Cities and towns across America are proposing laws prohibiting sagging pants, but don't expect similar ordinances to be passed in State College any time soon.
Places like Atlanta, Ga.; Trenton, N.J.; and Delcambre, La., have all proposed laws banning saggy pants.
Delcambre has passed an ordinance, which states that wearing pants low enough to show boxers or buttocks can result in six months jail time and a $500 fine.
Atlanta and Trenton may soon follow and fine those with their underwear hanging out. On top of a fine in Trenton, the law would require a city worker to assess where the saggy pants wearer's life is headed.
"Are they employed? Do they have a high school diploma? It's a wonderful way to redirect at that point," Trenton councilwoman Annette Lartigue, who is drafting a law to outlaw saggy pants, told The Associated Press. "The message is clear: We don't want to see your backside."
State College does not plan on instating a law of this nature, State College Mayor Bill Welch said.
"As long as their privates are covered, and they're not causing a public indecency, what does it matter if they're wearing them or not?" Welch said.
Colleen Considine (sophomore-psychology) agreed.
"I don't think your underwear should be hanging out, but I don't think you should be fined for it," she said.
Ashley Occhipinti (junior-elementary education) and Tamia Taylor (sophomore-communication arts and sciences) both said there are more important issues facing society than saggy pants.
Welch said the borough does not have baggy pants on their agenda, unlike the State College Cell Block, 420 E. College Ave., which has recently taken action to ban baggy pants as part of its dress code.
The dress code is effective only on Wednesday nights, when 18-year-olds are allowed to enter the club. The code was put in place for safety reasons, said manager Doug Nixon, adding that the club didn't want people sneaking alcohol inside or from different levels in the club by hiding it in their baggy pants.
"Once people got used to the dress code, it worked very well, " Nixon said. "People actually appreciate it."
The dress code also banned men's capris, cutoffs, sweatpants, bandanas, do-rags, sunglasses, white T-shirts and shirts longer than the person's fingertips.
When the dress code was created over the summer, some students complained that the selected items of clothing and accessories being banned were racially motivated.
Students have expressed the same concerns with these newly proposed laws.
"This law will obviously fine different groups of people, but stereotyping will be an issue, even if the law wasn't specifically created against a certain race," Considine said.
Occhipinti said she thinks people will definitely think the law is targeting certain ethnic groups.
Downtown store 5Twenty7, 214 East College Ave., sells several types of baggy pants, known as "urban fit."
"I don't think it should come to the point that a person should be fined for wearing saggy pants," store manager Teresa Johnson said. "It's what's in-style."
However, she added that there comes a point where wearers have to be respectful and make sure that nothing is hanging out.
Brian Canseco (sophomore-comparative literature) said he "doesn't want to see people's
underwear," but that the government should not be able to tell people what they can and cannot wear.
-The Associated Press contributed to this report.
