Penn State pride seems to be forgotten on weekend nights, when drunken partiers use the town as their personal trash can. Much of the garbage originates from late-night take-away eateries along Beaver Avenue.

The restaurants provide trash cans and clean up in their front yards, but their patrons eat as they walk -- and stumble -- home.

The restaurants can't be expected to clean in a radius that stretches for several blocks. Instead, students who think it's acceptable to litter need to think again.

If they're sober enough to make their way to the restaurant, order, pay and eat, then they're sober enough to keep a grip on their stuff until they reach a trash can.

And if they can't, perhaps the police officers who pace the streets downtown should issue some citations for littering.

Littering is unfair to the people who live nearby. The residents are legally responsible for cleaning up the trash, even if they have nothing to do with it, thanks to a borough ordinance.

If the litterers won't take some pride in the aesthetics of our downtown, maybe the rest of us should. Clubs occasionally organize clean-ups. This could be done more often.

State College Borough Council also is considering adding receptacles to the problem areas. This would help by making it easier for students to be responsible.

The borough is in charge of cleaning the streets, and the sidewalks are the responsibility of the store owners. But the real responsibility lies with the people who litter.