With the advent of Penn State's off-campus code of conduct, the looming threat of being cited for file sharing, and the plethora of local, state and university drinking violations that exist, it is clear that many students at Penn State will find themselves in need of legal advice.

The Undergraduate Student Government (USG) has a legal affairs committee designed to help students as they make their way through various legal processes. This committee consists of undergraduate students. One area this committee focuses on is advising students who have been charged by Judicial Affairs. Because Judicial Affairs does not allow students to have attorneys present during its hearings, members of the legal affairs committee can provide vital information to students about their hearing and explain the process in general.

Also, a Judicial Affairs hearing can often have serious repercussions for students, sometimes including the possibility of expulsion. And when Judicial Affairs adopted the off-campus code of conduct two years ago, the scope of cases Judicial Affairs has jurisdiction over was widened.

For all of these reasons, it is clear students need some sort of assistance when facing a Judicial Affairs hearing. USG deserves thanks for continuing to operate the legal affairs committee to help give this assistance.

However, with the potentially serious outcomes of a Judicial Affairs hearing, the university should consider offering students other options when charged by Judicial Affairs. Though the legal affairs committee's efforts are commendable, students may need more assistance than just the advice of their fellow undergraduate students who, though trained, are not professionals.

Though students charged by Judicial Affairs are free to consult an attorney before their hearings, these attorneys are not allowed to be present at the actual hearings. Also, many students do not have the resources to hire an attorney for consultation. When someone is charged in the criminal justice system, the government is required to provide the defendant with an attorney if he or she cannot afford one. The same should be true, on some scale, for Judicial Affairs, since the possibility of expulsion from college is often equally as serious as minor criminal charges, if not more so.

If Judicial Affairs does not want attorneys present at its hearings, it should at least assign each student charged with more than a minor infraction with a case worker who could guide the student through the system and even serve as an advocate for the student.

This may require extra resources allocated to Judicial Affairs. But if this body has the ability to decide student's future, these extra resources seem more than necessary.