By ASHLEY WHITE | Guest Writer

APSU is competing off-field against MTSU for school supplies.

There is a school supply drive competition going on to help support teachers in Montgomery and Rutherford counties. Both counties have a dire need for school supplies, as do many Tennessee schools.

Each University will be collecting different items based on the needs for each community. The drive will start Monday, Aug. 30, and continue until Friday, Sept. 10.

At APSU there will be over 20 collection bins throughout campus.

A list of items that are being collected will be distributed through The Gov Says, the daily campus announcements distributed through e-mail, as well as reminders about the drive.

APSU’s donations will go to the Teachers Warehouse, an organization that helps provide materials to teachers in Montgomery County.

As a great incentive, the Athletic Department is offering free tickets to the football game against MTSU. The first 200 students who bring a school supply to the Thursday, Sept. 2, football game against Cumberland University, they will receive the free tickets.

The competition is a great opportunity to give back to the teachers and students in both counties but it is up to the APSU community to take the initiative and donate items needed.

APSU’s SGA and Peay Nuts are helping in the efforts to generate support for the event.

To ensure fairness, since MTSU is a larger institution, a point system has been created.

Each item has a point value and at the end of each day the bins will be emptied and points tallied.

At the end of the competition, the total points will be divided by the number of undergraduate students in each university for the final score. TAS

By SHAY GORDON | Guest Writer

Most students do not know the significance of the residence hall names.However, one freshman in particular could definitely explain the significance of the Rawlins dorms that he will be staying in this year.

Ben Rawlins, a freshman this fall, has a very good reason for choosing to live in the Rawlins residence hall.

The dorm was named after Ben’s great-grandfather, George Rawlins Jr., who taught at APSU from 1946 to 1964 and also served as the chair of the chemistry department.

When Rawlins and his father were checking out the residence hall options on the APSU website, they both noticed the name of one dorm in particular: Rawlins Hall. The choice seemed rather obvious.

“My dad was the one who really wanted me to stay in that dorm,” Rawlins said. “I said, ‘Let’s do it.’”

Rawlins Hall was opened during the 1960s when the campus experienced a large increase in enrollment.

When Rawlins’ grandfather George Rawlins III, a professor of education and the son of Rawlins Jr., was actively teaching on the campus, he would often joke that the dorm was named after him.

Rawlins III retired in 1998, but was still disappointed to hear that the dorms will be demolished in a few years in order to accommodate new residency halls.

However, upon hearing that his grandson will be staying in Rawlins Hall, he was rather pleased.

“I think it’s great he requested it,” Rawlins III said. “I just figured he got assigned to it, but I think it’s great he wanted to stay there.”

When asked what he will say when his freshman peers question his last name and its ties to the dorm, Rawlin believes he will follow his grandfather’s example and inform them it was named after him.

“I’ll definitely try,” he said. “I might pull it over on a few people.”

Rawlins will be one of approximately 600 students will be moving onto the APSU campus this fall.

Even with the family legacy, Rawlins has never seen the residency hall in person. Like many of his fellow new students, this fall will be a fresh start for him.

“I have never even been in Rawlins Hall, so it’ll be totally new,” Rawlins said. “I’m looking forward to it.” TAS

By SHAY GORDON | Guest Writer

Nothing lures money-drained college students to an event more than the possibility of finding fun and inexpensive entertainment. Combine a free concert with the opportunity of receiving a no-expense dinner, and the result is the Rock the Block concert hosted by the Governors

Programming Council (GPC).

The free event will take place Friday, Sept. 3, at the UC Plaza and will begin at 5 p.m. and end at approximately 8 p.m. The first 100 students that arrive with their APSU ID cards will receive a free dinner provided by Zaxby’s. The dinner is first come, first serve, therefore it is recommended students arrive early if they are interested in the free meal.

The artists that will be featured include Josh LaCount, Lydia Walker and Diana Pelham. Each performer has a unique style and guarantees a variety for all.

Artist Josh LaCount will offer an alternative rock style that includes fast-paced, hard-hitting jams as well as more slowly-paced ballads. More information about LaCount’s music, tours, influences and biography can be found at his website, www.joshlacount.com/fr_home.cfm.

For those that enjoy a more soothing, folk-based artist will enjoy music from Lydia Walker. Heavily influenced by Christian folk music, Walker provides uplifting and positive songs. More information about Lydia Walker’s life, music, and new album can be found on www.lydiawalkermusic.com.

Last is APSU alumni Diana Pelham. Pelham is an unconventional country music artist that is known on occasion to belt out an AC/DC or Michael Jackson cover when playing a show. Pelham’s biography as well as tour dates and music information can found at www.myspace.com/dianapelham.

Students that wish to see more campus events such as the Rock the Block concert can directly influence what comes to the APSU campus by becoming a member of the GPC.

Students interested in making their opinions heard are welcome to come to the GPC general board meetings every Monday night starting Sept. 13. Meetings take place in room 307 at 5 p.m. in the 3rd floor of the UC.

