In her March 8 column, "Extravagant spending hurts PSU budget," Caitlin O'Malley decried what she called the university's extravagant spending, citing the new Berkey Creamery as an example. She could not have been more wrong or uninformed about our Creamery and the needs of the food science department. The Creamery sales room might be the most visible part of our food science programs, but it is just a small part of the food science department. The new Food Science Building now provides sorely needed space and modern facilities to teach students, conduct research and train Pennsylvania's workforce in this century. There is nothing extravagant about this building. Today's food science department is working on critical issues related to food safety, consumer health and nutrition, hunger and food security, and much more. We have the second-largest undergraduate food science program in the country and the largest on the East Coast. All of our food science students who seek employment following graduation have jobs waiting for them, many in Pennsylvania's largest industry -- the food processing and manufacturing industry. Sustaining and enhancing these successful programs would have been impossible in a building constructed in 1932. Ms. O'Malley also failed to inform your readers that donors contributed a significant amount of money for this building because they have a connection to what is done there. This was funding that was offered only for this purpose and could not have been used for other purposes.

This new building is critical to our mission here at Penn State. President Graham Spanier did exactly what he needed to do, and generations of food science students will be grateful that he did.