Each May, around 3,000 junior and senior high school students from across Pennsylvania travel to Penn State University to participate in the annual Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science state meeting. Despite housing and feeding such a large group of students for three days, Penn State and the PJAS have had almost no problems over the past 10 years. The students are well-behaved and focused on their science projects, which are more advanced than typical school science fair projects. Through careful planning and coordination between Penn State staff and PJAS volunteers, the large event is run smoothly with no security or conduct issues reported.

1. Security World Magazine. August 17, 2007
“Event Security: Student Campus Conduct Seen in Whole New Light”
Gather a group of security or public safety professionals and ask themwhat kind of problems
they would expect if someone had to transport, houseand feed 3,000 junior and senior high
schoolstudents for three days on the largest university campus in Pennsylvania. You would
probably come up with a few nightmare scenarios. Well, here’s a twist! The Pennsylvania
Junior Academy of Science does this every May and they rarely have a problem.
By Jeffrey R. Keenan
One Student Auxiliary Officer directs traffic as part of
his employment. (Photo by the Pennsylvania State University)
WHEN STUDENTS SWARM EN MASSE…
Put a large group of junior and senior high schoolstudents together, away fromhome on a
university campus. Someof them might get themselves into serious trouble as they look to
‘torch a blunt’ or ‘crack a 40’. The students featured in this article are morelikely to be in
search of ‘Furin Subcellular Localization and Ovarian Tumor Progression’ or ‘Gammarus and
the Distribution of Oomycetes Achlya and Saprol’.
Each May, for the last ten years, almost3,000 junior and senior high schoolstudents from
across the Commonwealth travel to central Pennsylvania and the sprawling campus of Penn
State University located in the community of State College. Even non-football fans know of
the Penn State Nittany Lions and their legendary head coach, Joe Paterno.
These particular students are presenters at the 72nd annual state meeting of the Pennsylvania
Junior Academy of Science (PJAS).
The Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science is a statewide organization of junior and senior
high schoolstudents designed to stimulate and promoteinterest in science among its

2. members through the development of research projects and investigations. The PJAS
constitution was approved in 1934 by the Pennsylvania Academy of Science, its parent
organization. The PAS is affiliated with the American Association for the Advancementof
Science (AAAS). Participation across thestate has gone froman original group of fourteen
schools in 1934 to nearly 400 in 2006.
The science projects that these students presentare more detailed and complicated than the
traditional ‘vinegar and baking soda volcano’ experiments seen at schoolscience fairs. The
level of sophistication involved in developing and presenting the material to a panel of judges
is more difficult than the sometimes flashier ‘poster board’ science projects and displays
growing in popularity in regional competitions. The two topics listed earlier are fromactual
student presentations in Grade 12 Biology. The 3,000 studentparticipants representthe first
place winners fromten regional competitions.
These young people aresome of the finest students in the state. Many go on to the military
academies. Many scholarships, prizes and grants areoffered during the three day event.
One of the recent state winners, 17 year old Marc Roberge of Pittsburgh Central Catholic High
School, was interviewed in local newspapers and on MSNBC for his experiment on how
applying a simple iron to a suspectenvelope can kill anthraxvirus contained inside.
Applications of this technique are being reviewed by the Department of Homeland Security.
The categories in which the students present include Behavioral/Psychology, Biochemistry,
Biology, Botany, Chemistry, Computer Science, Earth and Space, Ecology, Mathematics,
Microbiology, Physics and Zoology. The presentations are oral and only overhead projections
are permitted. They cannot exceed 10 minutes. All measurements in the experiments must
be converted into metrics to be reflective of the scientific community. They are judged on
scientific thought, experimental methods, analytical approach and presentation. Judges may
question the student on his/her project for up to five minutes afterwards. This conservative
approach to scientific research is sometimes in stark contrastto other presentation formats
which put equal emphasis on styleand substance. Many former PJAS presenters have goneon
to become teachers and they have returned with their students years later.
3,000 focused, energetic and well-behaved young people populate the campus during the
shortbreak between the spring and summer terms at Penn State. Their attitudes and
dispositions might havesomething to do with the lack of problems encountered by the
University and the PJAS during the meeting. On a note as positiveas the students, all of the
sponsors, judges, technicians, chaperones and escorts arevolunteers fromtheir home regions.
The total number of active participants at the event can sometimes exceed 4,000. Funding is

