After the death of a fellow student, some Penn Staters wondered what they could do to commemorate lost lives.

David Davis and Beenu Puri talked about setting up some kind of memorial after senior Shellie Smarowsky lost her life, but with the semester ending, it proved difficult. Then after the semester break, the car crash that killed another Penn State student, John Henry Cox, coupled with numerous deaths in the past year, brought the idea back into the light.

Puri spoke to the Undergraduate Student Government executive cabinet, where she is director of public relations, and along with Davis, secretary of Black Caucus, they decided to begin work on creating an appropriate memorial to the deceased.

"We were talking about how we really wish we could've done something," Puri said.

They tried to contact friends and family of Smarowsky, Cox and Michelle Bahn, a student who died of meningitis during the summer. The students were invited to a meeting, held last night in the HUB-Robeson Center, to discuss appropriate ways to remember lost friends.

"We are coming today, not as the Black Caucus, not as USG, more as concerned students," said Davis at the meeting.

Davis, Puri, and USG President Justin Zartman attended the meeting. Three roommates and friends of Bahn's came as well. Meghan Grumm, who lived with Bahn during the summer, said that shortly after her roommate's death, the university extended an invitation to have a memorial, but it was too soon for the grieving, who had to travel to attend funeral services.

Zartman said that perhaps friends of those deceased students did not attend the meeting because they need more time to grieve.

"Because of it being recently, it still may be hard for them," Zartman said.

Davis said that he and Puri had considered planting a tree in Bahn's honor, but that they wanted to have approval from her friends.

Bahn's friends agreed that it was a good idea, and Zartman shared the story of the loss of one of his own friends, who had a tree planted in his name next to Atherton Hall. "Every time I pass that it's a good remembrance of his life," Zartman said.

The three friends thanked Zartman, Puri and Davis for their help, explaining that they themselves did not know where to begin when it came to planning a memorial.

"I'm really glad that you guys called," Grumm said.

The students hope to plant a tree in Bahn's name in the Peace Garden, between McAllister and Henderson buildings, and have a ceremony that her family can attend. They will work toward having similar memorials for Cox and Smarowsky and will continue to try and contact friends of other deceased students, so they can be honored in the same way.

"It breaks my heart," said Kate Richey, another friend of Bahn's. "When I think about the people going through the same thing that we were in."