Although full professors do equal work at the same University, the difference between their salaries in the Smeal College of Business Administration and the College of Arts and Architecture is more than $34,000 -- almost enough to employ another instructor.

The University released a report at the University Faculty Senate meeting last week that revealed mammoth salary gaps among colleges and between the University Park and Commonwealth Campus professors.

Veiling itself in a vague market-force explanation and mystical business trends that essentially mean some professors are valued more than others, the administration is sending a message to future professors as well as the present stock. Namely, some jobs, pursuits or interests are more highly valued, and therefore more important, than others.

Theoretically, faculty members in all colleges are paid for the same type of work: post-secondary education (with a chunk of research thrown in on the side). And although certain business or engineering faculty could receive higher salaries in the outside "corporate world," they have chosen, for their own reasons, to teach.

But teaching -- call it warped priorities or the cruelties of an imperfect society -- has never paid very much. Perhaps business professors could earn higher salaries for their work outside the University. Is that a threat? Will they leave as soon as they find better-paying positions? If so, their teaching motives and possibly their methods are in question.

The University is structured to reflect the real world, and in the real world people will be treated unfairly and some work will be valued more than others. But whether that has to be the case at Penn State is an important question and Donald Rung, professor of mathematics, should be commended for urging the senate to examine the issue more closely.

Salary gaps will only create dissent and frustration within the faculty community, possibly leading skilled, underpaid professors to leave Penn State. And that would be detrimental to the very sort of educational environment the University strives to offer.