Penn State University Police have increased patrols in East Halls around Pinchot Hall in response to the arson that occurred last weekend, but Pinchot residents say they have not noticed a large difference in police presence.

"Extra measures of security have been taken to have more of a presence around East Halls," said Thomas Sowerby, university police criminal investigations supervisor.

An unknown person or people set a stack of newspapers on fire in the elevator of Pinchot Hall around 5 a.m. Sunday. The elevator traveled through the building, sending smoke onto each floor.

About 320 residents, mostly freshmen, live in the all-male dorm.

University police did not have any new information available in the ongoing investigation, Sowerby said.

Crime alerts have been posted and interviews are being conducted to uncover more information and find a suspect, he said.

Mike Broglie (freshman-chemical engineering), a Pinchot resident, said he noticed more of a police presence in the days immediately following the fire as interviews were conducted and officers went door to door in the dorm. However, he has not noticed a significant increase at night.

"I am anticipating more of a police presence in the building over the weekend, which will deter anything from happening," Broglie said.

He added that he was upset about the incident, which was a huge inconvenience for residents.

"It was a stupid thing to do, and it kept a lot of us from sleeping," Broglie said.

Patrick Yoder (freshman-business), also a Pinchot resident, said he doubted another incident would occur since residents have been informed that a conviction for the crime would carry a seven-year prison sentence.

"The person probably didn't realize at the time how much trouble they could get in," he said.

The slight increase in police presence has not been a nuisance to residents, Yoder added.

"As long as you are minding your business, be quiet, they won't approach you," he said.

Yoder said the incident has been extremely annoying since the alarms sounded at 5 a.m. Sunday, the day that daylight-saving time started.

Adam Losi (freshman-communications) said he has not noticed any difference in police presence around the dorm, despite being told by police that they would increase the watch around the building.

Though the evacuation was annoying at the time, he said he thinks the incident is no longer a big deal in the dorm.

Marc Fisher (freshman-liberal arts) said the amount of police presence needs to take a middle ground.

"I think sometimes it is necessary, but I don't think we need cops patrolling the halls or anything," he said.

Fisher added that he had not seen a significant increase in police patrolling the area, though he suspects police will come by the building more often during the weekend.

Residents are still pretty upset about the incident, especially since the unusable elevator has been a hassle, he said.