Rumors of Penn State President Graham Spanier's departure have been greatly exaggerated.

Blame The Des Moines Register. Yesterday, the newspaper reported that Spanier was in the running to fill the vacancy of Iowa State University president.

"Campus observers speculate that Spanier is on the short list," the paper reported, calling him a "front-runner" for the job.

But later yesterday, Iowa State announced their final five candidates for university president. Spanier was not among them.

Spanier's contract with Penn State, extended by the Board of Trustees in July, runs through 2005.