Although two area lawmakers said they want to open the University's budget, they differ on the degree.

State Sen. J. Doyle Corman and state Rep. Lynn B. Herman addressed concerns last night about opening the University budget and freezing University funds, meeting with students at Penn State Veterans' House, 249 S. Pugh St.

"What purpose will be served to know what each janitor and each professor is making," said Corman, R-Centre. "The Rhoades Bill will open the budget by indicating money spent by each department -- and that's what's important."

The Rhoades Bill would leave individual faculty salaries closed.

Gov. Robert P. Casey supports Senate Bill 1075, which would require state-related universities -- including Penn State -- to open their entire budgets to the public.

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

Herman, R-Centre, said he favors full disclosure of the budget and calls for more accountability in higher education.

"The abuses, such as excessive spending, show the need for greater accountability for how higher education institutions are spending taxpayers' dollars," Herman said.

Student leaders called on the lawmakers for answers and stressed the need for full budget disclosure.

"I don't trust education with money," said Peter Huston (junior-international politics and administration of justice), former president of Penn State University Veterans' Organization. "I've seen more waste, fraud and abuse here than in the military -- and that's pretty scary."

Lance O'Donnell, president of College Republicans, agreed, saying wasteful spending must be stopped.

"We need to know which professors are getting more and why," O'Donnell said. "I want to see the names printed with the salaries."

Both Herman and Corman assured students that they would make every effort to make education more of a state priority.

"Our prime responsibility as state government should be in higher education," Corman said, adding that the University is ranked 47th in the nation for support of education.

Herman said he was concerned and opposed to Casey's recent budget cuts.

"We need to redirect our priorities and focus on education," Herman said.

Recent budget cuts have hit the University, including $9 million in frozen 1991-1992 state appropriations and additional proposed cuts to the 1992-93 budget. Last year Casey also froze about $12.6 million in state aid.

Mark Milliron, who is challenging state Rep. Ruth Rudy, D-Centre, in the April 28 primary, said the state must have better planning to prevent future freezes.

"We can't have any more cuts --we need to invest in human capital," he said.