Sept. 5, 2007
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; Sept. 5, 2007 -- They're back, and they're organized. Paternoville 2K7 is as enthusiastic and devoted a community as its past iterations, but this year the students have taken it upon themselves to make some organizational improvements.
Tents began springing up outside Beaver Stadium Gate A early Tuesday morning in anticipation of Saturday's clash with Notre Dame. An all-stadium White Out has been declared for the 6:00 p.m. contest that will air on ESPN, the Penn State Sports Network and www.GoPSUsports.com, the official website of Penn State Athletics.
As of late this afternoon, 76 tents had been erected in Paternoville, 72 hours before kickoff.
"We try to keep the basic structure of Paternoville so that it's not a chaotic mess like it was last year," said sophomore Tom Boroch, president of the Paternoville Coordination Committee (PCC) that was formed last spring. "This year we have the tents set up in rows, so that in between them there's about a five-foot space for a walkway, or where people can put their chairs up to have a little common area."
The PCC acts as Paternoville's official liaison to the University. "We do not want to take anything away from Paternoville, because it's great for what it is," said Boroch. "We don't want to be known as controlling Paternoville. We just want to represent Paternoville to the University. We're just trying to be in the background, in the shadows, and if an issue arises, we're there to deal with it."
So far, Paternoville residents seem to like the changes.
"It's the best. You can't really beat it. There's nothing better than being here, hanging out with everyone you know. Everyone here loves Penn State football," said camper Matt Smith, a sophomore business major.
"We've been looking forward to it all year long. We organized it over the summer, who was doing what, who's taking what shifts. We're actually more organized this year than last year because now we know what to expect," added sophomore George Trent.a
All of the groups seem to be well organized, and at least one has a schedule posted so they can make sure there always is someone at the tent (a Paternoville requirement), and that everyone can attend their classes.
The primary reason students camp out at Paternoville is to get front-row seats for their groups at the games. Last year, that got a bit chaotic, and although students were near the front of the Paternoville campground, they weren't sure where their seats would be because they didn't know who else was trying for seats in the same section.
This year, the PCC has a white board set up. As campers arrive at Paternoville, they sign up on the white board for the section they want, and then set up their tent in the row for that particular section.
"It's really helpful, because it allows people not to worry and stress too much about where their seats might be," Boroch said.
"You've got your entire row going back, so you know who's in front of you and who's behind you," added Smith, a member of Morelli's Mafia, in honor of senior quarterback Anthony Morelli. Smith likes the new system with the white board, because he already knows where his group will be on Saturday. "We should be in the first row. Usually we've been in the second or third row, and we were in the 17th row for the Michigan game. This week, there's only one group in front of us in line and they only have three people, so we know we're going to be in the front row."
Rules established by the University last spring allow Paternoville to form at 12:01 a.m. Thursday before each home game, but the University made an exception for the Notre Dame game, and the PCC announced via its home page at http://www.clubs.psu.edu/up/paternoville/index.html online that campers could set up their tents early. Die-hard residents of Paternoville arrived late in the evening on Monday, and at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday the first tents were erected. There were 24 tents up by 1:15 a.m. Tuesday and 55 by 11:00 p.m.
Paternoville residents are eager to prove to the University that the decision to extend the campout was a sound one. "We got to camp out early, so we're trying to give it back to the school; keep everybody sane," said Smith.
Coach Joe Paterno and the No. 14 Nittany Lions will participate in Friday's "Rally In The Valley" at 8:00 p.m, in Rec Hall, immediately following the Penn State-St. John's women's volleyball match, which begins at 6:00.