From professor John Forbes Nash, whose life inspired the movie A Beautiful Mind, to an impressive list of other distinguished speakers, Penn State brings a variety of guest lecturers to campus each semester.

Although the Distinguished Speakers Series (DSS), which will feature former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura next week, is the best-known lecture series on campus, each department has endowment money to support speakers who lecture specifically on the department's subjects.

The DSS funds speeches through the Student Activity Fee, a mandatory fee of $45 which all University Park students pay.

There are different opinions about what brings speakers to Penn State.

Jane Charlton, professor of astronomy and astrophysics, said department reputations are important when trying to bring speakers to campus.

"The reputation of our department attracts speakers over the [prestige of the] university," she said. "Speakers get to address students but they also get to talk to our faculty and staff to compare ideas and talk about our work."

Charlton said interesting speakers are important to any department when considering large, public audiences. She also said different departments on campus might have a harder time bringing large audiences together for their topics.

"With a public lecture, we want to attract as many people as possible," Charlton said. "We try to find a speaker whose topic is fully engendered to everyone on campus."

She said attendance depends more on the lecture's subject than the speaker, and if students expect the lecture to be lively and interesting, more will attend.

She said Penn State makes an effort to find the best, most interesting speakers.

Ray Bryer (sophomore-astronomy and astrophysics) has never attended a lecture within his department, but said speakers on campus are important for their educational value.

"It's important to learn from people who know more than we do," Bryer said.

Jon Nussbaum, the head of the communication arts and sciences department, said he also thinks speakers are vital to the university.

"Speakers are important because they are everything we're about here," Nussbaum said. "We are a university. We need to add different viewpoints to the educational programs to enhance education."

Nussbaum said he believes speakers come to Penn State because of the school's reputation.

"Penn State is excellent at bringing speakers in because people love coming here," Nussbaum said. "It's a beautiful campus, and they can escape their own educational environments for a few days."

Carolyn Sachs, head of the department of women's studies, agreed that reputation helps when attracting speakers to campus.

"It's not hard to get people to come here," she said. "We rarely have people turn us down."

There would be no lectures if there was not adequate funding.

"You can have anyone if you have money," Sachs said. "Most people are excited to come simply because they want to come to an interdisciplinary program where students are genuinely interested in their work."

Sachs said money typically pays for three things including travel, accommodations and an honorarium or lecturing fee.

The honorarium is the biggest cost for departments who have lectures, she said.

If money problems cannot be solved, alumni and other connections can help.

"We wanted to have a speaker come who charges $10,000 for his lectures," Charlton said. "We had some connections so we were able to get him to come to Penn State for a lesser fee."

Connections also raise the question of alumni who have found success in their careers.

Nussbaum said that alumni would always be a resource for current students.

"If for no other reason, people come back because they had a great time here," Nussbaum said. "They like coming back to visit their former campus and their friends."