It is very likely that, this weekend, the so-called snow hurricane won’t be the only thing to disappoint State College.

We reported yesterday that a hurricane-type snow storm would be hitting the northeast late this week. Though it will be most likely affecting State College, the snowfall will be much less than we had previously been told.

Is the same general relationship true for State Patty’s Day too?

The deans of the College of Engineering and the Schreyer Honors College (and now the Executive Director of the DUS) have come out against State Patty’s– one unambiguously, the other in a roundabout way. The bars downtown decided, after feeling pressure from locals, to disallow green beer, early openings, bar specials, and promotions. Retail outlets said they would pull State Patty’s Day merchandise from their shelves (though McLanahan’s apparently declined to do so).

But it might take more than a couple of deans and an ad in the paper to stop this beast. I spotted this dorm decoration while walking through the very halls of Dean Brady’s honors college.

To fight the will of the student community is an ill-fated decision. I’m against the holiday, sure. I probably won’t celebrate it at all. But it doesn’t bother me that the holiday continues, and even if it did, who are we to intervene? It’s not as if the degree to which State College gets inebriated differs so much from football season, is it?

Then again, no one asked me. If the UPUA– ostensibly, the voice of the students– was able to coalesce so many other organizations around its message, that’s gotta count for something.

It seems the student community is a mixed group of those who like, love, loathe, and don’t just don’t mind State Patty’s. We’ll know if this is the year it dies soon– just as soon as we see what the weather brings.

Editor’s note… what’s not known is how much larger the police presence will be compared to the typical weekend. It seems very likely to be a day of above average patrols. Indeed, the CDT recently quoted police chief Tom King saying just as much. So perhaps that too will deter students from engaging in State Patty’s Day activities.