3. provided by gifts, grants, donations and modest registration fees for schools and participating
students.
So, as security and public safety professionals ponder possiblenegativescenarios, it might be
better to switch froman ‘Animal House’ point of view to one of ‘Revenge of the Nerds’.
RUNNING MASS EVENTS TROUBLE-FREE
Like many colleges and universities Penn State looks to maximize the year-round useof its
educational and athletic assets. Facilities, such as dormitories and large lecture classrooms
with state-of-the-artIT, audio and video equipment, are routinely contracted to non-university
organizations for training, conferences, conventions, seminars, retreats and cultural events.
Athletic venues such as the natatorium are used for training camps or regional and state
competitions.
The state competition of the PJAS is the largest, non-athletic event held on the main campus
of Penn State in State College.
Even with well-behaved visitors, the logistics of such a visitcould representa daunting task to
an organization not as well prepared as Penn State and the supportdepartments within.
Outsideof other universities and colleges, only a few other types of organizations deal with
such large groups coming in and out of their facilities in such a shorttime. Many security
professionals in the hospitality industry see similar crowds who requirehousing, food and
meeting facilities. Military induction centers routinely process largenumbers of people but
seldom in groups of 2,000-3,000 ata time.
The University Police at Penn State University provideall law enforcement and security
services to the University Park campus. The department currently employs 46 full-time armed
Police Officers, sixtraffic and parking officers, fivepolice dispatcher/recorders and
approximately 200 students as Auxiliary Officers and escorts. The department provides patrol
services to the campus and University-owned properties 24-hoursa day, 365 days a year.
University Police are commissioned under the Administrative Code of 1929 and the Municipal
Police Officers Education and Training Law (Act 120 of 1974) and havethe sameauthority as
municipal police officers in the Commonwealth, being authorized to carry firearms and
empowered to make arrests.
In addition to providing security and police services, University Policeare also responsiblefor
parking enforcement and traffic control. Paid on-campus parking is available for families who
join their presenter children for a weekend away. Officers havefirst-aid training as Emergency
Responders and providefirst rescueresponseand fire suppression services to the campus. To

4. increase interaction with the public, the University Police maintains a bicycle unit as well as a
canine unit.
Any reportable event under the guidelines of the Cleary Act, the Campus Crime and Security
Survey, is logged by police services. In the ten years of PJAS at Penn State, there have been no
reportable events involving students during the state meeting.
A three to four member nursing team is maintained around the clock by PJAS at a central
location near the dormitories and the student commons. Three sets of H.I.P.A.A (Health
Information Portability and Accountability Act) compliant medical records are delivered by
each of the regions to the nurses‘ station. Despite having good scientific training, even the
brightest young person can forget the immutable laws of physics when it comes to an 18 year
old running into a tree while trying to catch a Frisbee. Scrapes, bumps and bruises arenot
uncommon. Headaches, cramps and blisters round out the normal complaints. More serious
injuries are handled at nearby Mt. Nittany Medical Center right off the Penn State campus.
The students arrive on campus the firstday of the state meeting in approximately 50 buses
and vans as well as hundreds of private vehicles. The traffic is coordinated with police services
and representatives of PJAS. Teachers, volunteers and chaperones fromeach region handle
the distribution of roomkeys, event programs, and meal cards for their own students. All
people involved in the event are issued temporary paper ID cards which they must carry while
on campus. The pre-programmed meal cards also serveas access cards to the dormitories
wherethe students stay. Access to other dormitories or buildings are limited by the electronic
programming putin place by the housing services department. There are volunteer
chaperones on each floor of the dormitories which are sorted by sex. The event programs are
85 pages and contain detailed maps of the campus, rules and regulations, times of scheduled
meetings and award ceremonies. A detailed judging rubric is also included.
The students can take meals in the student commons, with its diners and restaurants. Doors
to the dormitories are programmed to alarms which alert officials if dormitory entrances or
exits are propped open. Specific times for pizza deliveries and curfew are strictly enforced. At
the conclusion of the three day meeting, all keys are accounted for and returned to housing
services. There is a fee assessed by the university to PJAS for any lost keys and that fee in turn
is passed along to the responsibleregion. All rooms with missing keys are re-keyed within 8
hours of the determination that a key is lost.

