Happy Valley Debate Brewing Over 'State Patty's' Day

State College police are preparing for an annual student-organized event that leads to a spike in drunken driving arrests and hospitalizations.

Nearly 8,000 fans have joined a Facebook.com page informing college students about plans for “State Patty’s” day.

A group of Penn State students organized the holiday in 2007, when St. Patrick’s Day landed in the middle of spring break.

Several comments publicly posted on the Facebook.com group include “I’ll be partying my brains out” and “no one can stop State Patty’s Day."

State College police officers were overwhelmed during State Patty’s Day 2009.

According to Capt. Dana Leonard, 14 people were arrested for DUI, 79 others were given alcohol-related citations and nearly two-dozen college students were hospitalized.

“Twenty-one alcohol overdoses,” said Leonard. “That means 21 people were overdosed on alcohol to the point where they had to be taken for medical treatment of their condition. That’s serious.”

State Patty’s Day 2010, set for Feb. 27, is expected to be just as large as last year’s event.

"It's just amazing how many are out there on a single night like this,” said Dan Phillips. “Everyone says it's only just a few people. Well, there's hundreds and hundreds. It's only a few that actually get caught."

Phillips was on-call during last year’s State Patty’s Day.

The local EMT created a Facebook.com page against the drinking event, hoping to raise awareness about the nuisance and dangers created.

"It's a day that has brought more shame and more crime and everything to this town than any other weekend, any other football game,” said Phillips. “It's just one day that is worse than any other."

As officers prepare their game plan for patrols during State Patty’s Day, new information on alcohol-related arrests were released.

In January 2010, 39 people were arrested for DUI, ranging from 16 to 65 years old.

State College police Capt. Dana Leonard told WJAC-TV Thursday that the average blood alcohol content levels are on the rise, and that the highest recorded BAC in January was .436, nearly six times over the legal limit.

“To have somebody being at that blood alcohol concentration while driving in one of the most densely populated areas of Centre County with the highest number of pedestrians on the street is a grave concern to us,” said Leonard. Nearly 400 drivers were arrested for DUI in State College in 2009, accounting for almost half of all DUI arrests in Centre County.