The sound of a train's charge woke her in the night.
But State College Borough Council President Elizabeth Goreham quickly discovered that what sounded like a train was instead a massive downtown riot -- a riot so large that she said its dark stain has severely discolored Penn State's image.
"People could have been killed," Goreham said of the Oct. 25 riot, during which thousands of students took to the streets of Beaver Canyon to celebrate the football team's away victory against Ohio State University.
While last weekend's Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts remained riot-free -- despite its checkered past -- it's anyone's guess when the next time a tide of students will again flood downtown, Goreham said.
The Stain
"It really puts a black spot on Penn State," Goreham said. "It became the thing to do and a cultural thing. We've taken a pretty hard line. It's become quite serious."
Case and point: Mitch Stutz, who police charged with criminal mischief after the Oct. 25 riot where thousands of students rushed Beaver Canyon when the Penn State football team defeated Ohio State.
Stutz (junior-bio behavioral health) pleaded guilty, has two years probation and must complete 100 hours of community service.
The same black spot Goreham spoke of will also stain Stutz's record, which will list his charges stemming from the incident, he said.
"It's the stupidest thing ever," Stutz said. "Don't do it because people get arrested -- like me. Even if you're in the area, you should probably walk away."
But the Ohio State riot had its predecessors.
At about 2 a.m. July 2, 1998, on the 200 and 300 blocks of East Beaver Ave., a large crowd engaged in "tumultuous and reckless behavior," according to court documents.
A police officer reported being kicked "in the area of the groin" during the 1998 Arts Fest riot, according to the 1998 riot affidavit.
It was Arts Fest, and the students pulled down their pants, damaged cars, pulled streetlights and threw bottles off apartment balconies, police reported.
"[It] served no legitimate purpose," according to court documents from the 1998 riot.
Similar riots occurred in 2000 during Arts Fest and the following year on March 24, when the men's basketball team lost to Temple University in the NCAA tournament.
After the Arts Fest and Temple riots, police installed more surveillance cameras in the downtown area, particularly near Beaver Canyon.
Across the Country
The cases are similar: A music festival or a big game, a lot of alcohol and a thrill of energy mixing together is a recipe for disaster. All across the country, universities have reported riots ripping through their towns.
"We had a riot back in 2002 after our key rivalry game against Michigan," said Ohio State University spokesperson Jim Lynch. "It's an issue being addressed by colleges across the country."
In Morgantown, West Virginia, local authorities changed the law as a direct result of a West Virginia University tradition of lighting couches on fire.
David Fetty, head of the Morgantown Fire Department, said the local government voted to increase arson penalties for students who start fires up to $1,000. Such a crime is called "malicious burning."
But now the tradition has morphed into lighting dumpsters on fire.
"They quit burning couches, and dumpsters are everywhere, so it's harder for us to predict," Fetty said.
In April 2009 at Kent State University, students took to the streets during College Fest, a downtown end-of-the-school-year celebration, said Kent University spokesman Tom Neumann.
"Students started taking over the street. They started some fires," Neumann said.
Neumann said he was unsure what sparked the riot, and while he "didn't know what triggered it," he said factors such as alcohol and the nice weather could have affected it.
"It was a situation that got out of hand," he said.
State College Police Lieutenant Keith Robb said the State College Police Department has contacted other police departments from Big Ten schools to discuss rioting.
While the schools might have different demographics and are located in different areas, many of them experience riots, he explained. The officers exchange tactics and how they react to such situations, he said.
"Every place is different," Robb said of the Big Ten schools. "But it's the same type of a thing."
A Motive for Madness
Dr. Eric Silver, a Penn State expert in interpersonal violence, said while student riots may occur in any location, "human nature" remains the same.
"People tend to act out in ways they wouldn't otherwise when they're in a group," said Silver, an associate professor of crime, law and justice and sociology. "It's disinhibition. Most of the time, we are prohibited to act on our impulses because we will be punished for what we do."
Age could also be factor, he said. For unknown reasons, people in their late teens and early twenties are more likely to commit more crime and to be victimized than other age groups, he said.
Students are more likely to riot then when they are in a group setting, he said.
"Groups have a natural tendancy to look for something to oppose -- for something to distinguish," he said. "A lone Penn State fan is unlikely to assault a lone Ohio State fan. But in groups, it somehow brings out a desire in people to defend their group."
Silver said confusion and anonymity are many times enhanced in a group and can be factors that turn a crowd's celebration into a riot.
"It doesn't matter what the event is," Silver said. "What matters is the structure. You're bringing together a lot of young people."
Because sporting events occur regularly at Penn State and there are many people, the structure of such events could possibly increase the frequency of riots, he said.
But there's one factor that Silver said can considerably effect a group's behavior: alcohol.
"When you add some alcohol, you've got the recipe for this behavior," he said.
Police Response
It's that recipe that has State College police prepared during Arts Fest and during home football weekends, said Sgt. Barry Smith. But sometimes riots catch police off-guard.
"Arts Fest is an annual event that can be planned in advance," Smith said. "The Ohio State riot was spontaneous."
When spontaneous riots occur, Smith said police immediately begin work on their contingency plans.
During the Ohio State riot, Goreham said police were short staffed and "hadn't been prepared."
Smith said he couldn't comment on the specific details regarding contigency plans for a riot.
There's one "effective" tactic police use, Robb said, and it's pepper spray.
"It prevents injury because you get compliance without touching them," Robb said. "It hurts, it stings, but it's only temporary. There's no broken bones or blood."
Smith said the pepper spray "smells like oranges" and can quickly clear out crowds.
"It feels like you have sand in your eyes," he added.
Robb said police only use pepper spray after verbal communication has failed. Some times it's not necessary to use in order to break up a crowd.
"When the Phillies won the World Series, I don't believe pepper spray was used because there was verbal compliance," he said.
The Future
Smith believes "people will scale back" after the fallout from last fall's riot, during which 14 people were initially charged in connection with the incident. In Morgantown, Fetty predicted the couch burnings and dumpster fires would continue.
"We never say never. Each year is a new year," Fetty said. "The students come in and they know the history."
Goreham said the downtown riots perplex her.
"It's conflicting. It's discordant with what Penn State stands for," she said.
Goreham added that the downtown property owners have installed "a lot more" surveillance cameras to catch rioters. Smith said that the rioting seems to come in waves as new generations of students enter and graduate from the university.
With Arts Fest over, police will shift their attention to this fall's football season.
On Nov. 7 at Beaver Stadium, the Penn State football team will take on Ohio State. While Penn Staters hope for a repeat victory, like last year, authorities prepare for their own battle.
When asked whether he thinks a riot will take place at this year's Ohio State game, Stutz sighed.
"It's probably going to happen again," he said.
