It's not surprising that many students probably perceive the Red Cedar River as filthy and sludge-ridden.

Its murky brown waters, combined with the various shopping carts, traffic cones and cinder blocks that protrude out of them, certainly give the impression that MSU's river is not fit for much more than sitting next to.

But those who actually study the river paint a different picture. Far from the feces-filled body students might have in their mind, the Red Cedar is actually in decent shape.

Not that most people will ever actually attempt to enter the river, but it meets swimming quality standards at least 75 percent of the time. It is suitable for partial-body contact 84 percent of the time.

Still, for all the progress the river has made since the 1960s, when it was downright disgusting, the Red Cedar still faces problems. Parking lot and farm runoff enters its waters, and sewage occasionally is dumped there due to storm water.

As students, we can't prevent much of this. We can, however, cease to throw things into the river. It is not, nor has it ever been, a cool thing to toss objects into the Red Cedar.

Your friends aren't likely to respect you more, members of the opposite sex will not be attracted. Any glee that is brought about by polluting a river is the result of sheer stupidity. Still, people continue to heave things into the river. Shoes, beer cans and bicycles all somehow end up there. It has to stop.

MSU has one of the best campuses in the nation. Rather than trying to tarnish it, students should take interest in keeping it clean and healthy. How about trying to use one of MSU's many trash cans at some point? The experience could be fun and rewarding.

The next time you get the urge to put something in the Red Cedar River, toss yourself into it. Seventy-five percent of the time, it will be perfectly safe.