The student government at Penn State for many years has been obsessed with the notion that the faculty is overpaid. A comparison of average University Park faculty salaries (Ass't -- $44,000, Assoc. --$52,000, Full -- $73,000) with salaries of school teachers in New York area (New York Times, Jan. 18) might suggest a different conclusion. The median salary (roughly comparable to the associate professor level) in virtually all the suburban districts is over $60,000, and in half the cases listed the median salary is over $70,000. The salaries paid in these districts are similar to those found in suburban school districts across the country. It is clear that even "highly paid" associate professors of engineering at Penn State ("average," $62,000) are making less money than many first grade teachers with equivalent levels of experience.