HARRISBURG — State senators made little mention of Sex Faire yesterday afternoon as Penn State President Graham Spanier defended the university's use of taxpayer money to the state House Appropriations Committee.

Instead, Spanier fielded questions about the specific components of the appropriation request ranging from medical research to building maintenance and how the proposed increases would benefit the state.

Gov. Ridge's budget currently allocates $334 million for the university, $27 million short of a request made by the Penn State Board of Trustees last fall. Spanier is at the state Capitol this week to lobby for a larger appropriation.

The president focused on explaining three special funding requests — the College of Medicine and the Hershey Medical Center, the School of Information Sciences and Technology (IST), and overall environmental compliance.

In response to a query from Sen. Raphael Musto, D-Luzerne, Spanier pointed out two attributes of the College of Medicine that separates it from other institutions of its kind.

Most public medical schools receive substantial state support, reap rewards from long-time endowments or benefit from both. Spanier said Penn State's 34-year-old college is at a disadvantage in both categories.

Senators received a budget presentation booklet, which showed a chart of public medical colleges and the amount of state appropriations each collected in 1998. Penn State ranked 75th with $4.6 million.

Spanier called Hershey Medical Center "a tremendous asset to the commonwealth," and the progress made during the last three decades "nothing short of remarkable."

Sen. Roger Madigan, R-Bradford, asked the president to address the prospects for the IST school.

"It will be the headquarters for what will become — I promise you — one of the major academic initiatives in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania," he said.

After just two years, students enrolled in the school can already expect to find employers lining up and jobs waiting for them after they graduate, Spanier said.

He said men and women who are hired directly out of IST will be able to "produce from day one" without the typical training period needed for many information technology careers.

Spanier also described to senators the need for funding to cover costs associated with bringing university facilities up to current environmental codes.

Many of the buildings throughout Penn State were constructed during the post-World War II period when zoning regulations were different, Spanier said. Since then, the rules have evolved and the university needs to begin updating the physical plant, he added.

At the opening of the proceedings, Spanier introduced Dr. Darrell Kirch and James Thomas, deans of the medical college and the IST school who attended the meeting.

During his questioning, the president referred to visual aids placed on a worn table in the center of the senate caucus room — a model of the proposed IST building and a prototype of the Arrow LionHeart, a new human heart assist device developed at the medical college.

Sen. Robert Thompson, R-Chester, said he hoped the Hershey Medical Center is "on better footing" than the table that was supporting the device.

"I'd like to claim that's Penn State's card table, and that's the best we can afford," Spanier replied.