STATE COLLEGE — As one of the year's major student partying occasions approaches, Penn State University officials point to what they hope are sobering statistics about a rise in alcohol-related emergency room visits by students.

They hope to keep St. Patrick's Day intoxication down to a dull roar, as well as the related Penn-State-specific celebration of "State Patrick's Day" on Saturday.

Vice president for University Relations Bill Mahon said 313 Penn State students sought alcohol-related emergency room care at Mount Nittany Medical Center between August and December 2008, up more than 100 in the same period in 2007.

GREENSBURG — Seton Hill University, a private, Catholic school, recently received a $3.5 million gift, the largest in school history.The university received the money from the estate of Carol Ann Reichgut, who died Jan. 3. Reichgut is a 1956 graduate who taught music in the Montgomery County, Md., school district for 35 years.Her gift will be used to endow more than $50,000 in annual scholarships for minority students.