PSU Students Sell Bag Fans Can Take in Stadium

A group of Penn State student-entrepreneurs see a business opportunity in the university's new ban on bags at home athletic events.

Penn State now prohibits backpacks and purses from athletic facilities including Beaver Stadium, the Bryce Jordan Center and Rec Hall. The ban was in effect during Saturday's home opener against Eastern Michigan.

Two recent graduates and two seniors developed a small, clear bag that's approved to take into the stadium.

The invention is called My Event Bag. The students worked on it as interns for Surge Business Development, an incubator in State College that also funded the project.

"I don't think any of us thought we were bag people, but it's been an awesome experience so far, and we hope to take it further,'' one of the inventors, Taylor Turrisi, told the Centre Daily Times.

Some 5,000 bags have been produced so far. The students hope to market their invention beyond State College.

Penn State's new bag policy was implemented in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings. Under the policy, each fan is permitted a single clear gallon-size plastic bag for medical and child-care items.

My Event Bag is gallon-size pouch made from plastic vinyl, with a patent-pending ``privacy shield'' to hide personal items like tampons and medication. The bag has drawstrings and can be worn over the shoulders.

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