Penn State President Graham Spanier traveled to Harrisburg last month to ask for higher state appropriations for the university.

Somehow he didn't get laughed out of the building after showing up in one of the university's $5 million planes.

What could possibly be more hypocritical than flying to the state capital in a private, university-funded plane and asking for increased appropriations?

Penn State is one of the least supported state-related institutions in Pennsylvania -- only about 10 percent of the university's total operating budget comes from state grants. This is miniscule, even for a state that ranks 45th in the nation in per capita support for higher education.

At the Feb. 28 hearing before the state Senate Appropriations Committee, representatives questioned Spanier about his extravagant mode of transportation.

The university's two Raytheon Beechcraft King Air B200s are paid for through the general budget, which is supported mostly by tuition and appropriations.

The maintenance and fuel for Spanier's planes cost $760,773 last year, according to a report the university provided to the state House Appropriations Committee.

The planes provide Spanier with the fastest method of transportation possible, especially in the middle of rural Pennsylvania when the University Park Airport is not always reliable.

And as the president of a university that educates over 80,000 students each year, Spanier should not waste precious hours riding on a Greyhound bus.

But taking a 15-minute flight to Harrisburg instead of a car ride that wouldn't take more than two hours is ludicrous.

Money that comes from tuition and state appropriations should be used to benefit students, not fly Spanier around the state.

No other university officials present at the hearing had arrived in such fashion, and their universities don't even own such means of transportation.

Maybe as Spanier testifies for more state appropriations, he should keep in mind that Penn State students might lose out because of his expensive traveling.