Students living off campus will soon have another outlet of information that the Off-Campus Student Union hopes will foster a sense of community and keep students better informed.

Ryan Bennington, Off-Campus Student Union president, said the organization will spend the week at a table in the HUB-Robeson Center signing students up for the off-campus student newswire that will begin sending information -- in the same format as the current student newswire -- on Feb. 14.

The Off-Campus Student Union will be in the HUB from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today through Friday to give students a chance to sign up.

Bennington said the goal of the newswire is to keep everyone informed of big issues downtown and to create a better sense of community for off-campus students.

"For many people, this is their first time living away from parents where they are paying rent, so we would like to include things such as renters rights information, stuff like when renters need to plow snow off walkways," Bennington said.

The newswire will also include links to the State College Borough government, the Off-Campus Student Union Web site and off-campus housing, Bennington said.

He added that he hopes to have guest writers that are prominent downtown figures, such as the mayor.

"It sounds to me like a good idea," State College Mayor Bill Welch said. "I'm all in favor of more news."

Welch said jokingly that he may write for the newswire, "depending on how much [Bennington] pays."

Many students who signed up for the newswire said they hoped it would include information that will keep them better informed of on-campus events as well.

"It is nice to know what is going on if you are not that involved," Samantha Marpe (senior-public relations) said. "Some people don't make it up to the HUB every day."

Lena Matternas, vice president of the Off-Campus Student Union, said people who have signed up so far are people who have expressed an interest in the downtown or are people who are already very involved.

Although Bennington said getting people to sign up at the HUB was "harder than working at The Gap," he hopes that things will pick up once the Penn State student newswire runs tomorrow.

"People can just click on the link and sign up," Bennington said.

Both Bennington and Matternas said they were not sure how many students have signed up so far, but they are guessing the number is between 50 and 100.

Matternas said the Off-Campus Student Union will also be at the housing fair Saturday in the HUB, targeting change-of-assignment students -- those transferring from Commonwealth Campuses to University Park next year.

Jamie Ziegenfuss (senior-psychology, Spanish and international studies) said he has tried to stay connected since he moved off campus but said it is hard, and he feels "a little out of the loop."

"I think it is really great that they are starting this," said Ziegenfuss, director of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Allied affairs for the Undergraduate Student Government. "I feel like when you live on campus, you get a lot of information from living in the residence halls, and off campus you are kind of disconnected, so I think this is a great way to unify."

Bennington said this and many other goals for the year center on bringing the campus to students living in the downtown area instead of them traveling to campus -- something students see favor in.

"It's a great initiative to attempt to incorporate students who live off campus with students who live on campus," Erica Levy (senior-music) said.

Tysen Kendig, a university spokesman, said the idea behind the newswire is to include items that are of particular interest to off-campus students.

"Certainly we try to bring members of the Penn State community a little closer to the university," Kendig said.

He said this will be one of three dozen newswires with a total of 300,000 subscribers. The idea of an off-campus student newswire is something the university has been receptive to, Kendig said.