This is the first year that the cameras on Beaver Avenue will be operational during the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts.

The cameras were inoperable last year because a networking cable was not ready, but this year, everything is ready to roll.

State College police plan to monitor the cameras more this weekend than they usually do. The question is, what difference will it make?

Probably very little.

The incredible influx of people that the State College area sees during Arts Fest leads to more activity in town and on campus and inevitably, more crime. That fact will probably not change, even with the cameras monitoring the Beaver Canyon area.

There is no doubt that there will already be an increased number of police officers patrolling the streets.

If that hasn't been deterrent enough for some people during previous festivals, then this year will not prove to be any different, even with the monitoring of cameras.

The cameras' operation would not have prevented the riots during Arts Fest in 1998 and 2000, and it won't prevent anything from happening this year either.

If people are making a disturbance, they're not going to change their actions because they suddenly remember that there are video cameras monitoring the street.

Using the footage filmed by cameras in its normal capacity -- to verify witness accounts of particular incidents -- should be just as useful, if not more, during Arts Fest.

But the presence of cameras this year should not be the main deterrent against criminal activity. It shouldn't have to be a deterrent at all.

Those visiting State College from out of town should remember that this is a town -- not just the site of a huge, popular arts festival -- and that people live here.

Those residents are here when the roads are closed and the stages are being constructed. And they're still here after the whole thing is over, when booths are being torn down, the remnants of visitors' weekend fun is scattered throughout the town, and the normal summer calm returns to State College.

Cameras aside, students and visitors alike should realize that Arts Fest weekend is certainly a time to have fun and enjoy the event. However, they should also realize that the fact that a big event like Arts Fest is going on does not give everyone justification to act disrespectful or destructive of both the town and the people in it.