Prompted by the July 16 riot, an unofficial committee was formed of more than a dozen downtown organizations with the aim of preventing such events in the future.

State College Police Chief Tom King presented the general concerns of the committee at the State College Borough Council meeting last night.

On Sept. 7, the organizations met and viewed videotapes from both the recent riot, and the riot that occurred on July 12, 1998.

"After the second riot in three years, these groups feel they have been charged with making an effort to prevent the events of 1998 and 2000," King said.

The group welcomed representatives from the Downtown State College Partnership Inc., local police and Penn State among others.

"We plan for a follow-up meeting on Sept. 21, and after that meeting we hope to meet with borough staff and to meet with students," King said. "We'll give a list of our prevention ideas and see if students or other groups can provide ideas."

Mayor Bill Welch expressed enthusiasm toward the unofficial committee, but encouraged them to think beyond the scope of the recent riots.

"This shouldn't be simply a prevent-a-riot committee. This should be to look at all behavior that can get out of hand," Welch said.

Since the committee is not an official part of the borough, their ideas cannot and should not be made official without administrative participation, said council member Thomas Daubert.

"I'm very much against implementing anything before it comes to council," he said.

The majority of preventative measures discussed by these groups have been voluntary, King said.

The fact that these groups have taken steps on their own towards community safety is encouraging, Welch said.

However, council member Catherine Dauler stressed that such measures are only effective if they are not short-lived.

"With all this discussion about whether prevention is voluntary, it shouldn't then be the assumption that the borough will pass legislation and they'll be done with it," Dauler said.

Beside legislative and organizational efforts, the most important riot prevention efforts will be left to students, Welch said.

"The best evidence if this volunteerism works is to see if these types of things don't creep up anymore," Welch said.