Alcohol should stay separate from academic life, and should not interfere with such. However, if a 30-year-old non-traditional student living in Hand Village wishes to have a nightcap, it shouldn’t be a crime.

We realize this concept is currently unattainable, but we don’t think it is so far-fetched. With a convincing argument and an intelligent plan of attack, any rule can be changed.

We believe APSU would benefit economically from this amendment through alcoholic beverage sales and the attraction of more non-traditional students to the campus.

Permitting alcohol will not necessarily turn APSU into a “party school.” As long as alcoholic use is regulated properly and responsibly, it should not cause a problem. Bottoms up.

By Staff Reports

The APSU H1N1 task force released an e-mail Fri­day, Sept. 18, stating they have decided to produce a weekly report of suspected cases of the H1N1 virus on campus.

The e-mail went on to explain 14 suspected cases have been reported between Sept. 7-14 and the number of cases being observed is increasing.

“People need to start washing their hands more. Professors ask us to use germ-x before we leave the classrooms,” said Tabitha Thompson, a junior Biology major. “I think APSU is doing a good job keeping everyone informed. We are getting updates daily.”

Freshman chemistry major, J’maine Bouie disagreed.

“I think they need to step up the process and give us some more hand sanitizer,” Bouie said. “They should make it more vocal than an e-mail. They aren’t educating us enough. Some people still think you die from it.”

For information regarding swine flu cases and University planned actions, log on to

http://www.apsu.edu/healthservices/H1N1.aspx.