Yesterday, for the second night in a row, Penn State administrators left the HUB-Robeson Center after hours of negotiation with black student leaders. This time, the officials left students with a summary proposal detailing the demands the administration can and cannot accomplish.

At about 10:30 p.m., Vice Provost for Educational Equity Terrell Jones presented the document to the black student leaders and left without further discussion, planning to renew talks today.

"The summary proposal has been given to them and has extensive detail and hopefully, after students have looked through it, we can celebrate the progress that's been made," Penn State spokesman Steve MacCarthy said.

However, MacCarthy added that although dialogue over the draft will continue today, the administration has put forth as much effort as possible to meet the demands.

"I think this is the final step for us. There might be some fine tuning of the language, but most of the plan lays out detailed specifics and there's not a whole lot more we can change," MacCarthy said.

Some of the demands presented to officials Tuesday include establishing an "Africana Studies Research Institute," hiring 10 tenured faculty members by the start of the 2002-03 school year and founding dual-degree scholarships for majors in African/African-American studies and education.

Student leaders are also demanding a mandatory course on race as well as the restructuring of the vice provost position.

MacCarthy said some of the ideas have already been initiated by the administration. He said the administration acknowledged that some of the ideas would be beneficial to Penn State, and others cannot be accomplished without approval from elsewhere in the university.

Although there is no firm agreement, MacCarthy said administrators support the Black Caucus's desire for more scholarships. The demand of adding 10 full-time faculty members by the start of 2002 is something that needs the support of the particular college, not merely the blessing of Penn State President Graham Spanier.

Spanier had a scheduled appearance yesterday afternoon in Hershey with Gov. Tom Ridge and was unable to appear at the HUB-Robeson Center negotiations, Penn State spokesman Bill Mahon said.

During the second day of talks, at least two student leaders continued to fast. Hundreds of supporters held vigil throughout the HUB, creating an emotionally intense environment as students worked with officials to come to an agreement.

"Academic changes take a very long time," student trustee Geoff Grivner said. "It's very difficult to deal with long-term changes and emotion at the same time."

During yesterday's rally, Black Caucus members distributed red fliers clarifying information about Tuesday's protest, aiming to extinguish a rumor that the caucus had plans to take over Old Main.

"The people here are intelligent and they know why we're here," Black Caucus Vice President-elect Hasan Amenra said. "We're here for solidarity and it hurts that the information coming out is negative and inflammatory."

On Tuesday, Mahon faxed out a document titled the "Direct Action Guide," produced by the Students for Accountability and Reform (STAR).

STAR co-founder Martin Austermuhle said the plan was produced last year. During the summer, the unofficial student group held civil disobedience workshops for non-violent protest in anticipation of the National Governors' Association meeting at Penn State. The document includes directions for taking over the administration building.

Justin Leto, STAR's other co-founder, read a press release to the gathering in the HUB: "Students for Accountability and Reform would like to state that this document is in no way connected to the current situation involving Black Caucus."

Dozens of students vowed again to remain in the HUB overnight, after Jones gave the proposal to student leaders.

Undergraduate Student Government President Justin Zartman said the administration would contact Black Caucus by midday today to arrange another meeting.

Collegian staff writer Jeremy R. Cooke contributed to this report.