Many Undergraduate Student Government presidential and vice presidential candidates are promising to create a food court in the HUB with private franchises, add more student parking and lengthen hours at Pattee and the HUB, but they are disagreeing on how to do it.

The four tickets are Latino Caucus President Carina Defferrire and former Penn State University Veterans Organization Vice President Pat Scanlan; USG Senate President Mike King and Lori Pennay (junior-speech communications); former Academic Assembly President Erich May and April Campbell (junior-Spanish); and Matt Thomas (senior-journalism and English) and Joy Brown (junior-accounting). Defferrire has taken a leave of absence from Latino Caucus.

King and Pennay said the logical place to find franchises for the food court is with restaurants that serve Pepsi, such as Wendy's and Pizza Hut.

Kelly Grimes, president of the local Wendy's, 226 W. College Ave., said it is a good idea and Wendy's is definitely interested.

Bernie Brozek, Pizza Hut's Northeast division sales director, said he is interested in knowing more about participating in a food court, but added that a lot would be involved in actually doing it.

But Thomas said the food court should not be limited to just Pepsi, adding, "It should be a fair-market system."

Although Ohio State, Michigan State and Boston universities have successfully operated food courts for years, not all the candidates agree that the food court is a possibility at Penn State.

USG Centre Halls Senator Gaylin Vogel, campaign manager for Defferrire and Scanlan, said the food court is not feasible. She said she looked into it more than a year ago and found prices would be too high because of union involvement.

But King said when he spoke with Brozek, he loved the idea.

Charlie Carter, marketing development representative for noncommercial Pepsi, said he liked the idea also because there is a lot of money to be made. Carter added that they would need the University's approval before they could open a franchise in the HUB.

"I have no idea how far it will go," he said.

May said the food court is just an attempt to get the freshmen and sophomore vote.

"I want nothing to do with it," he said.

USG President Chris Saunders disagreed with May, but said establishing a food court would take a year of negotiations.

Candidates are also trying to make campus life a little easier by addressing the lack of student parking.

Defferrire said parking is a problem for students both on and off campus. She is upset that the new on-campus parking garages are not being used for students' needs.

"What do we get out of this? Nothing," she said. "If people say it's going to be built for students, it should be kept for students."

Scanlan said he is used to dealing indirectly with the State College Borough Council and mayor.

"It can't be done overnight. It takes time and money," he said.

Thomas wants students to be able to park in faculty lots after 5 p.m. and in the metered lots anytime.

May said he is upset that many students who live off campus must park in Parking Lot 83 near the flower gardens, while downtown employees are permitted to park in University lots near the center of campus and walk downtown.

When the 750-car Parking Lot 43 is built near the Graduate Circle, the parking problem will be solved, May said. But he wants to make the Campus Loop go past Parking Lots 43 and 83 to make it more convenient for students.

Expanding HUB and Pattee hours are also part of May's platform because he said students live a 24-hour lifestyle.

King agrees that expanded hours are important, and said by creating a few new work-study positions it would be possible to keep the HUB open 24 hours a day.

Saunders said keeping Pattee, Shields Building and Rec Hall open 24 hours a day is not feasible without raising tuition dramatically, adding that it would probably cost between $2.8 and $3.2 million. Saunders said he had examined budgets and spoken to administrators and members of the University Board of Trustees about the cost of these extensions.

"I would equate getting these facilities open 24 hours to beating my head against the wall," he said, adding that additional costs could reach $100,000.

Scanlan said keeping the HUB open 24 hours is not a key issue on their platform. He said they want to wait to see the results from a student survey taken by the HUB before they take action.