Join us in the  University Center Ballroom for snacks and drinks to watch this monumental moment in history as Barack Obama is sworn in and becomes the 44th President of the United States. The Inaugural Parade begins  at 11:00 p.m. and the Inauguration will begin at 1:00 p.m.

Sponsors of this event are SGA & NPHC (Sigma Gamma Rho, Delta Sigma Theta, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Kappa Alpha Psi, Phi Beta Sigma). APSU is located at 601 College Street Clarksville, TN.

This event is free and open to the public.

University faculty, staff and students will provide informational sessions and activities.

Check-in is from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. in the Foy Fitness and Recreation Center. Students and their parents will receive tickets for lunch in the campus cafeteria, located on the main floor of Morgan University Center. Also, during that time, guests will have opportunities to tour the campus and meet with professors and current Austin Peay students.

From 1-4 p.m., prospective students and their parents will meet with staff from the Admissions, Financial Aid, Housing/Residence Life and Student Life and Leadership offices. Students then will talk with the Student Government Association president and other students, while parents will hear from APSU President Tim Hall and other campus leaders.

Official AP Day activities end at 4 p.m., but guests can stick around to tour residence halls, talk with staff from financial aid, housing and admissions and check out the bookstore.

Guests are asked to park in the lot at the corner of Eighth and Marion streets or at the intersection of Henry Street and Jackson Alley. Signs will direct guests to the Morgan University Center.

For information about Clarksville restaurants and more, click on “Visitor Information” at www.clarksville.tn.us. Hotels located downtown and off Interstate-24 are closest to APSU.

For more information about AP Day, contact the Admissions Office by telephone at (800) 844-APSU or (931) 221-7661 or e-mail .

A ghastly, undead creature haunts one of APSU's bowls, demonstrating the mechanical and creative ingenuity of APSU students.

G.H.O.S.T. hosted creepy thrills and a fun night full of treats without tricks. Austin Peay State University student organizations and departments opened the campus to the community to give parents, and children the chance to have a safe time while trick or treating. Students stood in the twilight hours of the fading October sun, dressed in various costumes with spectacular organizational displays.

Some organizations such as the Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA), and Chi Epsilon Mu had costume themes. Those two groups chose vampires and pirates, respectively. Chi Epsilon Mu won the first place prize for their two-story pirate ship playhouse display, allowing members to man the tables, and the vessel in true ship-man teamwork.

G.H.O.S.T., a long-stranding tradition at Austin Peay State University, stands for Greater Halloween Options for Safe Trick or Treating, and is presented annually by the SGA on the last Sunday before Halloween between the hours of 4:30 pm to 7:00 pm.

Ahoy Mateys! Chi Epsilon Mu took home first place for their pirate playhouse again this year.

APSU has been offering G.H.O.S.T. since the program’s inception in 1996, and ever since participation has been growing and growing. And the twelfth annual G.H.O.S.T. this past Sunday was no exception according to APSU SGA Adviser Greg Singleton.

Student groups start setting up an hour early, but the advance preparation far exceeds that. Many groups with new members who have not done the event before may have to make candy runs, or borrow candy from another group. For the first time in five years, the GSA almost completed the candy giving until near the very end of the event even with an emergency candy run; it took just over twenty-four bags of candy.

Singleton, who has been acting adviser since 2007,  said, “This was probably one of the years that has the most attendance based upon feedback we received from student set up boxes for the children. We know for a fact almost 2,000 people were here yesterday, including 1,600 children because we distributed over 1,600 books.”

GSAers James Butler and Melinda Aceae pose for the camera. Melinda created the coffin the group used to house the Pumpkinhead body stuffed with candy.

There have been no incidents at G.H.O.S.T. as Singleton stated public safety patrols the area, which is filled with staff members and students.

When asked what G.H.O.S.T. brings to the community table in the overwhelming success of the program, Singleton said, “I think it provides children an environment to have safe trick or treating in a safe atmosphere. Our campus provides services to the community where children can go and it’s in a safe, controlled environment.”

For APSU student organizations who wish to participate, they must fill out a G.H.O.S.T. registration packet, that now appears on the website in the Fall semester. Only the second year that the forms have been provided online, the G.H.O.S.T. packets are available at the following URL: http://www.apsu.edu/sga/, and must be returned by the SGA deadline to the Office of Student Affairs.

