At a meeting last week with student representatives, Penn State President Graham Spanier proved that he's woken up to the reality of many students' preference for a little extra sleep in the morning.

In line with his avowed plan to make Penn State a more "student-centered university," he announced gradual plans to make classes that convene at 8 a.m. more of a rarity.

We anticipate that the idea will be welcomed with open arms by many of those taking courses here. As Spanier has recognized, much of college life goes on after dark and waking up at dawn to make it to class is a bit of a challenge for the many night owls buzzing about among us.

Scheduling too many required classes only at 8 a.m. puts these students in a tough situation.

But it's clear that not everyone is itching to scrap the first period of the day. Just as some people wait until the wee hours to call it a day, others prefer to get their classes out of the way early the next day.

Perhaps some classes are more conducive to being later in the morning or afternoon than others. The university should encourage professors to take straw polls or departments to write such questions into their course-end evaluations to gauge students' feelings on which classes would be better when the sun's higher and which are just better at 8 a.m.

Ultimately, being able to make an 8 a.m. class is as much a question of student preparation as it is of university scheduling. Soon enough, many of us will have to reacquaint ourselves with the 9-to-5 of most full-time jobs.

But in the meantime, juggling many facets of college life -- classes, homework, sports, jobs -- presents enough reason to schedule fewer 8 a.m. classes.