5. FROM SECURITY NIGHTMARETO SUCCESS STORY
Penn State ConferencePlanner Chriss A. Schultz has worked with PJAS for the ten years the
organization has used the Universities’ facilities. She is routinely present on campus for 16-20
hours each day of the three day event. Additionally, she maintains phone, mail and e-mail
contact with all of the regional directors involved in the meeting in both preparation, follow
through and pre-planning for the following years event.
The PJAS state staff, which oversees Judging, Special Awards and Technicians, is in
communications with beepers, walkie-talkies and cell phones. State officials for the PJAS are
able to quickly move around campus, visiting the buildings in which students make their
presentations, using vans and utility vehicles. Each year, on a rotating basis, one of the regions
serves as the host region. That region will then provide additional volunteers to help the
event run smoothly.
For 2006, Region VII, which includes Pittsburgh in Allegheny County and nearby Westmoreland
County, served as the host. Region VII is oneof the largest in the state with 120 participating
local schools. All of the regions have local sponsors or supporters. Someof the organizations
offering prizes, awards or scholarship money in Region VII includethe Advanced Society for
Materials Science, American Chemical Society, American Nuclear Society, Bechtel Machinery,
Carnegie Mellon Chapter of Sigma Xi, Carnegie Mellon Human Computer Interaction Institute,
Society for Analytical Chemists, Society of Women Engineers, The Carnegie Museum of Natural
Science, the Marine Corps League-ThreeRivers Leatherneck Detachment #310, University of
Pittsburgh Department of Biological Sciences, WestinghouseElectric Company and
WestinghouseWomen in Nuclear.
At the conclusion of the presentations across the campus, the judges return to the student
commons wheretheir scores of the individual presentations are submitted and calculated for
awards. Theawards are presented in a morning and an evening ceremony in the Eisenhower
Auditorium. Located in the center of the Penn State campus, Eisenhower Auditoriumboasts
such shows as the national tours of Grease, The Sound of Music, Romeo and Juliet, the Martha
GrahamDance Company, and Angels in America. With 2,600 seats, theauditorium is also used
for concerts by both professionalgroups and students.
Strict ID security is in place to prevent an unauthorized presentation of an award to any
student as they process to the stage. First, second and third place certificates and pins are
given to winners as well as medallions for Perfect Score. As further proof of the conservative
and serious natureof the competition, a dress code is enforced on awardees that prohibits
hats, provocative, challenging or ‘statement’ t-shirts or sweatshirts and outlandish, bizarreor

6. distracting hair styles. Students withoutproper IDs aredenied awards untiltheir sponsorscan
come forward to verify identity. Mischievous useof laser pointers by students is restricted.
The evening of the final day is saved for dances and socials for the students, faculty, staff and
chaperones. Historically, these events are trouble-free. The morning of the third day all of the
participants are gathered, keys collected and then shipped off to their own regions and home.
The chaperones usually comment that the students are boisterous on the way up to Penn
State and that they sleep all of the way back.
Itdoesn’ttake much effort for public safety and security professionals to find brutal examples
of problems with young people in junior and senior high schools today. Tragedies like
Columbine sear a vivid image into our collective psyches. Itis nice to be reminded that there
are still good kids out there. Good kids who are trying very hard to succeed in a difficult world.
Good kids who will someday end up changing that same world in a very positive way.
Jeffrey R. Keenan has been a volunteer advisor to PJAS Region VII (Pittsburgh/Allegheny and
Westmoreland counties) for the last ten years. In that time he has been the treasurer of the
region and credentialssupervisor for the state award ceremony. Presently, he isthe Director of
Retention at Western Schoolof Health and Business Careers -- a thousand studenttrade-
technicalcollege in Pittsburgh where he has been since 1989. AtWestern he is also the
CampusSafety and Security Representative and hasbeen the Dean of Business, Dean of
Studentsand Program Director for both the CriminalJustice and Business Administration
programs.