Gov. Robert P. Casey recently announced his support of a bill that would force total disclosure of Penn State's budget records.

"It's asking them to join voluntarily with him in making these things public," said Vincent P. Carocci, the governor's press secretary.

Under Bill 1075 -- passed by the state House of Representatives in June 1991 -- "right-to-know" laws would extend to the four state-related schools; the University of Pittsburgh, Temple University, Lincoln University and Penn State.

Casey wrote to the presidents of these four universities asking for support of the bill and in another letter, urged Chairman of the Senate Education Committee James J. Rhoades, R-Schuylkill, to push for state Senate approval of the bill, Carocci said. Rhoades authored another bill -- the Higher Education Fiscal Disclosure Act -- that calls for partial disclosure of school budgets.

Casey implied in his letter that recent tuition increase proposals rather than cost reduction -- as he suggested -- prompted the call for open budget records.

Penn State receives about 18.8 percent of its funding from the state.

The governor called for the universities to reveal costs for several specific areas, including individual salaries.

"I believe that the people have a right to accurate information bearing on these issues, including by way of illustration, salaries, benefits, travel expenses and other personal costs . . . ," Casey said in the letter.

But Penn State President Joab Thomas maintains that public salaries could diminish Penn State's ability to attract quality faculty.

"If you identify all the salaries, then anyone competing knows what he or she have to shoot for," Thomas said.

And when salaries are public, pay increases tend to be uniform rather than merit-based, Thomas said.

Carocci disagreed, calling open fiscal records "a fact of life" where public money is concerned.

"Parents and the public have a right to know how it's being spent," Carocci said.

Factors such as faculty time in classrooms, equipment and facility cost, tuition waiver policies and spending on sabbaticals help evaluate how public money is spent, Carocci said.

Salary listings won't deter recruiting abilities, Carocci said.

Penn State is neither public nor private, but state-related, Thomas said, adding that most fiscal information is available, including total salary costs per University budget section.

"My view is that (the public) does know where it's going," Thomas said.

Carocci doubted that Casey would withhold state funds if budgets remain closed, but admitted he didn't know what would happen if universities failed to comply.

One University professor said releasing salaries won't be entirely beneficial to the University.

Professor Craig F. Bohren, professor of meteorology, said he would rather not know co-workers' salaries.

"I don't sit around at night chewing my guts out because it's secret," Bohren said.

Public salaries allow for comparison, which can lead to consternation among employees, Bohren said.

"I think that's the rationale behind it -- all it does is make the troops mad," Bohren said.

In response to the governor's request, Thomas will prepare an informational packet but didn't know what to include in it because he is unsure what Casey specifically wants.