The GPC is currently accepting applications for the executive board that makes a final vote and decision on all proposed events that are discussed during general board meetings.

An interest session for the executive board will also be held on Monday, Sept. 13, in room 307. The applications for the executive board can be found on the APSU website under the Student Life and Leadership and the deadline will be on Wednesday, Sept. 15, by 2 p.m. at the UC in room 211. TAS

Performance line-up

Josh LaCount: an alternative rocker with hard-hitting jams and slow paced ballads. Find out more at: www.joshlacount.com/fr_home.cfm.

Lydia Walker: a Christian folk artist with a positive message. Find out more at: www.lydiawalkermusic.com.

Diana Pelham: a country musician with an unconventional twist. Find out more at: www.myspace.com/dianapelham

By RAVEN JACKSON | Guest Writer

The African American Culture Center (AACC) director may be new to APSU’s staff, but he is not new to universities.

“I’ve worked at a mixture of private and public, large and small universities, and been blessed to learn from the opportunities,” said Henderson Hill, Director of African American Culture Center.

“Hopefully, the plan will be to connect to other centers,” Hill said, “and say they are doing some really great things and those are things I’d like to do as well.”

“I’m originally from Kansas City, MO., born and raised,” Hill said, “on the Missouri side where all the sports teams are.”

The new AACC director also graduated from Tennessee State University, and later went to receive his master’s from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Hill is happy to now call the land of the Governors home.

“I am ecstatic to be here and extremely excited to help shape a culture within the African American Culture Center and be a positive change agent,” Hill said.

A lot of the work I really want to do is making sure we are supporting the needs of students and being positive contributors to the community.”

Even though Hill has not been in the position long, he still has many plans and goals for the AACC including better marketing for the center as well as the website, and creating a stronger identity for the AACC.

Hill knows, however, that he could face some challenges along the way.

“[It] may be hard changing people’s perception of the center and getting people to understand the center is going in a different direction,” Hill said.

It is clear that Hill plans to be active not only in the AACC, but around campus and in the community as well.

“Yes, it is the African American Culture Center,” Hill said, “but we are connecting to all our students. “

“What are we doing to support our students and be positive change agents in their lives? To be a part of the change is exciting.” TAS

Five things you didn’t know about…
… Henderson Hill

Q. What is your favorite television program?

A. Past — “A Different World” and “The Wire”; Present — “True Blood”.

Q. What is your favorite dessert?

A. Strawberry red velvet cupcakes (from The Cupcake Collection), with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Q. Do you prefer David Letterman, Jay Leno, or Conan O’Brien?

A. None.

Q. What music is in your iPod?

A. Blueprint 3, Jay-Z; Victory, DJ Khaled; Here I Am, Marvin Sapp; The Very Best of Rufus and Chaka Khan; The Sound, Mary Mary; Epiphany, Chrisette Michelle; Motivation Too, DJ Frankie Knuckles; Stronger With Every Tear, Mary J. Blige; Sir Lucious Left Foot, Big Boi; Teflon Don, Rick Ross; Battle of the Sexes, Ludacris; The Element of Freedom, Alicia Keys; Raymond Vs. Raymond, Usher.

Q. Where is your dream vacation?

A. A tour of every South American country.

Alex Romero, a sophmore Spanish major, is checking out books at the Austin Peay bookstore. Photo by Dalwin Cordova | Photographer

By CHASITY WEBB | Features Editor

Like the many changes APSU has been making on and around campus, the Ann Ross bookstore has followed suit.

The first change made apparent was the possibility to rent textbooks, for half of the new purchase price, from the bookstore.

In order to rent textbooks students must present an active credit card that is to be charged if the rented books are not returned. However, the book rental itself can be paid for using any method including financial aid. All rentals for the fall semester are due back by Friday, Dec. 17.

The second change was mostly initiated to allow more students to afford laptops. APSU’s bookstore now offers silver Dell Latitude D260s. These laptops have a 1.86 GHZ Core 2 duo processor, a 60 GB SATA hard drive, a 1 GB RAM, a DVD CD-RW media drive, a 14.1 WXG video screen, Windows XPP Pro loaded with a 90-day Microsoft Office trial period, a 802.11 a/b/g network card and Intel 945 GM video. These laptops are still available at $429.95.

The bookstore is also now offering price matching as part of their many changes. Within 10 days of purchasing a book, if a student finds the same book locally for a lower price, the student may bring their book, receipt and proof of the lower price to the bookstore for a refund of the difference.

The bookstore is also offering digital books. About 20 percent of the books for this semester are available in digital form. These are available for purchase through the bookstore’s website or in the bookstore itself.

Lastly, the bookstore is having a clearance sale until Monday, Sept. 6. All clearance items are an extra 10 percent off during this time.

It seems that now more than ever, Ann Ross bookstore is realizing what its students need — affordable, convenient textbooks and supplies.

