Penn State Police Services plans to increase its presence on campus in an effort to prevent the occurrence stranger sexual assaults.

One sexual assault and a possible attempt occurred on campus in September.

Preventative strategies include the use of undercover female police officers to patrol the campus and additional uniformed officers stationed near academic buildings.

Some students said they have become more aware of safety issues when walking alone on campus late at night and that an increased police presence is a comfort.

"[More police presence] will help," Katy Bernard (sophomore-business) said. "There are more people out there and they all have the same motive: to stop whatever's going on."

Jonathan Mendenhall (senior-chemical engineering) said he makes an effort to walk his female friends home late at night after they've been studying together.

"The lighting is just really bad on campus," Mendenhall said. "I don't even feel that comfortable walking around now, and I never felt that way before [the assaults] started happening."

Priscilla Myco (sophomore-nursing) said she's been more aware of her surroundings when she walks home from the HUB-Robeson Center at night, and she makes an effort not to walk alone.

Myco said more police on campus would be positive.

"Just having the presence of police is enough to deter people from doing things they shouldn't be," Myco said.

Erica Lange (junior-marketing) speculated the planned prevention methods would have the same effect as those used by State College Police to deter riots. "It's just like when they put the cops downtown for the riots -- nothing happens," Lange said. "All the kids just stand around."

Other students said more police on campus might not make a difference.

"Unfortunately, I don't know how much that will work because it's impossible for them to be in every place all the time," Jessica Jennings (senior-public relations and international politics) said.

Jennings added that realistically it will take some time to stop sexual assaults on campus. "It's not just one guy we can stop," she said.

Samantha Postich (junior-animal sciences) also was not optimistic about the plan's success. "Things are going to happen anyway," Postich said. "There's cops out now and it still happens."

Postich said she and her roommates take precautions when they walk outside at night. "I never walk alone anymore," she said. "I make my roommates call me whenever they get [to a destination] and when they're leaving so I can wait for them."