Are you looking for a way to better yourself, the community, and to (try) to avoid all of the mayhem of State Patty’s Day? Well, fear not! There are many alternatives to consider, instead of partying til you’re passed out.

For starters, the men’s basketball team is playing against Northwestern at 9 p.m. Saturday night. It probably wouldn’t be the best idea to show up extremely drunk to that. Go help support the men’s basketball team by showing up sober and ready to watch the game!

Also, Gamma Sigma Sigma is spending four hours of community service on that day, but they’re not the only ones participating in community service, or community building activities. The website, Peace, Love, State College, has organized all sorts of events to span the entire weekend. They’re working with the State College Borough to build a sober presence, as well as working with various student and community organizations to keep State College in a positive light. If that’s not your cup of tea, then maybe you would be interested in participating in PLSC’s Community Walk (now in its second year), State Sweep (where people come together to clean up neighborhoods), or the Neighborhood Dialogues, where people can come together and discuss various topics related to SPD.

It’s also State Day of Service, which is sponsored by the Penn State Council of Lionhearts Service Leaders, which also echoes what PLSC is trying to do. So far, there are many flyers and banners across campus advertising this, and Alpha Phi Omega tweeted at Onward State saying that they’ll be a part of this, helping out local churches.

Pennsylvania Interfaith Power and Light is also having a service weekend, called Positively Green, where participants will be helping to provide weatherization services to low-income houses. Plus, participants get a free lunch! Who doesn’t love free food?

Of course, if volunteer work isn’t exactly your cup of tea, maybe the interesting world of politics is! The Pennsylvania United Nations Conference kicked off on Thursday, and runs through Sunday. This conference is a “small, crisis only conference” held at the Nittany Lion Inn on campus. It is run by the Pennsylvania State International Affairs and Debate Association, or PSIADA, who “seeks to continue building its image on the collegiate circuit as an engaging, fast-paced, crisis-only conference with personable chairs. Committees at PUNC typically focus on international issues that are plaguing the globe- in the past, present, or future,” according to their website.

Perhaps you’d like to be entertained as well. In that case, Houseasaurus Co-Op is hosting Mystery Skulls on Saturday. For those of you who don’t know who Mystery Skulls are, maybe you’ll know who The Secret Handshake is. Mystery Skulls is the creation of former TSH frontman Luis Dubuc. This is his first tour with the new band on the East Coast, and he’s coming to State all the way from Dallas, Texas! In the Facebook event, the creators clearly stress that this is a DRY SHOW, NOT A PARTY. Don’t be an ass and show up drunk to that. The show has no cover charge, but donations are welcomed, as they’ll go straight to the band. The show starts at 10:30 p.m.

As another musical alternative, on Saturday as well, the International Championship of College A Capella Quarterfinal Championships (Mid-Atlantic) will be held in Alumni Hall. This event is a bracketed competition for a capella groups from all over the United States, Canada, and abroad. The Varsity Voices competition is the only tournament in the world to feature a capella singing. There are ten groups competing, and out of those ten, four are from Penn State. The Pennharmonics, Blue in the FACE, The JoePas, and Shades of Blue will sing to their hearts’ desire at this showcase. Penn State has been gracious enough to host the competition for a long time. Each a capella group gets 12 minutes to show what they’ve got in a set that also includes choreography. Other groups competing include California University of Pennsylvania’s Acapella Stella, Vulcanize, Carnegie Mellon’s Counterpoint, and The Originals, Overtones from the U of Pittsburgh, as well as The Chessmen from Franklin and Marshall College. The show starts at 8, and the admission to see these groups is free!

As mentioned in this previous OS article, the 37th Annual New York African Studies Association will also take place this weekend. This year’s conference will be focusing on “Africans in the Americas and African Americans in Africa: the Shifting Boundaries of Citizenship in the 21st Century.”

There will also be a Black-Tie Gala hosted by the African American Diaspora Studies Student Council Saturday night from 10-2 a.m. at the White Building. In case you want to catch up with it on Twitter, the event is listed as #blackandwhite12.

Lastly, the School of Arts and Architecture is having a career fair this weekend, and the Department of Health Policy and Administration is having their mentoring weekend.

So if you decide to take part in State Patty’s Day festivities, at least be smart about it, especially if you plan on attending any of the above events. You don’t want to be “that person” who shows up loud, obnoxious, and drunk to a singing competition. Of course, there’s always the viable option of going to the gym or sleeping all weekend, but that doesn’t sound nearly as fun as all of the activities listed above!