Rodin to meet state officials

University President Judith Rodin will be in Harrisburg today, meeting with legislative leaders and Governor Tom Ridge's budget director to discuss the University's state appropriation for fiscal year 1996. Vice President for Government, Community and Public Affairs Carol Scheman, who is accompanying Rodin to the state capital, said the president's conversations will focus on funding for the Veterinary School and state financial aid for undergraduates who are also Pennsylvania residents. Scheman said the Vet School is recognized as the best school of its kind worldwide, in terms of faculty expertise, publication in respected journals and student aptitude. "It's really an extraordinary school and it needs more stability in funding," Scheman added. Currently, the Vet School receives less than 20 percent of its budget from the state, the smallest appropriation given by any state across the country for a veterinary school. Combined with the relative lack of state funding, the Vet School's steep tuition costs have forced many qualified state residents to obtain their education in animal husbandry elsewhere.