Last summer PepsiCo Inc. made a $14 million dollar deal with Penn State University. Initially, it seems as though the money came in the nick of time since the Pennsylvania State Leglistature cut some of the University's funds.

But when you examine the numbers, the branch campuses end up gaining little economically. It's common opinion that University Park gets top priority when it comes to doling out the funds. The allocation of the Pepsi funds shouldn't surprise us, but the flagrant breach of promise from the administrators at University Park is becoming obvious.

Just last week during the Strategic Planning Committee Meetings, Associate Provost Ernest K. Dishner called the new library at Penn State Harrisburg "the number one priority at University Park." Maybe he could clarify the library as the "number one academic priority."

That's because there are two types of priorities in the Penn State University system -- athletic and academic. And in the infinite wisdom of the financial geniuses in Old Main, they chose to put $6 million toward a new convocation/events center at University Park. The purpose of this building is to host athletic and theater events.

Another $6 million goes to the athletic department in exchange for advertising and vending rights. The Pattee Library gets $1 million and the HUB/Paul Robeson Cultural Center gets $500,000. That leaves $500,000 for the 20 Commonwealth Campuses to share.

Not only do the Commonwealth Campuses receive crumbs, but the money will trickle in over the next 10 years. The allotment to the campuses amounts to $2,500 a year for 10 years for each campus. The Penn State Harrisburg campus gets a whopping 0.2 percent from the Pepsi deal.

This slap in the face comes at the same time as University President Joab Thomas's mandate to cut our operating budget by 10 percent over the next three years.

Why not cut a private deal with Coca-Cola -- similar to the one at University Park, only on a smaller scale. It's true Commonwealth Campuses don't host football events, but if Coke had exclusive rights here, it could generate more than $2,500 a year.

We need a benefactor to get the new library started -- why not Coca-Cola?

The only thing University Park has given up so far is lip service and that does not help erect a new building.

The preceding is excerpted from a Sept. 21 editorial by The Capital Times, the student newspaper of Penn State Harrisburg. The opinion does not necessarily represent The Daily Collegian.