Leaders of the Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon are working to ensure that volunteers who go canning this weekend do not receive a citation from the local police department.

Canning without a permit is illegal in some areas of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and other states that organizations visit to solicit donations for Thon.

"We don't want anyone canning illegally," said Patty Hoffmann, Thon's public relations chair. "We don't want anyone canning without a permit."

Thon's overall committee uses several methods to decrease organization's chances of receiving citations while soliciting, said Chris DellaFranco, Thon's overall chair of rules and regulations.

At the beginning of the academic year, DellaFranco hosted a Thon chair workshop and spoke to the chairs of each participating organization about proper canning procedures, he said.

Another workshop was conducted before this year's third canning weekend and DellaFranco mentioned the need for permits.

"Stay on the median; be safe; always have your Penn State student ID, Thon can and poster," DellaFranco recommended to students soliciting at intersections.

In addition to workshops, e-mails are sent throughout the year before canning weekends to each organization, he said.

The majority of canning citations result when a group goes canning in a town or county where solicitation is not permitted even with a permit, DellaFranco said.

DellaFranco is compiling a list of areas that do not allow canning. Most of the information has come from a survey he sent to Thon's various organizations before the end of last semester.

Thon's overall committee occasionally finds areas that do not permit canning after an organization is fined and contacts them, although ticketed students usually handle the problem themselves, DellaFranco said.

"Usually, the organizations deal with the citations themselves," he said.

After Rachel Maya of Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority was ticketed in Freehold, N.J., last year, she and the other four women canning with her paid the fine with their own money, she said, not money from donations.

Maya and the others were soliciting on a highway median without a permit when a store reported them to the local police.

"One of the stores told us they called the police, and as soon as they told us, the police came," she said.

A New Jersey state statute requires solicitors to acquire a permit from the township in which they are collecting, said Matthew Stechauner, Morristown, N.J., deputy town clerk.

Morristown has hosted students canning for Thon in previous years, although no record existed of students requesting a permit this year, he said.

Solicitation laws are important to protect citizens from false charities, Stechauner said.

"You can't have a person soliciting without proof that they're collecting for a legitimate charity," he said.

Pennsylvania's vehicle code prohibits roadside solicitation of contributions. According to section 3545 of the vehicle code, "no person shall stand on a roadway for the purpose of soliciting employment, business or contributions from the occupant of any vehicle."

It is up to each organization to request permits before going canning and to pay any fines incurred during canning, DellaFranco said.

Thon provides students with posters with numbers police can call for information, he said. During canning weekends, DellaFranco and Jayme Rubright, Thon's overall chair, answer phones to address any questions.

Officers who speak to the overall Thon representatives usually take back the citations, DellaFranco said.

"They (citations) are not fun for any organization to get or any police officer to issue," he said.