With a winning football team and unusually warm fall temperatures, it's hard to miss the extra bounce in many Penn State students' steps lately.

For most seniors, this is the last year to experience Happy Valley as a student, but this week, seniors have the opportunity leave their legacy behind by voting for the 2006 Senior Class Gift.

Jeffrey Baltzer (senior-marketing) said the class gift is more than just a physical structure to improve campus but also a way to give back to Penn State.

"This is more than just voting to build something on campus," he said. "It's about showing your Penn State pride and your commitment to giving back to Penn State for the rest of your life as an alumni."

Senior Class Gift Overall Erika Swierczynski said that after about 50 suggestions, the class gift committee, along with some help from faculty and the Office of Physical Plant, narrowed it down to the final three nominees.

Students can vote for a campus entrance sign at the intersection of Atherton Street and Park Avenue, a promenade lined with tulip trees connecting the new Creamery with the new East Campus buildings or a reflective garden outside of Rec Hall in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.

Class Gift committee member Bill Koellhoffer said all of these options offer a unique way to improve campus.

"The MLK garden would be a nice commemoration," he said. "The promenade would basically be like a new mall like the one outside of Willard, and the Atherton sign is pretty much a necessity because we have nothing over there welcoming students."

Koellhoffer said the committee also got a few more unusual suggestions from students.

"Someone suggested the Class of 2006 donate toilet seat covers for the bathrooms in the HUB," he said. "Another person suggested a jumbotron in the tailgating parking lot; that way people tailgating without tickets to football games could still watch the game."

Swierczynski said she also saw a nomination for a miniature golf course, and although those ideas were fun and the committee liked them, they weren't feasible with the resources available. "With the cost and space we have, the ideas just wouldn't work," she said. "It's important seniors vote and pledge to the gift to make sure whatever we choose will improve Penn State for as long as there is a Penn State."

Committee member Candice Hornung (senior-telecommunications) said that although it can vary, senior classes usually raise about $100,000 for their gift. Most of that money comes from students who donate their general deposits, Lion Line fundraising and a few other philanthropies at Penn State. "I want to be able to come back to Penn State and see something I contributed [to]," Hornung said. "It's part of a tradition to give back that's been going on since 1861."

Swierczynski said seniors can vote for the class gift until Friday at tables set up around campus or at www.seniorclassgift.psu.edu. The results will be announced next Wednesday morning, she said. "I encourage all seniors to come out and show their support for their class and Penn State. This is a great way to leave something behind," she said.