As the administration and black student leaders continue to discuss race issues at Penn State, we can only hope that they are doing one thing -- listening to one another. At a time when tensions are high and emotions are getting the best of people, simply listening to another perspective can be easier said than done. For both sides, it is important to recall what events led them to the negotiating table. To begin with, black student leaders and the administration had already met a few times this year prior to the most recent receipt of the racist death threat. For some reason or another, those talks proved unfruitful as neither the administration or the students left them completely satisfied, to say the least. However, the reason the administration has appeared unyielding to the students is not, according to administrators, because they are not committed to fighting racism. Rather, they have found the students' demands unreasonable and sometimes impossible to implement.

Again, the two groups are butting heads. And again, it's the same scenario: Students are blaming the administration for inaction while administrators feel their hands are tied.

While the administration must be willing to pay more attention to race issues at Penn State -- an area that we are obviously in dire need of improving, some of the students' demands are more reasonable and necessary than others.

For example, an improved African and African-American Studies department would benefit our student body. As it currently stands, the department is grouped together with several other departments -- all of which are important to be entirely separate and enlarged. However, we are concerned about a demand for 10 full-time tenured faculty when many departments on this campus are short-staffed and underfunded.

And while a course on race relations could be exactly what this student body needs, a graduation requirement of six mandatory credit hours of African-American/Third World studies seems extreme as many diversity-focused classes -- not just ones focusing on the African-American and Third World experiences --are worthy of taking.

Of course, as a neutral observer, we realize it is easy for us to stand back and advise the groups to compromise. But there's a lot to be said for a little mutual understanding. And in this case, that could mean the difference between a peaceful, mature resolution that pleases both sides and a continuing stalemate that only grows worse with time. Forgetting about past grievances and focusing on the task at hand is the most productive course of action in this situation. And as a black student leader said during the unity rally, "Each day is a new opportunity."