The powerful people of the State College area who want to keep information hidden can finally breathe a sigh of relief; this is my fifth and final column on open records.

I'm going to stop making requests, stop investigating how much things cost and stop insisting that documents be made public -- at least for the time being.

We all took a break for Thanksgiving, and now I'm taking a break from this fight, because I leave Penn State in two weeks. It will now be someone else's turn -- maybe yours.

To recap, I asked for documents about how much the borough spends on surveillance cameras, how much Graham Spanier gets in benefits and how much a number of universities spent on trustees' meetings.

I easily got what I asked for from the borough and from state-run universities, but did not get anything from Penn State.

Penn State, as you may recall, is not obligated to make documents public under the restrictive Pennsylvania open records law.

Although I received a few denials to my requests for information, readers have sent me positive feedback throughout this journey.

Thank you for your support. I hope you learned something.

One very enthusiastic reader found my cell phone number and called me at 9 a.m. on a day I had hoped to sleep in to say how inspired he was by my work. I was touched, but I was also very tired, and probably not very responsive to his comments.

That reader is one of many who can continue the important work of requesting that all sorts of records be available to the public.

A graduate student involved in the fight for unionized teaching assistants contacted me, and we met for coffee to discuss the problems that the activist group has faced regarding open records. Students trying to unionize wanted rosters of graduate students so they could be contacted with the pro-union group's message.

An alumnus e-mailed me to discuss police records and accident reports in particular.

I'm in favor of making police records as open as possible, because that lets people know what is going on in their community.

This reader was concerned about being charged to access accident reports. I haven't tested that system yet, but I'd encourage anyone who wants to.

A woman who once worked in Old Main e-mailed me to wish me luck and say she felt students should be given access to specific information about how the university spends students' tuition dollars, including how much money funds trustees' meetings involving travel.

The folks over at Radio Free Penn State, a 5 p.m. weekday show on student-run The Lion 90.7 FM, liked what I was doing and invited me to speak on the program.

I had a great time, and hopefully a few listeners learned about open records in the state. I suggest that the show's regular panelists try their hand at requesting a few documents.

An international student told me he wants to request records, but as a non-citizen, doesn't think that he can. I don't have Pennsylvania residency (though I live here for school and put money into the state economy), but I was given some of the records I requested. It never hurts to ask.

Remember, newspaper columnists and reporters aren't the only ones who can access open records.

It doesn't matter if you're a student, an administrator or a retiree.

If you want information from a state agency, and you think it should be available, don't be afraid to ask for them it.

If you need any advice, my e-mail address is at the end of this column. Hopefully, someone else will pick up where I'm leaving off.

Perhaps that person will be you.