They've heard it all.

Sgt. Mark Argiro of the State College Police Department said busy football weekends bring a variety of excuses from people choosing to break the law, including graduates who try to use their alumni status as a way out of citations.

With alumni from various parts of the country coming to the State College area for football games, the State College police and Penn State University Police are kept busy with tailgaters enjoying the game.

Despite some complaints regarding alumni and student behavior during the weekends, State College police and Penn State police said they receive relatively few direct complaints.

However, both police forces said their encounters from alumni differ greatly from those with students.

Argiro said alumni tend to have a different perspective than students when approached by police about inappropriate behavior. "I've had alumni tell me that they should get a break because [they] went here," he said.

While Argiro said alumni infractions do not have a large impact on weekend activity, he added that some who break the law point out their alumni status. "It's a card they like to play," he said.

Penn State Police Supervisor Dwight Smith said the Penn State police had run into similar circumstances when confronting alumni who were acting belligerently.

Smith added that many alumni who say they are donors threaten not to give future donations to the university.

Matt McDonald, Penn State Alumni Association spokesman, said he had never heard of alumni threatening to discontinue donations.

Smith said most people are well behaved on football weekends.

"It's just a small minority that overindulge and lose sight of the fact that they should be out there having fun," he said. "And fun turns into tragedy in a very short time."

Penn State spokesman Tysen Kendig said he did not doubt that problems existed when alumni tailgate, but he said if any of them complained to the department of public information, he would probably laugh.

"Just because an alumni gives money to the school gives them no right to break the law," Kendig said. "We graduate folks who are certainly more intelligent than to come up with an excuse as being a donor as to justify their behavior."