Penn State football fans will be able to pack their bags early for Paternoville this week. But to be fully prepared for the 2007 Ohio State campout, students should add a few additional items to their bags: a white shirt, a blue glow stick and a pair of goggles.
Paternoville has been granted one more extended campout by the administration for the Ohio State game, said Tom Boroch, Paternoville Coordination Committee (PCC) president. The campout will officially begin at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.
Originally, Paternoville was only allotted one extended campout this year -- for the Notre Dame game -- but it was granted another extended campout because of the good behavior at the first, Boroch said.
There will be a few minor changes this time, though.
First, as suggested by the administration, there will be an emergency aisle down the middle of the tents, in case a camper is hurt and also to aid in picking up trash, he said.
If the temperature drops to below freezing before Friday, campers will have to leave and lose their spots. The PCC, with the athletic department, plans to create a wristband system to reserve spots in line, although the wristbands would be passed out on Friday at the earliest.
"I've been looking at the forecast, and the beginning of next week says low 40s, but you can never trust a long-term forecast," said Boroch, a meteorology major. "We should be OK, but we'll definitely get that ironed out."
The game on Saturday is going to be a White Out, said Guido D'Elia, director of communications and brand for football. D'Elia said he talked to many student groups, the PCC among them, and everyone agreed that "this would be the game for students to go white."
He had heard of the idea of bringing blue glow sticks to the game and said if the students can pull it off, it would be "great." His only concern was if the glow sticks would show up under the stadium lights.
A group on Facebook.com that had about 570 members yesterday also encourages students to wear goggles to the game, so those who rush the field won't be harmed by pepper spray from the police.
One of the group's creators, Brian Hanser (senior-accounting) said if Penn State wins over No. 1 ranked Ohio State, "there's no reason not to" rush the field, similar to the 2005 victory against the undefeated Ohio State.
Penn State Police Sgt. Don Hazel said this is the first he had heard of students' plans to wear goggles to avoid pepper spray, but said the goggles won't be much help if pepper spray is used.
"You can still inhale it," he said. "It can get up into your nasal passages, and it burns like your eyes would."
Hazel said anyone who comes over the rail is subject to arrest, and while he understands people would want to celebrate a win, he urges them to "use their head."
As always, Paternoville tents must be down by 8 a.m. Saturday, and Boroch stressed that chairs must also be put away since they could pose a safety hazard to the mass of people pushing through the gates. He said particularly that chairs cannot be stowed in trees, as they have been at previous campouts.
"We can't really have that happen again," he said. "Chairs in the trees don't go over very well with the university."
PCC founder Jordan Cascino (junior-communications, arts and sciences) said the campout is going to be similar to the Ohio State campout in 2005, and he'll arrive at 12:01 a.m. tomorrow.
"Hopefully, the intensity and the fanfare of the week will live up to it," Cascino said. "It's ridiculous. Camping this week is going to be like taking another extra three-credit course."
