The president of the newly formed Paternoville Coordination Committee (PCC) will meet with administrators today in an effort to extend the time students can camp outside Beaver Stadium before home football games.
Penn State administrators mandated on Oct. 5 that students must wait until Thursdays at 6 a.m. or later to set up their campsites. Last night at the first PCC meeting, PCC President Jordan Cascino said he would seek to extend camping time by six hours so campers could set up their sites at midnight on Thursdays.
"Thursday at 6 a.m. has to go," Cascino told the 14 people assembled for the meeting in Thomas Building last night.
Another member of PCC, Chris Grassi (sophomore-supply chain and information systems), seemed resolved that the time would be extended.
"That's something that we're not going to buckle on," Grassi said. "It would reduce the mob scene that we had -- people fighting for spots. At midnight, I don't think people will be as inclined to go up there."
Cascino said there was a good possibility that the extension could be implemented for Penn State's game against Temple on Saturday.
Another concern that Cascino promised to bring to today's meeting is the parking situation outside Beaver Stadium for Paternoville campers.
He said he wants campers to be able to park their cars in lots near the stadium overnight on Friday nights to make it easier for them to break down and remove their tents on Saturday mornings.
Group members also tossed around several ideas about possibly extending Paternoville to an entire week for one particular game next year.
Cascino brought up the idea of having students, when they order next year's season tickets online, specify exactly which home game they would like to spend a week camping out before.
If the idea took effect, students would be allowed to camp out for a week prior to whichever game received the most votes.
Both Grassi and Cascino attended a closed meeting held by Vice President for Student Affairs Vicky Triponey on Oct. 18 to discuss Paternoville's future.
Soon after the meeting with Triponey, Cascino established PCC as an attempt to "work with University officials to keep Paternoville a fun and safe place to be, doing so by helping the University uphold Paternoville regulations," according to the group's constitution.
