Since last November, Dickinson's Board of Governors and Penn State officials have done nothing but bicker about the merits of having a dual-campus.

Or possibly a single campus.

Or maybe a dual-campus.

Or maybe a feasibility study that looks into the possibility of continuing to study the possibility of a dual-campus.

Or cutting ties between the two schools after all that feasibility back and forth mish-mash.

You get the idea. Penn State and the Dickinson School of Law continue to disagree with what Penn State's relationship to the law school should be.

And naturally, the big guy (Penn State) has done a good job of causing the little guy (Dickinson) some suspicion regarding the university's motives. Could it be that Penn State would ultimately want to shut down the small town school in Carlisle?

That is, indeed, one of the issues with which the board is wrestling.

Instead of mandating what should or needs to be done, Penn State should consider negotiating terms with the board. Perhaps the university should refrain from throwing its arms up in disgust, declaring that ties must be severed now because the board was stubborn.

Which is not to say that the board is acting in a mature manner. The focus should be the best interest of law students, not necessarily the financial impact of siphoning students to State College from Carlisle. Even though the economics of that area should be a concern of both Penn State and Dickinson, academic concerns should take precedent as well.

Instead of pouting, everyone involved needs to determine what current and prospective law students want.

If having an internship in Harrisburg, followed by pursuing a concurrent degree in political science will increase enrollment in the law school, as long as Penn State maintains its promise to not shutdown the school after a period of time, then all stand to benefit.

However, if neither side can agree, then it would be in the best interest of Dickinson to completely sever its ties.

If Penn State wants its own law school that badly, then it has the resources to build one. Dickinson produces practical lawyers for the community -- not everyone wants to be a big-time city lawyer, despite what Penn State might believe.

Perhaps if everyone tried to meet in the middle, a year of bickering could be laid to rest and a bright future will be on the horizon.

But for now, we all might need to plug our ears to protect us from the sound of those who continue to disagree about the future of the law school.