Students who sit in cramped classrooms and daydream of making the University's most important decisions from big offices may be able to escape their droning professors for a day and do just that.

A temporary group, Leaders And Friends For Students, is offering students a chance to switch places with University President Bryce Jordan this March.

The group is holding a raffle in which one student will be able to trade places with University President Bryce Jordan for a day. The drawing for the winner will be held March 14.

This organization was formed for the specific purpose of sponsoring the "President for a Day" raffle, said Undergraduate Student Government President Janyne Althaus.

"If I could do this, I would," said Althaus, also the group's co-chairwoman. "I would love to have Dr. Jordan go through my schedule for a day."

On March 19, Jordan will trade places with the winner from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Jordan will assume all class and work duties of the student and in return that student will take on the responsibilities as University president, Althaus said.

A disclaimer will be put in so Jordan will not be responsible for student examinations, Althaus said.

"The student selected as president for a day will have an opportunity to see Penn State in the full breadth of its many activities," Jordan said in a prepared statement. "I, in turn, will focus on the student experience within the larger University. We both will have an opportunity to increase our understanding of the issues important to Penn State and we will be able to share that understanding with others as well."

Melissa Pressler, the group's co-chairwoman and Association of Residence Hall Students vice president, said the raffle tickets cost $1. She added that the proceeds will go to the Mount Nittany Conservancy Inc.

The conservancy, a non-profit corporation, was initiated in 1981 by a 700-member alumni branch of Lion's Paw -- one of three traditional hat societies on campus -- to protect Mount Nittany from construction.

In 1984 the conservancy raised $120,000 in donations from area residents, students and alumni for a 209-acre purchase. The conservancy last semester announced its plan to raise $61,000 in donations to buy 51 acres on the south side of Mount Nittany.

The group's long-range goals include ownership of land down to the 1,400-foot elevation level on the Boalsburg side, Bellefonte attorney Ben Novak, president of the conservancy, said at the time.

The mountain rises 2,070 feet above sea level. Lion's Paw owns land from the top down to the 1,500-foot level on the Beaver Stadium side, and the conservancy's land is mostly located on the Bellefonte side of the mountain.

"We had a hard time choosing," said Althaus of the temporary group's choice of a charity. "There were a lot of places we wanted to donate to. We wanted to give to something that is really part of Penn State and the State College community."

"That's a landmark that will be around for a while," Pressler added.

Pressler said she came up with the idea for the president/student exchange from a National Association of College and University Residence Halls regional conference at the University of Hartford in October.

Althaus, a Lion's Paw member, said she did not know if the raffle would take place next year because the new University president would have to agree to it.

Althaus said tickets are available in 101B, 101C, 101F, 203B and 203 HUB.

Members of LAFFS include Althaus, Pressler, Office of Town and Independent Students President Judy Falce, Interfraternity Council President Tom Lynch and outgoing Panhellenic Council President Kelly Ayotte.

Althaus added that friends of the members also joined the organization.