Black Caucus members spent the majority of a two-hour meeting last night discussing their problems with The Daily Collegian's coverage of events regarding the group's list of demands and their request to meet with Penn State President Graham Spanier.

At a rally held Monday, group members said last night's meeting would discuss the next step in the process of having its demands met by administrators. A flyer saying "come discuss the fate of our community" was also distributed at the rally.

Incoming Black Caucus Vice President Darryl Watson said the Collegian neglected to report that Black Caucus members were "met with bullets" when they attempted to deliver about 150 letters to Spanier following a rally held Monday.

Caucus members were met by a Penn State University Police officer outside Spanier's office. No weapons were drawn and no bullets were fired at the scene.

"The Collegian may not have gotten the whole story, but we know the truth of what has really been going on," Watson said.

Incoming Black Caucus President Gandarvaka Gray also said she thought the Collegian should be called the administrators' newspaper -- not the students' newspaper -- because all it really cares about is the administration.

She added that the Collegian functions as a "mouthpiece for the administration."

Collegian Editor in Chief James Young called group members' accusations "absurd" and said the newspaper has been as fair as possible in its coverage of Black Caucus.

"It can be hard to show both sides of a story when only one side will cooperate with us and the other won't give us specific answers to questions or return our phone calls," Young said.

Black Caucus Secretary Kwamena Entsuah said he feels Black Caucus should start its own newspaper so members can be portrayed the way they wish.

Young said he welcomes Black Caucus to start its own publication, adding that if they do, members can give themselves any amount of attention they want.

Watson said he thinks hate crimes on campus are underreported in the Collegian, leading to a sense of complacency about acts of racism.

"Students get the idea that this kind of thing is not a big deal, but a death threat on [former Black Caucus President] Ed Smith's life is definitely a big deal," he said. "Someone saying 'I'll kill you, n-----,' is a big deal."

Watson was referring to an incident that occurred Feb. 17 when racial epithets were shouted at Smith as he walked past Beaver Hall.

Young said the Collegian prints reports of all hate crimes it receives from Penn State University Police, including the two that were reported this semester -- the Feb. 17 incident and another that occurred Feb. 21 outside Tener Hall.

He added that Black Caucus is misguided in its attempt to end acts of racism on campus.

"If [Black Caucus wants] to end racism, they should be doing something to combat it instead of directing their action at the Collegian and other groups," Young said. "It seems to me like they only want attention for themselves."

Gray said Black Caucus should try to control the information it gives to the Collegian so it can be portrayed the way it wants.

"Maybe if we only give them the information we want them to have, they will start covering us more fairly," she said.

Young said the Collegian does not plan on changing the way it covers Black Caucus.

"We have been covering them accurately and fairly all along and there is nothing to suggest that we have not," he said.

Caucus members also said group members' letters written to the Collegian have not been published, but letters against the group have been in the paper.

Collegian Opinion Page Editor Brent Burkey said he tries to balance letters on the Opinion page, regardless of their authors.

"If you want an example, just turn to today's Opinion page and there is a letter in support of Black Caucus," he said.

"But I am unaware and mean to be unaware of whether or not that person is a Black Caucus member," Burkey added.

He said that as per Collegian policy, a staff member called Watson yesterday to verify a letter he wrote, but he could not be reached.

Burkey added that the Opinion page was sent to press before last night's meeting.