Avast! Yo-ho! A different kind of Halloween celebration will take place at the Morgan University Center Plaza at  Austin Peay State University Sunday, October 26, from 4-7 p.m.,  when the Student Government Association sponsors G.H.O.S.T., an annual spooky day event where area children are encouraged to don their costumes and visit organization-sponsored booths for some non-traditional treats without the tricks. This year’s event has a pirate theme, so be prepared from swash-buckling fun and games.

Halloween treats come in the form of books. The APSU Women’s Club will be near the Phi Kappa Phi table, the best table every year at passing out books for children in the community.  The APSU Women’s Club will be passing out bookmarks to accompany these books.

Del Square Psi (Physics and Astronomy Club) and XEM (Chemistry Club) has interesting projects for the kids to look at and fun games to play.

Chi Omega Women’s Fraternity will again have a table at the event.  Chi Omega always has interesting things for the children and keep them entertained.

For more information, contact Student Government Association, (931) 221-7262.

Clarksville Transit Center, the downtown hub for connecting buses

As it stands, the new fare structure means cost of riding city buses could nearly double for many people who use the Clarksville Transit System. While the actual fare per ride will remain unchanged at $1.00 per ride, the 25 cent transfers will be history. That means riders who need to transfer would pay full fare for that second ride, the second half of their journey. Since it is impossible to go from the western side of town along Fort Campbell Boulevard to the mall area along Wilma Rudolph Boulevard or to Madison Street and the Sango area without a transfer, all of those passengers could see their transit costs nearly double. The elimination of transfers translates to a de facto 75 cent increase in bus fare for riders who need to utilize two buses navigate across town or into adjoining residential neighborhoods.

For example, anyone living in the Peacher’s Mills or Cunnigham Loop areas who would be coming or going from a business on the northern parameter of Fort Campbell Boulevard would still transfer at the Fort Campbell WalMart but would now pay a second full fare. Anyone who must travel on the Fort Campbell, Peacher’s Mill or Cunningham Loop buses to get the Hospital, Clarksville Public Library, municipal offices at Pageant Lane, the Department of Human Services or Health Department, all of which require trannsfers, will pay $4.00 per round trip with the new fare structure. Buying a day pass at $3.50 would be cheaper by 50 cents, even if it is only needed for one round trip.

No mentioned has been made of extending the hours of operation for city buses, adding Sunday service or the use of smaller “mini” buses on routes with lower ridership, nor has the city considered a gradual switching to alternative fuel buses as many major urban areas are now doing (even New York City is running electric buses cross town).

The CTS claims its basic fares, that $1 per ride and slightly lower fares for seniors and mobility impaired people, will remain unchanged. Except for the price of that ride on a second bus.

The elimination of service to WalMart in Oak Grove, Kentucky, could also eliminate service to the some areas on the northern fringe of Clarksville along the Kentucky border. The CTS will also include discussions of adjustments to routes Including, for example, the Bus 6 that now serves the new Gateway Hospital.

APSU students will have free CTA transit and shutltle service across campus, with Austin Peay State University uderwriting that cost at $71,000 per year, with a contract stipulating up to 3% increase per year.

The APSU Student Government Association, in contracting with CTS, will “provide students, faculty and staff free transportation around campus via The Peay Pickup and around town on CTS buses.” The CTS operated Peay Trolley pick-up will run across campus from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. weekdays when the university is in session. Student activity fees will cover that cost.

Clarksville Transit System will operate the Peay Pick-up Trolley on and around campus between 7:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. weekdays when classes are in session. Peay pick-up cards are required for students using this new free transit system. Those pick-up cards will be available at both the Office of Student Affairs and the Morgan University Information Desk.

The Transportation Committee approved the following changes in transit rates:

• $3.50 for an unlimited day pass (a 50 cent increase)
• $45 for a 31-day pass (a $5 increase)
• $22.50 for a senior or mobility-impaired pass (a $2.50 cent increase)

At the hearing, CTS Director Jimmie Smith said fuel costs last year rose $145,000 over anticipated costs which were based on $2.25 per gallon. CTS is now scrambling to recoup that cost through this amended fare structure.

The public hearing will be an opportunity for those affected by this new fare schedule and proposed routes changes before they go into effect on September 1.

In posting a legal notice about the hearing, the CTS states:

“The purpose of the Public Hearing is increases and adjustments in the CTS bus fare, including transfers and changes in some bus routes. At the hearing the CTS will consider public comments both oral and written. Anyone having questions or comments, or to get more information about the public hearing, may contact the Clarksville Transit System at (931) 553-2430 or write the Clarksville Transit System, 430 Boillin Lane, Clarksville, Tennessee, 37040.”