The Ann Ross bookstore, located in the Catherine Evans Harvill building, is open Monday through Thurday from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Fridays from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Saturdays and Sundays the bookstore is only open for special events. TAS

By LEILA SCHOEPKE | Guest Writer

APSU has been hosting the Science and Math Academy (SAMA), under the direction of Biology professor Willodean Burton, for three years. The program was designed to give a selected number of high schools students from across Tennessee a two-week university experience through which they get a college-level taste of two important subjects they generally take as freshmen: science and math. This year, the SAMA took place from Monday, June 7, through Friday, June 18.

The University of Memphis organized the first Math Academy and that served as a template, Burton said. The second year, Tennessee Board of Regents asked Tennessee State University and APSU to be part of the program. TSU decided to do the math because the template was already there, and Burton decided that APSU should do both science and math.

“I have not regretted that. I think it’s a good combination that I know the students can link the two together and that is two of the courses that whenever you’re talking about education, math and science are right there in the mix,” she said.

Students are chosen to participate in the SAMA through identification by their teachers. The process starts by sending out advertisements to all the high schools in Tennessee. Students get to learn about the program through their high school counselors who would give them the information and connections they need. Individuals who are interested in the program would contact Burton, who would then send them the application materials.

Burton said what is unique about the 2010 SAMA is that APSU was able to hit capacity for the program.

“TBR asked us to accommodate 50 students. The first year they were 30, the second year 35 and this year we actually had over 60 applications. We chose 50 students. Only one did not come, so we have 49 that we’ve been working with in the last two weeks,” she said.

Through the SAMA, Burton hopes high school students will begin to think about a higher education. She also hopes that they choose to go to APSU.

During their two weeks on APSU’s campus, the 49 SAMA students attended math and science classes. They had three math professors and three science professors, all from APSU. There were also teachers from different Montgomery County High Schools who were in the classrooms with the professors.

“They have a mentor and a professor and then the students are there so that the high school teachers can relate to the high school students and they help the professors make a nice smooth transition and distribute the information carefully,” Burton said.

Besides the math and science classes, the students attended a physics session where they had a lecture and activities just as they would do if they went to a college class. They went to the library and learned how to use the computers and how to access information from their home computers. Additionally, they went to a nursing home as a community service activity and spent two evenings there interacting with the residents. On their second visit to the nursing home, they served ice cream and played games. They also had a field trip to the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga.

For the last day in the academy, the students were scheduled to take a post-science test in the morning, as an evaluation tool, as well as attend a reception and a closing ceremony where they would receive gift bags and $150, which is part of the TBR stipulations, for attending and staying throughout the program, Burton said.

APSU biology graduate Scarlett Spurgeon and pre-med student Krystle Irizarry were two of nine group leaders in charge of five or six high school students each. Their role was to teach the students a little bit about what college and on-campus life are like, coordinate some of the activities such as going to the nursing home, help students with their homework, play games and make sure they got where they needed to be throughout the day such as classes, meals and bed on time.

“We got to play a crucial role in how they spent their week, which is pretty interesting because when I first got the job I thought we were just going to watch … but we actually got to plan out the activities, plan out what they were gonna eat, plan what they wanted to watch,” Irizarry said.

Spurgeon said her responsibility as a group leader is very important because “high school students can be very stubborn in some ways but can be easily led sometimes.” Spurgeon considers her role during the academy significant and so, she said, she does her best so her life is “above reproach in any way” and so that she can be someone the younger students can look up to.

“Just basically being leaders to them and being good role models for “them, because a lot of these kids — for example, in the nursing home, they might not have been before and so how do you interact with somebody that’s in a nursing home or how do you act in a college classroom setting,” Spurgeon said.

The group leaders said the experience of being mentors to the SAMA students taught them a lot about responsibility, relationships and helping younger students become acquainted with college life and learn about the many opportunities and possibilities they can have by choosing to further their education.

“It’s very much getting involved with them on a personal level and showing them this is what you wanna do because it’s a better way of handling yourself, it’s a better way of living your life, it’s about going further than what you can do because you know you wanna be successful in the future,” Irizarry said.

Group leaders are chosen through submitting an application that is reviewed by Burton and the coordinator who then make the decision of hiring those best suited to lead the students and assist them during the two-week Science and Math Academy, according to Spurgeon.

The fact the students had a very set and busy schedule which did not give them a lot of free time to do whatever they wanted was frustrating for them at times, Spurgeon said.

Some of the students might have liked being away from home and being on their own for a while. A lot of them loved the hands on experiments in the science classes because they had access to more resources than they normally have in high schools.

They enjoyed the community service of going to the nursing home and interacting with the residents. They also liked some of the math teachers and what they learned through them, the group leaders said.

“It was kind of different from what they learned in high school and it really made them think; and so it was hard, and at that time they didn’t like it, but when they got out of class you would often hear them remark, ‘That was really hard but that was really interesting,’ so I think that they enjoyed it even if they weren’t sure that they did at first,” Spurgeon said.