Whether the moose head is missing or the Greek letters on the side of the house are gone, fraternity thefts have always been prevalent, but now, with the State College Police Department's help, they might not be as common.

State College police Sgt. Tom Hart said the department is trying to deter theft and other problems, such as noise and excessive trash, by pairing a police officer with an individual fraternity.

With this new idea, police hope to form a liaison between themselves and these fraternities. Since the start of this semester, police have paired six fraternities with officers who will try to be resources for them, Hart said.

"We'll be able to advise them in sticky situations," Hart said. "For example, I could tell them, 'What I would do in this situation is . . .' "

The fraternities can call their assigned officer whenever they have question about laws or about what their role in the community requires. The police also make an effort to patrol the fraternity whenever they can.

Hart said many rumors circulate in the fraternities, such as that the police use a machine to measure noise levels during parties. Each liaison's job is to clarify those rumors.

Rick Funk, Greek Life coordinator, said he hopes the liaison will make fraternities appreciate what police go through. Funk added that the program's progress will be evaluated at the end of the semester.

Members of Phi Sigma Delta Sigma fraternity, 240 E. Prospect Ave., think the liaison is a good idea, said Jonathan Bernstein (junior-accounting).

"It's good that we have someone here to answer our questions and clear up some people's ideas that all police are against fraternities," Bernstein said.

Pranks among fraternities are common because one of the aspects of fraternity life is getting "one up" on the other chapters, said Hart, who is also a former fraternity member.

When the inside of a fraternity house is beyond a thief's reach, the outside can become a target. Sigma Pi fraternity, 303 Fraternity Row. Sigma Pi has had its moose head, which hangs on a wall in the house, stolen several times.

Chris Dochat, Sigma Pi president, said the original head was stolen about two years ago, and the fraternity bought a new one. The new head was taken earlier this semester and later returned. Dochat believes this particular theft was an antic of another fraternity.

When the inside of a fraternity house is beyond a thief's reach, the outside can become a target. Tau Epsilon Phi, 328 E. Foster Ave., had its Greek letters stolen from the outside of its house at the end of last summer.

But fraternity crime isn't always done in jest -- semester breaks seem to be the most common time when thefts by hard-core criminals occur, Dochat said..

All in all, police are realistic about the effects of the program. Hart said it would not eliminate all thefts but could cut down on them in the future because fraternity members would be educated by their police officer.